This thesis will touch upon how investment decisions relate to different scopes of GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions reported by listed companies in the Nordic market. Two different time frames were examined, 10 years (2011-2020) and 5 years (2016-2020) respectively. The emission scopes consist of three levels that include GHG emissions originating from different stages throughout the whole value chain of the companies. Higher levels of GHG emissions might be considered as a risk that in turn requires a premium. By choosing total return as the dependent variable and the different scope levels as independent variables, the study was conducted through a firm fixed effects model with year fixed effects. The significant findings explain that investors in the Nordic market accept relatively high levels of GHG emissions when receiving higher total returns, a sort of risk premium for Scope 1 intensity level of GHG emissions. While the significant findings for the Scope 2 intensity GHG emissions shows that higher GHG emissions originating from purchased energy generates lower total returns. The findings also suggest stronger economic effects for the 5-year period, in comparison to the 10-year period. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis contribute to the debate on whether the transition to climate-adapted sustainable societies can be affected by reporting standards and interpretation regarding GHG emissions.

Water management that alters riverine ecosystem processes has strongly influenced deltas and the people who depend on them, but a full accounting of the trade-offs is still emerging. Using palaeoecological data, we document a surprising biogeochemical consequence of water management in the Colorado River basin. Complete allocation and consumptive use of the river's flow has altered the downstream estuarine ecosystem, including the abundance and composition of the mollusc community, an important component in estuarine carbon cycling. In particular, population declines in the endemic Colorado delta clam, Mulinia coloradoensis, from 50-125 individuals m(-2) in the pre-dam era to three individualsm-2 today, have likely resulted in a reduction, on the order of 5900-15 000 tCyr(-1) (4.1-10.6 mol Cm-2 yr(-1)), in the net carbon emissions associated with molluscs. Although this reduction is large within the estuarine system, it is small in comparison with annual global carbon emissions. Nonetheless, this finding highlights the need for further research into the effects of dams, diversions and reservoirs on the biogeochemistry of deltas and estuaries worldwide, underscoring a present need for integrated water and carbon planning.

This research analyzes private and social costs of forest conservation in Yaque del Norte watershed, DR. It calculates private costs as average annual income from farming activities and social costs as the externalities from erosion and CO2 emissions. Social cost estimates are based on the difference in erosion and CO2 between conserved forest and other land use categories. The effect of soil erosion on the wellbeing of people is measured by its effect on reduced space at Tavera dam for water availability to generate electricity and to irrigate agricultural lands downstream. The social cost of increased annual carbon emission from potential land use change is estimated using IPCC default emission factors and social cost of carbon estimates. Private costs are inferred from a nonlinear binary response model that estimates the relative importance of factors affecting forest conservation decisions of households. Results show that payment level, measured through rental value, is not significant for landholders' decisions to sign a PES contract. Annual cropland is the most profitable land use in the area. Other important, but less profitable, land covers are pasture, coffee and managed forest. Cropland also generates the highest cost for society in terms of erosion and CO2 emissions. The comparison of private and social costs shows that only livestock generates a social cost that exceeds average private income. If forest conservation were to be justified based on social benefits, the analysis must include a more comprehensive assessment of what people value from conserved forest in YNW, such as the effect of erosion for water treatment costs. Any proposal to retain forests social benefits, such as REDD+ initiative, should take into account the high cost forgone by forest owners when deciding the distribution of benefits of carbon sequestration. / Master of Science / Environmental services generate benefits for both private and public entities, which increases the complexity of calculating optimal levels for payment for environmental services (PES). A pilot PES project in the Yaque del Norte watershed of the Dominican Republic is an excellent example of this complexity; with benefits from upland forest conservation accruing to a hydroelectric company, a water supply company, and society at large. Reducing soil erosion through forest conservation can preserve dam capacity for hydro-electric power generation, preserve water quality and lower treatment costs, and reduce the global economic costs of CO₂ emissions. This study evaluates the socio-economic costs of forestland conservation in the Yaque del Norte catchment. The social benefits of carbon stored under forest land are compared to benefits under alternative land uses. In addition, forest land benefits from erosion prevention are estimated using a Universal Soil Loss Equation. Calculated benefits from forestland conservation are then compared to landuse opportunity cost estimates generated through a farm-level survey in the area. Study results show that the opportunity cost of forest conservation in the Yaque del Norte is high; ranging from between RD$10,000 and RD$200,000 per hectare per year. If society values carbon and soil retention as the direct benefits drawn from conserved forest, only lands with low very opportunity costs will be conserved. However, inclusion of the indirect external benefits of forestland conversion suggests that in many cases forest conservation generates greater social benefits than the private benefits associated with alternative land uses from conversion. PES payment levels of RD$5,000/ha/yr that internalize these external social benefits to forest land holders appear to be sufficient to preserve a significant share of current land and generate net social benefits. Further, part of the costs of these PES payments can be borne by hydro-electric and water companies, as they benefit directly from forest land conservation.

Climate change is undoubtedly a serious challenge facing the world today, and as a result the preservation of the environment is at the top of the agenda for the international community and national governments. Integrated reporting is a global phenomenon driven by the necessity for better information for shareholders and stakeholders. Sustainability reports in South Africa have gained momentum since King III was released in 2009. The purpose of this study is to determine if Ferroalloy manufacturers disclose their carbon emissions in their integrated reports. A literature study was done and content analysis was used to analyse the integrated reports of Ferroalloy manufacturers. On average the integrated reports of Ferroalloy manufacturers comply 41% according to GRI requirements. Governance related points measured complied on average 51%, while internal standards measured 71%. 86% of organisations make use of external standards to report their emissions on. Direct emissions obtained on average 42% as per GRI G4 requirements, while indirect emissions obtained a score of 50%. Emissions that may occur as a result of the usage of organisations products were reported on at only 11% according to the GRI G4 requirements. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Climate change is undoubtedly a serious challenge facing the world today, and as a result the preservation of the environment is at the top of the agenda for the international community and national governments. Integrated reporting is a global phenomenon driven by the necessity for better information for shareholders and stakeholders. Sustainability reports in South Africa have gained momentum since King III was released in 2009. The purpose of this study is to determine if Ferroalloy manufacturers disclose their carbon emissions in their integrated reports. A literature study was done and content analysis was used to analyse the integrated reports of Ferroalloy manufacturers. On average the integrated reports of Ferroalloy manufacturers comply 41% according to GRI requirements. Governance related points measured complied on average 51%, while internal standards measured 71%. 86% of organisations make use of external standards to report their emissions on. Direct emissions obtained on average 42% as per GRI G4 requirements, while indirect emissions obtained a score of 50%. Emissions that may occur as a result of the usage of organisations products were reported on at only 11% according to the GRI G4 requirements. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis advisor: Richard Tresch / As global warming became a more urgent issue, the European Union (EU) nations formed the EU emission trading scheme (EU ETS) to regulate carbon emissions. The EU ETS set upper limits for each EU nation’s carbon emission levels in three distinctive phases to gradually decrease the carbon emission levels to a targeted reduction level by 2020. Throughout the paper, I will focus on how independent variables such as accumulated reserves, allocated allowances, the total outstanding supply of carbon emission rights (CERs) in the market, the demand for CERs, energy consumption, and the required reduction amount by 2020 affect the price of CER and the ratio of verified emissions to the 2020 targeted upper limit. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

The study uses Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) as a method to analyse the economicand environmental impact of carbon dioxide (CO2e) emission abatement projects in theCanadian residential sector. It includes the more traditional environmental andeconomic criteria, yet it incorporates a behavioural component to the analysis. Adetailed account of the environmental specifications, emission reductions, and economicconsiderations of 11 abatement projects are used as input for the CEA. In addition,behavioural variables, such as disposable income, home ownership, and home repairskills, are taken into account to complement the study.The results indicate that the implementation of several of these carbon abatementprojects, such as insulating hot water pipes, replacing incandescent light bulbs,installing a programmable thermostat, etc. can bring about large emission reductionstogether with a net economic benefit, and in most cases, without altering the levels ofcomfort. This method can serve as a template for the evaluation of other related projectswithin the climate change mitigation context in Canada and in other countries, in anattempt to increase adoption rates of such projects.

The climate change is currently one of the biggest environmental problems in human society, it has characteristics with a high degree of uncertainty and risk as well as the global impact. The negative environmental impacts destroy the ecological environment and endanger our living condition, for example, water, food, heath, etc., all affected by the climate change. In severe case what¡¦s worse, there would be millions of people suffering from food shortage, water scarcity, sea level rises, the coastal cities were flooded, and large-scale human migration and territoryial conflicts. In recent years, the economic development in China is incredibly fast, however, the growth mode also represent the high level of energy consumption and extensive mode of development. Although this development way is able to drive economic growth, the emissions of greenhouse gases are far more than the international standard, this make China become the biggest country of global carbon emissions. In China, agriculture, water resources and carbon emissions, are all affected by the climate change impact and forced to change. In the international community, the doubts and criticisms from other countries about China¡¦s development mode and its own national interests are raising, what¡¦s China¡¦s role in international climate negotiations? Because we know the impact of climate change doesn¡¦t only affect to our environment, but also it could wildly expand to a country¡¦s developmental policy making process.

This research focuses on carbon emission-reduction issues in an area where the government imposes emission-reduction policies on local manufacturers. Policymaking problems for the government and production planning problems for the manufacturers are investigated with Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) approaches. Two types of emission-reduction policies, including emission-cap regulation policy and emission cap-and-trade scheme, are addressed. We first discuss manufacturers' long-term strategic decision problem under the government-imposed emission-cap regulation policy. With the objective of maximizing the manufacturers' profits, Stackelberg game model is formulated to optimize their decisions on carbon footprint, wholesale price and retailer selection. The problem is proven to be NP hard and a hybrid algorithm is developed to solve the model. We then investigate manufacturers' medium-term production planning to minimize the total production and inventory holding cost, by considering emission-reduction constraints through technology selection, some of the technologies being green. The problems are shown to be polynomially solvable. Based on these results, we study the government's policymaking problems to maximize the social welfare of the area. Stackelberg game models are formulated to optimize the emission-reduction policies by anticipating manufacturers' operational decisions in response to the governmental policies. Hybrid algorithms are developed to solve the problems. For each studied problem, numerical analyses are conducted to evaluate the algorithms. The computation results show that the algorithms developed in this research are effective. Some interesting and valuable managerial insights are drawn from computational results and sensitivity analyses.

Cette étude porte sur la réduction de l’émission de gaz à effet de serre dans une région où le gouvernement cherche à établir des politiques de régulation des industriels locaux. La définition de politiques de régulation pour le gouvernement et la planification de la production pour les industriels sont étudiées à l’aide des méthodes issues de la recherche opérationnelle et de la science de management (OR/MS). Nous considérons deux types de politiques de régulation : la politique de quotas et la politique de droits d’émission échangeables sur le marché. Nous considérons d’abord le problème stratégique d’un industriel soumis à un quota d’émission. Afin de maximiser son profit, nous construisons des modèles de jeux de Stackelberg pour optimiser l’empreinte carbone du produit, le prix de gros et la sélection de détaillants. Le problème est démontré NP-difficile et un algorithme hybride est développé pour le résoudre. Nous étudions ensuite la planification de la production en moyen terme pour minimiser le coût total de production et de stockage, en prenant en compte les contraintes liées à la réduction d’émission à travers une sélection de technologies dont certaines sont vertes. Nous démontrons que ces problèmes peuvent être résolus en temps polynomial. A partir de ces résultats, nous étudions la définition de politiques de réduction d’émission par le gouvernement afin de maximiser le bien-être sociétal de la région. Des modèles de jeux de Stackelberg sont formulés pour optimiser les paramètres de ces politiques, en anticipant les décisions opérationnelles des industriels locaux en réaction à ces politiques. Des algorithmes hybrides sont proposés pour résoudre le problème. Pour chaque problème étudié, nous menons des expériences numériques pour évaluer les algorithmes développés. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent l’efficacité de ces algorithmes. Ils permettent aussi, grâce à des analyses de sensibilité, de tirer des renseignements managériaux intéressants. / This research focuses on carbon emission-reduction issues in an area where the government imposes emission-reduction policies on local manufacturers. Policymaking problems for the government and production planning problems for the manufacturers are investigated with Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) approaches. Two types of emission-reduction policies, including emission-cap regulation policy and emission cap-and-trade scheme, are addressed. We first discuss manufacturers’ long-term strategic decision problem under the government-imposed emission-cap regulation policy. With the objective of maximizing the manufacturers’ profits, Stackelberg game model is formulated to optimize their decisions on carbon footprint, wholesale price and retailer selection. The problem is proven to be NP hard and a hybrid algorithm is developed to solve the model. We then investigate manufacturers’ medium-term production planning to minimize the total production and inventory holding cost, by considering emission-reduction constraints through technology selection, some of the technologies being green. The problems are shown to be polynomially solvable. Based on these results, we study the government’s policymaking problems to maximize the social welfare of the area. Stackelberg game models are formulated to optimize the emission-reduction policies by anticipating manufacturers’ operational decisions in response to the governmental policies. Hybrid algorithms are developed to solve the problems. For each studied problem, numerical analyses are conducted to evaluate the algorithms. The computation results show that the algorithms developed in this research are effective. Some interesting and valuable managerial insights are drawn from computational results and sensitivity analyses.