Interactions between financial and environmental networks in OECD countries

We analyse a multiplex of networks between OECD countries during the decade 2002-2010, which consists of five financial layers, given by foreign direct investment, equity securities, short-term, long-term and total debt securities, and five environmental layers, given by emissions of N O x, P M 10 SO 2, CO 2 equivalent and the water footprint associated with international trade. We present a new measure of cross-layer correlations between flows in different layers based on reciprocity. For the assessment of results, we implement a null model for this measure based on the exponential random graph theory. We find that short-term financial flows are more correlated with environmental flows than long-term investments. Moreover, the correlations between reverse financial and environmental flows (i.e. flows of different layers going in opposite directions) are generally stronger than correlations between synergic flows (flows going in the same direction). This suggests a trade-off between financial and environmental layers, where, more financialised countries display higher correlations between outgoing financial flows and incoming environmental flows from lower financialised countries, which could have important policy implications. Five countries are identified as hubs in this finance-environment multiplex: The United States, France, Germany, Belgium-Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.Comment: Supplementary Information provide

Rapid desktop assessments of environmental flows

Environmental flows / Calculators / Computer techniques / Rivers / Ecosystems

Flows of transnational environmental crime: case study research on e-waste and timber

Despite growing interest in green criminological issues, a need remains to develop research that grasps the complexity and transnational nature inherent to the phenomenon of transnational environmental crime. We hope to contribute to this in our PhD-study which focuses on transnational environmental crime and more in particular on the illegal transport of e-waste and timber. Both of these transnational environmental crime phenomena are inherently linked to globalisation and to transferences of levels or geographies. Therefore we explicitly took the transnational dimension into account and perceived both phenomena as flows. We present the first results of a case study about illegal transports of e-waste and timber, for which a Belgian port served as the research setting. Based on a triangulation of data from document analyses and in-depth interviews, we try to de-anonymize the origin, intermediary and destination locations of these flows. We illustrate the characteristics of illegal transports of e-waste and timber as transnational environmental crime flows. We look at the environmental problems at the basis of their criminalization: what actors are involved, what the nature of the phenomena is and what its impact, harm and vulnerabilities are. This will provide meaning to the second goal of our research which focuses on the governance of transnational environmental crime flows. This second aim is to map governance nodes and networks and pay attention to different actors involved, to their interactions and potentially different finalities. This presentation focuses on the characteristics of illegal transports of e-waste and timber (goal 1) and hints towards the study of their governance (goal 2)

FDEVELOPING ECONOMIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT - THE ROLE OF TRADE AND CAPITAL FLOWS

This paper reviews (critically and selectively) the literature on the link between economic development, the environment and international trade (and capital flows). In particular, how stricter environmental regulation in the North affects trade and capital movements between the North and the South. It also discusses how trade and capital flows in turn, affect environmental policy.

An overview of international institutional mechanisms for environmental management with refererence to Arctic pollution

Evidence is mounting of the environmental impact in the Far North of economic and industrial activity elsewhere in the world. While the sources of pollutants found in the Arctic are many and widespread, it is up to just a few countries - notably Canada,the former Soviet Union, Finland, Norway and Greenland - to assess the damage and deal with the impacts. This paper discusses the issue of Arctic pollution in the context of trends in world economic growth, globalization of economic activity, international trade and related institutional arrangements (such as trade and environmental agreements)T. he importance of tracing the sources of particular contaminants is stressed this is a first step towards internalization of environmental costs of production, and is also politically a key in efforts to control emissions. Trade and investment agreements commonly discuss rules for cross-border flows of goods, services, personnel and investment capital, as well as matters specific to particular economic sectors. Cross-border flows of pollutants and other ‘bads’ also merit detailed sectoral attention. This linkage would make explicit the connections between production and pollution (making possible the ‘polluter pays’ approach), and also widen the scope for redistribution of economic resources to equilibrate the situation (via trade and investment measures among others) if flows of goods are related directly to flows of ‘bads’. The paper examines the outlook for addressing Arctic pollution via international environmental agreements (along the lines of the Base1 Convention, the Montreal Protocol, CITES, etc.), existing and future trade agreements( such as GATT), or new institutional approaches

Data for life cycle assessment of legume biorefining for alcohol

Benchmarking the environmental sustainability of alcohol produced from legume starch against alcohol produced from cereal grains requires considering of crop production, nutrient cycling and use of protein-rich co-products via life cycle assessment. This article describes the mass balance flows behind the life cycle inventories for gin produced from wheat and peas (Pisum sativum L.) in an associated article summarising the environmental footprints of wheat- and pea-gin [1], and also presents detailed supplementary results. Activity data were collected from interviews with actors along the entire gin value chain including a distillery manager and ingredient and packaging suppliers. Important fertiliserand animal-feed substitution effects of co-product use were derived using detailed information and models on nutrient flows and animal feed composition, along with linear optimisation modelling. Secondary data on environmental burdens of specific materials and processes were obtained from the Ecoinvent v3.4 life cycle assessment database. This article provides a basis for further quantitative evaluation of the environmental sustainability of legume-alcohol value chains

Developing procedures for assessment of ecological status of Indian River basins in the context of environmental water requirements

River basins / Ecology / Indicators / Environmental flows / Environmental management / Habitats / Biota / Fish / Ecosystems / India / Krishna River Basin / Chauvery River Basin / Narmada River Basin / Periyar River Basin / Ganga River Basin

An assessment of environmental flow requirements of Indian river basins

River basins / Environmental flows / Assessment / Hydrology / Ecology / Ecosystems / Water allocation / Water requirements / Time series / India

Some new evidence on determinants of foreign direct investment in developing countries

The authors of this paper expand on earlier studies of the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) by empirically analyzing various factors - including political risk, business conditions, and macroeconomic variables - that influence direct investment flows to developing countries. They try to fill a gap in the literature by examining qualitative factors. Using a pooled model of developing countries, they test three groups of hypotheses on what influences direct investment. Tests of the first hypothesis indicate that a qualitative index of political risk is a significant determinant of FDI flows for countries that have historically attracted high FDI flows. For countries that have not attracted such flows, sociopolitical instability has a negative impact on investment flows. Tests of the second hypothesis show that a general qualitative index of business operation conditions is an important determinant of FDI in countries that receive high flows. This country group also shows a positive relationship between taxes on international transactions and FDI flows. Results from tests of the third hypothesis reveal that exports generally, especially manufacturing exports, are significant determinant of FDI flows for countries in which FDI is high. Finally, export orientation is the strongest variable for explaining why a country attracts FDI. This finding is in line with the secular trend toward increasing complementarity between trade and FDI.Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Inequality,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Foreign Direct Investment,Economic Theory&Research