The looming climate crisis calls for the development of novel forms of response, but so far, climate change action does not meet its ambitions to tackle the issue. Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) are one proposed solution to bridge the gap. However, VCMs are criticized for not providing real...

This study explores the pivotal role of theories of economics in shaping the multifaceted concept of sustainable development and integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It traces the intellectual trajectory of classical, neoclassical, and contemporary economic paradigms,...

Consumers increasingly care about the environmental quality of the goods they consume. However, limited attention impairs consumers' ability to compare and evaluate the environmental quality of goods. I show that investments in environmental quality, consumer surplus, producer surplus, and...

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) have gained prominence in the agri-food sector as marketbased tools to address environmental and social concerns in global supply chains. While third-party certifications like Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade have been extensively studied, company-led...

Development depends on a nation's ability to produce sophisticated goods, making economic complexity crucial. Considered as an ecological sophistication of technological, social, and cultural factors, ecological structural change, the core of Green New Developmentalism, can address environmental...

This report aims to highlight opportunities for developing ecosystem-linked insurance - that is, insurance that integrates the effect of ecosystems in products covering coastal hazards. These products can provide funds for ecosystem restoration after a disaster occurs. This report points to...

The Blue Solutions for Africa series of operational briefs captures how a thriving Blue Economy can help African countries better manage the development challenges they face while supporting economic growth, sustainable livelihoods, and the health of these precious ecosystems

Climate change stands as one of the most formidable challenges in the twenty-first century. Despite this, our understanding of the unfolding and interconnection of climate-related physical and transitional risks, and their implications for socioeconomic dynamics along various transition...

Within a two-country model, this paper identifies a novel emission leakage channel that is caused by moral behavior of (atomistic) consumers. In a non-cooperative emission tax game between the countries, the leakage effect lowers the governments’ marginal benefit of emission taxation, so...

Standard economic theory assumes that consumers ignore the externalities they create, such as emissions from burning fossil fuels and generating waste. In an incentivized study (N = 3, 718), we find that most people forgo substantial gains to avoid imposing negative externalities on others....

The looming climate crisis calls for the development of novel forms of response, but so far, climate change action does not meet its ambitions to tackle the issue. Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) are one proposed solution to bridge the gap. However, VCMs are criticized for not providing real...

In this commentary, we argue for the low-impact city as an alternative to the dominant urban imaginary of the low-carbon city. We adopt an ecological economics lens to expose the limitations of the urban resource efficiency paradigm when tackling environmental degradation beyond city boundaries....

Die Frage nach sozialer Gerechtigkeit bleibt aktuell – auch und gerade in »modernen« europäischen Gesellschaften. Denn der Kapitalismus erzeugt neben Wohlstand für wenige auch viel Armut und Leid, in Deutschland und der ganzen Welt. Diese Ungerechtigkeit ist heute eng verbunden mit der...

Adaptation needs are vast, rising fast and difficult to determine in their entirety, especially with uncertain adverse scenarios due to climate inertia and implementation lags. Adaptation is hindered by a lack of a unified understanding of what it necessitates; the challenge in pointing out its...

The European Union (EU) has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions until the year 2030 by 55% compared to 1990. Recently, the EU institutions decided to introduce a new Emission Trading System for road transport, buildings and fuels for additional sectors (ETS2) in addition to the...