Environmental Economics

Our work on the benefits and costs of environmental policies and measures covers a wide range of areas including biodiversity, water quality, waste management, air pollution and climate change in several Member States.

IEEP has extensive experience of the development of methodologies for the assessment of the benefits of improved environmental policy in both EU and other countries. We have led and collaborated on several benefits studies for former Acceding and Candidate Countries (including Croatia and South East European Countries) and neighbourhood countries.

Some of our key work includes the following:

In 2006-07 we were responsible for the study Benefits for environmental improvements in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries. This project for DG Environment led to the elaboration of a methodology for the assessment of environmental benefits related to air and water quality, waste management and nature protection. The report was complemented by a scoping study on the Ukraine.

In 2007-08 IEEP collaborated with several partners in to a European study on the Cost of Policy Inaction (COPI): The case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target. This study for DG Environment provided an inventory of the economic valuations of biodiversity, linked to changes in land cover and land use, to analyse the cost to terrestrial ecosystems of not halting biodiversity loss. This was an important input to TEEB process.

In 2008-09 we carried out the study Further Developing Assumptions on Monetary Valuation of Biodiversity: Cost of Policy Inaction (COPI II). This study, commissioned by DG Environment, aimed to further develop the monetary figures used in the 2007-08 COPI study and to better explore the issue of substitutability of capital also fed into TEEB.

Our ongoing work includes:

The study Analysis for European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument (ENPI) Countries. This study for DG AIDCO will provide an assessment of the social and economic benefits of environmental improvements in the 16 European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries and in the Russian Federation.

The DG Environment study Taking into Account Opportunity Costs when Assessing Costs of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Action. This work aims to estimate the costs of biodiversity actions in the EU, with special consideration of opportunity costs, for which there is currently only limited coverage in existing literature.