Environmental studies - Assignment Example

Environmental Studies Exam Part A (about 40 words each question List two features of the ical liberal philosophical framework that underpins bio-economic modelling. • Belief in new ideas This is one of the core principles of the classical liberal philosophical framework. It is a departure from the conservative principles of society. New ideas should be at the heart of bio-economic modelling to find the most suitable solution to the problems facing the environment. • Belief in a laissez-faire economic model The laissez-faire economic model is a belief that only the market forces control the market. There is no interference from the government. In the same manner, the environment has a self-control mechanism and can control itself without interference from mankind. Bio-economic modelling seeks to find solutions to environmental problems with this in light. 2. Explain why the Threshold Value Analysis might facilitate rent-seeking behaviour. (LECTURE 11) Threshold Value Analysis might facilitate rent-seeking behaviour because the decision rule for Threshold Value Analysis is that the model should be developed if the benefits exceed the decision-makers analysis of the costs. The decision-maker may be biased in analysing the costs hence leading to rent-seeking behaviour. 3. Contrast the TVA to environmental decision making with the application of a safe minimum standard approach. (LECTURE 11) The decision rule for Threshold Value Analysis is that the model should be developed if the benefits exceed the decision-makers analysis of the costs i.e. if the benefits are above the threshold. Safe minimum approach standard is used when the benefits are below the threshold. A second threshold is developed below the initial threshold. 4. What is the difference between risk and uncertainty? How does the difference affect the way you would analyse issues of environmental management? (Lecture 12) In risk, one knows the possible outcomes and their corresponding probabilities. Such probabilities are known either from experience or carrying out experiments. In uncertainty, the likely outcomes are known, but their probabilities of occurrence are not known. In analysing issues of environmental management using decision trees, payoff tables or conditional value tables, the probabilities are needed (risk). In case of uncertainty, one has to come up with best guess probabilities. Part B (about 300 words each question) 1. Markets provide a useful source of information regarding people’s preferences. Explain how you would use market data to estimate the costs of protecting a forest from logging. Market data is very essential in estimating the cost of protecting forests. Market data like the economic uses of the forest, the value of products that are produced from the forest resources and the general value of the forest to the community and country at large should be considered. In estimating the cost of protecting a forest from logging, I would first determine all the market data that would be relevant to the particular tree. This includes the cost of using wood to make furniture and as a source of fuel, the cost of paper, the cost of pulp and any other resources that are found in forests. After determining all these costs, the benefits should also be analysed. Benefits like better weather, increased animal life and protection of endangered species should be quantified. These benefits and costs should then be compared using the Threshold Value Approach. A threshold value of benefits should be set e.g. a value of benefits that equals the total cost of benefits. If the benefits exceed the threshold value, the forest should be protected from logging. If, however, the value of benefits is below the threshold value, another measure should be taken other than banning logging. For example, environmental managers can consider controlling logging. Other methods of economic decision making can also be used. The cost benefit analysis will include comparing the costs associated with the protection of the forest and the benefits. The safe minimum approach could also be used. This method is used when the benefits are less than the threshold.The above methods might give different results. The safe minimum approach is the most appropriate. After the decision-making process, the decision should be implemented. 2. “Non-market valuation – particularly the use of stated preference methods such as contingent valuation – is prone to bias. Environmental managers should avoid these methods and rely on the political process to provide feedback from the general public on the strength of their preferences for alternative management outcomes.” Discuss. (Lecture 4) The political process is the preferred method to determine the decisions to be made regarding an environmental change. Processes such as taking surveys, voting and seeking public opinions through forums have been proved to be very useful. The citizens should be placed at the centre of the considerations of environmental managers. Citizens should not just be a target of decisions by environmental managers but agents also. They should develop outcomes that are tailored to suit individuals’ needs. They should also be relevant to the current situation. Co-production and co-creation should be embraced to define the relationship between environmental managers and citizens. In many instances, citizen participation in deciding on environmental factors has not been carefully considered, and some of the decisions made have not augured well with the citizens. On the other hand, in areas where public participation has been sought there has been a high level of acceptance and cooperation with environment agencies on decisions made. Non-market methods of decision making can be argued to also have an effect. Such methods rely on data obtained through research and past experience. Though not current, such data can be used to provide essential information on decisions to be made. If the data used to make decisions is current, it will produce favourable results. It will also give a professional and analytical approach to the problem where all aspects will be considered before a decision is made. This does not happen in the political approach. If the citizen’s approach is biased, the best decision will not be reached. Relying on past information on costs can be misleading because of inflation. If an environmental decision is made on costs that were made twenty or thirty years ago, the decision will not serve the interests of the people. This will lead citizens to opposing the decision. In general, the political approach where the views of the citizens are sought is the best approach for environmental managers to use. 3. Discuss limitations to the practical usefulness of the safe minimum standard approach to environmental decision making. Explain. (Lecture 11) The safe minimum standard lacks a clear definition of social costs. This has in effect led to subjective interpretations by various researchers and analysts. The lack of a transparent definition on what constitutes social costs has brought about subjective interpretations of what SMS represents. By wholly omitting what may well be a major proportion of the worth of environmental resources, particularly for species, estimates of the social price of maintaining the SMS that merely ignore such obsolete values may well be considerably under-estimated. Merely excluding these values from any analysis of ‘social costs’, instead of acknowledging the shortage of exactitude within the estimates, risks the formulation of policy for the purpose of environmental protection and economic welfare. There is also a misperception that SMS removes the necessity to estimate current and expected preservation advantages. One of the central factors that attract environmental researchers to SMSis that it is a mechanism that highlights problems wherever the complete prices and benefits of the alternatives have to be forced to be measured. Clearly, the SMS approach is significant over this and, wherever finances permit, it might expressly incorporate measures of ‘the full prices and advantages of the alternatives’. However, it conjointly represents a step on the far side economic analytic thinking, recognising the large uncertainty that surrounds irreversible alteration of the atmosphere. SMS is also described as a ‘constraint’ that would be applied to analytic thinking with its primary goal of increasing web social advantages. This interpretation of safe minimum standards, as process a particular among that economic potency and welfare increase may be pursued, seems to be an additional positive and constructive read of however, SMS could be utilized to tell decision-making; one that is regarded as a ‘pragmatic step’ towards achieving the goal of an economical, property economy. The thought of using SMS as a particular on CBA thereby permitting the incorporation of moral and ethical considerations that may not be totally mirrored in strictly economic obsolete values (Holmes 12-30). Work cited Holmes, Brenton. "Citizens' engagement in policymaking and the design of public services." Public Administration Journal (2012): 12-30. Read More