Unit 1 - Policy Instruments For Transformations To Sustainability

Question 1

What is the definition of a sustainability transformation?

Answer 1

Answer: A sustainability transformation is a “fundamental system-wide reorganization across technological, economic & social factors, including paradigms, goals & values, needed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development”

Question 2

How many planetary boundaries has Earth crossed according to the text? Which ones?

Answer 2

Answer: 6 out of 9 planetary boundaries

1. Biosphere (species extinction and human appropriation of net primary production)
2. Climate (CO2 and atmospheric energy balance)
3. Novel entities (chemicals, radioactive materials, GMOs)
4. Freshwater (groundwater, surface water, green/plant-available water)
5. Land system (remaining forest cover)
6. Biogeochemical (nitrogen and phosphorus release to land and oceans which degrades water quality)

Question 3

What are the two main perspectives on sustainability mentioned in the economic context?

Answer 3

Answer: Strong sustainability (natural capital remains constant) and weak sustainability (sum of natural, physical, and human capital remains constant)

Question 4

What are the four main types of economic policy instruments discussed?

Answer 4

Answer:
- Pigouvian (price-based)
- Coasian (rights-based/quantity-based)
- Regulatory
- Legal/information/finance

Question 5

What percentage reduction in domestic water use did Cape Town achieve in two years during their water crisis?

Answer 5

Answer: 45% reduction

Question 6

What is HANPP and what does it measure?

Answer 6

Answer: Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production - it measures how much of all plants’ natural production humans are taking or changing through activities like farming, building cities, or harvesting wood.

Question 7

What are the three aspects of sustainability from the ecological perspective?

Answer 7

Answer: 1) Human life can continue indefinitely, 2) Human individuals can flourish, and 3) Human cultures can develop - while keeping human activities within bounds that don’t destroy ecological life support systems

Question 8

Which SDGs are directly relevant to environmental issues?

Answer 8

Answer: Goals 6 (clean water & sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 11-15 (sustainable cities & communities, responsible consumption & production, climate action, life below water and life on land)

Question 9

What are the two phases in the X-curve framework for societal transitions?

Answer 9

Answer: Phase-out of unsustainable practices and phase-in of sustainable ones

Question 10

What are the policy objectives by which different types of policy instruments vary?

Answer 10

1. Effectiveness → does the policy instrument achieve its desired objective?
2. Cost efficiency → cost/benefit analysis
3. Economic efficiency → does it maximize net benefits (”surplus”) to society?
4. Distributional impacts and equity → how does the instrument impact different groups in society?
5. Sustainability and dynamic efficiency → how does the instrument perform in the long run?

Question 11

What is projected to happen to Jordan’s per capita water availability by 2050?

Answer 11

Answer: It is projected to decline from 95 m³/year to 65 m³/year

Question 12

What were the key interventions implemented during Cape Town’s water crisis?

Answer 12

• Water dashboard and awareness campaigns (information-based instrument)
• Public water tariff increases (price-based instrument)
  
  • everyone had to pay for water → increased cost with usage
• Water usage map with public pressure (information instrument)
• water pressure reductions (supply-side policy)
• in-house restrictions to shut down non-compliant taps (regulations)
• Agricultural production reduction (20.4%) (regulatory measures)
  
  • Job impacts: 30,000 agricultural jobs lost

Question 13

What is meant by “atmospheric energy balance”?

Answer 13

Answer: The balance between incoming and outgoing energy in Earth’s atmosphere, which affects Earth’s average temperature stability

Question 14

What are the main implementation obstacles for policy instruments?

Answer 14

Answer:
- Asymmetric information
- Market conditions
- Environmental uncertainty
- Ecological complexity and spatial interactions
- Political and societal feasibility
- International competition and interactions

Question 15

What is NRW in the context of Jordan’s water management?

Answer 15

Answer: Non-revenue water - referring to water losses that happen through leaks in infrastructure

Question 16

What are the four ways economics provides framework for sustainability transformations?

Answer 16

Answer:
- Categorize policy varieties
- Evaluate policy impacts with relation to multiple objectives
- Transfer insights across sectors
- Select and design policy instruments

Question 17

What percentage of agricultural production reduction occurred in Cape Town, and what was its impact on jobs?

Answer 17

Answer: 20.4% reduction in agricultural production, resulting in 30,000 agricultural jobs lost

Question 18

What are examples of Pigouvian (price-based) instruments?

Answer 18

Answer: Taxes, charges, fees, tariffs, and subsidies

Question 19

What are the intervention portfolios suggested for Jordan’s water security challenges?

Answer 19

Answer:
- Supply enhancement (desalinization)
- Demand management
- Agriculture to urban transfer
- Comprehensive action -> combination of multiple appproaches

Question 20

What is the projected decrease in surface water availability in Jordan by 2080-2100 compared to 2016-2020 in the optimistic scenario?

Answer 20

Answer: 25% decrease

Question 21

What are the perspectives on promoting sustainable transformations?

Answer 21

1. Change from anthropocentric (human-centric) to eco-centric mental models
2. Transformation of societal values affecting nature-related decisions
   
   1. e.g. enabling values that are sustainability aligned and are inclusive
3. Societal transitions - X-curve framework showing
   
   1. phase-out of unsustainable practices
      
      1. requires there to be destabilization and chaos in existing system leading to breakdown and phase-out
      2. requires balancing feedback loops
   2. phase-in of sustainable ones
      
      1. requires experimentation of new thinking, emergence & acceleration of alternatives, institutionalization of new thinking, and stabilization
      2. requires reinforcing feedback loops
4. Socio-technological transitions considering larger societal, economic, and political environment

Question 22

What were the implementation challenges in Jordan?

Answer 22

• Political resistance to higher water prices (both domestic and agricultural)
• Deteriorating infrastructure
• Limited capital for desalination projects
• Ineffective information campaigns due to leaks
• Informal water markets undermining pricing policies