Anders Branth Pedersen

Consumers, industrialists and the political economy of green taxation: CO2 taxation in OECD

Abstract Economists have traditionally suggested that politicians should simply impose a uniform tax on harmful emissions, as the first-best solution prescribes. However, a detailed analysis of the actual design of green taxes in the OECD reveals that they are differentiated and far from this first-best optimal design. Public choice theory suggests that an important reason that industry as a group, in contrast to households, is capable of lobbying against green taxation. The paper presents empirical findings on CO2 taxation within the OECD countries, which confirm this theoretical prediction. Taxes are not uniform, and households pay a tax rate which is six times higher than that paid by the industry on average. Even when tax revenue is fully refunded to industry, the potential losers (energy-intensive firms) will lobby harder against it than the potential winners (labor-intensive firms) due to small-group advantages. The Norwegian case confirms these arguments. Finally, it is suggested that a CO2 tax may, perhaps, successfully be applied to households, because they tend to be badly organized. As such, a mix of green taxes (in relation to non-organized interests) and grandfathered permit markets (in relation to organized interests) should be considered in the search for cost-effective and politically feasible instruments.

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for quantification of crop residue, green manure and catch crop C and N fractions governing decomposition dynamics in soil

For environmental, as well as agronomic reasons, the turnover of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from crop residues, catch crops and green manures incorporated into agricultural soils has attracted much attention. It has previously been found that the C and N content in fractions from stepwise chemical digestion of plant materials constitutes an adequate basis for describing a priori the degradability of both C and N in soil. However, the analyses involved are costly and, therefore, unlikely to be used routinely. The aim of the present work was to develop near infrared (NIR) calibrations for C and N fractions governing decomposition dynamics. Within the five Nordic countries, we sampled a uniquely broad-ranged collection representing most of the fresh and mature plant materials that may be incorporated into agricultural soils from temperate regions. The specific objectives of the current study were (1) to produce NIR calibrations with data on C and N in fractions obtained by stepwise chemical digestion (SCD); (2) to validate these calibrations on independent plant samples and (3) to compare the precision and robustness of these broad-based calibrations with calibrations derived from materials within a narrower quality range. According to an internal validation set, plant N, soluble N, cellulose C, holocellulose (hemicellulose + cellulose) C, soluble C and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) dry matter were the parameters best predicted (r2 = 0.97, 0.95, 0.94, 0.91, 0.90 and 0.94, respectively). However, the calibrations for soluble C and NDF were regarded as unstable, as their validation statistics were substantially poorer than the calibration statistics. The calibrations for all structural N fractions and lignin C were considered poor (r2 = 0.47–0.70). By comparing our broad-based calibrations for plant N and NDF with similar calibrations for a sample set representing a commercial forage database, it was evident that the broad-based calibrations predicted a narrow-based sample set better than vice versa. For plant N, the residual mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP), when testing the broad-based calibration with the narrow-based validation set, was substantially smaller than the RMSEP obtained when validating the broad-based calibration internally (1.8 vs 2.7 mg Ng−1 dry matter). Overall, the calibrations that performed best were those concerning the parameters most strongly influencing C and N mineralisation from plant materials.

The influence of resource strategies on childhood phthalate exposure—The role of REACH in a zero waste society

The present study aims to investigate how resource strategies, which intend to reduce waste and increase recycling, influence on human exposure to hazardous chemicals from material recycling. In order to examine the flows of hazardous chemicals in recycled material, a mass flow analysis of plastics and paper at European level, including the flow of phthalates, i.e. di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and benzyl-butyl phthalate (BBP), has been performed. The result for the year 2012 shows that 26% of plastic wastes and 60% of paper consumed in Europe were recycled. This corresponds to the finding that approximately 4% of DEHP and BBP and 18% of DBP annual demands in Europe as raw material re-enter the product cycle with recycled plastics and paper. To examine the potential contribution of the phthalate exposure through recycled plastics and paper, a case study assessing the childhood exposures to phthalates from foods packed in recycled paper and plastics has been performed for 2-year-old children in Denmark. The result verifies that an increase in recycled paperboard and PET bottles in food packaging material causes a significant increase in childhood exposure to DBP corresponding to an additional exposure of 0.116-0.355 μg/kg bw/day; up to 18% of the total DBP exposure in Danish 2-year-olds. While most of the DEHP exposure can be explained, more than 50% of DBP and 70% of BBP exposure sources still remain to be identified. Finally, a conceptual framework for a circular economy based on sustainable and clean resource flows is proposed in order to increase material recycling without increasing adverse health effects.

The Danish Pesticide Tax

This chapter analyses the Danish pesticide tax (1996–2013) on agriculture which was introduced as an ad valorem tax in 1996, doubled in 1998, and redesigned in 2013 as a tax based on the toxicity of the pesticides. The Danish pesticide taxes probably represent the world’s highest pesticide taxes on agriculture, which makes it interesting to analyse how effective they have been. The analysis demonstrates the challenges of choosing an optimal tax design in a complex political setting where, additionally, individuals in the target group have different rationales when making decisions on pesticide use. It also demonstrates that a small first, green tax step over time might develop into a better tax design.

Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture and Future Developments of the CAP

Abstract Recent reforms of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have set in motion a process of increased market orientation in the agricultural sector, a process that will be intensified by trade liberalization if an agreement is reached under the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is widely expected that both CAP reforms and a WTO agreement will also lead to a more environmentally friendly European agriculture. It is conceivable, however, that market demand would instead provide renewed incentives for intensive agricultural production. Opening European agriculture to more competition in the world market could increase pressure to slacken regulatory requirements on agriculture. Thus, the question of whether liberalization will hinder or promote environmentally sustainable production methods in agriculture is unresolved. This paper analyses different scenarios of agricultural policy development and examines their consequences for the promotion of environmentally sustainable agriculture in the EU.

Framing climate change: new directions in Dutch and Danish planning strategies

Planning in contemporary societies takes place under conditions of complexity and uncertainty, which stresses the politicised character of planning. Through studies of change in particular framings of planning, induced by the integration of climate change policy issues in the strategic planning of Copenhagen (Denmark) and the Zuidplaspolder (the Netherlands), this paper analyses how climate policies push reframing the basic perceptions and spatial imaginaries of strategic planning, and how this affects planning as a politicised activity. The study shows that reframing socio-spatial imaginaries influences the spatiality of the city/the polder, including a spatial identity, advocates certain solutions, and further enables institutional actors to reframe climate issues strategically to benefit other planning objectives as well as weaving together environmental agendas with economic agendas. However, new framings are challenged by some citizens/actors. At an institutional level, framing of planning may hence serve to relocate tensions and engage citizens and stakeholders in hard transitions, thus revealing implications beyond the discursive.

The Diversity of Adaptation in a Multilevel Governance Setting

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of climate change adaptation across Europe, from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, drawing on key findings from case study-based research on local climate change impacts and adaptation solutions, including an analysis of participatory, economic, and sociopolitical approaches, methodologies, and tools. Structured in six sections, the chapter builds upon a set of analytical discussions regarding: the diversity of climate change impacts and adaptation solutions at the local level; the role of participatory methods and approaches; the results of economic evaluation methods and models applied to local case studies; a framework for identifying best practices and characterizing the key barriers and opportunities for implementing local strategies and plans; and a set of robust guidelines and evaluation criteria for climate change adaptation measures. Key findings highlight the intricacies of local-level adaptation utilizing robust examples from case studies across European regions, and provide a comprehensive analysis of local strategies and plans, from a multilevel, multiactor, and multiscale perspective. The chapter also discusses and presents a set of methodological approaches that can be applied to facilitate local-level adaptation while also providing an analytical framework for comparing and evaluating local climate change adaptation.

Nordic perspectives on the Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone

The 1999 Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone, with focus on emissions of NOX, SOX, NH3, and VOC, is the latest protocol under UNECEs Convention on Lon ...

Remote sensing mapping of soil and plants as basis for a variable-rate nutrient application system

This paper introduces the use of aerial RGB digital photography to detect changes in soil structure at field level before vegetation appearance and in the early stages of crop development. Aerial digital photographs of a field trial were used as basis for soil structure mapping. Images were acquired right after sowing the crop, and image-processing routines made it possible to detect and map changes in soil structure. The detected pattern could be recognized in the growth pattern of the canopy a month later. The field trial used in this work was subdivided into areas receiving different amounts of fertilizer, and the aerial digital photographs clearly showed the detected soil variations to overpower the influence of the differences in fertilization.