Publications
June 15, 2018
Land-use intensification in agrarian landscapes is seen as a key strategy to simultaneously feed humanity and use ecosystems sustainably, but the conditions that support positive social-ecological outcomes remain poorly documented. We address this knowledge gap by synthesizing research that analyses how agricultural intensification affects both ecosystem services and human well-being in low- and middle-income countries.
May 4, 2018
Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration might reduce forest water‐use, due to decreased transpiration, following partial stomatal closure, thus enhancing water‐use efficiency and productivity at low water availability. If evapotranspiration is reduced, it may subsequently increase soil water storage or surface runoff and drainage, although these could be offset or even reversed by changes in vegetation structure, mainly increased leaf area index.
May 3, 2018
The present study collects original monetary estimates for water related ecosystem service benefits on the African continent from 36 valuation studies. A database of 178 monetary estimates is constructed to conduct a meta-analysis that, for the first time, digs into what factors drive water related ecosystem service values in Africa
May 3, 2018
Decision-making for climate change adaptation requires an integrated and cross-sectoral approach to adequately capture the complexity of interconnected systems. More meaningful decisions can be taken in an arena where different agents provide knowledge of specific domains. This paper uses a semi-quantitative method based on cognitive mapping to demonstrate how new knowledge emerges when combining knowledge from diverse agents.
April 25, 2018
Given that few ecosystems on the Earth have been unaffected by humans, restoring them holds great promise for stemming the biodiversity crisis and ensuring ecosystem services are provided to humanity. Nonetheless, few studies have documented the recovery of ecosystems globally or the rates at which ecosystems recover. Even fewer have addressed the added benefit of actively restoring ecosystems versus allowing them to recover without human intervention following the cessation of a disturbance.
March 19, 2018
Payments for Environmental Services (PES) constitute an innovative economic intervention to counteract the global loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. In theory, some appealing features should enable PES to perform well in achieving conservation and welfare goals. In practice, outcomes depend on the interplay between context, design and implementation. Inspecting a new global dataset, we find that some PES design principles pre-identified in the social-science literature as desirable, such as spatial targeting and payment differentiation, are only partially being applied in practice.
March 13, 2018
Given that few ecosystems on the Earth have been unaffected by humans, restoring them holds great promise for stemming the biodiversity crisis and ensuring ecosystem services are provided to humanity. Nonetheless, few studies have documented the recovery of ecosystems globally or the rates at which ecosystems recover.
March 5, 2018
Although the co-benefits from addressing problems related to both climate change and air pollution have been recognised, there is not much evidence comparing the mitigation costs and economic benefits of air pollution reduction for alternative approaches to meeting greenhouse gas targets. We analysed the extent to which health co-benefits would compensate the mitigation cost of achieving the targets of the Paris climate agreement (2°C and 1·5°C) under different scenarios in which the emissions abatement effort is shared between countries in accordance with three established equity criteria.
September 29, 2017
The cement sector is highly intensive in CO2 emissions and is the second biggest industrial sector in terms of emissions after the electricity generation sector. It emits CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels, the calcination process and, indirectly, from electricity consumption. The ambitious climate change policy in the EU means that carbon prices and fuel prices are two very important sources of uncertainty that may affect the competitiveness of the sector. This paper focuses on understanding the risk associated with the future price of European Union Emission Trading System allowances.
September 27, 2017
Investment decisions in adaptation are usually made under significant uncertainty due to climate change and socio-economic trends. In this study, we propose three ways to incorporate climate and socio-economic uncertainty into the assessment of an adaptation infrastructure designed to cope with flood-risk in the city of Bilbao.
