Conference Agenda

The natural environment is highly complex and inter-connected. Ignoring this reality means that, at best, pro-environmental policies will be inefficient, and at worst they can actually exacerbate the problems they set out to address. This thematic session explores how advances in economic analysis, integrated with scientific insights, can help incorporate the complexities of the natural environment into decision making and policy. Applications to the major challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change motivate four papers, the first two of which explore the way that policy decisions are made. Specifically, the first paper addresses how policy intended to help deliver net zero emissions may be improved by accounting for the interconnected nature and spatial variation inherent in land-use decision making. The second paper then explores how even well-intended biodiversity policy can backfire if they do not account for the risk of simply offshoring damage. The remaining papers explore policy design. The third paper in the session assesses how the way in which “biodiversity net gain” requirements are implemented has major implications for the scale and spatial distribution of consequences for wild species as well as other connected environmental impacts and resultant welfare implications. The final paper addresses the question of how to design markets to facilitate trade for environmental services under “no net loss” policies, which is essential for ensuring that halting the biodiversity crisis does not come at the cost of preventing economic growth.

Presenters:
Shunsuke Managi, Kyushu University
Shabbir Ahmad, The University of Queensland
Subhrendu Pattanayak, Duke University
Edwin Muchapondwa, University of Cape Town
Aude Pommeret, University Savoie Mont Blanc


The transition to clean and sustainable energy is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, but it is intrinsically linked to the availability of critical minerals, essential for technologies such as batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. This session will explore the intersection between access to these minerals and social justice, examining how the management of natural resources can impact vulnerable communities, developing countries, and global dynamics. Discussion will address the economic, political, and environmental implications of the growing demand for critical minerals, analyzing the opportunities and challenges of an energy transition that is both ecological and equitable. We will discuss strategies to mitigate the risks of global inequalities, promote sustainable policies, and ensure that the benefits of the transition are distributed fairly and inclusively.

Exposure to high levels of ambient pollution poses significant challenges to both fostering economic growth and ensuring its equitable distribution. While often considered a local issue, air pollution can also be analyzed globally by examining its impacts across various contexts and understanding how it travels across borders via physical transport and trade redistribution. This session features five papers offering global perspectives on air pollution and its economic interactions. Papers 1 and 2 analyze its effects on economic activities in India and France, respectively. Paper 3 examines China's green energy transitions and health outcomes, while Papers 4 and 5 explore trade channels and transboundary spillovers, highlighting air pollution as an international concern.

Presenters:
Anastasios Xepapadeas, University of Bologna and Athens University of Economics and Business Catarina Roseta-Palma, Istituto Universitário de Lisboa Katarina Elofsson, Aarhus University Renan-Ulrich Goetz, University of Girona and President of the Spanish-Portuguese Association of Environmental Economists


The UN Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) is “a unique legally binding instrument promoting the sustainable management of shared water resources, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the prevention of conflicts, and the promotion of peace and regional integration”. With a gradual expansion of signatories, spanning almost all regions of the world, perhaps less known are its origins as a regional pan-European framework for transboundary water cooperation. Our proposal takes momentum from this precedent: the evidence that regional cooperation is not only an end in itself, but equally an opening to global cooperation and progress. European and Mediterranean cooperation have been, and can be, examples and precursors for each other and for others.
Water resource management is of critical importance in the Mediterranean, a region acutely affected by water scarcity and its socio-political ramifications. At the intersection of Europe and North Africa, it grapples with the confluence of different geographical and political realities, and how to govern a common water basin and its rivers.
On the European side, water supply systems have historically relied heavily on engineered "grey" infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs. However, the integration of nature-based solutions (NbS), such as watershed conservation, is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for enhancing water security. Despite these advances, challenges persist, particularly as only 40% of Europe’s surface water sources were in good ecological status as of 2015. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the world’s most water-scarce, with water- and climate-related disasters catalysing human displacement resulting from the insecurity of livelihoods, safety, and wellbeing. This displacement can feed a vicious cycle of fragility, straining already scarce resources and feeding existing community or boundary tensions. Indeed, in the Mediterranean, water management issues are compounded by the region's demographic and hydrological diversity, which underscores the need for tailored, cooperative water management practices.
The Mediterranean region faces escalating water stress due to a combination of climate change, poor management practices, and uneven water distribution, with 72% of water resources concentrated in the north and only 5% in the south. Projections indicate reduced river runoff, lower groundwater recharge, and significant declines in reservoir levels, threatening water availability and energy production across the region. The southern and eastern Mediterranean countries, where water scarcity is most acute, also grapple with transboundary water challenges, as many freshwater sources cross national borders. A regional approach focusing on shared benefits, rather than zero-sum water division, can reduce tensions and promote equitable resource allocation.
Adapting to these challenges requires a multifaceted strategy that combines NbS with technical and policy-driven solutions. Nature-based interventions, such as dune restoration and watershed management, can help mitigate environmental impacts and enhance resilience8. Simultaneously, technical measures like desalination, improved water distribution networks, and wastewater reuse can bolster water supplies. Policy efforts should include promoting transboundary cooperation, integrating inter-sectoral benefits, and ensuring equitable resource distribution9. A coordinated effort across sectors and borders, learning from and with inter-continental partners and neighbours, is needed for the Mediterranean to address its water crisis, safeguarding resources for its ecological health and socio-economic stability, not only within the region but in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
To address these critical problems, MEDAERE – the network of the Mediterranean Association of Environmental and Resource Economists that was established in 2024 and presented at COP29 – intends to propose this policy session aimed at discussing the issues briefly described above.

In this session we will explore how intertemporal decision-making must account for structural dependencies, feedback mechanisms, and constraints on economic growth and sustainability. The four papers are connected through their focus on dynamically optimal approach to policy design in economic and environmental systems, be it with or without considering uncertainties. While each paper addresses different domains—disaster risk management, growth, energy transitions, tipping points and decarbonization—they share methodological similarities and collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of how policies should be structured over time to optimize long-term outcomes.