Conference Agenda

The evaluation of sustainability considering the lifecycle of products is gaining importance in recent years. Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is a key tool for assessing the economic pillar of sustainability and has the potential to support integration with environmental and social impacts for a comprehensive sustainability assessment. However, the lack of standardisation and the variety of methods available for economic analysis limit the development of a common framework. This study reviews the main cost analysis methods used in LCC and the different monetary valuation methods considered to monetise externalities. The results reveal that there is not a consistent pattern in the selection of methodologies or in the integration of LCC with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). To address this gap, a framework is proposed for an integrated environmental and economic assessment applicable to different sectors. The methodology combines cost analysis methods depending on the case study, the monetary valuation of LCA results and its consideration in the financial analysis. The proposed methodology contributes to the standardisation of LCC considering externalities to facilitate the evaluation of emerging technologies and its comparison with conventional processes.

Water-related ecosystems sustain critical ecological and economic functions, yet the existing valuation evidence of the services they provide remains fragmented and methodologically heterogeneous. This limits the ability of policy makers to incorporate water ecosystem services (WES) into environmental-economic accounting frameworks. This paper proposes a meta-regression approach to support exchange-value-based value transfer for ecosystem accounting. We compile a harmonised global dataset of 289 exchange-value estimates from 73 primary studies assessing WES delivered by freshwater, wetland, and groundwater systems. Overall, the mean annual WES value amounts to 1,957 Int$2024 ha-¹ year-¹. Among key services, water flow regulation shows the highest mean value (4,958 Int$2024 ha-¹ year-¹), followed by flood control (4,774 Int$2024 ha-¹ year-¹), water supply (2,903 Int$2024 ha-¹ year-¹), and recreation ES (1,492 Int$2024 ha-¹ year-¹). A linear mixed-effects meta-regression is applied to identify the ecological, socio-economic, and methodological drivers of WES valuation outcomes and to assess the transferability of the resulting value function. Cross-validated predictive performance indicates an average absolute transfer error of approximately 28%, indicating that the proposed meta-analytic value transfer can support the development of monetary ecosystem service accounts that are conceptually consistent and suitable for integration into environmental-economic accounting frameworks. Finally, paper presents an illustrative accounting case study, applying the estimated value function to predict an exchange value for river water supply in the Netherlands and comparing it with an accounting-based reference estimate, as well as with the prediction obtained from the recent freshwater meta-regression by Amatucci et al. (2024). The close alignment between the predicted value and the accounting benchmark provides additional evidence of the practical applicability and robustness of the proposed approach.

In response to the decline in forest ecosystem services (FES) resulting from a lack of knowledge about their economic value, a growing number of market-based instruments, such as payments for environmental services (PES), are being developed to enhance the provision of non-marketed FES. Despite these developments, few studies have explicitly examined how potential buyers prioritise different FES.

In this paper, we use a choice experiment conducted in the Grand Est region of France, where a PES market platform is being actively developed, to assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the general population for biodiversity and selected FES, namely timber provision, climate regulation through carbon sequestration, access to private forests for recreation, and water quality regulation.

Our mixed multinomial logit results suggest that WTP is highest for a large increase in biodiversity, followed by improved water quality, a moderate increase in biodiversity, stabilizing or largely increasing carbon storage, stabilizing biodiversity, and recreational access to private forests. In contrast, we find negative WTP for both a decrease in water quality and an increase in timber production, highlighting potential sources of opposition to certain forest management strategies. Preference heterogeneity is substantial for most attributes.

Furthermore, we show that this heterogeneity is strongly related to individuals’ environmental worldviews and their attitudes toward PES, with more ecocentric and pro-PES respondents exhibiting stronger and more differentiated preferences for forest ecosystem services, while preferences are weaker and less structured among other groups.

These findings provide direct insights for the design and targeting of PES schemes and market platforms, as well as for the prioritisation of forest ecosystem services in public decision-making.

Irrigation is the largest consumer of freshwater in India, yet pricing contin-

ues to rely on area-based charges and subsidised energy. These arrangements

reduce incentives for conservation, contribute to groundwater depletion, and

limit cost recovery. This review examines approaches to irrigation water val-

uation and pricing, with particular attention to Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In these contexts, volu-

metric charging, enforceable entitlements, and systematic tariff reviews have

improved efficiency, equity, and financial sustainability. The review contrasts

these practices with current conditions in India and identifies gaps in meter-

ing, cost recovery, and institutional accountability. Evidence shows that

volumetric water pricing, when supported by strong institutional arrange-

ments and provisions for smallholder participation, improves both efficiency

and agricultural productivity. Based on these insights, the paper proposes

a staged approach for India: immediate measures to strengthen operation

and maintenance (O&M) cost recovery, medium-term adoption of two-part

tariffs, and long-term integration with basin-level planning and energy policy.

Quantifying and projecting migration caused by climate changet is a critical challenge for policymakers and researchers. While causal inference, agent-based, gravity, and general equilibrium models have been employed widely to estimate the climate-migration relationship, their results often diverge, and they are typically used in isolation and at different spatio-temporal scales. Here, we aim to bridge this gap by introducing a unified notation and conceptual framework, designed to compare and evaluate the assumptions and outputs of these diverse models at a common scale. We illustrate our comparison using an empirically relevant case study: estimating and projecting the relationship between annual average temperature and internal state-to-state migration in the United States. We analyse results from hundreds of model permutations, illustrating how methodological choices and researcher degrees of freedom shape model outcomes. Our findings show that variations in modelling approach introduce uncertainty comparable in magnitude to statistical uncertainty. By integrating policy-relevant insights across methods, we highlight the value of model intercomparison in improving projections and informing policy decisions.

Can turning an environmental hazard into an amenity help sustain communities facing industrial and population decline? We study Pennsylvania coal communities over three decades, estimating how mine-impaired waterways—and their restoration—affect long-run population change during a period of broad declines in mining and manufacturing. We find that communities with mine-impaired waterways and no restoration experienced 4 percentage points less population growth than similar nearby communities, resulting in depopulation for many. Even partial restoration more than offset this effect, with growth driven by college-educated individuals and those of college or retirement age. In contrast, mine water treatment systems by themselves have no effect on population growth apart from restoration status. The effect of restoration is similar in magnitude to that of a public bike trail and suggests that environmental restoration can act as place-based economic development policy, helping declining regions retain and attract residents.