The Energy Access Project Website Launches
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The
Energy Access Project at Duke University
kicked into high gear and launched its website on February 5. EAP takes an interdisciplinary approach to developing sustainable, modern energy solutions around the world. Established in 2017, the project supports foundational research and fosters constructive dialogue among the world’s policy makers, entrepreneurs, and scholars to identify ways of applying that research. It
engages students
, locally and globally, in finding innovative approaches to accelerate clean energy deployment in emerging markets. It’s supporting the development of new, disruptive tools, such as the means to evaluate electricity access through machine learning techniques applied to aerial imagery data.
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The Nicholas Institute Joins
the Natural Capital Coalition
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The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions has joined nearly 300 organizations in “an international collaboration that unites the global natural capital community.”
The
Natural Capital Coalition
’s focus has been to embed natural capital thinking and assessments in the private sector and “to develop and encourage an international ‘enabling environment’ for natural capital approaches.”
According to the Coalition, “Natural capital is another term for the stock of renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people.”
Lydia Olander, Director, Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute, explained the importance of the institute’s joining the coalition: “Building from the networks and knowledge gained through our work related to the National Ecosystem Services Partnership, Bridge Collaborative, and other projects, we hope to contribute to the Natural Capital Coalition (NCC) by sharing our expertise and knowledge, broadening NCCs connections with the U.S. ecosystem services community, providing input on the NCC sector guide for sustainable infrastructure, and helping the NCC shift toward more integrated thinking. In return, our connection with the NCC will hopefully bring connection to additional knowledge partners for our work.”
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A World Bank Working Paper
The Belt and Road Initiative, due to its diverse and extensive infrastructure investments, poses a wide range of environmental risks. Some projects have easily identifiable and measurable impacts, such as energy projects' greenhouse gas emissions. Others, such as transportation infrastructure, due to their vast geographic reach, generate more complex and potentially more extensive environmental risks. The proposed Belt and Road Initiative rail and road investments have stimulated concerns because of the history of significant negative environmental impacts from large-scale transportation projects across the globe. This paper studies environmental risks—direct and indirect—from Belt and Road Initiative transportation projects and the mitigation strategies and policies to address them. The paper concludes with a recommendation on how to take advantage of the scale of the Belt and Road Initiative to address these concerns in a way not typically available to stand-alone projects. In short, this scale motivates and permits early integrated development and conservation planning.
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A
Marine Policy
Journal Article
Many states attempt to increase the economic benefits generated from their fish resources through foreign fishing arrangements that can be characterized as trades in fishing services. This paper provides a first assessment of the net economic benefits in a static analysis from one of the oldest such arrangements in West Africa: the coastal bottom trawl fishery. Focusing on the coastal states of Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the total resource rent (RR) generated by foreign fishing in 2015 was estimated and then decomposed for the two participants in the trade: the coastal states (RRCS) and the foreign companies (RRFC). The estimated RRs in Liberia and Sierra Leone were negative, with foreign companies assumed to absorb the costs and the coastal states receiving relatively small license fees (equivalent to 5% and 8% of the total revenues from the fishery respectively). In Guinea-Bissau the lower bound of estimated RR was negative, but the country generated significant economic benefits due largely to the annual payment from the European Union under the foreign fishing access agreement. ...
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Martin W. Doyle
A Nicholas Institute Report
This is a review of a sample of In Lieu Fee (ILF) Programs through an analysis of general incentives created by the ILF Program model, and through drawing on a small sample of ILF Programs as case studies. This review focuses on the incentives created by ILF Programs as a mechanism of compensatory mitigation; while other forms of compensatory mitigation—permittee-responsible mitigation and mitigation banking—are not without their problems, there are intrinsic financial and environmental risks that are unique to ILF Programs. The insights gained from this limited review also demonstrate the need for a systematic review of ILF Programs across the U.S., particularly (a) consistency of CWA ILF Programs since the implementation of the 2008 Mitigation Rule, and (b) emerging ESA ILF Programs and their divergence from best practice principles present in the 2008 Mitigation Rule.
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A Report from the Fisheries Sustainability and Leadership Forum
The 2018 Forum convened by the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum (Fisheries Forum) explored the role of learning, evaluation, and planning in the regional fishery management council process. In the increasingly complex federal fisheries management process, councils must use their finite resources strategically to achieve their goals and objectives. The Forum explored methods for instilling strategy into the council process through short-term planning, setting goals and objectives, evaluation, and long-term planning. Discussions also examined opportunities to build strategic capacity at the individual and institutional levels.
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- February 14—Capitol Hill Briefing: "Climate Change: Examining the Science, Technology, and Policy Options." The Nicholas Institute is sponsoring this briefing. Duke University Associate Professor of Environmental Politics Megan Mullin will serve as a panelist. Capitol Visitor Center Room North 268. 4.30 p.m.
- February 21—The Energy Access Project is convening a session at Duke University in DC on "Electrification and Development: Building an Evidence-Based Electrification Agenda that Supports Productivity and Income Growth." 9 a.m.
- February 28—NESP Webinar: "Integrating Ecosystem Values into Cost-Benefit Analysis at USAID" Presenters include: Aaron Bruner (Conservation Strategy Fund); Jenny Kane (USAID Office of Forestry and Biodiversity); and Paul Oliver (USAID Office of Economic Policy). 12.30 p.m. Register here.
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InsideEPA, First Study Of ACE Emission Impacts Finds 18 States Could See More GHGs ($)
Law360, PG&E's Ch. 11 Is Climate Change Wake-Up Call For Utilities ($)
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Energy Access Project Student Opportunities
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The EAP invites proposals for student projects in Summer 2019 related to energy access in less-developed countries, with a focus on either modern technologies and fuels for cooking, or access to reliable, affordable, safe, and sustainable electricity.
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Internships at the Nicholas Institute
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From our Partners at Duke Energy Initiative
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