Message-ID: <85256760.007B5874.7C@WBLN0014.worldbank.org> Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 18:27:14 -0400 From: mailto:Dshaman@WORLDBANK.ORG Subject: NIPR newsletter, April 1999 To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
1 - "Using Market-Based Instruments in the Developing World: The Case of
Pollution Charges in Colombia" A PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/lacsem/columpres/
2 - Upcoming Environmental Conferences - A New NIPR Feature
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/conferences/
3 - "The Economics of Industrial Pollution Control" Research Paper
http://www.worldbank.org/work_paper/wheeler92/
4 - Research Papers on Trade-Environment Linkages Using the IPPS
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/polmod.htm#Applying
5 - New Listings for OnTheNet
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/onthenet.htm
Dear Friends:
For our update of the New Ideas in Pollution Regulation website (
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr) this month, we are please to present two entirely
new features, as well as updates to ongoing NIPR features. We hope you will
find these new additions useful.
1 - "Using Market-Based Instruments in the Developing World: The Case of
Pollution Charges in Colombia" A PowerPoint Presentation
During the summer of 1998, a NIPR team went to Colombia to analyze a new water
pollution charge program started by the Ministry of Environment. Use of
market-based instruments in developing country settings is almost unprecedented,
and offered our team with a unique opportunity to gain perspective on how this
new effort might work now. We interviewed the relevant stakeholders (Ministry
officials, local environmental regulators, industry representatives, municipal
leaders, NGO's), and had access to government databases on pollution levels
before and during the charge program. While NIPR's research analysis continues
(we expect to produce a working paper this summer), this PowerPoint presentation
provides an overview of the program with viewpoints from the major stakeholders.
The presentation will provide viewers with an insight into an innovative
pollution management effort by environmental regulators in the developing world.
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/columpres/
2 - Upcoming Environmental Conferences - A New NIPR Feature
NIPR has created a new section featuring upcoming environmental conferences. As
with the OnTheNet page of environmental web links this new section will largely
be a result of the inputs from the NIPR community. Your notices are welcomed
and encouraged. Please feel free to provide whatever supporting material you
believe is necessary for participants to receive, and we will do our best to see
that is provided for within the Environmental Conferences sections. Of
particular interest during the introduction of this section may be the "Creating
Incentives for Industrial Firms to Control Pollution in China" workshop
scheduled for May 17 and 18 in Beijing. Co-sponsored by the Professional
Association for China's Environment (PACE), China's State Environmental
Protection Administration's Policy Research Center, and the Bank's Development
Research Group, this workshop will discuss and share expertise on governmental
monitoring and enforcement issues pertaining to China. Participants will assess
the potential role of communities and consumer and capital markets in China's
changing environmental landscape. The workshop addresses many of the ongoing
themes of NIPR's research: the role of public information, disclosure, public
participation, and informal regulatory controls on environmental performance by
manufacturers. Those interested in speaking or presenting papers should contact
Hua Wang at mailto:hwang1@worldbank.org.
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/conferences/
3 - "The Economics of Industrial Pollution Control" Research Paper
We have dipped into the NIPR archives to present for the first time the
full-length version of David Wheeler's "The Economics of Industrial Pollution
Control: An International Perspective". Written in 1992, this paper laid the
foundation for much of NIPR's subsequent research. The author argues that while
there are advocates for either market-based instruments or quantitative
controls, both policy options have appropriate roles in environmental management
depending on a number of variables. These include the social values,
transaction costs, institutional capability, enterprise ownership, pollutant
risk, regional characteristics, and uncertainty in any given locale or country.
Wheeler surveys pollution control experiences in ten countries, industrialized
and developing, comparing regulatory regimes, institutions, instruments,
implementation practices and results. Among the author's conclusions were
market reputation and potential liability promoted significant cleanup in those
OECD countries which mandated emissions reporting by firms, and
command-and-control did not accurately reflect environmental management in some
settings since much pollution control featured negotiations at the plant-level,
and subsequent settlements were influenced by a wide range of variables.
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/work_paper/wheeler92/
4 - Research Papers on Trade-Environment Linkages Using IPPS
Several new papers applying NIPR's Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS)
have been made available. The IPPS is a modeling tool that estimates pollution
parameters in country-specific settings which lacked reliable environmental
information. OECD researchers have used IPPS in studies on trade and
environmental linkages in Chile, and environmental quality changes for eastern
European countries during the transition period of the early 1990's. In the
first paper, "Environmental Degradation and Public Health in Chile: Assessing
the Linkages", John Beghin, Brad Bowland, Sebastien Dessus, David Roland-Holst
and Dominique van der Mensbrugghe examine the links between trade integration,
pollution and public health in Chile. The authors synthesize a host of
economic, engineering and health data seeking two goals: to incorporate links
from trade to environment to public health indicators, rather than simply
measuring pollution incidence or other environmental variables; and to
strengthen the basis of evidence for the rapidly evolving policy debate on
trade-environment linkages. The trade integration scenarios examined include
Chile's accession to NAFTA, MERCOSUR, and unilateral opening to world markets.
Among the author's findings include: small particulate have the strongest impact
on local mortality and morbidity; and while accession to NAFTA appears to be
environmentally benign, integration via MERCOSUR and unilateral liberalization
has had a negative effect on the environment, and urban morbidity and mortality.
They conclude that taxing air pollutants, reducing trade distortions and
maintaining revenue neutrality will induce net welfare gains from reduced health
damages and increased efficiency.
In the second paper, "Transition to Markets and the Environment: Effects of the
Change in the Composition of Manufacturing Output", Beghin, Tomislav Vukina and
Ebru Solakoglu measure changes in environmental quality during the early years
of economic transition for twelve former centrally planned economies. The
empirical question addressed is whether the transition to a market-driven
economy exacerbates environment degradation, or is it the case that
environmental improvements complement economic transition. The authors conclude
results indicate a strong relationship between environmental improvement and
price liberalization, trade and foreign exchange reforms, enterprise
restructuring, and privatization reforms.
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/polmod.htm#Applying
5 - New Listings for OnTheNet
As a regular ongoing feature of the NIPR site, we have made a host of new
additions to our links page, OnTheNet. Of note in this edition of updates are
the following: the Mexico City Atmospheric Monitoring Network which provides a
variety of daily information on air quality conditions in the city, as well as
graphical data representations and visual displays of pollution levels; the
Bangladesh Environmental Network which seeks to facilitate communications
between policymakers and activists about growing degradation issues in the
country; the Greening of Industry Network seeks to create partnerships and
coordinate research effort with business, labor, academic groups on sustainable
development policies; UNEP's State of the Environment Reports provide essential
background information that is country-specific and available for many eastern
Europe and central Asian nations; and U.S. EPA's Environmental Indicators
provides the latest data on air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste
management, toxic releases, and pesticides, and is organized by state, country
and zip code.
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/onthenet.htm
We continue to receive suggestions and comments from our readers, and as always
they are appreciated. We hope you will continue to let us know interesting
ideas, trends and other bits of information, and will provide us feedback on new
papers, datasets and informational kiosks which we present. If you wish to no
longer receive our monthly mailings, please let us know by writing David Shaman
at mailto:dshaman@worldbank.org. Best wishes.