Current and past research projects

Current research on environmental policy and governance

Combining qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the socio-economic and land use/deforestation impact of soy bean production in the Amazon. A 3-year Nuffield New Career Development Fellowship (Diana Weinhold and Evan Killick)

The ties that diffuse? Scrutinising the role of dyadic linkages in cross-national environmental spillovers (2008-2009)
The over-arching aim of this research is to examine the influence of different transnational ties on the cross-national “spillover” of environmental innovations and outcomes. It seeks to provide a better understanding of the links between globalisation and domestic environmental sustainability using more spatially-disaggregated statistical techniques for a range of transnational linkages; funded by ESRC. (Richard Perkins, Eric Neumayer)

Regulating Nanotechnologies in the EU and US: Towards Effectiveness and Convergence
A collaborative project between the London School of Economics and Chatham House in the UK and the Environmental Law Institute Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the US, funded by a European Commission grant (2008-09). The purpose of this project is to investigate the regulatory challenges posed by nanotechnologies and to assess the effectiveness of existing approaches in the US and EU. The project takes a comparative perspective and seeks to contribute to the early identification of regulatory methodologies and best practices that promote transatlantic regulatory congruence and harmonization. (Robert Falkner)

Regional Collaboration on Renewable Energy in the Middle East
Funded by NATO’s Security through Science Programme, this research addresses the renewable energy needs of selected Middle Eastern countries (Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon), the market for renewables within the region, and the institutional conditions for increased collaboration on investment in, and uptake of, renewable energy technologies. Informed by a 2008 workshop convened at LSE, featuring the participation of leading energy experts from the Middle East and North Africa, the findings are to be published in the forthcoming (2008) Springer volume co-edited by Dr Mason, Enhancing Security in the Middle East through Regional Collaboration on Renewable Energy. (Michael Mason)

Adaptation of farming communities in the Jordan basin to climate change
This project evaluates the level of resilience to, and state protection from, projected climatic pressures for selected vulnerable communities in each of the five Jordan River riparian states – Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The evaluation focuses empirically on water use – for example, the vulnerability of rain-fed farming communities to reductions in water availability or access, along with an assessment of state actions directly affecting the water entitlements and use of the selected communities. The understanding of the communities’ respective capacity to adapt is seen to hold key policy implications. Funding is currently being sought for the field component of this research. (Michael Mason with Mark Zeitoun)

Sustainable development in extractive industry host communities (2007-2009) Latest Information [pdf]
Funded by the Alcoa Foundation and in partnership with Business-Community Synergies this applied research project will develop a community-company assessment training programme that will seek to enhance the negotiation capacity of host communities so that they receive net benefits from corporate operations, and maximise development gains within the context of a rapidly globalising world. In three phases, the project will test the training programme at five global sites and disseminate the research results at an international conference hosted at LSE. LSE masters students, Alcoa Foundation Conservation & Sustainability Fellows and other experts will be involved with the documentation and implementation of the field work and project outcomes will be shared through an online learning network. (James Van Alstine)

The Political Economy of Deforestation in Indonesia
(Robin Burgess with Benjamin Olken and Stefanie Sieber)

Climate Change and Death in India
(Robin Burgess with David Donaldson and Michael Greenstone)

Does Conflict Lead to Environmental Degradation? Evidence from Sierra Leone
(Robin Burgess with Edward Miguel)

The dynamics of deforestation and economic growth
A household survey based econometric analysis of the use of fire as a source of land use change in the Brazilian Amazon (Larissa Chermont with Diana Weinhold)

Soya Expansion, land clearing and poverty in the Brazilian Amazon
(Weinhold with Eustaquio Reis)

Soy bean cultivation and its socio-economic consequences: a qualitative and quantitative analysis
(Weinhold with Evan Killick)

Causal forces of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Does size matter?
(Weinhold with Eustaquio Reis and Danilo Igliori)

Critical Political Ecology: the politics of environmental science
An analysis of how environmental science is embedded in society and politics and an appraisal of contemporary ways of integrating natural and social environmental sciences, in a variety of contexts: international arenas, local community participation, and development projects (Tim Forsyth)

Co-operative Environmental Governance and Public-Private Partnerships in Asia
An assessment of the political institutions underlying new environmental investment in the field of climate change and new energy technologies in city areas. The project seeks to identify how far models of local environmental governance and public-private co-operation from the USA can be transferred to India, China, the Philippines and Thailand, and how far the experiences in these countries may influence debates and policy elsewhere; funded by the ESRC (Tim Forsyth)

Environmental Technology and the Private Sector
A quantitative study of nine developing countries worldwide to identify the driving forces behind the technological change and the relative role of the state, self-regulation from industry, and social pressures; funded and commissioned by UNIDO (Tim Forsyth)

Social vulnerability to environmental risk and livelihood change in Asia and Africa
Household studies of economic and social processes through which safety nets, social capital and coping mechanisms against environmental and economic shocks are developed. Conducted in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development and the World Bank. Also funded by the ESRC (John Harriss, Markus Goldstein)

The Local and the Global: Environmental Knowledge and Social Movements in Thailand
An assessment of environmental civil society in one rapidly industrialising country to identify how far social movements can communicate so-called ‘local’ environmental knowledge successfully to policymaking institutions; funded by the ESRC (Tim Forsyth)

The World Bank and the greening of international institutions
The production of a book and papers concerning the internal politics and policy processes through which international organizations such as the World Bank and World trade Organization identify, adopt, and implement environmental policies. (Robert Wade)

Urban governance, environmental risk and social capital
A series of studies looking at local coping mechanisms and networks that mitigate livelihood and environmental risks in rapidly growing cities in Pakistan, India, and South Africa. Planned to be extended to new regions. Funded by ESRC and UK Department for International Development. (Jo Beall)

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) vs. cost-benefit analysis in appraising potential UK air quality policies
DEFRA and the Environment Agency are sponsoring work to compare how multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) compares with cost-benefit analysis in appraising potential UK air qualtiy policies. Three workshops using MCDA provided a basis for making the comparison and showed how MCDA could extend appraisals beyond monetary criteria, taking into account, for example, health effects. The contact for this work was let to Catalyze Ltd, Enterprise LSE's first spin-off company, which provides decision analytic services and software. (Larry Phillips)

Recent and past research projects

Public Accountability for Transnational Environmental Harm
A new conceptualisation of environmental accountability informed this study of selected global regimes of harm prevention and liability. It featured research on the international oil pollution liability regime, transnational environmental activism and World Trade Organisation engagement with environment non-governmental organisations (funded by the British Academy). The findings were published as The New Accountability: Environmental Responsibility Across Borders (London: Earthscan, 2005). (Michael Mason)

Greening the multilateral trade and investment regime
A project, partly financed by the Consumer Unit and Trust Society (CUTS), New Delhi, looking at ways to green the multilateral framework governing trade and investment flows that could find the support of developing countries (Eric Neumayer)

Modelling Opportunities and Limits for Restructuring Europe Towards Sustainability
An EU-funded project linking teams in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Norway and the UK, that aims to formulate sustainability scenarios and analyses environmental, social and economic impacts of key European environmental policy options and instruments, such as fiscal and subsidy reform, tradeable permits, environmental agreements and trade rulers (Eric Neumayer)

Cross-country differences in environmental commitment
A World Bank-funded project between International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, and LSE that looked at determinants of cross-country differences in revealed environmental commitment as measured by various proxy indicators. Parts of the research were undertaken for a background paper for the World Development Report 2003 (Eric Neumayer)

Sustainable Construction project, 2004-2006

Population, Environment, and Technologies in India
A long-term investigation into trends of demographic change, environmental pressures and the impacts of technological change in India, with projections for the future. Conducted with colleagues from India, Imperial College and Cambridge University. Funded by the Wellcome Trust. (Tim Dyson and Robert Cassen)

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