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Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) |
Sponsored by NOAA/OGP, the Institute was designed to introduce economists in research and policy positions to a body of information relevant to research on economic aspects of climate variability and climate change. Although the economics research community has displayed growing interest in policy questions relating to possible global warming, most economists are unfamiliar with the atmospheric sciences and with the various aspects of climate as a natural resource. This has hindered their contribution to research relevant to understanding the economic implications of climate variability and global change.
More than 50 participants attended (click here for a list), including economics faculty members and graduate students from major U.S. and Canadian universities, U.S. and Canadian government employees, private consultants, and UCAR/NCAR scientists.
The Institute served both as an information source and as a community-building forum. As one aspect of this community development, the Institute led to the establishment of an e-mail list for the ongoing exchange of ideas. The list is administered by Miller and Parkin.
The Interrelationship Between Science and Values. Dale Jamieson (University of Colorado-Boulder) received a Faculty Fellowship from the Council on Research and Creative Work at the University of Colorado to support him during a visit to ESIG.
During FY95 he has been preparing a book on the interrelation between science and values, with a focus on global change. The manuscript provided the basis for numerous talks and papers, as well as seminars and lectures in Australia, Europe, and the U.S. These include Monash University, Australian National University, Griffiths University, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, and the University of California at San Diego. In addition, it provided the basis for a seminar at Oxford University and a lecture at Oxford's Global Change Unit.
Jamieson also made presentations at professional meetings, including the Society for the Social Studies of Science. Several papers relevant to the issue have been published during or were in press at the end of FY95.
Corporate Accountability in Greenhouse Gas Production. Mason researched and wrote a paper entitled "Why Corporate Nationality Matters: Accountability, Development, and Greenhouse Gases." This paper examines the issues of nationality and accountability of transnational corporations for their roles in industrialization and greenhouse gas production in developing countries. A manuscript was submitted to World Development and is presently a work in progress.
Trend Data and Industrialization. Mason continued work on a research paper begun FY94 entitled, "What Trend Data Doesn't Show About Industrialization." This paper discusses the activities of transnational corporations in developing countries that are not reflected in trend data on industrialization. Aluminum production, along with subsequent greenhouse gas emissions, is examined as a case study. The paper has been revised and resubmitted to Global Environmental Change, and is currently under review.
Global Change Science and Usable Policy Information. In a paper which was presented at Yale University's Annual Policy Sciences Institute in October 1994, Pielke Jr. argued that atmospheric science policy development could not occur on a foundation of scientific research alone. He examined the cases of global change, ozone depletion, and acid rain to assess the relationship of atmospheric science and national policy development.
This paper examines both the trends in the structure and performance of policy-related atmospheric science programs and projects the likely impacts of current changes on U.S. science policy for future atmospheric science programs with stated societal benefit goals. Instead of relying solely on science to inform policy, a process must be instituted which serves to integrate the results of research with actions in response to actual and potential societal problems.
The paper also argues that systematically useful information for policy development related to atmospheric science will not come either from policy analysts or other social scientists, but rather through a process that involves scientists, social scientists, and the user communities.
CC: TRAIN Project. ESIG researchers contributed to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) program. UNITAR trains policy-makers in developing countries on how to prepare National Implementation Strategies to meet goals set by the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC).
Glantz coordinated the preparation of the Guidelines for Developing a Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment, with the involvement of Betsill, Elizabeth Collins (Denver University), Mason, and Pielke Jr. These Guidelines define vulnerability, adaptation, and the benefits for conducting an assessment. Methodologies for assessment were devised, and practical steps were developed to ready a country team for assessment.
ASR 1995 Home Page
ESIG Home Page
www.esig.ucar.edu
ESIG / NCAR, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 USA
Tel (303) 497-8117; Fax (303) 497-8125
jan@ucar.edu
