SOEE 5582: Tools and Techniques in Ecological Economics
Assignment 2: Research report and supporting materials
Topic: Environment-Society Interactions
(50% of final grade, estimated time: 47 hours)
Aims and objectives
· Critical understanding of environment-society interactions (IPAT/Kaya, Stirpat analysis)
· Ability to perform and interpret calculations using Python
· Formulation of a research report
Country choice: Sign up for a country using the sign-up form and instructions on Minerva
Austria
Chile
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Guatemala
India
Indonesia
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Malta
Mexico
Nigeria
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom
Zambia
Submission deadline: Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 2 pm
Reports should be submitted electronically through Minerva, with supporting materials (e.g. Jupyter notebooks) submitted by email to the topic leader (Milena Buchs) before the deadline. The standard university penalty of 5 marks per day (including weekends) will be applied for late submission. Any request for an extension should be made to the SEE student support office on SEE- .uk before the submission deadline.
Topic Leader for Environment-Society Interactions: Dr Milena Buchs (m.m. .uk)
Writing and referencing
A high standard of writing and critical analysis is expected for this assignment. You are strongly encouraged to prepare an early draft of your report, have it reviewed by a fellow student, friend, or at one of the university’s writing workshops, and incorporate any edits prior to submission.
Students are expected to use the university’s version of the Harvard referencing style (and to reference rigorously!). Guidance on how to include citations within text and how to reference different types of material using the Harvard style is provided at: http://library.leeds.ac.uk/referencing.
Report structure
The 2000-word report should be structured like an academic paper. You are encouraged to follow this general structure:
1. Introduction: should include aims and objectives, project structure, choice and justification of data selection, critical understanding of the wider literature (both directly relevant and background material for context).
2. Methodology: should include a clear description of the methodology used, as well as a critical discussion of the strengths and limitations of the methodology.
3. Results: should include a description of the results obtained (as well as relevant graphs, tables, and figures), a critical evaluation of the results obtained and an understanding of their uncertainties and limitations.
4. Discussion and Conclusion: should include a critical interpretation of your results, both with respect to your specific objectives and the wider existing literature, and a synthesis of the main conclusions.
Supporting materials
As well as the 2000 word report, students should email the relevant topic leader any supporting materials they used for processing their data, e.g. Jupyter notebooks.
Environment-Society Interaction option (topic leader: Dr Milena Buchs m.m. .uk)
Assignment
This analysis involves two components: one dynamic, focussing on data over time from a single country; and one cross-country component, considering international data for 1 year.
Kaya analysis dynamic component: use the national data you’ve been provided with (sign up for this on Minerva):
1. Derive from the existing database the intensive/extensive indicators you need for your analysis, while keeping careful track of transforming to the appropriate units (and record the units of your new variables).
2. Conduct a Kaya analysis on either consumption-based or territorial CO2 emissions (or both) to explain the drivers of the overall trends (see Raupach et al 2007 for an example for conducting a Kaya analysis). Analyse the data using statistical analysis and graphical representations, presenting extensive and intensive indicators that are relevant to environmental policy, as well as growth rates over the analysis period. Use a variety of plots/tables to show trends over time.
3. Create two scenarios to the year 2050:
a. a business-as-usual scenario assuming recent trends continue; and
b. a “transition to sustainability” scenario where carbon emissions are reduced to sustainable levels (e.g. within IPCC carbon cumulative budgets, see https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-the-ipcc-1-5c-report-expanded-the-carbon-budget, especially this graph:
and references therein for a summary, see also Figueres et al 2017 below). Consider the allowance of your country on a per capita or per GDP basis: in 2013
i. the total world population was 7,182 million persons,
ii. the total world PPP GDP was 101 trillion dollars,
iii. the total world real GDP was 71 trillion dollars.
Remember to discuss the budget and scenarios in the context of your last year of data and time of writing. Discuss how the two scenarios differ, and what changes would be needed to achieve the transition to sustainability. You could also discuss differences in the economic or per capita allocation regimes.
Cross-country component: Use the CCXX data provided to you. The XX stands for the year (this will be randomly assigned to you).
4. Using the tools presented in the lectures and exercises, conduct a STIRPAT type of analysis for territorial and consumption based carbon emissions and material use, using different drivers for each. Discuss the results, taking into account the territorial or consumption-based property of the metric (see Lamb et al 2014 & Steinberger et al 2010 as examples).
5. Using the same year, conduct a Gini coefficient analysis of various environmental and economic indicators, and discuss the results also in the context of your STIRPAT analysis (see Steinberger et al 2010 for an example).
6. Write up an individual report of your findings. Be sure to connect your results to the wider literature, and include a critical discussion of the advantages and limitations of the methods you have used.
References:
Jackson T 2019: Zero Carbon Sooner—The case for an early zero carbon target for the UK. CUSP Working Paper No 18. Guildford: University of Surrey.
Figueres, C., H. J. Schellnhuber, G. Whiteman, J. Rockström, A. Hobley and S. Rahmstorf (2017). “Three years to safeguard our climate.” Nature 546: 593–595.
Hoekstra, A. Y. and T. O. Wiedmann (2014). “Humanity’s unsustainable environmental footprint.” Science 344(6188): 1114-1117.
Lamb, W. F., J. K. Steinberger, A. Bows-Larkin, G. P. Peters, J. T. Roberts and F. R. Wood (2014). “Transitions in pathways of human development and carbon emissions.” Environmental Research Letters 9(1): 014011.
ND Rao, J Min, A Mastrucci – Nature Energy, 2019 Energy requirements for decent living in India, Brazil and South Africa
Raupach, M. R., G. Marland, P. Ciais, C. Le Quere, J. G. Canadell, G. Klepper and C. B. Field (2007). “Global and regional drivers of accelerating CO2 emissions.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(24): 10288-10293.
Teixidó-Figueras, J., J. K. Steinberger, F. Krausmann, H. Haberl, T. Wiedmann, G. P. Peters, J. A. Duro and T. Kastner (2016). “International inequality of environmental pressures: Decomposition and comparative analysis.” Ecological Indicators 62: 163-173.
Steinberger, J. K., F. Krausmann and N. Eisenmenger (2010). “Global patterns of material use: a socioeconomic and geophysical analysis.” Ecological Economics 69(5): 1148-1158.
Assessment
In each of these categories, the presentation of the work (e.g. written style, clarity of expression, correct use of references, consistent referencing system, spelling, grammar and layout) will be assessed.
1
Introduction (20 %)
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Fail
Clarity of aims and objectives
Research project structure (coherence and flow)
Critical understanding of literature and wider context
2
Methodology (20 %)
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Fail
Critical understanding of Social Metabolism and Environmental Accounting (including strengths and limitations of the methodology)
Choice and justification of data
Application of statistical, IPAT/KAYA and scenario methods (assessed through the supporting material you email us, e.g. data, code, etc.)
3
Results (30 %)
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Fail
Description and presentation of results obtained from applying statistical, IPAT/KAYA and scenario methods
Critical evaluation of your results, both in themselves and in the context of the wider literature
Analysis of uncertainties and limitations
4
Discussion and conclusion (30 %)
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Fail
Critical interpretation of your results, both with respect to your specific objectives and the wider existing literature
Synthesis of the main conclusions
SOEE 5582
: Tools and Techniques in
Ecological Economics
Assignment
2
:
Research report and supporting materials
Topic:
Environment
–
Society Interactions
(
50% of final grade
, estimated time: 47 hours
)
Aims an
d o
bjectives
·
Critical understanding of
environment
–
society interactions (IPAT/Kaya, Stirpat analysis)
·
Ability to perform and interpret calculations using
Python
·
Formulation of a research report
Country choice
:
Sign up for a country using the sign
–
up
form
and instructions on Minerva
Austria
Chile
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Guatemala
India
Indonesia
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Malta
Mexico
Nigeria
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom
Zambia
Submission deadline:
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
, 2 pm
Reports should be submitted
electronically through
Minerva
, with supporting materials (e.g.
Jupyter
notebooks
)
submitted by email to the topic leader
(Milena Buchs)
before the deadline. The standard
university penalty of 5 marks per day (including weekends) will be applied for late
s
ubmission. Any
request for an extension should be made to
the
SEE
student support
office
on
SEE
–
.uk
before the submission deadline.
Topic Leader for Environment
–
Society
Interactions: Dr Milena Buchs (
m.m. .uk
)
Writing and
r
eferencing
A high standard of writing and critical analysis is
expected for this assignment.
You are strongly
encouraged to prepare an early draft of your
report
, have it reviewed by a fellow student, friend, or
at one of the university’s writing workshops, and incorporate any edits prior to submission.
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SOEE 5582: Tools and Techniques in Ecological Economics
Assignment 2: Research report and supporting materials
Topic: Environment-Society Interactions
(50% of final grade, estimated time: 47 hours)
Aims and objectives
Critical understanding of environment-society interactions (IPAT/Kaya, Stirpat analysis)
Ability to perform and interpret calculations using Python
Formulation of a research report
Country choice: Sign up for a country using the sign-up form and instructions on Minerva
Austria
Chile
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Guatemala
India
Indonesia
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Malta
Mexico
Nigeria
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom
Zambia
Submission deadline: Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 2 pm
Reports should be submitted electronically through Minerva, with supporting materials (e.g. Jupyter
notebooks) submitted by email to the topic leader (Milena Buchs) before the deadline. The standard
university penalty of 5 marks per day (including weekends) will be applied for late submission. Any
request for an extension should be made to the SEE student support office on SEE-
.uk before the submission deadline.
Topic Leader for Environment-Society Interactions: Dr Milena Buchs (m.m. .uk)
Writing and referencing
A high standard of writing and critical analysis is expected for this assignment. You are strongly
encouraged to prepare an early draft of your report, have it reviewed by a fellow student, friend, or
at one of the university’s writing workshops, and incorporate any edits prior to submission.