Externality Research in the Area of Agriculture and Its Impact on German Policy-Making

Transcription

1 Externality Research in the Area of Agriculture and Its Impact on German Policy-Making Holger Gerdes Ecologic Institute

2 Relation to PhD topic Multi-criteria evaluation of ecosystem services as decision support in climate and nature protection politics 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 2

3 Contents EU agriculture externalities Policy context Research on agriculture externalities Results from the interviews Policy impacts of research Analysis of policy impacts identified Recommendations 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 3

4 Media Concerned Negative external effects Positive external effects Water Input of pesticides Water accumulation and supply Input of nitrogen (N) Flood protection Input of phosphates Recycling and fixation of nutrients Transfer of zoonoses - Air and climate change Carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ) Carbon sequestration (soil, biomass) Ammonia emissions (NH 3 ) - Nitrous oxide emissions (N 2 O) - Methane emissions (CH 4 ) - Soil Erosion due to missing soil cover - Salinisation caused by improper irrigation practices - Contamination by dangerous substances (organic pollutants, - pesticides) Compaction due to use of heavy - Biodiversity and Landscape machinery Decline in soil organic matter due to missing crop rotation or arable stubble management Habitat destruction Loss of landscape elements Loss of genetic diversity among agricultural crops - Support of wildlife dwelling Conservation of agricultural landscape and aesthetic value Recreation and amenity EU agriculture externalities 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 4

5 EU agriculture externalities Characteristics that complicate an assessment: their costs are often neglected they often occur with a time lag they often damage groups whose interests are not represented the identity of the producer of the externality is not always known Implications on the perceived usability of research results 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 5

6 EU agricultural policy 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 6

7 EU agricultural policy Initial aim: support to European farmers through subsidies and price guarantees 1992 MacSharry reform shift away from market subsidation to income payments substantially increased the importance of European agri-environmental policy within the CAP Current programming period ( ): 300 bln for first pillar vs bln for second pillar 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 7

8 Research on agriculture externalities EU level Agricultural policies subject to ex-ante impact assessment (CBA, CEA or MCA) Research projects (FP6): MethodEx (monetary estimates), SEAMLESS (indicator development), SENSOR (ex-ante policy assessment) Service contracts by individual DGs of the European Commission, EEA 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 8

9 Research on agriculture externalities Germany Waibel & Fleischer (1998): External costs of pesticide use in Western Germany: 128 per year, commissioned by Federal Ministry of Agriculture Korbun et al. (2004): External costs related to the production of pork: 50 per pig Political culture in Germany is sceptical of economic and monetary assessments as tools for policy analysis Research commissioned by ministries and public agencies focuses on material flows and physical parameters 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 9

10 Research on agriculture externalities United Kingdom Pretty et al. (2000): total external costs of UK agriculture (1996): 2.7 bln or 238 per ha Hartidge & Pearce (2001): positive externalities offset half of the negative effects Further research commissioned by DEFRA, Environment Agency 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 10

11 Interviews Three broad questions: 1. What is the current state of knowledge? What sort of evidence does exist (qualitative, quantitative, monetary)? Is the existing evidence sufficient to inform policy? 2. How is the existing evidence used in policy-making? Are there examples of policy impacts? If yes, which valuation techniques have been applied in these cases? 3. What can be done to increase the uptake of research results? What are promising areas of research? How should research results be designed to ensure their uptake in policymaking? 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 11

12 Interviews 20 phone interviews conducted (Summer 2009) Governmental institutions: Federal Ministry of Agriculture Ministries of agriculture at the Länder level Federal authorities in charge of the environment European Commission (DG Environment and DG Agriculture) European Environment Agency (EEA) Science and academia: University departments of agricultural and resource economics University departments of agricultural and rural policy Agricultural research institutes Civil society: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Policy consultancies and think tanks Trade associations 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 12

13 Policy impacts identified Direct use: only quantitative results (e.g. material flows) were used Conceptual use: awareness raising, input for discussion, determining the framework for argumentation Political use: justification of decisions (but: vulnerable to tactically motivated dismissals of results, e.g. value transfer, up and downscaling) 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 13

14 Analysis: explanatory factors Level of knowledge and experience of externality data Perception of the robustness and relevance of externality research ( how to measure agriculture externalities? ) Vulnerability of research results to criticism and dismissal Perceived lack of relevance of results for the policy process Characteristics of the agricultural policy sector in the EU Political agenda and political will over time Time constraints and work load 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 14

15 Recommendations Technical Consensus on methodology Credibility of the research group Transparency of underlying assumptions Importance of region-specific results Institutional Results should be delivered close to practical implementation requirements Focus on proposing instruments to address the issues highlighted Communication efforts need to be improved 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 15

16 Conclusions Few valuation studies have been commissioned by public agencies No direct use of externality valuations in German policy-making Main explanation: scepticism towards valuation techniques Consensus among experts interviewed that a huge potential exists for externality research to influence agricultural policy processes in the future, particularly once methodological issues have been solved Comparison: what happens with research results in the UK? 14 July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 16

17 Thank you. Holger Gerdes Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Str , D Berlin Tel. +49 (30) , Fax +49 (30) July 2010 EXIOPOL Summer School San Servolo Island, Venice 17