Integrating economics and science for land, water and biodiversity policy. Australian government programs for land and water conservation involve expenditure of billions of dollars, combined with much larger contributions from program participants. However, various problems with these programs have been identified. This research will assist program investors to better target funding, to employ more appropriate policy mechanisms, and to operate in a cost-effective way, achieving the most highly v ....Integrating economics and science for land, water and biodiversity policy. Australian government programs for land and water conservation involve expenditure of billions of dollars, combined with much larger contributions from program participants. However, various problems with these programs have been identified. This research will assist program investors to better target funding, to employ more appropriate policy mechanisms, and to operate in a cost-effective way, achieving the most highly valued environmental outcomes that can be achieved with the available budget. The project will develop improved theories, frameworks and economic models, integrating information from physical, biological and social sciences, and decision tools for use by environmental decision makers.Read moreRead less
Sustainable reform of the Murray-Darling system: Property rights, uncertainty and institutions. The project will develop tools for the modelling of uncertainty in the absence of probabilities and with imperfect knowledge about possible events. It will also formalise and assess the precautionary principle for the sustainable management of complex systems. Finally, the project will apply these tools to analyse and improve policies for the reform of property rights, institutions and land and water ....Sustainable reform of the Murray-Darling system: Property rights, uncertainty and institutions. The project will develop tools for the modelling of uncertainty in the absence of probabilities and with imperfect knowledge about possible events. It will also formalise and assess the precautionary principle for the sustainable management of complex systems. Finally, the project will apply these tools to analyse and improve policies for the reform of property rights, institutions and land and water management in the Murray?Darling system. The project will assist in the formulation of sustainable responses to problems of drought and irrigation related salinity in the Murray?Darling system.Read moreRead less
Climate change: adaptation and resilience in the face of uncertainty. Climate change poses a wide range of challenges to Australia's agricultural sector and for the management of natural ecosystems. These challenges are recognised in the National Research Priorities 1, An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, and 4, Safeguarding Australia. The potential economic costs of climate change to vital national assets such as the Murray-Darling Basin and the Great Barrier Reef, amount to billions of do ....Climate change: adaptation and resilience in the face of uncertainty. Climate change poses a wide range of challenges to Australia's agricultural sector and for the management of natural ecosystems. These challenges are recognised in the National Research Priorities 1, An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, and 4, Safeguarding Australia. The potential economic costs of climate change to vital national assets such as the Murray-Darling Basin and the Great Barrier Reef, amount to billions of dollars per year, and ecological costs are even more significant. Uncertainty about the rate at which climate change will take place and about effects in different regions is central to the problem. This project will explore adaptive management strategies that promote resilience in the face of uncertainty.
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