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We study the incorporation of ecosystem services in German water infrastructure planning exemplified by a projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel. Therefore, we recalculate the project's benefit-cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services: i) the restoration costs of a planned mitigation measure for a loss in fresh water supply for agricultural production in the estuary, ii) costs of loss in habitat services by transferring the willingness to pay between a contingent valuation study to the area assessed in the environmental impact assessment, and iii) the benefits of emission savings induced by more efficient shipping taking a marginal abatement cost approach. We find that the inclusion of monetary values for ecosystem service changes leads to a substantial drop in the benefit-cost ratio and consequently argue for a reform of the standard to facilitate more complete welfare assessments.

Diese Dissertation untersucht die Anreizwirkungen ökologischer Finanzausgleichsysteme auf die Ausweisung von Schutzgebieten. Mittels eines mikroökonomischen Modells werden die Potenziale eines ökologischen Finanzausgleiches für solch eine fiskalische Anreizsetzung im Naturschutz aufgezeigt und daraus überprüfbare Hypothesen generiert. Entsprechende empirische Nachweise einer Anreizwirkung in den existierenden ökologischen Finanzausgleichsystemen in Brasilen und Portugal werden durch Pandeldatenregressionen und Zeitreihenanalysen erbracht. Darüber hinaus werden drei konkrete Vorschläge für mögliche Anpassungen des Instrumentes auf föderaler, supranationaler und globaler Ebene durch quantitative Simulationen und unter Betrachtung der spezifischen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen entwickelt. Damit erbringt die Dissertation eine evidenzbasierte Grundlage für Politikempfehlungen hinsichtlich der Gestaltung ökologischer Finanzausgleichsysteme. ; This dissertation analyses incentive effects in ecological fiscal transfers for the designation of protected areas. The potential of ecological fiscal transfers to set such fiscal incentives for nature conservation is displayed through a microeconomic model that generates testable hypothesis. Corresponding empirical evidence of an incentive effect is provided by panel data regressions and time series analyses of existing ecological fiscal transfer systems in Brazil and Portugal. Moreover, three tangible proposals for potential adaptations of the instrument to federal, supra-national, and global levels are developed through quantitative simulations that take the specifics of the institutional frameworks into account. Thereby, this dissertation provides an evidence based foundation for policy advice for the design of ecological fiscal transfer systems.

Diese Dissertation untersucht die Anreizwirkungen ökologischer Finanzausgleichsysteme auf die Ausweisung von Schutzgebieten. Mittels eines mikroökonomischen Modells werden die Potenziale eines ökologischen Finanzausgleiches für solch eine fiskalische Anreizsetzung im Naturschutz aufgezeigt und daraus überprüfbare Hypothesen generiert. Entsprechende empirische Nachweise einer Anreizwirkung in den existierenden ökologischen Finanzausgleichsystemen in Brasilen und Portugal werden durch Pandeldatenregressionen und Zeitreihenanalysen erbracht. Darüber hinaus werden drei konkrete Vorschläge für mögliche Anpassungen des Instrumentes auf föderaler, supranationaler und globaler Ebene durch quantitative Simulationen und unter Betrachtung der spezifischen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen entwickelt. Damit erbringt die Dissertation eine evidenzbasierte Grundlage für Politikempfehlungen hinsichtlich der Gestaltung ökologischer Finanzausgleichsysteme. ; This dissertation analyses incentive effects in ecological fiscal transfers for the designation of protected areas. The potential of ecological fiscal transfers to set such fiscal incentives for nature conservation is displayed through a microeconomic model that generates testable hypothesis. Corresponding empirical evidence of an incentive effect is provided by panel data regressions and time series analyses of existing ecological fiscal transfer systems in Brazil and Portugal. Moreover, three tangible proposals for potential adaptations of the instrument to federal, supra-national, and global levels are developed through quantitative simulations that take the specifics of the institutional frameworks into account. Thereby, this dissertation provides an evidence based foundation for policy advice for the design of ecological fiscal transfer systems. ; vorgelegt von Nils Droste

To halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, various actors including companies need to engage, but it is not yet clear what drives voluntary business commitments. We explore leverage points that might increase corporate action for conservation. We apply a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behaviour to analyse data from 618 German companies, collected through an online-survey in 2019. We show that a favourable attitude, driven by perceived business relevance and benefit prospects, fosters engagement. Perceived difficulties, such as lacking finances and knowledge, hinder the engagement. Customers, employees and the general public are presently the only stakeholder groups that drive corporate conservation engagement. Nevertheless, the expectation levels of virtually all stakeholders were found to be quite low and as such inadequate for the ecological crisis we face. We discuss how political will and goal setting can encourage more widespread business support for the natural environment.

To halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, various actors including companies need to engage, but it is not yet clear what drives voluntary business commitments. We explore leverage points that might increase corporate action for conservation. We apply a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behaviour to analyse data from 618 German companies, collected through an online-survey in 2019. We show that a favourable attitude, driven by perceived business relevance and benefit prospects, fosters engagement. Perceived difficulties, such as lacking finances and knowledge, hinder the engagement. Customers, employees and the general public are presently the only stakeholder groups that drive corporate conservation engagement. Nevertheless, the expectation levels of virtually all stakeholders were found to be quite low and as such inadequate for the ecological crisis we face. We discuss how political will and goal setting can encourage more widespread business support for the natural environment.

Portugal has a unitary system in which the central government transfers funds to lower government levels for their public functions. In 2007, Portugal introduced Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT), where municipalities receive transfers for hosting Protected Areas (PA). We study whether introducing EFT in Portugal incentivized municipalities to designate PA and has led to a decentralization of conservation decisions. We employ a Bayesian structural time series approach to estimate the effect of introducing EFT in comparison to a simulated counterfactual time series. Quantitative results show a significant increase in the ratio of municipal and national PA designations following Portugal's EFT introduction. The analysis furthermore places emphasis on the importance of relevant municipal conservation competencies and the role of local decision makers' motivations for PA designations. Results have important implications for conservation policy-making in terms of allocating budgets and competencies in multi-level governments.

The continuous emergence of new ideas and terms simultaneously enables and impedes the advancement of sustainability, because of an increasingly complex conceptual landscape. This study aims at highlighting combinations of sustainability concepts (circular, green and bioeconomy) and of development models (growth, steady-state, degrowth) which selected researchers have considered priorities for pursuing sustainability transformations. Thirteen leading scholars working on sustainability issues were asked to rank 36 statements describing activities related to either circular, green, bio, growth, steady-state or degrowth economy. Using Q methodology, an exploratory approach to the identification of shared or diverging opinions, three archetypical perspectives were identified across the respondents: 1. circular solutions towards economic-environmental decoupling in a degrowth perspective; 2. a mix of circular and green economy solutions; 3. a green economy perspective, with an emphasis on natural capital and ecosystem services, and critical towards growth. Economic growth was perceived negatively across all perspectives, in contrast to the current lack of political and societal support for degrowth ideas. Neither did bioeconomy-oriented activities have support among the participating researchers, even though half of the respondents were working with bioeconomy issues, which are currently high on the political agenda. The lack of support for pro-growth and bioeconomy solutions are unexpected results given the current political discourses. While the results are not to be generalised beyond the sample, they provide valuable orientation for emerging and under-investigated research and policy directions. If bioeconomy policies are to be implemented on a broader scale, it seems worthwhile evaluating the acceptability of the bioeconomy agenda among various societal actors. Furthermore, our results point to the (still under-explored) potential of formulating synergic circular, green and bioeconomy policies, possibly without a focus on economic growth. ; Peer reviewed

Portugal has a unitary system in which the central government transfers funds to lower government levels for their public functions. In 2007, Portugal introduced Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT), where municipalities receive transfers for hosting Protected Areas (PA). We study whether introducing EFT in Portugal incentivized municipalities to designate PA and has led to a decentralization of conservation decisions. We employ a Bayesian structural time series approach to estimate the effect of introducing EFT in comparison to a simulated counterfactual time series. Quantitative results show a significant increase in the ratio of municipal and national PA designations following Portugal's EFT introduction. The analysis furthermore places emphasis on the importance of relevant municipal conservation competencies and the role of local decision makers' motivations for PA designations. Results have important implications for conservation policy-making in terms of allocating budgets and competencies in multi-level governments.

We study the incorporation of ecosystem services in German water infrastructure planning exemplified by a projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel. Therefore, we recalculate the project's benefit-cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services: i) the restoration costs of a planned mitigation measure for a loss in fresh water supply for agricultural production in the estuary, ii) costs of loss in habitat services by transferring the willingness to pay between a contingent valuation study to the area assessed in the environmental impact assessment, and iii) the benefits of emission savings induced by more efficient shipping taking a marginal abatement cost approach. We find that the inclusion of monetary values for ecosystem service changes leads to a substantial drop in the benefit-cost ratio and consequently argue for a reform of the standard to facilitate more complete welfare assessments.