TY - JOUR A1 - Kalkuhl, Matthias A1 - Fernandez Milan, Blanca A1 - Schwerhoff, Gregor A1 - Jakob, Michael A1 - Hahnen, Maren A1 - Creutzig, Felix T1 - Can land taxes foster sustainable development? BT - An assessment of fiscal, distributional and implementation issues JF - Land use policy : the international journal covering all aspects of land use N2 - Economists argue that land rent taxation is an ideal form of taxation as it causes no deadweight losses. Nevertheless, pure land rent taxation is rarely applied. This paper revisits the case of land taxation for developing countries. We first provide an up-to-date review on land taxation in development countries, including feasibility and implementation challenges. We then simulate land tax reforms for Rwanda, Peru, Nicaragua and Indonesia, based on household surveys. We find that (i) land taxes provide a substantial untapped potential for tax revenues at minimal deadweight losses; that (ii) linear land value taxes tend to put a high relative burden on poor households as land ownership is pervasive; (iii) non-linear tax schemes could avoid adverse effects on the poor; and that (iv) with technological advances, administrative costs of land taxes have reduced substantially and are outweighed by tax revenues and co-benefits of formalized land tenure. Enforcement and compliance remain, however, a key challenge. KW - Fiscal policy KW - Public economics KW - Optimal taxes KW - Tax incidence KW - Land use Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.008 SN - 0264-8377 SN - 1873-5754 VL - 78 SP - 338 EP - 352 PB - Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Diluiso, Francesca A1 - Walk, Paula A1 - Manych, Niccolo A1 - Cerutti, Nicola A1 - Chipiga, Vladislav A1 - Workman, Annabelle A1 - Ayas, Ceren A1 - Cui, Ryna Yiyun A1 - Cui, Diyang A1 - Song, Kaihui A1 - Banisch, Lucy A. A1 - Moretti, Nikolaj A1 - Callaghan, Max W. A1 - Clarke, Leon A1 - Creutzig, Felix A1 - Hilaire, Jerome A1 - Jotzo, Frank A1 - Kalkuhl, Matthias A1 - Lamb, William F. A1 - Löschel, Andreas A1 - Müller-Hansen, Finn A1 - Nemet, Gregory F. A1 - Oei, Pao-Yu A1 - Sovacool, Benjamin K. A1 - Steckel, Jan Christoph A1 - Thomas, Sebastian A1 - Wiseman, John A1 - Minx, Jan C. T1 - Coal transitions - part 1 BT - a systematic map and review of case study learnings from regional, national, and local coal phase-out experiences JF - Environmental research letters N2 - A rapid coal phase-out is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, but is hindered by serious challenges ranging from vested interests to the risks of social disruption. To understand how to organize a global coal phase-out, it is crucial to go beyond cost-effective climate mitigation scenarios and learn from the experience of previous coal transitions. Despite the relevance of the topic, evidence remains fragmented throughout different research fields, and not easily accessible. To address this gap, this paper provides a systematic map and comprehensive review of the literature on historical coal transitions. We use computer-assisted systematic mapping and review methods to chart and evaluate the available evidence on historical declines in coal production and consumption. We extracted a dataset of 278 case studies from 194 publications, covering coal transitions in 44 countries and ranging from the end of the 19th century until 2021. We find a relatively recent and rapidly expanding body of literature reflecting the growing importance of an early coal phase-out in scientific and political debates. Previous evidence has primarily focused on the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, while other countries that experienced large coal declines, like those in Eastern Europe, are strongly underrepresented. An increasing number of studies, mostly published in the last 5 years, has been focusing on China. Most of the countries successfully reducing coal dependency have undergone both demand-side and supply-side transitions. This supports the use of policy approaches targeting both demand and supply to achieve a complete coal phase-out. From a political economy perspective, our dataset highlights that most transitions are driven by rising production costs for coal, falling prices for alternative energies, or local environmental concerns, especially regarding air pollution. The main challenges for coal-dependent regions are structural change transformations, in particular for industry and labor. Rising unemployment is the most largely documented outcome in the sample. Policymakers at multiple levels are instrumental in facilitating coal transitions. They rely mainly on regulatory instruments to foster the transitions and compensation schemes or investment plans to deal with their transformative processes. Even though many models suggest that coal phase-outs are among the low-hanging fruits on the way to climate neutrality and meeting the international climate goals, our case studies analysis highlights the intricate political economy at work that needs to be addressed through well-designed and just policies. KW - climate change mitigation KW - coal transitions KW - evidence synthesis KW - political economy KW - systematic map Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1b58 SN - 1748-9326 VL - 16 IS - 11 PB - Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP) CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ramakrishnan, Anjali A1 - Kalkuhl, Matthias A1 - Ahmad, Sohail A1 - Creutzig, Felix T1 - Keeping up with the Patels BT - conspicuous consumption drives the adoption of cars and appliances in India JF - Energy research & social science N2 - End-users base their consumption decisions not only on available budget and direct use value, but also on their social environment. The underlying social dynamics are particularly important in the case of consumer goods that implicate high future energy demand and are, hence, also key for climate mitigation. This paper investigates the impact of social factors, with a focus on 'status perceptions', on car and appliance ownerships by urban India households. Using two rounds of the household-level data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS, 2005 and 2012), we test for the impact of social factors in addition to economic, demographic, locational, and housing on ownership levels. Starting with factor analysis to categorise appliances by their latent characteristics, we then apply the bivariate ordered probit model to identify drivers of consumption among the urban households. We find that while income and household demographics are predominant drivers of car and appliance uptake, the household's perception of status, instrumented by a variable measuring expenditure on conspicuous consumption, emerges as a key social dimension influencing the uptake. The results indicate how households identify themselves in society influences their corresponding car and appliance consumption. A deeper understanding of status-based consumption is, therefore, essential to designing better demand-side solutions to low carbon consumption. KW - Residential energy demand KW - Perceived socioeconomic status KW - Social KW - drivers KW - Energy policy KW - Car ownership KW - Appliance diffusion Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101742 SN - 2214-6296 SN - 2214-6326 VL - 70 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wenz, Leonie A1 - Kalkuhl, Matthias A1 - Steckel, Jan Christoph A1 - Creutzig, Felix T1 - Teleconnected food supply shocks JF - Environmental research letters N2 - The 2008-2010 food crisis might have been a harbinger of fundamental climate-induced food crises with geopolitical implications. Heat-wave-induced yield losses in Russia and resulting export restrictions led to increases in market prices for wheat across the Middle East, likely contributing to the Arab Spring. With ongoing climate change, temperatures and temperature variability will rise, leading to higher uncertainty in yields for major nutritional crops. Here we investigate which countries are most vulnerable to teleconnected supply-shocks, i.e. where diets strongly rely on the import of wheat, maize, or rice, and where a large share of the population is living in poverty. We find that the Middle East is most sensitive to teleconnected supply shocks in wheat, Central America to supply shocks in maize, and Western Africa to supply shocks in rice. Weighing with poverty levels, Sub-Saharan Africa is most affected. Altogether, a simultaneous 10% reduction in exports of wheat, rice, and maize would reduce caloric intake of 55 million people living in poverty by about 5%. Export bans in major producing regions would put up to 200 million people below the poverty line at risk, 90% of which live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results suggest that a region-specific combination of national increases in agricultural productivity and diversification of trade partners and diets can effectively decrease future food security risks. KW - food security KW - trade shocks KW - vulnerability KW - climate change KW - teleconnections Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035007 SN - 1748-9326 VL - 11 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER -