Department of
Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics

Economics for Climate Change

This lab develops its research in the area of the economic assessment of climate change impacts and of mitigation and adaptation policies. Investigation methods apply primarily macroeconomic models based upon the theoretical and applied underpinnings of general equilibrium and of "integrated assessment" for the "more aggregate" global, regional, sectoral analyses. The dynamics triggered at the micro level, i.e. at the household and firm level, are explored with econometrics and statistics. The research perspective is that of economics. Nonetheless, the lab aspires to, and is actually conducting, that multidisciplinary investigation that is necessary to properly quantify and understand the climatic, physical technological and social dimensions of climate change impacts. Multidisciplinary is also key to embed this analysis in the broader context of sustainability and of sustainable development.

Research group

Collaborators

  • Denitsa Angelova (Postdoc)
  • Elisa Bardazzi (PhD Student)
  • Baya Aissaoui (PhD Student)
  • Shouro Dasgupta (Adjunct Professor)
  • Gabriele Standardi (Adjunct Professor)

Collaborations

Publications

  • Dasgupta, Shouro; Robinson, Elizabeth J Z (2022), "Attributing changes in food insecurity to a changing climate" in SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, vol. 12, pp. 4709 (ISSN 2045-2322)
  • García-León D., Casanueva A., Standardi G., Burgstall A., Flouris A. D., Nybo L.
    (2021), "Current and projected regional economic impacts of heatwaves in Europe", Nature Communications, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26050-z
  • Bardazzi, E. and F. Bosello (2021), “Critical reflections on Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Computable General Equilibrium models: A systematic literature review”, Environnmental Modelling & Software,145, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105201
  • Parrado, R., Bosello, F., Delpiazzo, E., Hinkel, J., Lincke, D., and S. Brown (2020), “Fiscal effects and the potential implications on economic growth of sea-level rise impacts and coastal zone protection”, Climatic Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02664-y
  • Vesco P.; Dasgupta S.; De Cian E.; Carraro C. (2020) "Natural resources and conflict: A meta-analysis of the empirical literature"  in ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, vol. 172, pp. 106633 (ISSN 0921-8009)

Case studies

The laboratory is dealing with the relationship between physical climatic risk and sovereign risk, the economic impacts of climate change, especially the cascading effects on the European economy, the effects of decarbonisation policies on the Italian and European economy with particular emphasis on the aspects of international competitiveness.

Research projects

Climate and cultural based design and market valuable technology solutions for Plus Energy Houses

Cultural-E is a EU-funded project, which aims to define modular and replicable solutions for Plus Energy Buildings (PEBs), accounting for climate and cultural differences, while engaging all key players involved in the building life cycle.
Cultural-E will develop technologies and solution sets that are tailorable to specific contexts and energy demands, as well as performing a comprehensive optimisation of the value/cost ratio of Plus Energy Buildings.
Sets of design-for-assembly technologies will be developed through a careful mapping of European climates, building archetypes, and cultural energy habits. We are going beyond the state-of-the-art by maximising the share of the demand covered by renewable sources, towards zero emissions in the operational phase.
In a nutshell: the Cultural-E solution sets will be the result of a user-centric design process and will achieve and affordably maintain the best indoor environmental conditions in Plus Energy Buildings.

Website: https://www.cultural-e.eu/

Last update: 23/04/2024