Biodiversity conservation can alter the ecosystems and ecosystem services that are vital for human well-being. Understanding this linkage is essential for management planning to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their values to human well-being.

Biomass burning of agricultural field residue (stalks and stubble) during wheat and rice harvesting periods in the Indo-Gangetic plains has led to substantial emission of trace gases and particles. This paper seeks to address the regulation of emissions from open field burning of rice residue in Punjab, India by first uncovering the factors that explain on field residue burning of rice residue in Punjab. The results suggest that the use of a combine harvester was the single most important determinant of the decision to burn rice residue.

Hotter years are associated with lower economic output in country-level data. We show that the effect of temperature on labor is an  important part of the explanation. Using high-frequency micro data from selected firms in India, we find that worker productivity on hot days declines by 2 to 4 percent per degree celsius. Sustained heat also increases worker absenteeism.

India’s primary concern in the climate negotiations is to avoid having to make commitments it may come to regret. While this is a concern for all countries to some degree, it is much greater in a low-income country because the human and political cost of slowing economic growth is enormous at low income levels. Fortunately, the need for secure energy access, and to a lesser extent, local environmental concerns, are driving Indian policy in the direction of a massive expansion of renewable energy.

It is well-recognized that new technology is a crucial part of any solution to the problem of climate change. But since investments in research and development take time to mature, price and quantity instruments, i.e., carbon taxes and cap-and-trade, run into a commitment problem. We assume that the government cannot commit to the level of a policy instrument in advance, but sets the level to be optimal ex-post.

Access to safe drinking water is limited in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) at household level is among the primary sources of drinking water in the region and is widely practiced throughout Southeast Asia. It has recently been increasingly advocated as an alternative or supplemental approach to household water supply. However, relatively little research has been done on current RWH practices and attitudes. We interviewed residents of 619 households in three provinces to understand the current practice of and preferences for rainwater harvesting.

Farmers’ risk preferences play an important role in agricultural production decisions. This study characterizes risk preferences among farmers in Yongqiao and determines how these risk preferences are related to their choices regarding climate change adaptation strategies. We find that most farmers in the study area were aware of climate change. They were taking measures to protect their livelihoods against perceived changes to the local climate. The risk experiment result shows that the representative subject was risk averse, and women were more risk averse than men.