Policy evaluations
Beyond 2015: Long-term development and the Millennium Development Goals
More than a billion people live in poverty, without adequate food, safe drinking water or clean energy. Aimed at providing basic quality of life, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are leading on the agenda for development policies. Although substantial progress has been made over the last 15 year, the report shows this to be insufficient for achieving all goals in all regions by 2015. Many of the goals will not even be achieved by 2030. Reducing child mortality by two-thirds seems to be the most difficult target, requiring substantial additional policy efforts.
Global Environmental Assessments in 2007 and 2008
No less than four worldwide environment-related assessments were released from the fall of 2007 through to early 2008. These assessments include IPCC Climate Change 2007, UNEP Global Environment Outlook 4, OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 and the IAASTD Agriculture Assessment. All represent large or very large excercises and are focused on the world of 25 years or more into the future. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency contributed to all four assessments.
Second Sustainability Outlook
In 2008 the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency published the Second Sustainability Outlook ‘The Netherlands in a Sustainable World’. This report presents sufficient options for fighting poverty, tackling climate change and limiting the loss of biodiversity. The costs of these options can be limited to a few percent of GDP in 2040. However this will only be possible with coordinated international policies.
Sustainability Outlook
In 2004 the Environmental Assessment Agency published the Dutch Sustainability Outlook 'Quality for the Future'. This report offers a contribution to the concept of sustainability and its quantification. Sustainability is regarded to depend on both public opinion on quality of life and the scientific understanding of the functioning of humans and natural systems. An English summary is now available, as well as a congress paper (presented at European Congress of Ecological Economics, Lissabon 2005).
Evolutionary economics in policy assessment
Evolutionary economic theory offers useful tools for long term policy assessment. Short term optimalization is in this approach replaced by concepts such as path dependency, diversity, bounded rationality and innovation. Projects have run on further conceptualization as well as on exploring opportunities for evolutionary economic modelling for the environment.
