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Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted because they can solve different pursued aims together with providing an additional array of multiple ecosystem services or co-benefits. Nevertheless, their implementation is still being curbed by several barriers, for example, a lack of examples, a lack of finance, and a lack of business cases. Therefore, there is an urgent need to facilitate the construction of business models and business cases that identify the elements required to capture value. These are necessary to catalyze investments for the implementation of NBS. This article presents a tool called a Natural Assurance Schemes (NAS) canvas and explains how it can be applied to identify business models for NBS strategies providing climate adaptation services, showing an eye-shot summary of critical information to attract funding. The framework is applied in three case studies covering different contexts, scales, and climate-related risks (floods and droughts). Finally, a reflective analysis is done, comparing the tool with other similar approaches while highlighting the differential characteristics that define the usefulness, replicability, and flexibility of the tool for the target users, namely policymakers, developers, scientists, or entrepreneurs aiming to promote and implement NAS and NBS projects.
Beatriz Mayor; Pedro Zorrilla-Miras; Philippe Coent; Thomas Biffin; Kieran Dartée; Karina Peña; Nina Graveline; Roxane Marchal; Florentina Nanu; Albert Scrieciu; Javier Calatrava; Marisol Manzano; Elena López Gunn. Natural Assurance Schemes Canvas: A Framework to Develop Business Models for Nature-Based Solutions Aimed at Disaster Risk Reduction. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1291 .
AMA StyleBeatriz Mayor, Pedro Zorrilla-Miras, Philippe Coent, Thomas Biffin, Kieran Dartée, Karina Peña, Nina Graveline, Roxane Marchal, Florentina Nanu, Albert Scrieciu, Javier Calatrava, Marisol Manzano, Elena López Gunn. Natural Assurance Schemes Canvas: A Framework to Develop Business Models for Nature-Based Solutions Aimed at Disaster Risk Reduction. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (3):1291.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBeatriz Mayor; Pedro Zorrilla-Miras; Philippe Coent; Thomas Biffin; Kieran Dartée; Karina Peña; Nina Graveline; Roxane Marchal; Florentina Nanu; Albert Scrieciu; Javier Calatrava; Marisol Manzano; Elena López Gunn. 2021. "Natural Assurance Schemes Canvas: A Framework to Develop Business Models for Nature-Based Solutions Aimed at Disaster Risk Reduction." Sustainability 13, no. 3: 1291.
The economic literature on Payments for Environmental Services (PES) has studied extensively the behavioural factors that prevent farmers from signing PES contracts, even when the payments exceed the expected opportunity costs. This article provides a theoretical model of the role played by the interplay of descriptive and injunctive social norms in farmers’ decisions. When they choose to contribute voluntarily to an environmental public good, farmers may be driven by descriptive norms akin to conformity (do as the majority of their peers) as well as by injunctive norms (in line with what society expects them to do), which are the equivalent of a social injunction to act in favour of the environment. The interactions between these two social norms can yield multiple equilibria, depending on the relative weight of the descriptive norm (sensitivity to conformism) and of the injunctive norm (sensitivity to moral pressure) in the utility functions of farmers. More generally, our model can explain why social groups are sometimes trapped in low public-good-contribution equilibria, even when public subsidies to contributors are high. We make policy recommendations to help reach higher contribution equilibria, with a specific focus on the farm policy context.
Philippe Le Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer. Farmers Follow the Herd: A Theoretical Model on Social Norms and Payments for Environmental Services. Environmental and Resource Economics 2021, 78, 287 -306.
AMA StylePhilippe Le Coent, Raphaële Préget, Sophie Thoyer. Farmers Follow the Herd: A Theoretical Model on Social Norms and Payments for Environmental Services. Environmental and Resource Economics. 2021; 78 (2):287-306.
Chicago/Turabian StylePhilippe Le Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer. 2021. "Farmers Follow the Herd: A Theoretical Model on Social Norms and Payments for Environmental Services." Environmental and Resource Economics 78, no. 2: 287-306.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted as a means to address societal and environmental challenges, especially flood risk reduction. In the context of rapidly urbanizing catchments, NBS can take part of the development of sustainable cities, either by conserving peri-urban ecosystems from urban sprawl or by developing green infrastructure in the cities. Both can provide a wide range of co-benefits (e.g., climate regulation, air quality regulation), but also generate some negative effects (e.g., mobility issues, unsafety, allergens). We develop and implement a Discrete Choice Experiment survey to analyse people’s perception of co-benefits and negative effects, and associated preferences for the two types of NBS at a catchment scale. The results obtained from 400 households living in a French Mediterranean catchment highlight that people associate numerous co-benefits to NBS, but also negative effects. Our estimations reveal that resident households are ready to contribute large amounts through a tax increase for the development of NBS (from 140 to 180 EUR/year, on average). There is however a strong heterogeneity of preferences at the catchment scale influenced by income, location of the respondent along an urban–rural gradient, and perception of the importance of ecosystem services. These differences may reflect urban environmental inequalities at the catchment scale, which are important to take into account in order to avoid distributive inequalities.
Cécile Hérivaux; Philippe Le Coent. Introducing Nature into Cities or Preserving Existing Peri-Urban Ecosystems? Analysis of Preferences in a Rapidly Urbanizing Catchment. Sustainability 2021, 13, 587 .
AMA StyleCécile Hérivaux, Philippe Le Coent. Introducing Nature into Cities or Preserving Existing Peri-Urban Ecosystems? Analysis of Preferences in a Rapidly Urbanizing Catchment. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (2):587.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCécile Hérivaux; Philippe Le Coent. 2021. "Introducing Nature into Cities or Preserving Existing Peri-Urban Ecosystems? Analysis of Preferences in a Rapidly Urbanizing Catchment." Sustainability 13, no. 2: 587.
Sylvain Chabé-Ferret; Philippe LE Coent; Arnaud Reynaud; Julie Subervie; Daniel Lepercq. Can we nudge farmers into saving water? Evidence from a randomised experiment. European Review of Agricultural Economics 2019, 46, 393 -416.
AMA StyleSylvain Chabé-Ferret, Philippe LE Coent, Arnaud Reynaud, Julie Subervie, Daniel Lepercq. Can we nudge farmers into saving water? Evidence from a randomised experiment. European Review of Agricultural Economics. 2019; 46 (3):393-416.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSylvain Chabé-Ferret; Philippe LE Coent; Arnaud Reynaud; Julie Subervie; Daniel Lepercq. 2019. "Can we nudge farmers into saving water? Evidence from a randomised experiment." European Review of Agricultural Economics 46, no. 3: 393-416.
Biodiversity offsetting (BO) claims to slow down biodiversity loss caused by development projects by generating ecological gains mainly through restoration activities conducted on land acquired to this effect. This leads to social conflicts around accessing land, especially with farmers and other land-users. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the opportunities and challenges of implementing BO by involving farmers through contracts akin to agri-environmental or stewardship schemes to produce ecological gains. We call them Agri-environmental Biodiversity Offsets Schemes (ABOS) and conduct an empirical analysis of a large ABOS program implemented for a new railway line in Southern France. We examine the effectiveness of ABOS through a survey carried out with 145 farmers and find that the main determinants of ABOS acceptability are: i) socio-economic factors, ii) social norms, iii) trust with contracting institutions, and iv) ease of integration in farm activities. Although ABOS allow developers to meet their legal requirements, major concerns are raised about additionality, especially through the manifestation of windfall effects, long-term permanence, and non-compliance with contract requirements. We conclude with policy recommendations and research perspectives to improve the implementation of ABOS for both nature and people.
Coralie Calvet; Philippe LE Coent; Claude Napoleone; Fabien Quétier. Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France. Ecological Economics 2019, 163, 113 -125.
AMA StyleCoralie Calvet, Philippe LE Coent, Claude Napoleone, Fabien Quétier. Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France. Ecological Economics. 2019; 163 ():113-125.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCoralie Calvet; Philippe LE Coent; Claude Napoleone; Fabien Quétier. 2019. "Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France." Ecological Economics 163, no. : 113-125.
In the economic literature on the motivations underlying voluntary contributions to environmental public goods, little attention is granted to the way the overall objective of the environmental program is framed. A program which contributes to an increase of environmental quality can be perceived differently from a program designed to bring back the environmental quality to its original level, after it was damaged by human intervention. How does it impact participation rates and contribution levels? This paper addresses this issue in the context of agri-environmental schemes for biodiversity conservation. It compares farmers' willingness to participate in two contracts, one being framed as part of a biodiversity offset program, the other one as part of a biodiversity conservation program. We demonstrate with a discrete choice experiment that biodiversity-offsets programs need to offer a higher payment to enroll farmers compared to biodiversity conservation programs. This result is essentially driven by farmers who declare to have organic practices
Philippe LE Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer. Compensating Environmental Losses Versus Creating Environmental Gains: Implications for Biodiversity Offsets. Ecological Economics 2017, 142, 120 -129.
AMA StylePhilippe LE Coent, Raphaële Préget, Sophie Thoyer. Compensating Environmental Losses Versus Creating Environmental Gains: Implications for Biodiversity Offsets. Ecological Economics. 2017; 142 ():120-129.
Chicago/Turabian StylePhilippe LE Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer. 2017. "Compensating Environmental Losses Versus Creating Environmental Gains: Implications for Biodiversity Offsets." Ecological Economics 142, no. : 120-129.
Philippe LE Coent. Effect of social information on farmers' irrigation decisions. AEA Randomized Controlled Trials 2017, 1 .
AMA StylePhilippe LE Coent. Effect of social information on farmers' irrigation decisions. AEA Randomized Controlled Trials. 2017; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StylePhilippe LE Coent. 2017. "Effect of social information on farmers' irrigation decisions." AEA Randomized Controlled Trials , no. : 1.
The permanence of land management practices adopted under agri-environmental schemes (AESs) is often questioned. This paper investigates the drivers of farmers’ decisions as to whether to maintain “proenvironment” practices beyond the duration of a contract, and in particular the effect of social norms. Our results, based on the stated intentions of 395 French farmers, show that both pecuniary and nonpecuniary motivations drive farmers’ decisions, which are also significantly influenced by information about a social norm. Therefore “nudging” farmers, by conveying information to them on other farmers’ proenvironmental practices, appears to be a means of maintaining the long-run benefits of AESs. (JEL Q18, Q28)
Laure Kuhfuss; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer; Nick Hanley; Philippe LE Coent; Mathieu Désolé. Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes. Land Economics 2016, 92, 641 -655.
AMA StyleLaure Kuhfuss, Raphaële Préget, Sophie Thoyer, Nick Hanley, Philippe LE Coent, Mathieu Désolé. Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes. Land Economics. 2016; 92 (4):641-655.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLaure Kuhfuss; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer; Nick Hanley; Philippe LE Coent; Mathieu Désolé. 2016. "Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes." Land Economics 92, no. 4: 641-655.
This chapter focuses on the shortcomings of contract design of European agri-environmental schemes (AES), with special emphasis on the need for more collective actions. The AES financed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are mostly based on individual voluntary contracts signed between farmers and state authorities: farmers make a commitment to adopt pro-environmental farming practices and get a financial compensation in return, for a five-year period. However, the environmental outcomes of European AES have been disappointing. Evaluation reports point out, among other things, the weak rate of farmers' enrolment, especially in the most vulnerable areas. When environmental benefits increase non-linearly with environmental efforts, or require specific spatial configuration, low and scattered participation can be insufficient to trigger environmental improvements and public money is spent in vain. Moreover, it is well known that the adoption of new agricultural practices often follows an S-shaped curve and by encouraging the early adopters, one can accelerate the diffusion of desirable practices. This chapter therefore focuses on how European AES can be re-designed in order to include incentives for greater enrolment and more coordinated action without increasing their costs. It provides examples of how various member states have implemented such measures.
Laure Kuhfuss; Philippe LE Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer; Jeffrey Bennett. Agri-Environmental Schemes in Europe: Switching to Collective Action. Protecting the Environment, Privately 2015, 273 -293.
AMA StyleLaure Kuhfuss, Philippe LE Coent, Raphaële Préget, Sophie Thoyer, Jeffrey Bennett. Agri-Environmental Schemes in Europe: Switching to Collective Action. Protecting the Environment, Privately. 2015; ():273-293.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLaure Kuhfuss; Philippe LE Coent; Raphaële Préget; Sophie Thoyer; Jeffrey Bennett. 2015. "Agri-Environmental Schemes in Europe: Switching to Collective Action." Protecting the Environment, Privately , no. : 273-293.