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Plastic pollution has emerged as a global challenge necessitating collective efforts to mitigate its adverse environmental consequences. International negotiations are currently underway to establish a global plastic treaty. Emphasizing the need for solution-orientated research, rather than focusing on further defining the problems of widespread environmental occurrence and ecological impacts, this paper extracts insights and draws key patterns that are relevant for these international negotiations. The analysis reveals that (i) environmental rather than human health concerns have been the predominant driving force behind previous regulations targeting pollutants, and (ii) the decision to ban or discontinue the use of harmful pollutants is primarily affected by the availability of viable substitutes. These two key findings are relevant to the discussions of the ongoing Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the global plastic treaty and underscore the recognition of environmental consequences associated with plastic pollution while emphasizing the need to enhance the knowledge base of potential human health risks. Leveraging the availability of substitutes can significantly contribute to the development and implementation of effective strategies aimed at reducing plastic usage and corresponding pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a paper in this journal entitled " Fear and loathing of the deep sea: why don't people care about the deep sea? ", Jamieson et al. (2020) pose this question and answer it with many interesting perspectives from psychology, ocean literacy and philosophy. However, there is an inherent assumption in the question they ask that people do not care about the deep sea. In order to assess this assumption, we contend that the first question to ask is: do people care about the deep sea? Based on the cultural significance of the theme of the deep ocean in art and literature, the results of ocean attitudinal surveys and the work done on deep sea economic valuation in recent years, we suggest that the answer is that people do care about many different aspects of the deep sea, not only the ones that hold market value, but also non-market values. It is nonetheless argued that the welfare benefits that societies gain from the deep sea are not at the fore in political discussions or marine policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing pressure to use currently untapped resources in the deep sea, raising questions regarding ecosystem service trade‐offs in these often unknown areas. We assessed the trade‐offs between protection of cold‐water coral reefs and economic activities, such as fisheries and petroleum extraction, through a survey of a representative sample of the populations of Norway and Ireland. Choice‐experiment surveys were conducted in workshop settings and through the internet. Both survey approaches provided some similar results, such as preferences for protection. Our cross‐country comparison showed the general public in Norway and Ireland was willing, despite possible conflict with extractive and consumptive economic activities in the deep sea, to protect cold‐water corals as habitat for fish. On average, people were willing to pay NKr 341 and NKr 424 for a small and large increase in protected areas respectively, and NKr 880 if the area is important habitat for fish, all else held equal. However, there was large variation across individuals and countries. Norwegian respondents valued pure existence of cold‐water corals more than the Irish respondents, and the latter were less willing to trade off industrial activities than the former. Nonetheless, the findings support conservation of cold‐water corals and more generally of ocean environments that provide habitat for fish, which the current deep sea governance systems are not adequately designed or sufficiently well‐structured to secure. Article impact statement: There is broad public support for nonuse values of cold‐water corals and for securing supporting services for fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a three-way split sample discrete choice experiment (DCE) to investigate welfare estimates for attributes related to the management of coastal cod stocks in Arctic Norway. In a base DCE design, respondents faced three core attributes: (1) coastal cod spawning biomass as an indicator of the sustainability of the cod stocks, (2) stricter regulations on primary user groups (commercial fishers, local recreational anglers, the marine fishing tourism industry), and (3) annual household cost. In two experimentally varied DCE designs, respondents received a fourth attribute that explicitly describes the expansion of the marine fishing tourism industry in the region. In treatment 1, the expansion is represented by the number of coastal cod caught by marine fishing tourists as an indicator of the industry's environmental impact. In treatment 2, the expansion is represented by the number of new jobs as an indicator of the industry's socioeconomic impact. These two attribute translations, designed to be perfectly correlated, serve as an instrument for testing a choice architecture - value activation framework recently proposed in the management science literature. Mixed logit estimation results indicate that welfare estimates vary significantly across choice architectures, both statistically and economically. Additional regression analyses of conditional welfare estimates and respondents' status quo choices yield mixed evidence of value activation. The overall message of the study is that DCE researchers should be cognizant of their role as choice architects when advising public resource managers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare two discrete choice experiments eliciting willingness-to-pay (WTP) for increased cold-water coral protection in Norway using valuation workshops and an internet panel survey with videos. The video presentation provides the same visual presentation of information about the good and valuation task as in the valuation workshop. In doing so, we are the first to compare these survey modes. The two survey modes perform equally well with respect to sampling, but the internet survey gives significantly lower WTP estimates. We identify a large number of status quo (SQ) choosers in the internet survey that partly explain this result. Furthermore, respondents who speed through the survey questionnaire, and believe the survey to be inconsequential are more likely to be SQ choosers. While an internet survey is a fast and cost-effective way of obtaining a representative population sample, the potential biases in the valuation of complex and unknown environmental goods outlined here should be carefully addressed in future internet panel surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's largest concentration of cold-water coral (CWC) is found off the Norwegian coast. Most CWC discoveries are recent, posing new challenges for Norwegian coastal and fishery authorities regarding the management of deep-sea resources. Scientific knowledge of CWC is limited, and many citizens have not even heard about them. This creates problems for the application of the stated preference methods to capture their economic value, and very few such studies have been conducted. To fill this gap, we designed a discrete choice experiment, which was implemented in a valuation workshop setting in order to derive estimates of participants' willingness to pay (WTP) for increasing the protection of CWC. Despite the fact that marine industries such as oil/gas and fisheries could be adversely affected by CWC protection, this did not reduce the respondents' willingness to pay for further protection. The possibility that CWCs play an important role as habitat for fish was the single most important variable to explain respondents' WTP for CWC protection. The survey revealed a high degree of preference heterogeneity, while we found an average WTP for CWC protection in the range of EUR 274–287. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) sets the guidelines for the management of European fisheries. The CFP is revised every 10 years, and the last two revisions have laid the groundwork for extending stakeholder participation in European Union fisheries management. The fishery industry and nongovernmental organization (NGOs) especially are recommended to be given greater influence. In this paper we report results from an international survey on fisheries stakeholders' preferences for the three pillars of sustainable fisheries activities as defined in the CFP: ecological, economic, and social. Results of the survey show that industry member preferences were significantly different from the preferences of authorities, scientists, and NGOs. The preferences of the three latter groups did not vary significantly across stakeholder group. This raises the question of what consequences the planned stakeholder involvement in the CFP may have, given the preferences revealed in our survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and purpose: There are several cost–benefit evaluations of introducing new technology for administrative purposes in the health care sector. Whereas some of these recognise the importance of adapting the working procedures to the new technology, very few look into the consequences of delays in adaptation to the new technology. In this paper, we focus on the consequences of keeping old working procedures, although new technology is implemented. Methods: Based on on-site observations we have estimated the economic gains of implementing electronic message exchange in the health care sector depending on which working procedures are applied. Then we continue by using a dynamic cost–benefit analysis (CBA) in order to take into account that conversion to new working procedures takes place over time, and we demonstrate the loss in potential gains due to such a delay. Results: Keeping working procedures fit to old technology when new technology is implemented may imply that only between 40 and 50% of the potential time savings (benefits) are realised. In a dynamic perspective, the keeping of double procedures for 10 years and more will jeopardise the economic gains for surgeries, whereas hospitals still may have an economic gain. The delay in conversion to new working procedures implies that only 50% of the dynamic net present value of the gains is realised. The longer it takes before the old procedures are abandoned the lower is the dynamic net present value of the gains. This is due to the discounting of future gains. Conclusions: These are all arguments for emphasising and putting resources into training and motivation programs for employees when new technology is being implemented. Limitations of the study: We have only considered quantifiable effects of electronic message exchange in the health care sector, and only for hospitals and surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a descriptive comparative analysis of features related to emergence and design among 14 Rights of Nature (RoN) case studies worldwide. For analysis, we develop a schematic roadmap in which we categorise RoN into case studies with public guardianship and ones with appointed guardians (termed Environmental Legal Personhoods (ELPs) with further sub-categories of indirect, direct and living ELPs). Our findings suggest that RoN case studies emerged under similar circumstances where existing governance structures had been unable to protect natural environments from continued economic (urban, agricultural and industrial) activity by multiple economic actors. The strong role of local community and Indigenous Peoples in advocacy for RoN point to a divide between in situ communities and external economic agents, allowing for eco-centric value systems to emerge in juxtaposition to existing governance structures. We find that the design of RoN, however, varies in geographical entity, legal framework, legal status and guardianship. Poorly defined liability of guardians and economic agents have led to the overturning of two case studies, which stands in contrast to well-defined rights and liabilities in other case studies, suggesting that attention to liability may be an important building block for the effectiveness of RoN to protect biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its remoteness, marine plastic pollution is a significant environmental problem in the Arctic. In Svalbard, for example, plastics are found on the shorelines, in the water column, on the ocean floor and in the ice. Organisms have been observed to be entangled in nets and ingestion of plastics has been documented in a range of organisms. Notably almost all Arctic bird species have been found to have ingested plastic, with Northern fulmars being particularly affected, with 89 % of samples recorded as having ingested plastic. Identification and valuation of ecosystem services affected by marine plastic pollution can provide input for decision makers in evaluating and comparing management policies concerning this unique environment. This study employs the contingent valuation method (CVM) for eliciting the willingness to pay (WTP) of Norwegian households for reducing marine plastic pollution around the archipelago of Svalbard. An Integrated Choice and Latent Variable model (ICLV) is employed to explore attitudinal determinants of WTP. We find an average WTP for an initiative to reduce marine plastics of NOK 5,485 (USD 642) per household per year. The ICLV results reveal that people who are relatively more concerned about marine plastic pollution and who deem the proposed initiative effective are willing to pay more (up to 85 % and 50 %, respectively). The use of ICLV models in CVM and recommendations for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to indirect support to fisheries, marine habitats also provide non-use benefits often overlooked in most bioeconomic models.We expand a dynamic bioeconomic fisheries model where presence of natural habitats reduces fishing cost via aggregation effects and provides non-use benefits. The theoretical model is illustrated with an application to cold-water corals in Norway where two fishing methods are considered-destructive bottom trawl and non-destructive coastal gear. Non-use values of cold-water corals in Norway are estimated using a discrete choice experiment. Both the theoretical model and its empirical applications demonstrate how non-use values impact optimal fishing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The TPB model explains from 62% to 76% of the variance in the intention to consume Norwegian salmon. • The model explains from 6% to 24% of the behaviour across the control and treatment groups. • Attitudes positively affect consumers' intentions and behaviour in Italy, France and Poland. • Information affects the correlation between attitude and intention with health and environmental beliefs. • Negative information more strongly affects consumers' attitudes and intentions. This study provides empirical evidence on the drivers affecting Norwegian salmon consumption in three European countries – Italy, Poland, and France – using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). We also highlight the effects of positive and negative information about the sustainability of salmon farming on consumers' perceptions and behaviour. The empirical study was conducted using an online survey with representative samples of French (n = 748), Italian (n = 771) and Polish (n = 756) consumers. A treatment including neutral, positive, and negative information was applied using a between-subjects design in the three countries. This study confirms the role of attitudes in affecting consumers' intentions, and consequently, behaviour. We show that negative information more strongly affects consumers' attitudes and intentions than positive one, as the negative information frame modifies the structural paths in the studied countries. Newly available negative information also affects the way that attitude and intention correlate with the individuals' prior health and environmental beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design and conduct a field experiment in which treated subjects receive a precise and objective signal regarding their knowledge about a public good before estimating their WTP for it. We find that the causal effect of objective signals about the accuracy of a subject׳s knowledge for a public good can dramatically affect their valuation for it: treatment caused a significant increase of $85–$129 in WTP for well-informed individuals. We find no such effect for less informed subjects. Our results imply that WTP estimates for public goods are not only a function of true information states of the respondents but beliefs about those information states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]