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Tradable Flood Mitigation Permits: Concept and Application in the Rhine River Basin.
- Source :
-
Georgetown International Environmental Law Review . Spring2012, Vol. 24 Issue 3, p413-447. 35p. - Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Non-coastal floods present interrelated environmental and economic problems. Floods kill thousands, interrupt business activity, and damage property and ecosystems. Floods are no longer the result of purely natural forces, but are instead, at least partly, a result of land use practices and infrastructure projects. Upstream riparians' failure to internalize the full costs of land use conversions and river projects increases the costs of floods for downstream riparians, one of two inefficiencies rectifiable through a market mechanism for floods. The spatial variation of flood risk within a basin is a second opportunity for hedging or trading solutions to improve flood-related inefficiencies This research proposes a market-based emissions trading and risk-reallocation scheme to align the costs of funding flood protections with the benefits of urbanization and to reduce the aggregate social costs of floods. Under the scheme proposed herein, riparians will create a market to trade flood rights, known as tradable flood mitigation permits (TFMP). As with other emissions trading and risk-hedging programs, the success of a TFMP program depends on minimizing transaction costs through the design of the market and corresponding regulatory system. The Rhine River Basin presents an optimal case study because international institutions already exist to manage floods in the Basin because the risk of flood losses is high and the riparians already engage in sophisticated flood mitigation and control measures. Three multilateral agreements--the European Union Flood Directive, the Action Plan on Flood Defense for the Rhine, and the Convention on the Protection of the Rhine--support a TFMP program in concept and inform the design of a proposed basin-wide TFMP program. Lessons from a TFMP program in the Rhine Basin are applicable elsewhere, such as in basins crossing sub-state boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10421858
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Georgetown International Environmental Law Review
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 88324784