Preconference Water Economics

Wednesday 24 June, 2009
(09:00 - 17:30)

Organizer and scientific coordinator:
Dr. Roy Brouwer
IVM, Department of Environmental Economics
VU University Amsterdam

A one-day preconference is organized with the aim to present and discuss recent developments and state-of-the art of European Water Economics. Click here to see the programme.

Keynote speakers

• Prof. Richard Tol, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands – The Economic Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources
• Dr. Ines Dombrowsky, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany – The Economics of International River Basin Conflict and Cooperation
• Prof. Ian Bateman, University of East Anglia, UK – Guidelines for Designing and Implementing Transferable Non-Market Valuation Studies
• Prof. John Rolfe, Central Queensland University, Australia – Pricing Water Quality Improvements with Market Based Instruments

During the preconference, also new guidelines will be presented developed for the WFD by a European research consortium of water economics experts focusing on a variety of water resource valuation issues in European river basins (www.aquamoney.org). The preconference is sponsored by the European Commission’s DG Research project AquaMoney and the Dutch Government funded program ‘Leven met Water’ (www.levenmetwater.nl).

How to register?

Participation in the preconference is free, but registration is required. Click here to download the registration form and send this to info@eaere2009.org. Those who wish to participate during the whole EAERE conference pay the usual EAERE conference registration fee.

WFD

Since 2000 the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is an important driving force behind the current European Water Economics research agenda. The WFD calls for the application of economic principles (e.g. polluter pays principle), economic methods (e.g. cost-effectiveness analysis) and for the consideration of economic instruments (e.g. water pricing methods) for achieving good status for all water bodies across European river basins and encourage sustainable water use. Investments and water resource allocations in river basin management plans have to be guided by cost recovery and cost-effectiveness criteria and the polluter pays principle. The plan formulation and assessment process must furthermore include a meaningful consultative dialogue with relevant stakeholders. Such a dialogue will inevitably raise socio-economic equity issues across the range of interest groups and therefore affect the management strategies to be chosen.