DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT
In developing countries, the poor are especially vulnerable to environmental degradation and addressing this problem is often difficult because of weak institutional capacity. Recent Resources for the Future research in developing countries has examined the performance of innovative policy approaches like public disclosure, economic incentives, and voluntary programs for reducing pollution; the environmental impacts of the small firms and how to mitigate them; and the causes of deforestation and possible policy responses.
In 2007, RFF began working with the Environmental Economics Unit at Göteborg University in Sweden to create national centers for environmental economic analysis in China, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania. Like RFF, these Environment for Development (EfD) centers aim to improve environmental and natural resource policy making by generating high quality objective research on such issues as land management, forestry, fisheries, wildlife, climate change, and environmental fiscal reform.