JOSH GRAFF-ZIVIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ENVIRONMENT SAM KRUMHOLZ, RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Over the past half century, sustained global economic growth has transformed the lives of billions of individuals. Yet, this growth has come at a cost; increased economic activity has led to widespread environmental degradation including climate change, deforestation, ocean acidification and high levels of air and water pollution. Accordingly, one of the primary goals of policymakers at all levels of government is to develop policies that successfully tradeoff the benefits from increased economic activity with the costs of the environmental degradation this growth often brings.

While these costs can take many forms, the principal motivation for polices designed to protect the environment is the protection of human health. In some cases, these linkages are direct. We limit the emission of fine particular matter because it harms respiratory and cardiovascular health. In other cases, the linkages are indirect. For example, we invest in policies to protect river basin ecosystems, in part, because they improve drinking water quality and decrease soil erosion downstream. Cleaner water leads to less diarrheal disease and improved soil quality increases caloric availability that, in turn, decreases the prevalence of illness causes by malnutrition. While the latter relationships may be more difficult to assess, all of these effects form the building blocks from which the economic case for environmental protection is built.

The goal of this paper is threefold. First, we will provide a brief overview of economic perspectives on the root causes of environmental problems followed by a discussion of the common policy tools used to address them. Second, we will provide a number of case-studies from across the world to illustrate how these policies are applied in practice, describe their challenges and shortcomings, and assess their impacts on human health. The case studies will address national, regional and global efforts to protect the global commons. Finally, it should be noted that some of the greatest environmental harms have been induced by well-intentioned policy making in other domains. In the end, all policies are environmental policies. Attending to the ways in which our actions influence the state of the planet and human health is critical to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future.