Environment research programme

The ESRI has an Environment Research Programme in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency.  The goal of the programme is to provide robust evidence for environmental policy, focusing on the interface between social and economic processes and the environment. The economy has profound effects on the environment, for example when firms and households emit pollutants or land use patterns change.  The behaviour of individuals and firms towards the environment is complex and not fully understood.  Taxes, subsidies, information provision and regulatory policies may influence these effects, so it is important that policymakers be well informed about existing influences and options for the future. Effects flow in the opposite direction as well: the environment affects the health and well-being of individuals in important ways.  Where data on individuals’ health outcomes and socioeconomic conditions can be combined with local environmental factors, it is possible to explore the causal links between the environment and public health more fully than before. We draw on existing data as well as conducting experiments and collecting evidence in the field across a wide range of topics.  This research is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here are the current areas being studied in the programme:

• Health and well-being benefits of a clean and healthy environment and environmental amenities in Ireland
• Designing and testing behaviourally informed regulatory communications
• Green innovations and export performance
• The effects of investment in environmental protection on firms’ productivity
• Measuring the health and well-being benefits of being a citizen scientist
• Hedonic research on the value of urban green spaces
• Environmental market failures – spatial and land use planning