Experts Valuating the Climate Change Policies in Greece: Self-Interested Versus Ethically Motivated Values

Vasileios Markantonis,Kostas Bithas

doi:10.5539/enrr.v4n4p109

Abstract

Understanding and estimating the climate change costs has been in focus of the scientific community in the last years, whereas several studies are dealing with this challenging issue. In this context, the present paper aims at valuating the climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in Greece. To achieve that, we carried out a contingent valuation survey. In addition it explores the coexistence of ethically motivated values and self-interested values held by Greek climate experts, a condition in economics underlying the existence of the “Bergson-Tintner-Samuelson (BTS) value formulation effect”. This is an experimental attempt in recent valuation literature and carries significant implications for the valuation issue and its policy implications. The results indicate that ethically motivated values of crucial environmental functions such as climate far exceed the individualistic ones. Furthermore, the coexistence of public ethically-based values alongside self-interested ones supports earlier findings in the literature and indicates that solely self-interested individual values do not reflect the real welfare contribution of crucial environmental functions and, therefore, should not form the exclusive guide for environmental policy.

Highlights

According to the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, Greece, as a geographical part of the Mediterranean, appears to be an area highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change
Understanding and estimating the climate change costs has been in focus of the scientific community in the last years, whereas several studies are dealing with this challenging issue
The present paper aims at valuating the climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in Greece

Summary

Introduction

According to the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, Greece, as a geographical part of the Mediterranean, appears to be an area highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The Report marks out Southern Greece as one of the regions potentially most affected, an evolution expressed mainly through increased incidence of heat waves and droughts (IPCC, 2013). The severity of those climate change impacts indicates the need for comprehensive mitigation and adaptation policy measures in Greece. The paper investigates the existence of the “Bergson-Tintner-Samuelson (BTS) value formulation effect” for climate change costs. This theory suggests that people hold two categories of values for public environmental goods: those motivated by private preferences and those driven by social preferences (Ami et al, 2014). It is the first time in recent literature that the BTS effect, which has significant implications for the valuation problem itself and for its policy relevance, has been investigated in connection with the valuation of environmental goods and services

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