About the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Environmental Economics Unit

The Environmental Economics Unit (EEU) works to integrate environment and economic considerations in the decision-making process within the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. The Unit has a central role in supporting work on Australian Government environmental policy objectives with economic analysis. It is similarly important to ensure that economic policies take into account environmental considerations.

Specifically EEU develops policies and provides advice on issues such as:

• ecological and environmental economics;
• social and economic impact assessment (advice for Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999);
• sustainable development;
• market incentives, economic instruments and natural resource property rights and pricing;
• extended cost-benefit analysis and environmental accounting; and
• applied economic research.

Capacity Statement

The EEU capacity statement sets out the unit's mission statement, technical and analytical expertise, a precis of sample work and contact details.

Market Based Instruments

The EEU provides one of the Australian Government representatives on the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council's Market Based Instruments Working Group. This group oversights the National Market Based Instruments Pilots Programme. More about the National Market Based Instruments Pilots Programme

Publications

Work undertaken by the Environmental Economics Unit has produced a number of reports, conference proceedings and submissions.

Environmental Economics Research Papers

• Second Environmental Economics Round Table Proceedings Convened by Senator Robert Hill Minister for the Environment and Heritage - No. 7, 2000
• Environmental Economics Round Table Proceedings Convened by Senator Robert Hill Minister for the Environment - No. 6, 1997
• Environmental Incentives Australian Experience with Economic Instruments for Environmental Management - No. 5, 1997
• Estimating Values of Australia's Native Forests - No. 4, 1996
• More with Less: Initiatives to Promote Sustainable Consumption - No. 3, 1996
• Subsidies to the Use of Natural Resources - No. 2, 1996

Environmental Economics Seminar Series

• Consumption and the Environment
• Equity and the Environment
• Environmental Policy and International Competitiveness
• Taxation and the Environment

Other publications

• Techniques to Value Environmental Resources: an Introductory Handbook
• A Revolving Fund for Biodiversity Conservation in Australia - (Submission to OECD (1999) Handbook of Incentive Measures for Biodiversity: Design and Implementation, OECD, Paris, France)