Assessing the economic value of Posidonia oceanica (L.) at Tremiti Islands (Mediterranean Sea): An ecosystem condition-based approach.

In the context of limiting global warming, the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) gained the centrality of several international climate change mitigation projects being the most effective carbon storage sink among Mediterranean seagrasses. To assess and monitor the change of environmental conditions and economic values of natural resources, the present study moves from the insights of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting to assess the economic value of the carbon sequestration and storage capacity of the Mediterranean-endemic seagrass P. oceanica at the Tremiti Islands Marine Protected Area. The economic value is compared across: i. the reference study by Pergent-Martini et al.; ii. the ecological condition-based approach; and iii. the unit value transfer. Based on the obtained outcomes, an ecosystem-based approach would prevent biases in the accounting of the ecosystem-service provision capacity of P. oceanica and help the policy maker to implement adequate public investment policies to mitigate its overall degradation.

Market-based tools for a plastic waste reduction policy in agriculture: A case study in the south of Italy.

The 2018 European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy identifies a set of actions to reduce plastic waste in the EU in the near future. To implement this strategic view, appropriate policy tools need to be identified within Member Countries. The present work aims at investigating farmers' attitudes towards the use of traditional market-based tools (i.e. subsidies and tax-credits) as well as other initiatives such as a pay-back mechanism under an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to reduce plastic waste in agriculture. We analyse the case of the province of Foggia, an area which is recognised as being the largest plain in southern Italy. We consider a survey of 1,783 farmers and a multinomial regression model to infer on the probability of adopting the above policy tools. Key results suggest that the choice of each policy tool would be affected by the type of plastic waste generated. In particular, plastic packaging and plastic films would be likely to affect the probability to opt for a subsidy. In contrast, other types of plastic waste mainly generated by cereal crops activities (e.g. plastic bags and bottles for fertilisers and chemicals) would favour the adoption of a tax-credit mechanism. As for other aspects, horticulture production and the proximity to a collection site for waste disposal would increase the probability of adopting an EPR policy to contribute to plastic waste reduction.