Prioritized research area: Ecosystems management

Ecosystems provide a variety of provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. With human activities, some of these services are being lost at an accelerating rate. Changes in ecosystems have short-run as well as long-run implications for livelihoods and the health of natural systems. Research on ecosystems management will focus on:

• Understanding the implications of ecosystem changes for economic and social systems
• Economic analysis of conserving ecosystems and their services by evaluating costs and benefits to different stakeholders, especially the poor
• Examining different institutional arrangements to manage ecosystem services

Prioritized research area: Economics of climate change

With climate change, South Asia is expected to face more variation in temperature and precipitation, more extreme weather events, and sea level rise over time. These changes are affecting millions of poor people in South Asian countries. Research on economics of climate change will focus on:

• Evaluation of the impacts of climate change
• Economic analysis of adaptation measures
• Evaluation of the mitigation strategies, particularly those that offer local co-benefits
• Examination of institutions and policies that need to be in place for low carbon growth and long-term adjustment to climate change

Prioritized research area: Policies and programs for greener development