Topics & Subtopics

Air Quality

Many human activities result in air pollution, including emissions from vehicles and power plants, negatively impacting human health and economic efficiency. RFF experts have been analyzing policies to monitor and improve air quality since such regulations first came to pass.

Climate Change

The accumulation of large amounts of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere is slowly raising the global temperature and disrupting climate patterns, with implications for economic stability worldwide. Research and analysis at RFF supports informed policy design and negotiations to address climate change on national and international levels.

Development and Environment

Developing countries face tradeoffs as they seek to create robust settings for the advancement of markets and industry while safeguarding environmental and human health. RFF experts collaborate with partners around the world to design and evaluate innovative policy approaches to achieve both economic and environmental goals.

Ecosystems

Healthy ecosystems are essential for the survival and success of countless species on Earth. RFF researchers are studying the dynamics of these natural systems to assess the benefits of protecting existing ecosystems or restoring those that have been disrupted by human activities or invasive species.

Energy and Electricity

The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen rapid changes in the domestic and international energy landscape. In order to accommodate current and future challenges, experts at RFF are analyzing policy options that balance growing electricity demands with the need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental Economics Topics

Today’s environmental experts have a wide range of tools at their disposal for the design and evaluation of local, state, regional, and national policies. Many of these tools were developed at RFF, and the organization’s contribution to the field of environmental economics remains one of its greatest legacies.

Forests

Forests are home to many invaluable ecosystem goods and services as well as a source of wood products for economies around the world. Experts at RFF are evaluating the effectiveness of forest management policies by accounting for the economic, social, and environmental goals of region-specific programs alongside program costs.

For more information on RFF's work on forests, contact Juha Siikamäki at juha@rff.org or 202.328.5157.

International

The United Nations is currently guiding the framework for a potential international climate agreement. Each country faces a unique set of environmental challenges, often complicated by existing political, social, and economic factors. RFF experts are analyzing climate, energy, and environmental policies around the world to help governments analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their respective policies.

Land Use

Research at RFF on the way land is used and managed spans natural, rural, and urban settings, including analysis of innovative policies to limit urban sprawl, the cost and effectiveness of natural infrastructure, and the costs and benefits of recreational land use, among other topics.

Risk and Uncertainty

Discussions about climate change, natural disasters, and financial markets often center on risk management, highlighting the extreme losses that can occur. Research at RFF focuses on ways to quantify and reduce uncertainty, as well as detect, mitigate, and transfer the risk associated with disasters and climate change.

Space

Outer space is a unique natural resource that is often ignored. As more opportunities to utilize this resource emerge, work at RFF helps policymakers who will need to design comprehensive guidelines that clarify near-Earth ownership, responsibilities, and pollution protocols to help regulate the use and development of space.

Transportation

A growing economy relies on an effective and efficient transportation system; however, issues related to pollution, congestion, and safety can dampen that growth. RFF experts are analyzing the costs, benefits, and distributional consequences of transportation policies to help lawmakers design programs that can effectively impact consumer and producer behaviors.

Waste Management

Hazardous and non-hazardous waste can negatively impact both human and environmental health. Research at RFF examines the costs and benefits of managing waste—from Superfund sites to nuclear waste and brownfields—using a range of containment, cleanup, and recycling policies.

Water

Water is the most abundant natural resource on the planet, the source of countless ecosystem services, and critical to industrial, agricultural, household, and recreational activities. Research by RFF experts helps inform effective water management policies that account for the value of water, address water quality and sustainability, and consider the challenges associated with water rights.