HAMBYE Jérôme Sciences économiques
HAMBYE Jérôme :
Titre de la thèse : "Modelling the spatial interactions occurring within the environment – affluence – population – technology nexus at the European district level.”
Résumé :
In 2015 the European Union (EU-28) alone was responsible for 29% of excess CO2 emissions, although it comprised only 9.78% of global population (Hickel, 2020). This measurement of regional responsibility for overshooting “fair shares” of CO2 emissions is based on the definition of equal per capita access to atmospheric commons. Drawing upon the Planetary Boundaries framework set up by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Hickel puts forth environmental justice as a key feature of his study of the Anthropocene; the geological era in which human activity constitutes the main driver of environmental risks.
The IPAT framework, defining environmental impact (I) as the product of population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T), was founded 50 years ago to develop knowledge about the anthropogenic drivers of environmental pressures. Scientists have underlined the necessity to shed light on the complexity of the interactions and feedback effects occurring within this nexus. The aim of this thesis project is to model these effects and contribute to bridging a gap between ecological and social sciences by analytically comparing European districts (NUTS 3) to provide a better understanding of the underlying phenomena. The current European context is a great illustration of the environmental and social challenges whose stakes are intimately connected. For instance, digitalisation or the ageing of the population come with risks of socio-economic and environmental consequences, the extent of which are yet unknown. This gives us an opportunity to examine concurrently the transformations undergone by complex social systems and their environment across European subregions.
First, mapping the environmental footprint of European territories will be required. Relying on previous footprint measures, this step will allow to create a unique data set accounting for the spatial distribution of environmental impact at the NUTS 3 level. Second, an extensive literature review complemented by a meta-regression analysis will allow to delineate the conceptual framework of the IPAT identity while considering methodological biases. The underlying ambition is to indulge the academic community with a solid basis for improving the understanding of these complex dynamics. Third using the results from the first steps, an econometric analysis will be implemented to provide a deeper insight on the determinants of impact across European territories. Jointly relying on spatial dynamic models and data-driven methods, and complemented by a clustering analysis to create groups, the results will be translated into cluster-specific policy-guiding recommendations at the district level.
Superviseur : Dr Claude Diebolt (BETA)
Axe(s) de recherche MAKErS :
Axe 1 : comment penser et mesurer la société européenne
Axe 2 : Analyse des enjeux contemporains des sociétés européennes