Center for the Economics of Sustainability

Center for the Economics of Sustainability
Forces of Nature.
Courses of Action.
Resilient cattle farmer
In Focus
Methods & Measurement Do asset transfers build household resilience?

When households escape poverty, how likely is it they will fall back in the future?

little brown bat
In Focus
Fighting white-nose syndrome in bats benefits agriculture, study shows

URBANA, Ill.

Green roof view PDX
In Focus
Green roofs are worth the cost for urban residents

URBANA, Ill. ­– Plant-covered roofs have become a regular sight in Portland, Oregon.

Hill depicting deforestation
In Focus
Preventing pandemics starts with protecting wildlife

Two years after COVID-19 emerged, researchers have provided three cost-effective actions to help decision-makers prevent future pandemics by stopping “spillover” of diseases from animals into humans: better surveillance of pathogens, better manage

Why it Matters.

The Center for the Economics of Sustainability harnesses economics to promote prosperity and human well-being now and in the future with a balance of reliable food, water and energy systems, environmental quality, and community development. Our research helps inform environmental policy and resource management decisions in Illinois — and around the world.

Research Output

Agricultural land in Urbana
Updates
The Achilles Heel of Farming
September 12, 2022
10:19 AM
Urbana, Illinois

Farms have a promising opportunity to fight climate change using a simple but plentiful asset: soil. Soil has the capacity to store carbon in amounts that can meaningfully offset greenhouse gas emissions through retaining carbon (otherwise called carbon sequestration).

Solo farmhouse in the Western US
Updates
Consumers Worry About Climate Change's Impacts on Food System
July 21, 2022
10:19 AM

Consumers across the United States worry about the effects of climate change on various parts of the food system. Though concern over issues like land availability, food shortages, and food prices is prevalent in every part of the country, the degree of the population's concern depends on where they live.

robot in crops
Updates
USDA NIFA Farm Of The Future Fund
June 6, 2022
10:19 AM

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in late May that it is funding a new collaboration between two institutes and a research center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that will create an integrated farm of the future in the US Midwest.

Plant-covered green roof
Updates
More green roofs, say urban residents
May 6, 2022
10:19 AM

“Countries are investing significant public resources to reduce the impact of stormwater runoff,” Amy Ando, study author, said in a statement. “Green roofs are part of that solution because they capture some of the rain that would otherwise end up in sewage systems. Knowing the benefits from investing in green roofs is important for implementing public policies.”

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