Environmental degradation, climate change, and development.

FERDI is studying the impact of climate change on public policies in developing countries and has proposed a new measure of vulnerability to climate change - the Physical Vulnerability to Climate Change Index (PVCCI) to measure climate shocks and countries' exposure to them. This indicator is independent of countries' current and future policies and is therefore intended to be used as a possible condition for the geographical allocation of international funds for climate change adaptation.

FERDI’s work advocates a concerted plurilateral (and possibly multilateral) effort to reduce barriers (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) to trade in environmental goods.

FERDI is also exploring the relationship between real exchange rates, which are an indicator of profitability between tradable and non-tradable goods, and CO2 emissions over a large sample of countries covering the last 20 years. The objective is to define if the exchange rate policy plays a role in CO2 emissions.