Grantham Scholar Dr Robert Hardie is now a Sustainability Officer for Partnerships and Regional Engagement at The University of Sheffield. At the Grantham Centre he researched relationships between public-private partnerships within community carbon-sequestration projects in the Global South.
Globalisation of carbon offsetting relating to the needs of developed countries provides a major potential for the economies of the Global South, especially in some of the drier regions of Africa. However, this potential produces a set of tensions, not least in competing land uses for maintaining sustainable communities in contrast to the provision of broader ecosystem services. One of the principle policy mechanisms to address poverty alleviation alongside ecosystem services provision is payments for ecosystem services, and one of the key ways in which these payment systems are being operationalised is through public-private partnerships, whereby governments and communities enter a formal partnership with an NGO or private business to jointly manage these natural resource systems.
This project aims to understand and explain the relationships between public-private partnerships within community carbon-sequestration projects in the global South. It will take an interdisciplinary approach drawing on theories and methods from psychology, international development and planning to explore these issues in collaboration with partner organisation Carbon-Plus Capital.
This project is part of the Risk, Resilience and Responsibility in Public-Private Partnerships in the Green Economy interdisciplinary scholarship network.
Watch: Valuing Nature: Does a price on nature help or hinder its conservation? Rob was part of a group of Scholars who organised this seminar on the pros and cons of putting a price on nature. You can watch it on our YouTube channel.
With Donald Trump about to become President, Rob Hardie wrote optimistically about the future of the climate change movement. Plus he looked back at his experiences at COP22 and a recent visit to the Niger Delta. Read: Finding hope for the climate change movement after Trump’s election.
In 2016, Rob went to COP21. Afterwards, Rob reflected on how Ostrom’s theories about how to avoid the tragedy of the commons were in place and led to success. Read: How the Paris Agreement was made: overcoming the tragedy of the commons by Rob Hardie.
Rob attended 2016’s REDD+ Exchange in Oslo, and wrote about his take on the challenges of turning policy into meaningful change. Read: An uncomfortable cosiness: The Oslo REDD+ Exchange by Rob Hardie.
You can find Robert on LinkedIn.
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