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Resolving Conflicts Arising from the Privatization of Environmental Data (2001)

Chapter: 5 War and Peace Among Stakeholders

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Suggested Citation:"5 War and Peace Among Stakeholders ." National Research Council. 2001. Resolving Conflicts Arising from the Privatization of Environmental Data. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10237.
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Page 53

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WAR AND PEACE AMONG STAKEHOLDERS 53 5 War and Peace Among Stakeholders Environmental information systems created for public purposes have many uses, including commercial uses (see Box 3.1). A notable example is the $500 million U.S. commercial weather industry, which uses inexpensive government- collected weather data and core products to produce commercial weather forecasts and weather derivatives.1 The public is well served by having access to such data and services, which would not otherwise be provided by the information system. If arrangements can be made that satisfy the needs of the public sector, then commercial data are a welcome addition to the system. The same is true of government data that are restricted because of confidentiality or national security concerns or because of their commercial potential. The latter is particularly relevant in Europe. On the other hand, if restrictions prevent the data from being used in the trunk, then the data cannot be viewed as contributing to a public-sector information system. 1R.A.Guth, 2000, Japan's weather mogul to storm U.S., Wall Street Journal, October 30, p. B-1. Given the number of companies (more than 240) and their revenues (few millions to tens of millions each), it is likely that the $500 million figure does not include television and radio broadcasting. Weather derivatives allow businesses sensitive to the vagaries of weather to protect themselves against changes in costs and sales linked to variations in climate. These financial instruments can be designed for almost any weather variable (e.g., rain, snow, wind), although most focus on long-range (seasonal) temperature forecasts. Weather Risk Management Association, <http://www.wrma.org>. In 2000 weather-derivatives contracts with a total value of $2.5 billion were issued in the United States. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2001, The weather risk management industry: Survey findings for November, 1997 to March, 2001. A report to the Weather Risk Management Association, <http://www.wrma.org>.

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Reliable collections of science-based environmental information are vital for many groups of users and for a number of purposes. For example, electric utility companies predict demand during heat waves, structural engineers design buildings to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes, water managers monitor each winter's snow pack, and farmers plant and harvest crops based on daily weather predictions. Understanding the impact of human activities on climate, water, ecosystems, and species diversity, and assessing how natural systems may respond in the future are becoming increasingly important for public policy decisions.

Environmental information systems gather factual information, transform it into information products, and distribute the products to users. Typical uses of the information require long-term consistency; hence the operation of the information system requires a long-term commitment from an institution, agency, or corporation. The need to keep costs down provides a strong motivation for creating multipurpose information systems that satisfy scientific, commercial and operational requirements, rather than systems that address narrow objectives. Resolving Conflicts Arising from the Privatization of Environmental Data focuses on such shared systems.

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