School of Earth and Environment
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Marco Sakai Marco Sakai

Postgraduate Student

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 35576
Email address: ee08masd@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 9.125

Biography

Qualifications

BA in Economics from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

MSc in Ecological Economics (distinction) from the University of Leeds

Project Title

How would reductions in consumption-induced emissions in the North affect development in the South?

Supervisors

Prof. John Barrett, Dr Tim Foxon and Dr Klaus Hubacek (University of Maryland)

Funding

Conacyt and the University of Leeds

Start Date

November 2009

Project description

Consumption expenditure has increased almost threefold during the last four decades in high-income countries. A significant consequence derived from these consumption trends has been a continuous increase in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases. If the average global temperature is wished to be stabilised so as to avoid dangerous climate change in the long-run, it is not only necessary to invest more on cleaner and more efficient technologies, but it is also critical to start modifying consumption patterns in rich nations.

However, in this globalised world changes/reductions in consumption in the North could bring negative consequences to some poor countries that rely on exporting commodities and other manufactured goods. The 2008-09 global financial crisis can be a good example of the dangers that lower consumption rates could entail for the global South. While CO2 emissions declined during the recession in some countries, the number of people who started to live in extreme poverty around the planet increased as well, hindering many poor nations' efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In this sense, the consequences of altering consumption patterns in the North should be examined carefully, so as to avoid negative impacts on the developing South.

Research Interests: Macroeconomics of climate change, international trade, development, econometrics and input-output analysis.

Demonstrating and Teaching

SOEE5580M T&T: Ecological Economics Modelling

SOEE5591M Environmental Project/Policy Evaluation

Biography:

Marco received a BA in Economics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He later obtained an MSc in Ecological Economics (distinction) from the University of Leeds, and is currently a PhD candidate at the Sustainability Research Institute in the same university and an affiliate at the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) affiliate . Before coming to the UK, he worked for several years in the private sector and in the Ministry of Finance (Mexico), while teaching several undergraduate courses at UNAM. He has also collaborated with the Stockholm Environment Institute in York.

Find Marco Sakai in Academia.edu.

Presentations and Conferences

  • Sakai, Marco (2010) Workshop 10: Global Issues, The Steady-State Economy Conference , The Rose Bowl, Leeds, 19 June 2010.
  • Sakai, Marco (2010) How reductions in consumption-induced emissions in the North would affect development in the South? Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy PhD Symposium, LSE, London, 15 September 2010.