Financial Evaluation of Environmental Investments

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Traditional ways of analyzing investments, like net present value or payback calculations, do not deal adequately with environmental issues. Future liabilities and the long time-scale over which a product or process has an impact on the environment are not generally included, and risk is not incorporated properly. This text takes a holistic view of decision-making. The authors advance a methodology which puts the expected monetary values of different investment and risk scenarios into a mathematical model. Features of the model are a wider set of cost-benefits, a disciplined approach to risk and uncertainty, a consideration of the environmental aspects of every facet of an investment, quantification of less tangible things like corporate image and future liabilities, and a strict treatment of items like pollution monitoring that have been passed off as overheads. Case studies and examples of analysis to help you put it all into practice are included.