The AARES 2025 annual conference features a series of Special Sessions - further details will be available in the Conference Program.
CSIRO SPONSORED SPECIAL SESSION:
Social impact, sustainability, and food systems in transition
Our food system faces a range of challenges stemming from complex problems like climate change, geopolitical stress, ecosystem collapse, and inequality. Many agricultural producers are working hard to respond to a new biophysical reality while also tackling disruptions in factor markets, including agricultural labour markets. Meanwhile, consumers and buyers are putting pressure on food supply chains to address, mitigate, or otherwise more transparently manage social risks and labour liabilities. In this session we explore emerging economic work around this topic, including: how do we value agricultural work and what employment measures matter for a transitioning agriculture sector? What role might consumer preferences play for delivering socially sustainable products? What are the risks/opportunities around ensuring socially sustainable jobs accrue in the agriculture sector? After the presentations there will be a 30-40 minute panel discussion or Q&A.
Queensland government sponsored special session:
Climate and ESG investment - supporting sustainable agriculture and fisheries transformation
The session will provide the audience with understanding of the rapidly emerging area of climate and ESG investment and provoke thought into how this is and will shape agriculture and fisheries sector transformation. Moreover, it will unpack how economic analysis can support businesses as they look to alter their business models, gain additional income streams from climate and ESG investment or seek to maintain market access and social licence to operate.
RECOE Sponsored Special Session:
The Resilient Farm: Lessons learned from Southern Queensland
Over the past 4 years, the Institute for Resilient Regions (IRR) at the University of Southern Queensland – which includes: the Regional Economies Centre of Excellence team (RECoE-UNISQ) and the Southern Queensland/Northern NSW Drought Innovation Hub (SQNNSW) - have undertaken number of key projects focussed on the sustainability and resilience of agricultural enterprises in southern Queensland. In particular, these projects have examined resilience from various perspectives: drought and climate change; economic shocks; personal and social wellbeing; tools and skills to build resilience; policy and governance frameworks to support resilient agriculture and rural communities. This panel session would showcase some of those projects (many still ongoing) and highlight some of the key lessons learned – that together help build a profile of the “Resilient Farm” Format: a panel session – hosted by an MC/Facilitator, with short presentations followed by Q&A .
East asia branch special session:
Assessing Economic Impact of Non-Tariff Measures on Global Grain Trade and Its Implications for Rural Transformation
With average tariffs falling since the Uruguay Round in 1994, NTMs have gradually become the most essential obstacle to global agricultural commodity trade. The rapid increase in NTMs, particularly in the realm of agricultural trade, have erode the gains obtained from the success made by global trade negotiators in tariff cutting over the post-war period, presenting emerging challenges to global trade liberalization, and thus threaten global food security and the achievement of Millennium Sustainable Development Goal by 20230 (UN, 2021).
To cope with these challenges, trade negotiators need better understanding of the existing NTMs and their impacts on agricultural trade and determine what NTMs and products to prioritize in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. This special session will offer insights into the economic impact of major Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on global grain trade and the Australian grains industry. Discussions will also cover trade policies and rural transformations in Australia. By offering comprehensive empirical evidence and a robust, evidence-based modeling tool, we aim to empower policymakers and industry stakeholders with actionable insights. The session is organized with the support of Grains Australia and ABARES.
To cope with these challenges, trade negotiators need better understanding of the existing NTMs and their impacts on agricultural trade and determine what NTMs and products to prioritize in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. This special session will offer insights into the economic impact of major Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on global grain trade and the Australian grains industry. Discussions will also cover trade policies and rural transformations in Australia. By offering comprehensive empirical evidence and a robust, evidence-based modeling tool, we aim to empower policymakers and industry stakeholders with actionable insights. The session is organized with the support of Grains Australia and ABARES.
The Value of a Non-Market Value
A number of longstanding debates about non-market valuation (NMV) remain unresolved for lack of evidence: whether NMV studies are worth doing at all (is “some number better than no number”), whether a NMV study needs to comply with agreed “best practice” to be worth doing, and whether revealed-preference studies should be preferred to stated-preference studies. In this Mini-Symposium, the presenters will make important contributions to answering these questions. We start with an investigation of the accuracy of various NMV methods conducted to different levels of best-practice. Experts who participated in the elicitation process for that study will share some reflections on the process and the results obtained. Then the results for NMV accuracy will be placed in the much broader context of the Bayesian Value of Information (VOI) framework. The VOI framework will be described in detail and then applied to a case study for a water-pollution mitigation project. Results show that decisions about which NMV method to use (if any) depend on various factors, including project scale (i.e., what is at stake from the policy decision), the quality of existing knowledge, the accuracy of NMV methods, and the costs of applying different NMV methods. It is clear that both sides in the existing debates about NMV have been too simplistic in their thinking. A more nuanced, targeted and evidence-based approach to decision making about these methods is needed.
The Future of the Murray Darling Basin Plan
The special session will examine recent developments in the Murray Darling Basin plan, and consider future issues including the prospects for meeting existing targets and the implications of climate change.
From Fields to Shelves: Climate, Policy, and Firm Behaviour in Agricultural Markets
The session features a panel of economists, diverse in their career stages and areas of expertise. The session will address factors influencing the volume and pricing of agricultural products as they move from fields to shelves. The session will open with two talks “in the field” addressing climate change, transition to retail procurement markets addressing food loss due to firm behaviour, move to retailer consumer markets addressing how government policies influence pricing, and will conclude with a broad-scope study of the implications of conflict for price transmission.
Building Climate Resilience in Pacific Horticulture: Policy, Practice, and Community Engagement
The Pacific horticultural sector has untapped potential to significantly contribute to the region's food security, nutrition, and rural livelihoods through high-value production, processing, and trade activities. The horticulture sector could boost food and income security, playing a significant role in value addition and economic diversification in the Pacific. Building community capacity for commercial value addition through improved production and value creation systems in horticulture could offer a pathway to significant improvement in rural economic activity leading to economic growth and social stability. This session will bring together policymakers, rural development facilitators, and academics to discuss effective narratives to build sustainable, climate-adaptive horticultural farming enterprises that safeguard both food security and economic benefits through value-creation activities. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the discussion will explore both practical solutions and the economic case for investing in resilience, contributing to sustainable development and food security in the face of climate threats.
CGE modelling - climate change
The theme of this session is CGE modelling of climate change. The session will include a discussion of the GTAP_INT 2.0 model, a GTAPv7 model variant, scalable in terms of both time (time horizon and step size) and space (number of regions and sectors). An application of GTAP - INT 2.0 to improved country-level labour productivity loss assessment and its utilization will be presented. The session will also include a presentation on a stochastic ensemble simulation of decarbonisation paths for Australia under policy uncertainty, introducing the concept of an expected policies baseline and discussion of a model covering 30 countries/regions and 31 sectors showing the Paris Agreement target and path in annual time steps to 2100 in terms of emissions reduction and the shift in energy mix.
A Systems Thinking Approach to Advancing Food and Nutrition System Resilience
The challenges facing our food systems are vast. Nearly a billion people worldwide are hungry or undernourished, while 1.5 billion are overweight or obese. In developing countries, many households spend over half their income on food, leaving them vulnerable to sudden price changes that can deepen poverty. On the production side, food systems struggle with climate change, soil degradation, and labour shortages. Building resilience in these systems is essential to withstand shocks and ensure continued function during disruptions. However, gaps remain in understanding resilience root causes, potential strategies, measuring and monitoring resilience, and addressing gender, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) perspectives. This session is intended for participants involved in agrifood systems and agricultural research for development (R4D), including researchers, research project managers, scientists, economists, and policymakers whose work consists in understanding the complexity of issues in the food systems. The participation of early career researchers (including higher-degree research students) is strongly encouraged.
CGE modelling – innovative tools in policy analysis
This session concentrates on adaptations to CGE models, including the TEEMS (Trade and Environmental Equilibrium Modeling System and GlobeTERM which combines GTAP regions with sub-national detail. The session also includes a discussion of the Food and Agriculture Consequence of Adverse Events Tool (FACAET), a mimic tool built for a client concerned with the implications for the U.S. economy of disease outbreaks in agriculture and VURMTAX, a multi-regional CGE model of Australia. Impacts on headline economic numbers, sectoral impacts and the fiscal implications of emissions mitigation policies will be discussed.
Economic implications of transition pathways towards net zero emissions
This session will focus on the economic consequences of achieving net zero emissions in Australia. The objectives of the session include: (1) Explore the multi-sectoral implications of achieving net zero emissions, (2) Explore the sectoral challenges of industrial transformation (e.g., energy, transport and agriculture) as driven by decarbonisation efforts, and (3) Explore the effects on regional economies of delivering net zero for the country. The session is relevant to participants from the private sector, the government, or academe who are interested in understanding the scale and implications of the net zero transition for Australia. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear a diverse set of perspectives from the presenters and the audience, learn state-of-the-art tools in assessing the economic impacts of net zero transition, and understand the practical and policy challenges across the economy of achieving net zero emissions in Australia. It is our hope that participants will leave better informed to consider and contribute to urgent debates around the speed of transition, including the next Nationally Determined Contribution target for 2035, and the sectoral pathways in development by the Australian Government
On the economics of pathways to sustainable agricultural and land systems.
This session explores innovative approaches to reducing emissions in Australian agriculture and bioenergy production. It focuses on exploring how technology, policy and environmental dynamics interact and influence long-term sustainability outcomes. The presentations will provide a multidisciplinary perspective on how Australian agriculture can adapt to meet climate targets, examining both current practices and future opportunities for sustainable growth.
Leveraging social incentives to enhance the effectiveness of initial payouts for landscape-scale environmental outcomes.
Land degradation, biodiversity loss and other environmental impacts from agricultural activities have been typically understood in terms of a mismatch between private landholders producing public benefits but shouldering private costs. Policy responses have then been to financially compensate landholders for participating in environmental conservation programs. However, landholders’ participation rates have remained far lower than anticipated and when participating their conservation actions have tended to stop as soon as payments ended, suggesting that financial payments in and of themselves are not enough to address conservation needs. This special session proposes to explore these aspects by presenting work on the dynamics of adoption and disadoption of conservation practices; the effect of social norms on farmers’ decisions to adopt and sustain sustainable farming practices beyond the duration of conservation programs; the capacity of social sanctions to prevent free-riding and encourage cooperation in public good projects; and the extent to which coordination incentives can promote the positive co-evolution of social and ecological processes that support sustainable land use by landholders.
Economics of managing water resources
The Economics of Water Resources and Water Management have been major themes in AARES over the past half-century. Within this broad area, there has been substantial attention on areas such as water quality, governance, water markets and trading, and dealing with externalities and water resources. This mini-symposium continues this tradition, but with more focus on northern Australia and Great Barrier Reef contexts instead of the traditional focus on southern Australia and Murray Darling Basin issues. Topics addressed in the mini-symposium include a bibliometric analysis of publications on water issues in Australia, the economic tradeoffs involved in increased monitoring of water quality, the impacts of industry on water quality, and exploring the potential for co-benefits to provide additional levers for water quality management.
Transitioning Australia’s electricity grid: market reform and policy
Electricity is undergoing a profound shift in Australia. Eectricity generation is shifting rapidly from a system supported by a relatively few large electricity generation facilities, dominated by coal fired power stations, to a system dominated by renewables generated by thousands of producers ranging from household roof-top solar to larger scale wind and solar farms, supported by gas fired plants and a diverse range of of stored energy. Wholesale market prices are low or negative when renewables dominate, and there is uncertainty about revenues in the energy-only market. Generation investments are now underwritten by governments. This session takes stock of the changes and challenges. It asks whether government underwriting might need to be continued, and whether national electricity market reform is needed.
Urban Sustainability Transition in Australia
This special session is hosted by the Centre for Urban Transitions (CUT), Swinburne University of Technology. The CUT undertakes research focusing on developing systemic, integrative and actionable knowledge on cities and how they transform. The special session features the latest research from the CUT on housing, transport, circular economy, and environmental sustainability.
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