APEC 3611w Final Project: Earth-Economy Country Report

APEC 3611w: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics University of Minnesota — Spring 2026 Professor Justin Johnson

The Assignment

Imagine you have been asked by a senior policymaker in your assigned country to prepare a briefing document. They want to understand: What are the key earth-economy interactions my country will face over the coming decades, and what should we do about them?

Your job is to write that briefing. It should be grounded in data, informed by the economic and environmental frameworks from this course, and useful to someone who actually has to make decisions. This is not a textbook summary — it is an applied analysis of a real country using real data. The report will address many of the course themes — market failure, sustainability, climate change, land-use change, ecosystem services, future scenarios, and policy — to your country using real data.

You will also deliver a 5-minute lightning talk on the last day of class, presenting the most important things you want your policymaker to know.

The project is worth 15% of your final grade (report: 10%, lightning talk: 5%).

Key Dates

Milestone Date
Rough draft due Friday, May 1, 2026, 11:59 PM on Canvas
Lightning talks in class Monday, May 4, 2026 (last day of class)
Final report due Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 8:00 AM on Canvas (final exam date)

The rough draft should be complete — all sections present, data and figures included. It does not need to be polished. I will provide brief feedback before the final due date. Your lightning talk is based on the rough draft; the final report is your chance to incorporate feedback and sharpen the analysis.

Data Sources

You have two primary datasets that have been provided to you and that you are expected to use:

  1. The SSP Database — Shared Socioeconomic Pathway projections for your country (population, GDP, urbanization, energy mix, land use, and other variables under SSP1–SSP5).
  2. Country-specific geospatial datasets — The LULC maps and spatial layers I prepared for each country, available in the shared Google Drive folder. You have been working with these in QGIS and InVEST throughout the second half of the semester.

You should also draw on additional credible sources as needed: World Bank, FAOSTAT, Our World in Data, IPCC/IPBES reports, academic literature, national statistics agencies, etc.

Useful links:

Part A: The Report

Target length: approximately 2,000 words (body text; figures, tables, captions, and references do not count). Quality of analysis matters more than length. Submit as PDF or Word on Canvas.

Your report must include the following sections.

1. Country Introduction and the Doughnut (≈300 words)

Introduce your country: economic structure, population, geography, level of development, and dominant sectors. Then apply the Doughnut Economics framework: where does your country stand relative to the social foundation (health, education, income, equity) and the ecological ceiling (climate change, biodiversity loss, land-use change, freshwater use)? Is it overshooting planetary boundaries or falling short on social foundations?

Data: SSP database baseline values, World Bank indicators, Doughnut Economics Action Lab data.

2. Environmental Challenges and Market Failures (≈350 words)

Identify the two or three most significant environmental challenges facing your country. For each, explain why the problem exists in economic terms. Is it an externality? A commons problem? A public goods failure? Be specific — who bears the external cost, who generates it, and why does the market fail to internalize it? Use supply-demand and surplus reasoning where appropriate.

Data: Country-specific environmental statistics (deforestation rates, emissions, water quality, etc.) from credible sources.

3. Land Use, Ecosystem Services, and Natural Capital (≈500 words)

This is the most data-intensive section. Using your geospatial data and the tools from class, describe:

  • Current land use/land cover: What does your country’s landscape look like? Include at least one QGIS map figure.
  • Ecosystem services: Report results from the InVEST carbon storage model (and optionally other models). Where is carbon concentrated? Which land cover types contribute most?
  • Natural capital at risk: Based on land-use trends or SSP projections, which ecosystem services are most threatened? What would be lost if current trends continue?

Include at least two figures (maps or charts) with captions.

Data: LULC rasters and InVEST outputs from your country data folder.

4. Future Scenarios and SSP Analysis (≈350 words)

Compare how your country’s key indicators evolve under at least three SSP scenarios. Present data in a table or chart and discuss: Under which scenario does your country fare best for sustainability? Worst? Are there scenarios that are economically beneficial but environmentally damaging? Connect your analysis to the SSP narratives (Green Road, Rocky Road, etc.) and the mitigation-adaptation challenge space.

Data: SSP database projections, presented in tables or figures you create.

5. Policy Recommendations (≈300 words)

Propose two or three specific, implementable policy interventions. For each: what market failure does it address, what instrument type is it (tax, cap-and-trade, PES, regulation, subsidy reform, etc.), why does it fit your country’s context, and what tradeoffs or implementation challenges exist? Remember — you are not playing God. You are proposing policies a real policymaker could act on.

6. Conclusion (≈200 words)

Summarize your key findings. What is the most important insight from analyzing your country through an earth-economy lens? What would you want your country’s government to understand?

Part B: Lightning Talk

On the last day of class (Monday, May 4), each student will deliver a 5-minute lightning talk to the class. Think of this as the meeting where you present your briefing to the policymaker. You have 5 minutes of their time. What do you tell them?

Requirements:

  • 2–5 slides. Keep them simple — black text on white, numbered lists, minimal decoration. At least one slide should show a figure from your analysis (a map, a chart, a table — something with data).
  • 5 minutes maximum. I will cut you off. Practice.

You do not need to cover every section of the report. The goal is to distill your analysis into the most compelling 5-minute story you can tell about your country.

Formatting Requirements

  • Report: PDF or Word, ≈2,000 words body text. Minimum 3 figures total (at least one QGIS map, at least one SSP data table/chart, at least one additional). All figures must have captions and be referenced in the text. Cite all data sources using any consistent format.
  • Slides: Submit on Canvas by class time on May 4. Bring them on your laptop or email them to me before class as backup.
  • AI policy: Per the syllabus, you may use AI but must include a disclaimer. AI mistakes are your mistakes.

Rubric: Report (100 points)

Category Points What I’m looking for
Country context and framing 10 The reader understands the country’s economic structure, development level, and current relationship to the environment. The Doughnut or a similar integrative framework is used to set the stage.
Economic reasoning 15 Environmental and resource issues are analyzed using concepts from the course — externalities, commons, public goods, efficiency, discounting, valuation, etc. The analysis is specific to this country, not generic textbook recitation.
Geospatial and ecosystem service analysis 25 Strong use of the LULC data and InVEST results provided. Land use is described and mapped. Ecosystem service results are reported and interpreted, not just screenshotted. Natural capital risks are connected to economic or scenario analysis. Figures are clear and captioned.
Scenario analysis 15 At least three SSPs compared using country-specific data. Presented in a table or chart. Tradeoffs between scenarios are discussed with reference to the SSP narratives and what they mean for this country specifically.
Policy recommendations 15 Recommendations are specific, grounded in economic logic, and appropriate to the country’s context. Tradeoffs and implementation challenges are acknowledged. These feel like real proposals, not wish lists.
Writing, synthesis, and overall quality 10 The report reads as a coherent briefing document, not a set of disconnected answers. Prose is clear and direct. Conclusion is effective. Citations are complete.
Figures and data use 10 ≥3 figures, properly captioned and referenced. Evidence throughout that the student actually worked with the SSP database and geospatial data, not just described them in general terms.
Total 100

General scoring guide: 90–100% = excellent, specific, data-rich work showing genuine engagement with the country and the tools. 70–89% = solid analysis with minor gaps in depth, specificity, or data use. 50–69% = sections present but superficial, generic, or missing key data. Below 50% = major gaps, missing sections, or no evidence of using the provided data.

Rubric: Lightning Talk (50 points)

Category Points What I’m looking for
Content 20 The talk communicates something substantive about the country’s earth-economy situation. At least one data figure is shown. Economic reasoning from the course is present.
Clarity and organization 15 The audience can follow the story. Slides are clean. The speaker stays within 5 minutes and does not rush or ramble.
Engagement and Q&A 15 The speaker knows their material and responds thoughtfully to questions. They are not reading slides verbatim.
Total 50

Advice

The best reports tell a coherent story about one country. The environmental challenges connect to the landscape analysis, which connects to the scenarios, which motivates the policy recommendations. If your sections feel like they were written independently of each other, step back and find the thread.

Be specific to your country. A report that could have been written about any country in Latin America without changing a word will not score well. What makes your country’s situation unique? What surprised you when you looked at the data?

Use the data. I gave you geospatial datasets and pointed you at the SSP database for a reason. The reports that earn the highest marks are the ones where I can tell the student actually loaded the data, looked at it, and thought about what it means — not the ones that describe the data in abstract terms.

For the lightning talk: you cannot cover everything. Do not try. Pick the most important thing you learned and present it clearly. A focused, well-practiced 5 minutes is worth more than a frantic attempt to summarize the entire report.

Questions? Office hours 11:30–12:00 M/W/F, jajohns@umn.edu, or Ryan at mcway005@umn.edu.