WCERE 2026 The World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE) is a special five-day gathering of environmental economists from around the world. The 2026 edition will be held at the Nova SBE Campus in Carcavelos, Cascais, Portugal, from 29 June to 3 July. The World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE) is the international conference of environmental and resource economists organised every four years by the World Council of environmental and Resource Economists Associations (WCEREA). The first WCERE dates back to 1998, and the most recent once was held in 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Following a

Yikes, a EUR 750 registration fee seems pretty steep.
wcere2026.org

My substack just passed the one year marker!

When I started writing about the economics of agriculture, trade and the environment on Just ATE, I wasn't sure anyone would read it. The subscribers and followers who have shown up mean a lot.

shonferguson.substack.com

How can we decouple our energy markets from fossil fuel prices? Electrification is the way, but only with a clean electricity mix.

My latest post:

Transitioning to biofuels doesn't protect you from oil price shocks, but electrification on a clean grid does.

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

PhD positions in Environmental Economics | slu.se SLU - Science and Education for Sustainable Life

Applications are open for the PhD program in Environmental Economics here at SLU. Please spread the word!
www.slu.se/en/about-slu...

Urea prices have shot up recently, almost double what they were in 2024. Not yet at the highs from 2022.
Source: tradingeconomics.com/commodity/urea

CBAM's Growing Pains Uncertainty over a potential carve-out for fertilizer imports under the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is creating trade policy uncertainty that helps no one, least of all EU farmers.

My latest post!

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Rule violations clarification following men’s session four in Cortina Following the situations arising from the Sweden versus Canada game in men’s session four on Friday (13 February) evening, several issues require clarification. Use of Video Replay World Curling does ...

World Curling Federation's statement:
worldcurling.org/2026/02/stat...

"God's finger"

Why Farmers Oppose (Some) Trade Agreements Economic policies can help, but they can't solve everything

My latest post:
open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Economics Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Economics

We are looking for a 2-3 year postdoc in biodiversity economics for a joint project with top ecologists at the University of Helsinki.

jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

Making Middle Powers Great Again Recent trade deals highlight a shift toward diversification. The Cairns Group offers a useful template for cooperation among “middle powers”.

My latest post:

Making Middle Powers Great Again

I argue that the Cairns Group offers a useful template for cooperation among “middle powers”. A nice historical example from agricultural trade!

shonferguson.substack.com/p/making-mid...

How will farmers react to higher payments for small farms? The 2028-2034 CAP proposal incentivises a shift toward smaller farms, at least on paper. Here's why it could be a problem.

My latest post:

How will farmers react to higher payments for small farms?

The 2028-2034 CAP proposal incentivises a shift toward smaller farms, at least on paper. I explain why it could be a problem.

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Europe’s farmers lost the Mercosur battle. They’re still ahead. Europe’s farmers are a minority. You wouldn’t know it from the political power they wield.

Excellent overview of the strength of Europe's farm lobby in this Politico article by Bartosz Brzezinski today www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Agricultural, Trade, and Environmental Policy Developments to Watch in 2026 Thoughts on the year ahead. Can it really be more eventful than 2025?

My thoughts on the year ahead. Lots happening in the US and the EU to keep an eye on.

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Thinking About a Master’s in Agricultural or Environmental Economics in Europe? A guide to choosing the right economics program at Europe’s applied science universities.

This week’s post looks at what students should think about when choosing a Master’s in Economics at an applied science university such as SLU.

Please feel free to share with your students!

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Lots of companies surely happy about the removed Trump tariffs on several food products, including coffee.

A "wait and see" approach to location decisions in ag GVCs has definitely paid off in this case.

Will the EU Deforestation Regulation reduce deforestation? How trade diversion could undermine the EU's efforts, and what to do about it.

My latest post:

Will the EU Deforestation Regulation actually reduce deforestation?

How trade diversion could undermine the EU's efforts, and what to do about it.
open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Postdoctoral Scholar - Environmental Science & Policy University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

🚨The Moore Lab at UC Davis is hiring!🚨
Post-doc for a project with @adamsobel.bsky.social on the valuation of climate information for adaptation
Could be a good fit for an environmental economist or a climate scientist - flexible start date and location
Apply by Dec 1st: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07346

I never realized that I asked so many excellent and nuanced questions until I started using ChatGPT.

My latest substack post:
Do farm animal welfare regulations hurt competitiveness?
open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Preventing Panic: Why Better Food Data Means Stronger Food Security In a future crisis, could the mere perception of food shortages trigger hoarding, creating real shortages for some people, even if supplies are actually sufficient? We’ve seen this before.

My latest post:

"Preventing Panic: Why Better Food Data Means Stronger Food Security"

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Billionaire beef baron says US not producing enough to satisfy protein craze JBS’s Wesley Batista says strong US demand is pushing country towards imports despite Trump’s tariffs

I hoped that weight loss drugs would reduce the demand for meat. Unfortunately, they seem to have the opposite effect.

Billionaire beef baron says US not producing enough to satisfy protein craze www.ft.com/content/5fad... via @ft

Working Papers

This probably doesnt help:
"NBER Working Papers may not offer policy recommendations or normative judgments about policies, but may report analytic results on the effects of policies."

www.nber.org/papers?page=...

Are Agricultural Global Value Chains in Trouble? Some are feeling the pain, but reports of their death are greatly exaggerated.

My latest post discusses the consequences of recent U.S. trade policy on global value chains in the agri-food sector.

open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

Very happy to share the published version of this paper, which is open access.

"The impact of animal welfare regulations on pork trade: evidence from European countries" (with Anna Wallenbeck, Sigrid Agenäs, and Helena Hansson)
doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...

Yoga in barns, sound baths in fields: How farms became healing hubs Facing financial and ecological pressures, UK farmers are diversifying into wellness, transforming barns, meadows and woodlands into unexpected sanctuaries.

This is a neat idea.
www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

Never seen any jokes from anyone there. If yours are getting through there must be a glitch in the matrix.

Why carbon pricing relief for EU exporters is a big deal Is the proposed plan for export rebates a clever move, or are we heading for a WTO showdown?

My latest post discusses an EU trade policy announcement from the summer that could have important implications.
open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...

The Impact of Animal Welfare Regulations on Pork Trade: Evidence from European Countries We analyse the impact of stricter national animal welfare (AW) regulations on imports and exports of pork between 13 European countries during the pe

🚨 New paper accepted at Food Policy! 🚨🥳

"The Impact of Animal Welfare Regulations on Pork Trade: Evidence from European Countries"

with Anna Wallenbeck, Sigrid Agenäs, and Helena Hansson.

2024 WP link: publications.slu.se?file=publ/sh...

What Academic Economists Actually Do All Day Teaching. Research. Outreach. It takes a lot of people skills.

Instead of the usual analysis of ag/env/trade policy, this week's post aims to give readers some insights into academic life. I hope economists/non-economists find it amusing/useful.
open.substack.com/pub/shonferg...