Zdravka Tzankova
Director of Undergraduate Studies in Climate and Environmental Studies
Associate Professor of the Practice
Contact Information200W Center Building
2014 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203
615-322-7542
Email
Office Hours: Wed 2:30-4pm – 200W Center Building
Education
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2007
What are the social and public policy implications of corporate environmental commitments and actions?
My research looks at the public policy and social equity implications of private environmental and climate governance. In the broad realm of private environmental governance, my work is specifically focused on the impacts and implications of corporate initiatives for operational and supply chain greening and decarbonization.
On the question of public policy implications from private environmental governance by corporate actors: I examine a range of corporate initiatives for operational and supply chain greening, from sustainable agri-food sourcing initiatives and commitments to pledges for powering corporate operations with carbon-free electricity from renewable sources. I study these initiatives as a form of private regulation on ecologically problematic production practices by various corporate suppliers. And I examine the effects of such private regulatory pressures on the public regulatory governance of environmental issues and problems within corporate supply chains.
On the question of social equity implications from private environmental governance by corporate actors: My current work focuses on developing new approaches for mobilizing carbon offsetting and corporate decarbonization as tools of environmental, health, and energy equity. This action-oriented research agenda is grounded in the scholarly analysis and synthesis of knowledge on the social equity spillovers of voluntary and private corporate climate action, particularly conditions conducive to generating positive versus negative equity spillovers.
My current work on public policy, social, and environmental justice spillovers from private environmental and climate governance is part of a broader research agenda focused on the analysis and/or development of disruptive new approaches to solving persistent socio-ecological problems. My focus is on approaches that have the potential to disrupt multiply problematic yet change-resistant policy, regulatory, or institutional status quos, and set the stage for improved new governance regimes.
This broader “disruptive tools and approaches” research agenda is centered along two distinct but intersecting axes of inquiry:
- The disruptive performance and potential of private, market-based governance strategies
- The disruptive use and potential of strategic, unusual litigation deployed as a context-shifting step within larger efforts to advance policy change in the face of political and institutional obstacles
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Maciel-Seidman, M., Tzankova, Z., Ziegler, C., Lele, A., Lu, S., Yan, Y., & Muchira, J. 2024. Mobilizing carbon offsetting to reduce energy cost burdens: A new approach for calculating and monetizing the offset value of energy efficiency upgrades to low-income housing. Frontiers in Energy Research, 12, 1437560.
Tzankova, Z. 2021. Carbon offsetting can be a tool of environmental justice. Fast Company, March 2, 2021. https://www.fastcompany.com/90600561/carbon-offsetting-can-be-a-tool-of-environmental-justice
Tzankova, Z, and C. Vanags. 2021. US urban and suburban yardscaping: from conventional to regenerative, in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures, Robert C. Brears, ed.
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Can private governance boost public policy? Insights from public-private governance interactions in the fisheries and electricity sectors. Regulation & Governance https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12317
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Public policy spillovers from private energy governance: New opportunities for the political acceleration of renewable energy transitions. Energy Research & Social Science, 67 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101504
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Why companies as diverse as eBay, IKEA and Mars are increasingly supporting US clean energy policies. The Conversation, June 30, 2020, https://tinyurl.com/CorporSupport4USCleanEnergyPol
Tzankova, Z. 2020. Stimulus spending on electricity decarbonization: the role of corporate renewable buyers. Utility Dive, June 11, 2020, https://tinyurl.com/CorpRoleinGreenStimulus
Hernández, D., D. Vallano, E. Zavaleta, J. Pasari, Z. Tzankova, S. Weiss, P. Selmants, C. Morozumi, P. Koch. 2016. Nitrogen Pollution Is Linked to US Listed Species Declines. BioScience, 66(3): 213-222. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biw003
Tzankova, Z., and L. E. Gwin. 2015. Surf-n-Turf, but the sustainable kind? The limits and potential of market-driven regulation in food production. Seattle Journal of Environmental Law, 5(1): 303 – 338. https://tinyurl.com/surf-n-turf-sustainable
Tzankova, Z. 2014. Interactions between public and private resource governance: key insights from the fisheries case. William and Mary Policy Review, 6(1): Fall 2014. https://tinyurl.com/public-private-governance-int
Tzankova, Z., D. Vallano, and E. Zavaleta. 2011. Can the Endangered Species Act address the threat of atmospheric nitrogen deposition? Insights from the case of the Bay checkerspot butterfly. Harvard Environmental Law Review, 35(2): 434-475. https://tinyurl.com/ESA-N-checkerspot