ALBERT

Description: This paper discusses the key questions and challenges for promoting international cooperation between the EU and potential international partners within an emerging hydrogen economy. On this basis, it identifies entry-points for related policy action. Specifically, it outlines six policy dimensions that European policymakers should consider when engaging in the development of international partnerships within the emerging hydrogen economy: climate mitigation, green industrial development in Europe, just transitions in partner countries, geopolitics, security of supply, and economic feasibility. Taking these six dimensions as its starting point, the paper presents nine policy messages for the development of an international hydrogen economy within the context of broader decarbonisation efforts in the EU.

Description: This spatio-temporal dataset contains capacity factors timeseries for locations on a grid with 50km edge length in Europe. The data is resolved in one hour timesteps and comprises the years 2000--2016. It has been generated using Renewables.ninja and is based on MERRA-2 reanalysis data. For each of the ~2700 onshore location, it contains one time series for onshore wind turbines and five time series for PV installations with different orientations and tilts. PV time series exist for (1) installations on open fields, (2) installations on all possible rooftops, (3) south-facing and flat rooftops, (4) east- and west-facing rooftops, (5) north-facing rooftops. For each of the ~2800 offshore location there is one timeseries for offshore wind turbines. Two GeoTIFF files contain spatial information of onshore and offshore locations. For each of the three technologies -- onshore wind, offshore wind, and PV -- there is one NetCDF file determining the temporal dimension and containing the data. The GeoTIFF and NetCDF files are linked through unique IDs for all locations. This data serves as input data to euro-calliope, a model of the European electricity system.

Description: Aerosol radiative properties using recently available high-quality columnar aerosol data collected at several AERONET sites in South Asia, with a focus on pollution outflow from continental South Asia observed over Hanimaadhoo in Maldives, a small island in northern Indian Ocean are quantified. The seasonal mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) over Hanimaadhoo is ≥ 0.3 (except ca. 0.2 during monsoon season), and single scattering albedo (SSA) is 〉 0.90 in all seasons. Fine mode aerosols contribute dominantly to AOD. SSA decreases as a function of wavelength due to influence of continental aerosols, except during the monsoon season when its spectral trend reverses due to increase in dust. Carbonaceous aerosols dominate (〉90%) contribution to absorption AOD (AAOD). Black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) contribute 〉75% and 〈25%, respectively, to AAOD due to carbonaceous aerosols. The observed seasonal mean aerosol radiative forcing at the surface (ARFSFC), at the top of the atmosphere (ARFTOP) and in the atmosphere (ARFATM) is 〉 −25 Wm-2, 〉−20 Wm-2 and ~+20 Wm-2, respectively. Aerosol loading and atmospheric heating have increased over this background site over the last decade. A regional-scale analysis of aerosol properties and radiative effects across and surrounding the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) shows that AOD is ≥ 0.3 over entire region, and aerosols reduce seasonally 30–50 Wm-2 of solar radiation reaching the surface, contributing significantly to solar dimming effect. The atmospheric solar heating rate due to aerosols (HR) is ≥ 1 K day−1 across IGP. These high ARFs, ARFESFC and HR, and increasing trends have significant implications to climate and hydrological cycle over South Asia and beyond.

Description: You may have heard about minerals on the bottom of the ocean. The UK Government sponsors several exploration contracts for UK Seabed Resources (a subsidiary of the American aerospace and security company Lockheed-Martin) in the Pacific Ocean to look for them. These minerals come from the so-called ‘Area’, the deep seafloor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and far out in the global ocean. This ‘Area’ and its mineral resources represent the ‘common heritage of mankind’. The Law of the Sea Convention, UNCLOS (1982) determines that rather than a free-for-all, this last piece of ocean floor outside the jurisdiction of any coastal state belongs to mankind as a whole and shall be administered in such a way that benefits all, considering in particular the needs of developing countries.

Description: Energy system models are advancing rapidly. However, it is not clear whether models are becoming better, in the sense that they address the questions that decision-makers need answered to make well-informed decisions. Therefore, we investigate the gap between model improvements relevant from the perspective of modellers compared to what users of model results think models should address. Thus, we ask: What are the differences between energy model improvements as perceived by modellers, and the actual needs of users of model results? To answer this question, we conducted a literature review, 32 interviews, and an online survey. Our results show that user needs and ongoing improvements of energy system models align to a large degree, so that future models are indeed likely to be better than current models. We also find mismatches between the needs of modellers and users, especially in modelling of social, behavioural and political aspects, the trade-off between model complexity and understandability, and the ways that model results should be communicated. Our findings suggest that a better understanding of user needs and closer cooperation between modellers and users is imperative to truly improve models and unlock their full potential to support the transition towards climate neutrality in Europe.

Description: There is a need to conduct more diverse cross‐case analyses in the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) literature which originated in the United States, to show how key concepts, such as a windows‐of‐opportunity and the role of policy entrepreneurs, manifest in different political contexts. We apply Qualitative Comparative Analysis for a cross‐case analysis of a unique dataset representing 20 countries from four continents. This approach allows us to highlight distinct pathways to influencing policies. We identify four configurations for expanding civic spaces and two configurations for changing policies. We identify three findings novel to MSA: there are two distinctive policy entrepreneur roles involving local and international civil society actors; effective entrepreneurship is conditional on strengthening civic voice and creating civic space conducive to advocacy; and, therefore, effective entrepreneurs often must focus on expanding the civic space to discuss policy problems and the technical and political feasibility of policy solutions.

Description: In recent times, a significant number of studies on the composition and sources of fine particulate matters and volatile organic compounds have been carried out over Delhi, either initiated by or in association with the researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), in collaboration with researchers from within and outside India. All these studies utilized highly time-resolved, campaign-mode observations made with state-of-the-art instrumentation during the late winter months (mid-January to March) of 2018. Individually, each of these studies were rigorous in nature, containing explicit detailing about different types of ambient air pollutants in Delhi such as organic aerosols, inorganic elements, metals, carbonaceous aerosols, and volatile organic compounds. This study consolidates the extremely useful knowledge on source attribution of these air pollutants in the Delhi National Capital Region currently contained in these fragmented studies, which is vital to further enhancing our understanding of composition, characteristics, and sources of air pollutants over Delhi, as well as to designing appropriate mitigation measures tailored to local specifics.

Description: The international health crisis has exposed a serious problem for energy systems – we’re not taking renewable energy technology seriously as a critical asset. Most solar panels today are made in China, and a shortage of key components means that Europe is now facing major delays in new installations. Wind power faces a double whammy – manufacturing is down, and countries may not have the personnel and parts locally to keep systems running. Countries should aim to build up national clean tech infrastructure in the same way that they ensure strategic reserves of fossil fuels.

Description: Public acceptance is central to the success of a transition agenda but with the increasing uptake of renewable energy technology, achieving and sustaining the public legitimacy for accelerating the energy transition is at risk. This study provides an updated account of the energy transition development in Germany and Australia with a focus on institutional legitimation. Drawing on the distinction between input and output legitimacy, we query how enabling community participation can enhance the legitimacy of policy instruments. We employ two case studies of energy transitions – those of Germany and Australia – to explain where and how community participation has supported the legitimacy of policy interventions. While input legitimacy remains high in both Germany and Australia, both examples illustrate how policy instruments can lack legitimacy if decision-makers lose sight of or never properly consider the output dimension of legitimacy.

Description: Air pollution has large impacts on the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), affecting not just the health of people and ecosystems, but also climate, the cryosphere, monsoon patterns, water availability, agriculture, and incomes (established but incomplete). Although the available data are not comprehensive, they clearly show that the HKH receives significant amounts of air pollution from within and outside of the region, including the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), a region where many rural areas are severely polluted. In addition, the HKH receives transboundary pollution from other parts of Asia. This chapter surveys the evidence on regional air pollution and considers options for reducing it, while underlining the need for regional collaboration in mitigation efforts. As described in Chap. 1, the HKH region is fragile and rapidly changing; while the outcome of the interplay of complex drivers is difficult to predict, it will have major consequences. That holds true for air pollution as well.

Description: The Pan-Third Pole (PTP) owns complex geography and demographic features where aerosol roles and their impact cannot be neglected as it jeopardizes both the environment and human health. Therefore, we analyzed spatio-temporal aerosol concentration, the influence of meteorological conditions, and underlying aerosol transport mechanisms over the PTP by leveraging observation, satellite dataset, and model outputs. The observation and model simulation result showed that aerosol concentrations exceeded the world health organization (WHO) and China guideline values in most of the locations. This study revealed distinctive seasonality with the highest and lowest aerosol concentrations during the winter and summer seasons, respectively, which could be favored by meteorological conditions and emissions from biomass burning. In response to higher aerosol concentrations, the maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) values were observed over the major hotspot regions however, interestingly summer high (AOD 〉 0.8) was observed over the Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP) in South Asia. The columnar aerosol profile indicated that the higher aerosol concentrations were limited within 1–2 km elevation over the densely populated regions over South Asia and Eastern China. However, the significant aerosols concentrations found to be extended as high as 10 km could potentially be driven by the deep convection process and summer monsoon activities. Regionally, the integrated aerosol transport (IAT) for black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) was found to be maximum over SA. Noticeable OC IAT anomaly (~5 times 〉 annual mean) found during spring that was linked with the biomass burning events. Yet, the dust transportation was found to be originated from the arid land and deserts that prolonged especially during summer followed by spring seasons. This study highlights the driver mechanism in aerosol seasonality, transport mechanism, and further motivates the additional assessment into potential dynamic relation between aerosol species, aerosol atmospheric river, and its societal impact.

Description: GRASP (Governance of Resources for Arctic Sustainable Policy and Practice) is an inter- and transdisciplinary research project jointly developed in 2014 by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and the Jade University of Applied Sciences

Description: Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy, but few would consider it a social good. Instead, our views on trade have polarized between two extremes: ‘free trade’ ideologues who regard trade as an end in itself, and ‘protectionists’ who view it as a destructive force to be contained. But there is another way to trade – one with the interests of people, not profit, at its heart. In this visionary work Christian Felber, founder of the Economy for the Common Good movement, offers a dazzling new paradigm for the global trading order. Confronting the ‘free trade religion’ which has reigned since Adam Smith, Felber champions an alternative approach in which trade serves the wider interests of society, incorporating the key issues of our time: human rights, climate change, and the growing divide richer and poorer countries. He proposes the groundbreaking idea of an ‘Ethical Trade Zone’, founded on a principled approach to tariffs and trade policies, and built with international cooperation on trade, taxation and labour.

Description: The Fennec climate programme aims to improve understanding of the Saharan climate system through a synergy of observations and modelling. We present a description of the Fennec airborne observations during 2011 and 2012 over the remote Sahara (Mauritania and Mali) and the advances in the understanding of mineral dust and boundary layer processes they have provided. Aircraft instrumentation aboard the UK FAAM BAe146 and French SAFIRE (Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement) Falcon 20 is described, with specific focus on instrumentation specially developed for and relevant to Saharan meteorology and dust. Flight locations, aims and associated meteorology are described. Examples and applications of aircraft measurements from the Fennec flights are presented, highlighting new scientific results delivered using a synergy of different instruments and aircraft. These include (1) the first airborne measurement of dust particles sizes of up to 300 microns and associated dust fluxes in the Saharan atmospheric boundary layer (SABL), (2) dust uplift from the breakdown of the nocturnal low-level jet before becoming visible in SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible Infra-Red Imager) satellite imagery, (3) vertical profiles of the unique vertical structure of turbulent fluxes in the SABL, (4) in situ observations of processes in SABL clouds showing dust acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN) at −15 °C, (5) dual-aircraft observations of the SABL dynamics, thermodynamics and composition in the Saharan heat low region (SHL), (6) airborne observations of a dust storm associated with a cold pool (haboob) issued from deep convection over the Atlas Mountains, (7) the first airborne chemical composition measurements of dust in the SHL region with differing composition, sources (determined using Lagrangian backward trajectory calculations) and absorption properties between 2011 and 2012, (8) coincident ozone and dust surface area measurements suggest coarser particles provide a route for ozone depletion, (9) discrepancies between airborne coarse-mode size distributions and AERONET (AERosol Robotic NETwork) sunphotometer retrievals under light dust loadings. These results provide insights into boundary layer and dust processes in the SHL region – a region of substantial global climatic importance.

Description: ‘Transgovernance: Advancing Sustainability Governance’ analyses what implications recent and ongoing changes in the relations between politics, science and media – together characterized as the emergence of a knowledge democracy – may have for governance for sustainable development, on global and other levels of societal decision making, and vice versa: How can the discussion on sustainable development contribute to a knowledge democracy? How can concepts such as second modernity, reflexivity, configuration theory, (meta)governance theory and cultural theory contribute to a ‘transgovernance’ approach which goes beyond mainstream sustainability governance? This volume presents contributions from various angles: international relations, governance and metagovernance theory, (environmental) economics and innovation science. It offers challenging insights regarding institutions and transformation processes, and into the paradigms behind contemporary sustainability governance. This book gives the sustainability governance debate a new context. It transforms classical questions into new options for societal decision making and identifies starting points and strategies aimed at effective governance of transitions to sustainability.

Description: Focusing on critical aspects of infrastructure, such as energy, this brief argues that Africa, and African cities in particular, need infrastructure that advances both basic needs and industrialization, and avoids a lock-in of unsustainable, high-carbon technologies. G20 countries can promote and support quality of life in Africa by: (1) aligning and cementing the G20 Agenda for Africa with African initiatives, SDGs and the Paris Agreement, (2) mitigating economic risks of climate change through supporting low carbon development pathways in Africa, (3) creating and enabling a level playing field for low carbon technologies, which includes integrated strategies for de-risking renewable energy investments, and (4) supporting smart and sustainable urban planning.

Description: Transport is the problem child of climate policy (see Haas & Richter 2020, Der Verkehr. Das Sorgenkind der Klimapolitik, in: POLITIKUM 2, 46-53). While emissions reductions have been achieved across every other sector since 1990, transport-related emissions have climbed by 3.7 percent between 1990 and 2018.

Description: This study assesses the impacts of fossil-fuel power plants in Turkey on people’s health. It quantifies the cobenefits of decarbonising Turkey’s power sector with renewable energy for unburdening Turkey’s health system, in terms of health cost savings and reduction in premature deaths. This research study has been carried out in the context of the COBENEFITS project, which assesses a range of socio-economic co-benefits of renewable energy, in addition to the benefits of reducing energy sector greenhouse gas emissions, when compared to conventional energy systems.

Description: This paper describes and quantifies three different energy policy pathways for Spain’s energy transition: government-centred, represented by the socialist party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE); market-centred, represented by the conservative party (Partido Popular, PP); and grassroots, represented by Unidas Podemos.

Description: This chapter is a joint effort by natural and legal scientists to make the case for the dramatic consequences black carbon (BC) emissions mainly from outside the Arctic region have on the Arctic ecosystem, and how BC has recently become the specific focus of a regime complex. The authors provide scientific knowledge about the sources, pathways, and climate impacts of BC emissions, and stress the special relevance of possible near-immediate climate benefits from BC emission reduction in the Arctic. Further consideration is given to the crucial importance of the governance responses to these opportunities and challenges. Thus, the second part of the chapter critically discusses the status and prospects of current multilateral BC emission reduction efforts in the context of the Arctic Council, the International Maritime Organization, and the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.

Description: We analyze long-term aerosol and precipitable water vapour (PWV) properties at two high-altitude sites (Nainital and Hanle) over the central Himalayan and western Trans-Himalayan region from 2008 to 2018. First-time assessment of the seasonality and variation in combined aerosol and water vapour radiative effects are also attempted, aiming to investigate the atmospheric effect on solar radiation over the Himalayan range that is especially important for the regional climate. A synergy of ground-based measurements from sun photometers, GPS (Global Positioning Systems) observations, radiosondes, along with satellite and reanalysis data was used to examine inter-annual and seasonal variability of PWV and specific humidity over both sites. The PWV is highest in monsoon and much lower during the dry winter season with slightly higher values at Nainital compared to Hanle. This is due to the lower altitude (∼2 km amsl) of Nainital, which is also directly affected by the Indian summer monsoon, compared to the Trans-Himalayan region. The vertical profiles of PWV from satellite and reanalysis data reveal a great consistency on a seasonal basis. The PWV is considered as one of the main greenhouse gases that exhibits a positive radiative effect at the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) in the order of about 10 W m−2 at Nainital and 7.4 W m−2 at Hanle. The atmospheric radiative effect due to water vapour is about 3–4 times higher compared to aerosols, resulting in atmospheric heating rates of 0.94 and 0.96 K Day−1 at Nainital and Hanle, respectively. The results highlight the importance of water vapour and aerosol radiative effects in the climate sensitive Himalayan range.

Description: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a fundamental component of all life on Earth. Due to the considerable increase in emissions, particularly industrial emissions, CO2has, however, become a waste product and greenhouse gas damaging to the climate and, consequently, a threat to both humanity and nature. For almost 50years, chemical research has been pursuing the idea of making the CO2 molecule useful as a raw material(Aresta and Dibenedetto 2010). Within the context of the oil crises of the 1970s, and contingent on the currentneed for climate protection, there has been a rise in global interest in the research and development oftechnologies which could make CO2 useful as a source of carbon. Several regions in Europe, but also in North America and Asia have started sponsorship programmes to support the development of such technologies (BMBF 2014, Climate-KIC 2014, U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] n.d.).The goal of these efforts is to integrate this climatedamaging gas in extremely diverse industrial productionprocesses as a raw material. The use of CO2 would not only allow for the production of useful raw materials and products, such technologies could alsoemulate a natural carbon cycle (Peters et al. 2011). At the same time, they have the potential to reduce the consumption of other fossil resources and, in so doing, they might not only contribute to the extension of the resource base, but also reduce missionswhilst providing protection for natural resources (von der Assen et al. 2013). Technological breakthroughs and advancements are currently observedin carbon capture technologies in the catalysis and transformation of CO2 (Aresta 2010, Mikkelsen et al. 2010, Peters et al. 2011, Styring et al. 2011, Wilcox 2012, Smit et al. 2014, Klankermayer and Leitner 2015), and the first innovative CO2-based productsare already coming onto the markets.

Description: Many teams have developed a wide range of numerical or categorical indicators of progress in the implementation of the SDG targets. But these indicators cannot identify why target goals have not been accomplished, whether or how they do or do not do justice to the social and cultural context in which they are applied, and how newly emerging social dynamics affect indicators. Nor do they provide means for resolving conflicting values and making balanced trade-offs. Our starting point in examining why we have not been successful in progressing towards sustainability is that the sustainability conundrum is primarily a societal, rather than an environmental problem. Our present emphasis is to maintain our way of life while minimizing its impact, hoping that such a minimization strategy would make the world more sustainable. Reducing for example the extent of pollution but keeping the same industries alive would not be sufficient for a transformation towards sustainability. Instead we should ask “How did we come to this point and what practices, in our societies and in our science, need to change to make progress towards sustainability?” To answer these questions, one needs to go much further back than usual in the history of western societies to identify the societal, scientific, technological and environmental co-evolutionary dynamics that have brought us to the current conundrum. And the fact that most societal challenges are of the “wicked” kind, as well as the need to decide among many societal options and many future pathways that may lead to positive results require that we seriously engage in using “Complex Systems” approaches. It is up to our scientific community to identify these pathways, and we need to move fast!

Description: Translating the agricultural eco(logical)-intensification model to European aquaculture hosts the potential for sustainably providing local food for local communities. Using online and printed surveys, we investigated the relationship between social factors such as age, gender, and education to seafood consumption behavior and the perception of aquaculture production. The frequency of seafood consumption was significantly lower in young and female respondents, whereas respondents with a higher level of education consume more frequently. Furthermore, high-frequency seafood consumers had a significant preference for wild-caught fish. Young and female respondents also perceived sustainability of aquaculture lower, whereas the level of education had a significantly positive relation to the attitude towards aquaculture. To foster the acceptance of eco-intensified aquaculture production, we suggest that communication efforts need to be group-tailored, focusing on the reduced environmental impacts, increased animal welfare, and novel products like seaweed to meet the values of the German consumer groups.

Description: Under its special initiative “One World, No Hunger” (SEWOH), the GermanFederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is prioritizingefforts to deliver food security and enhance the management of naturalresources. The protection and rehabilitation of agricultural land managed bysmallholder farmers are central to this dual agenda and form the objectives ofa GIZ programme implemented in five countries. Seeking to explore new formsof development cooperation, SEWOH mandated the Global Soil Forum (GSF)to accompany the work of the GIZ through transdisciplinary research. Theaccompanying research project focuses on the socio-economic and culturalfactors that constrain the uptake of sustainable land management (SLM) techniquesby smallholder farmers. The GSF’s approach stresses co-developmentand the pursuit of research themes with local partners, including researchers,policymakers, actors of development cooperation, civil society organisations,and farmers.

Description: Over 30% of the world’s population lives within 100 km of the oceanic coast. More than three billion people rely on fishing and other ocean-related livelihoods. The ocean is a biodiversity hotspot and moderates the climate, having absorbed around 40% of the world’s total carbon emissions. Oceanscapes provide an essential cultural good, offer recreational opportunities, health benefits, artistic inspiration and an entire cosmology and way of life for indigenous communities. However, anthropogenic pressures have seriously impacted the ocean and threaten its ability to provide human societies with the required climatic and ecosystem conditions for life on earth. The German G7 presidency has proposed a G7 “Ocean Deal” for the sustainable use, protection and effective governance of the ocean and its resources. Several ongoing global ocean governance processes require strong multilateral leadership and close alignment between the G7, in particular in this period of serious international tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the One Ocean Summit in February 2022, global leaders have put forth first commitments to make 2022 a decision year for the ocean. Building on the final declaration of the summit and the UK G7 Ocean Decade Navigation Plan, we highlight that a G7 “Ocean Deal” should include provisions for 1) ambitious ocean governance to safeguard ocean health and climate (in the G7’s own waters and through leadership in international settings), 2) improving ocean observation, data infrastructure and knowledge sharing, and 3) financing the transition towards more sustainable interactions with the ocean. Specifically, we recommend that G7 states: 1a. Eliminate national subsidies that contribute to overfishing and push to finalize the related WTO agreement; step up international cooperation, financial & technical assistance to prevent IUU fishing. 1b. Reduce marine debris through a comprehensive global agreement on plastic pollution. 1c. Pause deep sea mining until risks are better understood and a transparent, inclusive and accountable institutional structure is in place that guarantees the effective protection of the marine environment. 1d. Expand marine protected areas in line with the proposed goal of at least 30% by 2030, and accelerate work in the coming months to successfully finalize negotiations for a legally binding instrument to conserve and sustainably use marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). 1e. Fully recognize the importance of the ocean-climate nexus and strengthen the ocean dimension in key climate negotiations. 2a. Adopt a legal framework and binding commitments for a sustained and shared global coordination of ocean observations and infrastructure on marine data, compliant with FAIR and CARE principles. 2b. Ensure long-term, guaranteed funding, clear institutional affiliations, coordinated and integrated data products to enable continuous, comprehensive observations supporting policy monitoring & evaluation 3a. Redesign and scale up ocean finance by increasing funding of early-stage, nature-positive and science-based opportunities, and large-scale investment into zero-carbon, resilient and nature-based coastal blue infrastructure, and by integrating ocean criteria into sustainability finance frameworks (EU Taxonomy, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)).

Description: Modern societies are confronted with ‘systemic risks’ which challenge conventional risk analysis and management. The phrase ‘systemic risks’ denotes risk phenomena which are exceedingly complex and interdependent. Systemic risks originate in tightly coupled systems. They are characterised by cascading effects, tipping points and non-linear developments. Furthermore, compared to their potential impacts, they often lack proportional public awareness and adequate policies. Conventional risk management struggles with these challenges. Yet many threats to modern society, such as financial crises and the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, match these attributes. This article investigates the concept of systemic risks and raises questions for governance. The concept of inclusive risk governance serves as a guiding principle. In particular, the article draws on the Risk Governance Framework by the International Risk Governance Council to address the challenges of systemic risks.

Description: Here we present the results of the demonstration tests that took place in Summer 2018 during the final months of the four-year Best Paths project. Details will be given on the assembly and finalizing of the demonstrator installation as well as the testing strategy defined for HVDC superconducting cables and adopted in the project. Some possibilities of installation within the electricity grids will also be discussed.

Description: Background: Ambient air pollution poses a major risk for the development and aggravation of respiratory diseases. Evidence suggests that even in low-level air pollution environments there is a risk for an increase in adverse respiratory symptoms. We examined whether variations in daily air pollution levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone, or particulate matter in Berlin, Germany were associated with hospital admissions of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients in a time series analysis. Methods: We calculated single and multi-pollutant models, investigated possible lags in effect, and analysed the influence of meteorological variables on the results. Data from January 2005 through December 2015 were used to quantify the concentration–response. Results: The risk ratio for asthma patients to be hospitalised on the same day of NO2 exposure was 1.101 per 10 µg/m3 NO2 increase (95% CI: 1.013 to 1.195), for COPD patients 1.123 (95% CI: 1.081 to 1.168). Neither the exposure to ozone (95% CI: 0.904 to 1.020), PM10 (95% CI: 0.990 to 1.127), nor PM2.5 (95% CI: 0.981 to 1.148) was associated with an increased risk ratio for asthma patients to be hospitalised. Risk ratios for the hospital admission of COPD patients were also not increased due to ozone (95% CI: 0.981 to 1.033), PM10 (95% CI: 0.988 to 1.032), or PM2.5 (95% CI: 0.966 to 1.019) exposure. The presented risk ratios and confidence intervals relate to the day of exposure. We found no increased hospitalisation risks with a delayed occurrence on subsequent days. Conclusions: A quantifiable, statistically significant increase in risk for asthma and COPD exacerbations owing to NO2 exposure at levels well below European regulatory limit values was observed.

Description: This IASS study takes an in-depth look at Covid-19's impacts on the global energy sector, and then zooms in to the country level to see individual country effects and responses. The case studies are compiled by energy researchers in Argentina, China, Germany, India, Israel, and the United States.

Description: Current efforts at the International Seabed Authority to develop regulations pertaining to the exploitation of deep seabed minerals would benefit from a moment of reflection on the future governance of these resources. As the Area and its resources have been declared a common heritage of mankind, this principle must be taken into account when designing the future governance of activities in the Area.

Description: The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is expected to launch in October 2023, with reporting obligations only. The scheme aims to ensure that European efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions do not induce so-called ‘carbon leakage’, which could occur if companies based in the EU relocate carbon-intensive production to countries with less ambitious climate standards or increase imports of carbon-intensive products to the EU. The mechanism will require companies importing certain products to the EU to offset embedded GHG emissions by purchasing CBAM certificates, thus ensuring that the carbon price of imported products is equivalent to that of products made by European producers under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). CBAM’s effectiveness and impact will be evaluated by the EU towards the end of its phase-in period. This evaluation will likely lead to adjustments in the mechanism’s design and will be followed closely by third countries considering the introduction of similar instruments. Economies and sectors dependent on exports to the EU will be both more exposed and vulnerable to the mechanism. In this policy brief we explore the views of stakeholders in South Africa, the EU’s largest trading partner in Africa, and consider measures necessary to ensure that CBAM addresses issues of justice and sustainability. In particular we identify three key recommendations for European policymakers.

Description: This paper addresses the need for effective and fair codes of conduct for public-good-oriented transdisciplinary processes. These processes are characterized by the production of socially robust orientations (SoROs) through mutual learning and developing better action strategies by merging knowledge from practice and science. We argue that transdisciplinary processes should be governed by an appropriate social rule system that comprises codes of conduct for collaboration (CCC) in transdisciplinary discourses. In our view, participants in a transdisciplinary process must (1) follow rules of mutuality between science and practice (accepting the otherness of the other) and (2) enable the use and integration of knowledge from science and practice (e.g., through responsibility and/or co-leadership at all levels of a project). This requires (3) a protected discourse arena similar to an expanded Chatham House Rule that facilitates the generation of groundbreaking, novel ideas for sustainable transition. In transdisciplinary processes, CCC are based on these three perspectives and can be explicitly introduced yet require cultural and situational adaptations. Many aspects of transdisciplinary processes, such as legal status (e.g., who owns the data generated, whether it is a group or formal organization), are often unclear and need further investigation.

Description: People living or working in the Arctic are faced with uncertainty regarding future social, political, economic, and environmental change. This uncertainty is due not least to the ongoing transformations caused by climate change. This paper presents results from a project entitled “Yamal 2040: Scenarios for the Russian Arctic”, which employed ‘Strategic Foresight’, a specific co-design and engagement methodology, to support stakeholders of one particular region in the Arctic, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Yamal region) in Western Siberia, Russia. It was the project’s objective to respond to this situation of general uncertainty, to develop forward-looking scenarios to better understand the risks and opportunities associated with future transformations in the Arctic. The findings presented here may be of interest for stakeholders in other parts of the Arctic and Russia that depend on the exploitation of fossil fuels and/or are facing complex and uncertain situations.

Description: The marine environment, subject to multiple pressures, is transboundary by nature. For ocean management and conservation, there is a need of enhanced collaboration and cross-sectoral solutions. This project aimed to develop a participatory dialogue platform that strengthens cooperation within and between marine regions in line with the 2030 Agenda. The “Marine Regions Forum” brings together stakeholders for joint learning and exchange of good practices, developing recommendations or building of partnerships across sectoral and territorial boundaries. The report shows that the informal format of the "Marine Regions Forum" can complement global discussions and regional efforts alike and thus support processes of ocean governance.

Description: The concept of boundary work has been put forward as an analytical approach towards the study of interactions between science and policy. While the concept has been useful as a case-study approach, there are several weaknesses and constraints when using the concept in a more systemic analysis of the interactions between knowledge production and sustainable development decision-making at the international level, such as its inability to capture the diversity of institutions involved in such boundary work. Another inability involves a lack of conceptualisation of the impacts of the specific conditions of intergovernmental decision-making, such as rules for representation and the mode of negotiation. This chapter suggests complementing the concept of boundary work with a configuration approach based on a two-dimensional conceptualisation of the boundary space in international decision-making that allows the positioning of institutions with regard to their degree of politicisation and their position in terms of national and regional representation. Such an approach could be a useful guide in the further conceptualisation and application of the boundary concept.

Description: The second session on integrated ocean management was kicked-off by Sebastian Unger (IASS Potsdam). In his keynote presentation he highlighted the great political moment for moving towards integrated ocean governance, which could be even further advanced through (a) innovating instruments, (b) complementary strategies at national, regional and global scale, and (c) capacity-building and sustainable finance. In particular, he argued that the regional level could act as a broker for integration, as there are well-established institutions at regional level, where agreement can be reached more easily than at global level and which allows for a meaningful implementation of the ecosystem approach. In the discussion moderation by Management Board member Gert Verreet, discussants pointed out that in Europe, many of the institutions (e.g. at sea-basin level), instruments (e.g. Marine Spatial Planning) and commitment to integrated ocean management were already in place; however, a better implementation was necessary.

Description: In mid-2021, the Republic of Nauru invoked a treaty provision at the International Seabed Authority known as the “two-year rule”. This effectively imposed a deadline on the Council of the International Seabed Authority to complete the elaboration and adoption of regulations for the exploitation of seabed minerals in the international seabed Area by 9 July 2023. Come 10 July 2023, the Authority would be presented with a new legal situation, whereby applications for mining activities may be submitted despite the absence of applicable regulations. There remain many outstanding matters in the negotiations and, considering that the regulations for exploitation must be adopted by consensus at the Council, it would appear that there is still a long and winding road ahead before an agreement is reached among member states – if this is at all possible. In light of this, the Council clearly needs to discuss what would occur if an application for the approval of a plan of work for exploitation activities happens to be submitted in the absence of applicable regulations. While the open legal questions that arise from the invocation of the two-year rule and upon the expiration of the deadline have been analysed elsewhere, this discussion paper examines the new political reality that the Authority finds itself in following the expiry of the deadline on 9 July 2023. Building on previous work by the author, this discussion paper attempts to underscore what is at stake at the Authority and explores how member states should approach this situation.

Description: Economic disruption associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and the current energy and – potentially economic – crisis related to the war in Ukraine emphasize the importance of understanding and managing crises’ immediate and lasting effects on decarbonisation. Theory shows that the expected effects of crises are contested and could be supportive or detrimental to decarbonisation. This article examines the timing and mechanisms for how countries peak emissions and whether such peaks are related to economic crises. We empirically investigate the timing of CO2 emissions peaks in OECD and G20 countries 1965-2019, and the effects of major economic crises on the activity-related and structural drivers of emissions. We show that in all but two countries that have peaked emissions, the peak occurred just before or during a recession, by the combined effect of lower GDP growth and decreasing energy and/or carbon intensity during and after the crisis. In peak-and-decline countries, crises have typically magnified pre-existing improvements in energy and carbon intensities. Almost all peaking countries have returned to economic growth post-crisis, implying that structural change – not lost economic activity – was the critical driver of emission peaks. In non-peaking countries, the GDP growth was less affected, and structural change effects were weaker or rather increased emissions. Crises do not automatically trigger peaks but may strengthen ongoing decarbonisation trends through several mechanisms.

Description: Aerosol emissions from human activities are extensive and changing rapidly over Asia. Model simulations and satellite observations indicate a dipole pattern in aerosol emissions and loading between South Asia and East Asia, two of the most heavily polluted regions of the world. We examine the previously unexplored diverging trends in the existing dipole pattern of aerosols between East and South Asia using the high quality, two-decade long ground-based time series of observations of aerosol properties from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), from satellites (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)), and from model simulations (Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). The data cover the period since 2001 for Kanpur (South Asia) and Beijing (East Asia), two locations taken as being broadly representative of the respective regions. Since 2010 a dipole in aerosol optical depth (AOD) is maintained, but the trend is reversed—the decrease in AOD over Beijing (East Asia) is rapid since 2010, being 17% less in current decade compared to first decade of twenty-first century, while the AOD over South Asia increased by 12% during the same period. Furthermore, we find that the aerosol composition is also changing over time. The single scattering albedo (SSA), a measure of aerosol’s absorption capacity and related to aerosol composition, is slightly higher over Beijing than Kanpur, and has increased from 0.91 in 2002 to 0.93 in 2017 over Beijing and from 0.89 to 0.92 during the same period over Kanpur, confirming that aerosols in this region have on an average become more scattering in nature. These changes have led to a notable decrease in aerosol-induced atmospheric heating rate (HR) over both regions between the two decades, decreasing considerably more over East Asia (− 31%) than over South Asia (− 9%). The annual mean HR is lower now, it is still large (≥ 0.6 K per day), which has significant climate implications. The seasonal trends in AOD, SSA and HR are more pronounced than their respective annual trends over both regions. The seasonal trends are caused mainly by the increase/decrease in anthropogenic aerosol emissions (sulfate, black carbon and organic carbon) while the natural aerosols (dust and sea salt) did not change significantly over South and East Asia during the last two decades. The MERRA-2 model is able to simulate the observed trends in AODs well but not the magnitude, while it also did not simulate the SSA values or trends well. These robust findings based on observations of key aerosol parameters and previously unrecognized diverging trends over South and East Asia need to be accounted for in current state-of-the-art climate models to ensure accurate quantification of the complex and evolving impact of aerosols on the regional climate over Asia.

Description: This paper examines the challenges and prospects for Norway’s internal and external hydrogen strategy from around 2019, when Norway’s low-carbon hydrogen policies and activities began to gain traction. Norway has taken a technology-neutral approach to ‘green’ and ‘blue’ hydrogen technologies linked to reducing emissions. Two end-use sectors have been prioritised: maritime transport and energy-intensive industries. This strategy is based on Norway’s energy mix, industry structure/interest and research competence. While climate concerns appear as the predominant motivation underlying the Norwegian government’s low-carbon hydrogen strategy, industrial value creation is an additional key goal. Political priorities roughly align with actual funding priorities – there has been a massive increase in direct state aid to low-carbon hydrogen projects. Externally, Norway’s hydrogen strategy has potential significance for Europe, particularly for countries with maritime interests and high hydrogen import needs. However, Norway’s technology-neutral approach deviates from most other European countries. What Norway’s hydrogen strategy will mean for Europe remains to be seen – but its main interests concern the export of ‘blue’ hydrogen, with ‘green’ hydrogen primarily suited to meet domestic needs.

Description: In order to fulfill multiple sustainable development targets, most prominently human development, poverty eradication and climate change mitigation, African countries need infrastructure that cover basic needs while at the same time promote industrialization and value creation. G20 countries can support African countries by: (1) aligning and cementing the G20 Agenda for Africa with African initiatives, SDGs and the Paris Agreement, (2) mitigating economic risks of climate change through supporting low carbon development pathways in Africa, (3) incentivizing low carbon development by phasing out subsidies and eventually putting a price on carbon and (4) creating and enabling a level playing field for low carbon technologies, which includes integrated strategies for de-risking renewable energy investments.

Description: A survey of members of a scientific society focused on risk analysis suggests substantial support for seeing their scientific society pursue the communication goal of “trying to ensure that policymakers consider scientific evidence.” Support for pursuing this goal was largely predicted by researchers’ beliefs that it was ethical for the society to pursue the goal, that it would be satisfying to see their society pursue the goal, and the belief that the society could have a positive impact on society by pursuing the goal. Normative beliefs about pursuing the goal and organizational efficacy beliefs were not good predictors of goal support. Goal support was measured using a direct measure of perceived goal importance as well as measures focused on the degree to which respondents wanted their society to put resources into providing members with opportunities to pursue the goal and the amount of funding that members thought the society should devote to pursuing the goal. The theory underlying the work argues that we can treat science communicators’ choices about communication goals, objectives, and tactics as “planned behaviors” and thus study them using traditional behavior change models.

Description: Sufficiency is one important strategy for sustainable development. At an individual level, we need a better understanding of the relationship between sufficiency attitude and CO2 footprint. In this paper, we analyze sufficiency as a psychological determinant of low-carbon lifestyles and introduce an empirical measurement scale for individual sufficiency attitudes. Sufficiency aims at a total reduction of resource consumption, which is urgently needed to achieve our climate and sustainable development goals. This paper explores individual attitude towards a sufficiency-oriented lifestyle as a driver of a low carbon footprint. Survey data of 310 participants was analyzed to test whether individual sufficiency attitude manifests in people’s carbon footprint. The results provide evidence for this relationship but its strength varies between behavioral domains ‐ that is, heating, electricity, food consumption, everyday mobility, air travel. Potential structural and individual barriers to reducing CO2 emissions are discussed as possible factors that could explain differences between the behavioral domains. We argue that intrapersonal factors matter for sustainable lifestyles but that policy-making and structural change should complement and facilitate voluntary endeavors to achieve low-carbon lifestyles.

Description: This report is about the arts in the world after this. The world after COVID-19, the world after colonialism and globalization, the world after the digitization of society, and the world after climate change. In other words, itis about the arts in the world after the Enlightenment: a time in history when it was assumed we could reduce the world to objective facts, predict the behaviours of natural systems, and intervene in life bit by bit, in ways that would secure the results we desired and eliminate the ones we did not. Today, the world of linear, causal relationships governed by prediction and control is giving way to a world of emergence and inherent unpredictability. What does this have to do with art, you may wonder? More, I believe, than we can begin to imagine, yet just enough to recognize an opportunity, and prepare.

Description: Citizens’ assemblies are relatively new political institutions that enable a randomly-selected group of everyday people to deliberate and make collective recommendations on climate policy and action. This raises significant questions about their legitimacy and the extent to which they resonate with the public and other societal actors. This research brief draws on evidence from climate assemblies and other participatory and deliberative processes, as well as targeted interviews, to evaluate what we already know about perceptions of legitimacy and resonance and the factors that are likely to shape these perceptions. Drawing on these findings, the brief considers what actions can be taken for assemblies to maximise their legitimacy and resonance.

Description: We investigated the role of the passive volcanic plume of Mount Etna (Italy) in the formation of new particles in the size range of 2.5–10 nm through the gas-to-particle nucleation of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) precursors, formed from the oxidation of SO2, and their evolution to particles with diameters larger than 100 nm. Two simulations were performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem) under the same configuration, except for the nucleation parameterization implemented in the model: the activation nucleation parameterization (JS1 = 2.0 × 10−6 × (H2SO4)) in the first simulation (S1) and a new parameterization for nucleation (NPN) (JS2 = 1.844 × 10−8 × (H2SO4)1.12) in the second simulation (S2). The comparison of the numerical results with the observations shows that, on average, NPN improves the performance of the model in the prediction of the H2SO4 concentrations, newly-formed particles (~2.5–10 nm), and their growth into larger particles (10–100 nm) by decreasing the rates of H2SO4 consumption and nucleation relative to S1. In addition, particles formed in the plume do not grow into cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) sizes (100–215 nm) within a few hours of the vent (tens of km). However, tracking the size evolution of simulated particles along the passive plume indicates the downwind formation of particles larger than 100 nm more than 100 km far from the vent with relatively high concentrations relative to the background (more than 1500 cm−3) in S2. These particles, originating in the volcanic source, could affect the chemical and microphysical properties of clouds and exert regional climatic effects over time.

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in online communication, offering a unique burning glass perspective on the advantages of transferring formerly face-to-face conversations online as well as uncovering limitations of using technical applications to this end. These experiences are of great importance for the development of new e-participation instruments. So far, digital participation has failed to match the quality of real-world procedures. This paper discusses various emerging formats for online participation and their prerequisites. Blended participation models, in particular, appear to offer the most promise, enhancing negotiation processes between heterogenous social groups and facilitating responsive policy making.

Description: Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Nutzung der Online-Kommunikation stark befördert. Diese einzigartige experimentelle Situation machte die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines Wechsels der Kommunikationsmedien von Face-to-Face- in Online-Formate sichtbar. Die gesammelten Erfahrungen sind von erheblicher Bedeutung für die Entwicklung neuer Instrumente und Tools der Online-Beteiligung. Bislang allerdings sind Online-Beteiligungsformate den klassischen Offline-Beteiligungsformaten qualitativ nicht ebenbürtig. Daher werden in diesem Beitrag Ansatzpunkte für neue Formate und deren Grundvoraussetzungen diskutiert. Insbesondere Konzepte, welche sowohl Online- als auch Offline-Elemente verbinden (Blended Participation), erscheinen vielversprechend, da sie Austauschprozesse zwischen heterogenen sozialen Gruppen verbessern und die Responsivität des politischen Entscheidungsfindungsprozesses erhöhen können.

Description: The challenges facing European regions undergoing structural transformations as they transition towards sustainable development pathways have attracted increasing interest in recent years. Straddling the border between Germany and Poland, Lusatia is experiencing considerable transformation pressure. Various domestic and European funding programmes, for example under the umbrella of the European Green Deal, are intended to cushion the impacts of the phase-out or reduction of coal-fired power generation. The recently adopted EU Just Transition Mechanism aims to support sustainable structural transformations and the broader goal of achieving climate neutrality by mitigating impacts on the workforce and contributing to the diversification of economies in the most affected areas. Funds made available through this mechanism should be deployed in consultation with regional stakeholders in Lusatia to complement national support measures. Further funding programmes are available targeting various policy areas and could be harnessed to strengthen integration throughout the region. Funding programmes that are centrally managed by the European Commission (i.e. not under shared management with national governments) are of particular interest in this context. Closer political and economic cooperation, coupled with a deeper exchange of experience, can accelerate regional integration and guide processes of structural transformation towards sustainable outcomes. However, there are some practical hurdles to overcome in border regions. The primary objectives in using available EU funding are to mitigate the social impacts of processes of structural transformation and to deliver a just transition at all levels. Measures funded through these programmes should be aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and contribute to the goal of achieving climate neutrality.

Description: Various geoengineering technologies that would deliberately alter the climate system have been proposed as a way to alleviate risks of global warming. Technologies that would shield incoming sunlight to cool the planet, so called solar radiation management (SRM), are particularly controversial. Considering insights from social studies of simulation modeling and research on expectations in science and technology, I argue that climate modeling has a central role in producing visions of SRM. I draw upon an empirical analysis of scientific research on SRM to examine how a creative play with technological ideas becomes possible through climate modeling. This enables scientists to project and study environmental impacts of speculative SRM methods in virtual experiments and to develop and refine ideas for adjusting sunlight. Hence, while climate models are used to improve scientific understandings of climate system behavior and to anticipate possible environmental impacts of SRM, they also become inventive tools, allowing scientists to envision novel ways of climate control and optimization. Given the importance of simulation studies to knowledge production on SRM, I critically reflect on the challenges that arise when visions about an engineered climate future are first and foremost produced in climate simulations.

Description: Some scholars have labeled the financial structures that faced a run during the 2007-9 Financial Crisis as ‘shadow banking system’ and have connected it to the emergence of new monetary instruments. This was the starting point for thinking about various forms of private debt as ‘shadow money’. Since then several shadow money theories have emerged, with seemingly different conceptualizations of shadow money. We argue that, despite different terminology and intellectual ancestry, these theories generally agree on three key criteria that define shadow money. A financial instrument must be met by a demand that considers it an alternative to established forms of money, has to trade at par to higher-ranking forms of money and must be created through a swap of private debt certificates (IOUs). Based on these criteria, we look at four instruments to discuss how and under what conditions they correspond, or have corresponded, to those criteria. These are money market fund shares, overnight repurchase agreements, assetbacked commercial papers and foreign exchange swaps. We show that the disagreement over what instruments to count as shadow money lies in the level of strictness in applying those criteria on real-world financial instruments. If we are mathematically strict, none of the instruments can be categorized as shadow money. If we allow for more empirical variation, then all of the instruments correspond to the definition.

Description: Taking the early tissue culture experiments of Alexis Carrel in the 1910s–1930s as its example, the article explores the relationship between advances in biotechnological control over living matter and a holistic ontology of life, which stresses the temporal specificity of living things. With reference to Henri Bergson, Carrel argued that physiological time depends on an organism’s relationship to its milieu. By developing a laboratory apparatus and culture media, new objects of investigation could be made to live outside the organism and be brought to behave in novel temporal ways. In difference to recent biotechnological advances, like for example genome editing, which seek to ‘engineer’ living organisms by rebuilding them from their DNA up, then, early twentieth century interventionist laboratory practices were often linked to an understanding that biological plasticity results from organismic complexity and interactions between organism and milieu. These notions contributed to shaping laboratory apparatuses and techniques; they also helped to establish an understanding of environmental control that would allow for the production of novel ‘living things’.

Description: Little consideration has been given to the process of technological change in political theory. Given that ideas about this process play an important role in many strands of normative political thought, and are especially crucial to climate change politics, this is a remarkable oversight. It risks political theory being irrelevant to climate change mitigation. The implications of this oversight for political theory are explored here through an analysis of the liberalism-ecologism debate. The article argues that attempts to green liberalism – to move it beyond environmentalism – cannot succeed while liberalism is silent about technological change. More broadly, given that most political theory traditions make claims about technological change, claims crucial to their worldviews and normative goals, it argues that much more theorisation of the concept is necessary. Especially now that they shape how the world understands climate change mitigation, contests over the meaning of technological change are intensely political contests. Political theory needs to get much more involved.

Description: International authorities are increasingly recognizing that utilizing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from various industries can assist strategies for mitigating climate change. In developing novel carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies they aspire to contribute to circular economy targets and reduce consumption of fossil‐based raw materials. However, the potential economic effects of CCU on industrial value chains remain unclear. Hence, this study investigates the economic expectations placed on those actors currently conducting research and development (R&D) in CCU. The aspired levels of economic performance are identified through a systematic literature review of 19 policy advice reports and 15 scientific papers. Qualitative directed content analysis is conducted, based on an R&D input–output–outcome system. First, we identify three relevant groups of value chain actors by clustering industrial sectors: (a) equipment manufacturers, (b) high‐emitting producers, and (c) producers of materials and fuels. Then, we derive a criteria list from the review. Finally, the analysis reveals how CCU innovations are anticipated to impact different industries: Equipment manufacturers could contribute to economic growth. For high‐emitting producers, CCU provides one option for “surviving” sustainability transitions. Meanwhile, material and fuel producers need to act as “problem solvers” by offering competitive ways of utilizing CO2. We conclude by identifying research gaps that should be addressed to better understand the economic and social dimensions of CCU and to increase the chances of such innovations contributing to broader sustainability transformations of industrial and energy systems.

Description: This report – Study on the socio-economic importance of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) in the Southeast Atlantic region – aims to analyse the socio-economic importance of the ABNJ adjacent to the countries within the Abidjan Convention Area in West, Central and Southern Africa. It characterizes the socio-economic interests in ABNJ, underpinned by the ecosystem services concept, and the actual and potential social and economic outcomes (costs and benefits) associated with the conservation and use (exploitation) of marine resources, both in qualitative, and to the extent possible in quantitative terms. In this study, the term “socio-economics” is taken in a broad context to include the social aspects related to human well-being, livelihoods, impacts on communities, equity, socio-political systems, as well as economic ones. The analysis is based on an extensive literature review of scientific publications, articles, analysis of available data, stakeholder knowledge and experience, as well as expert opinion gathered through targeted interviews. It provides a narrative and forward-looking assessment of the key activities. The information presented is intend-ed to support decision-makers, including government officials, the private sector and other stakeholders to make informed decisions about ABNJ and weigh environmental, social and eco-nomic objectives, in the context of a new internationally binding treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond national jurisdiction, the BBNJ agreement. This report is part of a series of reports covering issues of ocean governance with a focus on the Southeast Atlantic (and Southeast Pacific) published under the STRONG High Seas project – Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (June 2017 – May 2022).

Description: Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) offers flexible and decarbonised power generation and is one of the few switchable renewable technologies that can generate renewable power on demand. Today (2018), CSP only contributes 5 TWh to European electricity generation but has the potential to become an important generation asset for decarbonising the electricity sector within Europe as well as globally. This chapter examines how factors and key political decisions lead to different futures and the associated CSP use in Europe in the years up to 2050. In a second step, we characterise the scenarios with the associated system costs and the costs of the support policy. We show that the role of CSP in Europe depends crucially on political decisions and the success or failure of policies outside of renewable energies. In particular, the introduction of CSP depends on the general ambitions for decarbonisation, the level of cross-border trade in electricity from renewable sources and is made possible by the existence of a strong grid connection between the southern and northern European Member States and by future growth in electricity demand. The presence of other baseload technologies, particularly nuclear energy in France, diminishes the role and need for CSP. Assuming a favourable technological development, we find a strong role for CSP in Europe in all modelled scenarios: Contribution of 100 TWh to 300 TWh of electricity to a future European electricity system. The current European CSP fleet would have to be increased by a factor of 20 to 60 over the next 30 years. To achieve this, stable financial support for CSP would be required. Depending on framework conditions and assumptions, the amount of support ranges at the EU level from € 0.4 to 2 billion per year, which represents only a small proportion of the total support requirement for the energy system transformation. Cooperation between the Member States could further help reduce these costs.

Description: This study conceptualizes international monetary hierarchy by focusing on different mechanisms to supply emergency US-Dollar (USD) liquidity from the Federal Reserve (Fed) to non-US central banks. To this end, it takes on board insights of critical macrofinance and develops a model of the global financial architecture as a web of interlocking balance sheets.

Description: New energies form new energy landscapes (Apostol, Palmer, Pasqualetti, Smardon, & Sullivan, 2016; Gailing & Leibenath, 2013). Energy carriers converge within space and open up leeway and scope for design. Different spaces are affected: offshore and onshore, plains and mountains, waters, volcanic areas, coastal regions, deserts, etc. Different energy sources and types of technology are used and integrated through grids. Grids are increasingly governed as smart energy systems equipped with smart meters and apps etc., linked with smart mobility.

Description: Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an aqueous-phase route to produce carbon materials using biomass or biomass-derived precursors. In this paper, a comprehensive physicochemical and textural characterization of HTC materials obtained using four different precursors, namely, xylose, glucose, sucrose, and starch, is presented. The development of porosity in the prepared HTC materials as a function of thermal treatment (under an inert atmosphere) was specifically monitored using N2 and CO2 sorption analysis. The events taking place during the thermal treatment process were studied by a combined thermogravimetric/infrared (TGA-IR) measurement. Interestingly, these inexpensive biomass-derived carbon materials show good selectivity for CO2 adsorption over N2 (CO2/N2 selectivity of 20 at 273 K, 1 bar and 1:1 gas composition). Furthermore, the elemental composition, morphologies, degree of structural order, surface charge, and functional groups are also investigated.

Description: Inspired by a paper by Teseletso and Adachi (Miner Econ 8(10):21, 2021), the hypothesis regarding the declining grade of mined copper ore and its possible use as a guide to the future of ultimate recoverable resources (URRs) is tested. As a time axis, cumulative production is taken. Grades can be either grade of cumulative tonnage or annual production grade. Correlation can be linear (grade and tonnage) or semi-logarithmic (grade linear, tonnage logarithmic). We first show that the assumption that the highest correlation is the best guide to the future may be a fallacy. This is the linear correlation between grades of cumulative tonnage and cumulative tonnages since 1959, i.e., 85% of all copper mined historically with a near-perfect correlation approaching one (R2 = 0.97). This leads to implausibly low results of the URR, clearly demonstrating that this trend must shift in the future. Moreover, Teseletso and Adachi’s (Miner Econ 8(10):21, 2021) approach using a linear or semi-logarithmic correlation between annual grades with cumulative production leads to erroneous results. Here, the later the calculation of the correlation begins, the lower the extrapolated tonnages are at predetermined, postulated ultimate cutoff grades. This contradicts the accepted knowledge that with lower grades, the resource base is broadened—not narrowed. The only reasonable finding results from the correlation between linear grades of cumulative production with logarithmic cumulative production, i.e., the Lasky relationship, indicating a URR of 7.5 GT Cu, of which 6.7 GT remain to be mined, which is equivalent of close to 325 years of present production. The trend towards declining Cu grades with constant real Cu prices shows the potential for creative solutions for other metal as well.

Description: To combat global warming, industry needs to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint. One way this can be done is by re-use of industrial flue gasses to produce value-added chemicals. Prime example feedstocks for the chemical industry are the three flue gasses produced during conventional steel production: blast furnace gas (BFG), basic oxygen furnace gas (BOFG), and coke oven gas (COG), due to their relatively high CO, CO2, or H2 content, allowing the production of carbon-based chemicals such as methanol or polymers. It is essential to know for decision-makers if using steel mill gas as a feedstock is more economically favorable and offers a lower global warming impact than benchmark CO and H2. Also, crucial information is which of the three steel mill gasses is the most favorable and under what conditions. This study presents a method for the estimation of the economic value and global warming impact of steel mill gasses, depending on the amount of steel mill gas being utilized by the steel production plant for different purposes at a given time and the economic cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions required to replace these usages. Furthermore, this paper investigates storage solutions for steel mill gas. Replacement cost per ton of CO is found to be less than the benchmark for both BFG (50–70 €/ton) and BOFG (100–130 €/ton), and replacement cost per ton of H2 (1800–2100 €/ton) is slightly less than the benchmark for COG. Of the three kinds of steel mill gas, blast furnace gas is found to be the most economically favorable while also requiring the least emissions to replace per ton of CO and CO2. The GHG emissions replacement required to use BFG (0.43–0.55 tons-CO2-eq./ton CO) is less than for conventional processes to produce CO and CO2, and therefore BFG, in particular, is a potentially desirable chemical feedstock. The method used by this model could also easily be used to determine the value of flue gasses from other industrial plants.

Description: This chapter introduces nature and the source of climate change and its effects on human society and natural systems. It discusses the role of sustainable energy in climate change mitigation and adaptation. It also highlights the global initiatives to move toward net-zero emission by mid-century.

Description: With our attitudes and behavior, which aim at promoting sustainable behavior, we face a temporal dilemma – a temporal conflict between short-term and long-term interests. Accordingly, psychological time is an essential variable in understanding how people decide between options of short-term self-interest, which can be experienced at present, and long-term common interest, such as sustainable development with an outcome that lies far in the future. Present feelings are often so powerful that considerations of future events are neglected. Individuals differ in their emphasis on present and future dimensions. A stronger future orientation and a mindful present orientation are positive predictors of sustainable behavior; hedonistic and impulsive present orientations are negative predictors. We discuss the concept of the balanced time perspective as the propensity to consciously switch among the time orientations of past, present, and future. Fitting with their overall psychological profile, individuals with a balanced time perspective might display a range of sustainable attitudes and behaviors.

Description: To achieve the ambitious but necessary climate targets set by the Paris Agreement, the IPCC model pathways for limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels make apparent the need for safeguarding and enhancing the natural global carbon sink – including via carbon dioxide removal (CDR). A range of ocean-based CDR approaches, also termed “negative emissions technologies” (NETs), has been proposed to make use of the ocean’s potential to take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in water, biomass, and sediments. The governance framework in place to regulate CDR in the ocean, at this time, is limited to the direct and articulate regulation of ocean fertilization. Meanwhile, other NETs such as ocean alkalinity enhancement and artificial upwelling emerge, but a comprehensive and foresight-oriented regulation for the testing or even deploying at larger scale is missing. Specifically, there is large uncertainty on unintended (positive and negative) effects of these technologies on the condition of the ocean, in addition to enhanced carbon uptake and storage, and how these may impede on or support other global sustainability goals. The deployment of NETs in the ocean poses additional governance complexities relating to unknowns, uncertainties, and transboundary issues. In a study that is part of the EU H2020-project OceanNETs, we explore to what extent the current global governance framework directly or indirectly regulates emerging ocean-based NETs and reflect on the particularities and requirements for their comprehensive governance. The analysis considers the gaps, challenges, needs, and opportunities for comprehensive governance of ocean-based NETs.

Description: The files include results to out study investigating the possibility for renewable electricity autarky in Europe. For each administrative unit on the continental, national, regional, and municipal levels these files include: * Name, country, population, current electricity demand, land cover statistics, shared coast with exclusive economic zone * Potential in terms of area [km2], installable capacity [MW], annual electricity yield [TWh]

Description: This paper proposes “making refuge” as a conceptual placeholder and an analytical rubric, a guiding ethos and praxis, for the engaged Buddhist aspiration of responding to the social, political, economic, and planetary crises facing the world. Making refuge is conceived as the work of building the conditions of trust and safety necessary for living and dying well together as co-inhabitants of diverse communities and habitats. The paper will explain the rationale for making refuge by connecting the dharmic understanding of dukkha with feminist conceptualizations of the body and vulnerability. This will chart some theoretical and methodological pathways for engaged Buddhism to further its liberatory aspirations in reciprocity with emergent movements in radical critical theory, contemplative studies, and social and ecological activism. The paper will also examine the effects of white supremacy in U.S. Buddhism through the framework of making refuge. This will demonstrate how political healing and restorative justice might be cultivated through a dispositional ethics that pays appropriate attention to the vulnerabilities facing oppressed people.

Description: The BEST PATHS project is focused on the development and demonstration of grid equipment suitable for bulk power transmission across Europe. This work summarises the different cable conductor designs envisioned during the first 2.5 years of the superconducting demonstrator, taking benefit of the improved performance of MgB2 wires produced by Columbus Superconductors. The results of extensive validation tests carried out at CERN on two cables manufactured by Nexans are also presented.

Description: The transformation of industrial production is one of the big challenges on the pathway to sustainable development. Therefore, expectations regarding the contribution of Industry 4.0 are high. So far there is only little research focusing on the relation between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the digitalization of industrial processes. We argue that sustainability aspects must be an integral part of Industry 4.0 implementation to support a sustainable development. For that reason, the digital manufacturing concept itself must take essential characteristics of sustainability into account. Our analysis has investigated to what extent sustainability aspects are currently reflected in the most recognized articles about Industry 4.0. For that purpose, we have conducted a systematic literature review, in which we have analysed the top cohort of most frequently cited articles published after 2013 on GoogleScholar dealing with “Industry 4.0”. Our literature review reveals that the descriptions reflect many expectations and hopes while only few of them are evidence-based. According to our results Industry 4.0 mainly deals with the economic dimension of sustainability such as growth and productivity. Although there are expectations that Industry 4.0 creates a window of opportunity for a more sustainable production, we could not find evidence to support this idea. Instead of targeting a more sustainable production, many descriptions draw a picture in which Industry 4.0 processes run exactly as before, just in a digital way.

Description: Lumbini, in southern Nepal, is a UNESCO world heritage site of universal value as the birthplace of Buddha. Poor air quality in Lumbini and surrounding regions is a great concern for public health as well as for preservation, protection and promotion of Buddhist heritage and culture. We present here results from measurements of ambient concentrations of key air pollutants (PM, BC, CO, O3) in Lumbini, first of its kind for Lumbini, conducted during an intensive measurement period of 3 months (April–June 2013) in the pre-monsoon season. The measurements were carried out as a part of the international air pollution measurement campaign; SusKat-ABC (Sustainable Atmosphere for the Kathmandu Valley – Atmospheric Brown Clouds). The main objective of this work is to understand and document the level of air pollution, diurnal characteristics and influence of open burning on air quality in Lumbini. The hourly average concentrations during the entire measurement campaign ranged as follows: BC was 0.3–30.0 µg m−3, PM1 was 3.6–197.6 µg m−3, PM2. 5 was 6.1–272.2 µg m−3, PM10 was 10.5–604.0 µg m−3, O3 was 1.0–118.1 ppbv and CO was 125.0–1430.0 ppbv. These levels are comparable to other very heavily polluted sites in South Asia. Higher fraction of coarse-mode PM was found as compared to other nearby sites in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region. The ΔBC ∕ ΔCO ratio obtained in Lumbini indicated considerable contributions of emissions from both residential and transportation sectors. The 24 h average PM2. 5 and PM10 concentrations exceeded the WHO guideline very frequently (94 and 85 % of the sampled period, respectively), which implies significant health risks for the residents and visitors in the region. These air pollutants exhibited clear diurnal cycles with high values in the morning and evening. During the study period, the worst air pollution episodes were mainly due to agro-residue burning and regional forest fires combined with meteorological conditions conducive of pollution transport to Lumbini. Fossil fuel combustion also contributed significantly, accounting for more than half of the ambient BC concentration according to aerosol spectral light absorption coefficients obtained in Lumbini. WRF-STEM, a regional chemical transport model, was used to simulate the meteorology and the concentrations of pollutants to understand the pollutant transport pathways. The model estimated values were ∼ 1. 5 to 5 times lower than the observed concentrations for CO and PM10, respectively. Model-simulated regionally tagged CO tracers showed that the majority of CO came from the upwind region of Ganges Valley. Model performance needs significant improvement in simulating aerosols in the region. Given the high air pollution level, there is a clear and urgent need for setting up a network of long-term air quality monitoring stations in the greater Lumbini region.

Description: In order to advance ongoing efforts in the (still emerging) field of marine restoration, different forms of knowledge must be combined: not only the biological and technical aspects, but also the social and cultural dimensions of marine restoration efforts. This calls for a newly combined array of methods that allows for a bridging of these different knowledge dimensions. Drawing on our experiences from the ongoing knowledge transfer processes of the INTERNAS project (Scientific Transfer of the results of INTERNational Assessments in the field of Earth and Environmental Research into the German policy context), we provide an overview of methods that were used to link global recommendations with localized marine restoration schemes and policy options. Using a mixed methods approach, we were able to capture and understand the pathways of knowledge transfer from globally synthesized scientific knowledge to local realities related to protecting and enhancing marine biodiversity in Germany. With this structured knowledge transfer approach, actionable solutions for marine conservation and restoration activities could be tailored to the specific national and regional circumstances. Using participatory methods, framework conditions like ecological, social, legal, and sectoral value judgment dimensions can be identified. This allows for the development of concerted solutions and creates a common ground for good governance towards marine restoration. When scientists engage not only as experts but also as reflexive facilitators in such participatory processes, it is ensured that more inclusive forms of knowledge are fostered that are necessary to better anticipate the potentials and likely pitfalls that marine restoration efforts may encounter. We conclude that existing knowledge on ecosystems, their goods and services as well as societal expectations need to be understood from the onset in any kind of marine restoration effort.

Description: Surface ozone is a secondary air pollutant produced during the atmospheric photochemical degradation of emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Temperature directly influences ozone production through speeding up the rates of chemical reactions and increasing the emissions of VOCs, such as isoprene, from vegetation. In this study, we used an idealised box model with different chemical mechanisms (Master Chemical Mechanism, MCMv3.2; Common Representative Intermediates, CRIv2; Model for OZone and Related Chemical Tracers, MOZART-4; Regional Acid Deposition Model, RADM2; Carbon Bond Mechanism, CB05) to examine the non-linear relationship between ozone, NOx and temperature, and we compared this to previous observational studies. Under high-NOx conditions, an increase in ozone from 20 to 40 °C of up to 20 ppbv was due to faster reaction rates, while increased isoprene emissions added up to a further 11 ppbv of ozone. The largest inter-mechanism differences were obtained at high temperatures and high-NOx emissions. CB05 and RADM2 simulated more NOx-sensitive chemistry than MCMv3.2, CRIv2 and MOZART-4, which could lead to different mitigation strategies being proposed depending on the chemical mechanism. The increased oxidation rate of emitted VOC with temperature controlled the rate of Ox production; the net influence of peroxy nitrates increased net Ox production per molecule of emitted VOC oxidised. The rate of increase in ozone mixing ratios with temperature from our box model simulations was about half the rate of increase in ozone with temperature observed over central Europe or simulated by a regional chemistry transport model. Modifying the box model set-up to approximate stagnant meteorological conditions increased the rate of increase of ozone with temperature as the accumulation of oxidants enhanced ozone production through the increased production of peroxy radicals from the secondary degradation of emitted VOCs. The box model simulations approximating stagnant conditions and the maximal ozone production chemical regime reproduced the 2 ppbv increase in ozone per degree Celsius from the observational and regional model data over central Europe. The simulated ozone–temperature relationship was more sensitive to mixing than the choice of chemical mechanism. Our analysis suggests that reductions in NOx emissions would be required to offset the additional ozone production due to an increase in temperature in the future.

Description: This study analyses the employment impacts of different plans for expanding electricity generation in South Africa’s power sector; this was carried out in the context of the COBENEFITS1 project with the aim of assessing the co-benefits of a low-carbon energy transition in the country. Four scenarios for the future development of the electricity sector in South Africa were analysed: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Least Cost planning scenario (CSIR_LC); Department of Environmental Affairs Rapid Decarbonisation scenario (DEA_RD); Integrated Resource Plan 2016 (IRP 2016); and Integrated Resource Plan Policy Adjusted scenario 2018 (IRP 2018).

Description: PAH concentrations were measured in total suspended particle (TSP) samples collected from six sites along two south-north transects across the central Himalayas from April 2013 to March 2014. The annual average TSP and PAH (especially 5- and 6-ring compounds) concentrations were found to decrease noticeably northwards along both transects. At rural and urban sites, the TSP and PAH concentrations showed clear seasonal variations, with the lower concentrations around the mid-monsoon season and the higher values in the winter season. Meanwhile, at the remote sites (e.g., Nyalam and Zhongba), these pollutants generally remained constant throughout the year but with relatively higher levels during the pre-monsoon season. Both IndP/(IndP + BghiP) and Fla/(Fla + Pyr) ratios suggested that atmospheric PAHs from urban and rural sites were mainly associated with emissions from biomass burning, coal burning and petroleum combustion. However, the contribution of biomass burning increased at remote sites. Similar compositions of PAHs were found at three remote sites located on both sides of the Himalayas (Jomsom, Zhongba, and Nyalam), suggesting that the northern side of the Himalayas may be affected by anthropogenic emissions from the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) via long-range atmospheric transport. This work provides a database of PAHs in central Himalayas for further assessing environmental risk of air pollution in the remote regions.

Description: This policy brief makes three recommendations for strengthening international cooperation in support of a global energy transition.

Description: While the positive impacts of renewable energy development, the implementation and use of renewable energy for people and the planet are widely recognised, the direct contribution of local renewable energy projects to local community well-being has received limited attention. And while the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have been rightfully celebrated as global milestones towards securing livelihoods and opportunities now and in the future, they lack societal ownership and traction among communities, who are decisive in supporting and driving the necessary sustainability transformation. However, aside from energy access, the opportunities for local energy projects to provide broader positive effects (such as community revenues) through co-investments are largely regarded as secondary co-benefits, if not entirely ignored by development policies and practices. Tapping into these opportunities for effective policies and practices in climate action and international development calls for a different approach to sustainable energy development (energy transitions in some countries): a social performance approach to energy development and investment, which we outline in this paper. In the context of this paper, the social performance of energy sector investments refers to direct and positive social impacts on the well-being of individuals and communities during the development and implementation of energy projects and the usage of locally generated energy, in both monetary and non-monetary ways. In essence, the social performance approach in energy-sector investments and energy-project development puts the needs and well-being of people – both current and future generations – at the centre of energy development and related investments and activities. The social performance approach that we propose builds on the conceptual foundations of the capability approach, the co-benefits approach, the Need–Opportunity–Ability (NOA) model, and important groundwork on community development in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). An important aspect of the social performance approach is its focus on the direct contribution of these investments in fostering the well-being of individuals in a manner that reflects their aspirations for good quality of life. This approach can facilitate regular evaluation of progress and ensures accountability and adjustment of implementation strategies so that future investments, design, and implementation strategies perform both for people and the planet. Social performance can be used to compare how different energy options (e.g., a coal-mining site, a renewable wind park, or decentralised energy services such as solar mini-grids) may effectively and comprehensibly improve the lives of people and local communities. The social performance approach helps to identify concrete intervention points or enablers, to ensure and increase the positive contributions of energy-sector investments to the well-being of individuals and communities, either in monetary ways such as local economic value creation and employment, or in non-monetary ways such as community cohesion and social inclusion. In this paper we suggest that, consequently, policy interventions and investments aimed at decarbonising energy systems should not simply be monitored in view of how they perform for communities and people on the ground; rather, these interventions and investments should be intentionally designed to maximise their social performance for individuals and communities.

Description: Known as "the Third Pole" (TP), the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountains hold the largest aggregate of glaciers outside the pole regions. Recent monitoring and projection indicated an accelerated glacier decline and increasing glacier runoff. The long-range transport of South Asian atmospheric pollutants, including light absorbing impurities (LAIs) such as black carbon (BC) and mineral dust (MD), can absorb the solar radiation in the atmosphere and reduce albedo after being deposited onto the cryosphere, thereby promoting glacier and snow melt. A coordinated atmospheric pollution monitoring network has been launched covering the TP with emphasis on trans-Himalayan transects since 2013. TSP were collected for 24h at an interval of 3-6 days. BC/OC, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were measured. Results reveal a consistent decrease in almost all analyzed parameters from south to north across the Himalayas. Geochemical signatures of carbonaceous aerosols indicate dominant sources of biomass burning and vehicle exhaust, in line with results of PAHs. Integrated analysis of satellite images and air mass trajectories suggest that the trans-boundary air pollution occurred episodically and concentrated in pre-monsoon seasons via upper air circulation, through-valley wind, and local convection. Simulation results showed that carbonaceous aerosols produced positive/negative shortwave radiative forcing in the atmosphere/ground surface. Aerosols increased surface air temperatures by 0.1-0.5℃ over the TP and decreased temperatures in South Asia during the monsoon season. Surface snow/ice samples were collected from benchmark glaciers to estimate the impacts of LAIs on glacier melt with model assistance. BC (37%) and MD (32%) contribute to the summer melting of Laohugou Glacier in the northern TP. MD (38%) contributed more glacier melt than BC (11%) on Zhadang Glacier in the southern TP. In the southeastern TP, BC and MD contribute to 30% of the total glacier melt, up to 350 mm w.e. yr-1. The monitoring network and ongoing studies point to trans-boundary pollution as an increasing stressor for the TP environment, and highlighted the link between atmospheric pollution and cryospheric changes as well as other surface ecosystems over high mountain regions.

Description: The global transition to a low-carbon economy will significantly impact existing energy value chains and transform the production to consumption lifecycle, dramatically altering interactions among stakeholders. Thanks to its versatility, green hydrogen is gaining economic and political momentum and could play a critical role in a carbon-free future. Furthermore, its adoption will be critical for decarbonizing industrial processes at scale, especially hard-to-abate ones such as steel and cement production. Overall, hydrogen demand is expected to grow by 700% by 2050 (BP, 2019). Currently, the two central challenges to green hydrogen adoption and use at scale are limited infrastructure availability and cost. While recent spikes in fossil fuel prices due to the war in Ukraine have made green hydrogen cost-competitive with blue and grey hydrogen (Radowitz, 2022), from a long-term perspective, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicts a decline in green hydrogen costs by up to 85% by 2050 (IRENA, 2020), making it the dominant hydrogen form (IRENA, 2022).

Description: As a major contributor to climate change, the cement sector urgently needs to develop and implement greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation technologies to drastically lower its emissions to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Among the most promising technologies is CO2 mineralisation in which CO2 is transformed into a thermodynamically stable carbonate. CO2 mineralisation not only offers permanent storage of CO2 but also potentially avoids emissions by partially substituting conventional cement with the obtained carbonation products. Besides overcoming technical barriers, successful development and implementation of CO2 mineralisation require support from key stakeholders. While existing studies already provide technology-related data and assess CO2 mineralisation pathways, knowledge remains scarce about stakeholder priorities and perceptions. Using a multi-stakeholder expert survey, the present study examines: a) the priorities of different stakeholders in supporting CO2 mineralisation, b) their perceptions on the performance of CO2 mineralisation concepts, and c) their priorities if tasked with communicating CO2 mineralisation technologies to other groups. Hereby, we follow a multi-criteria decision analysis approach, based on an analytical hierarchy process, by comparing indicators from the three common sustainability pillars (i.e., environmental, economic, and social impacts). Our results indicate that key stakeholders strongly prioritise the health implications of CO2 mineralisation technologies and generally value social impacts highly. Hence, an in-depth research is needed to provide knowledge-based guidance on health issues and ways to fairly distribute costs and create positive employment outcomes. Additionally, stakeholders of all affiliations give second priority to reducing carbon footprint of cement, showing that they discount potential environmental and economic trade-offs associated with emission reduction goals. The results reveal that these concepts are perceived as compatible with other GHG mitigation approaches, such as carbon capture and storage. Moreover, if tasked with convincing different target groups to support CO2 mineralisation, stakeholders prioritise diverse themes, recognising that communication strategies must address the specific concerns of each group. Overall, the results can help investors, managers, and policymakers to ensure that upcoming decisions in R&D, investments, and the design of support mechanisms align with the priorities of key stakeholders. Our results facilitate communicating technological potentials and risks and can foster successful development and implementation of CO2 mineralisation pathways.

Description: The "Berlin Air quality and Ecosystem Research: Local and long-range Impact of anthropogenic and Natural hydrocarbons" (BAERLIN2014) campaign was conducted during the 3 summer months (June–August) of 2014. During this measurement campaign, both stationary and mobile measurements were undertaken to address complementary aims. This paper provides an overview of the stationary measurements and results that were focused on characterization of gaseous and particulate pollution, including source attribution, in the Berlin–Potsdam area, and quantification of the role of natural sources in determining levels of ozone and related gaseous pollutants. Results show that biogenic contributions to ozone and particulate matter are substantial. One indicator for ozone formation, the OH reactivity, showed a 31 % (0.82 ± 0.44 s−1) and 75 % (3.7 ± 0.90 s−1) contribution from biogenic non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) for urban background (2.6 ± 0.68 s−1) and urban park (4.9 ± 1.0 s−1) location, respectively, emphasizing the importance of such locations as sources of biogenic NMVOCs in urban areas. A comparison to NMVOC measurements made in Berlin approximately 20 years earlier generally show lower levels today for anthropogenic NMVOCs. A substantial contribution of secondary organic and inorganic aerosol to PM10 concentrations was quantified. In addition to secondary aerosols, source apportionment analysis of the organic carbon fraction identified the contribution of biogenic (plant-based) particulate matter, as well as primary contributions from vehicles, with a larger contribution from diesel compared to gasoline vehicles, as well as a relatively small contribution from wood burning, linked to measured levoglucosan.

Description: Humans have a long history of mobility on a spectrum from voluntary migration to forced displacement in response to social, political and environmental change. While many migration drivers exist, climate change is likely to amplify the environmental drivers of migration. At least 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052 are projected if global warming continues to increase at the current rate. The associated impacts are diverse and include temperature and precipitation extremes in most inhabited regions and increased probability of drought and flood. Migration can be an important and useful adaptive response to climate impacts when it increases household resilience and reduces socio-economic vulnerabilities, and yet can also have negative health consequences. The climate–migration–health nexus entails complex interactions including the following: first, climate-related risks to health faced by migrants at all stages of the migration journey. Second, the impacts of migration itself on health with possible specific health implications of climate-related migration. This article provides a brief overview of climate-related migration, identifies climate hotspots where substantial migration and displacement are anticipated and explores the health implications of climate-related migration.