ALBERT

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: Die gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz von Energieinfrastrukturen und klimapolitischen Maßnahmen stellt einen wesentlichen Erfolgsfaktor für die Transformation des Energiesystems dar. Das folgende Kapitel beschreibt konzeptionelle Grundlagen bezüglich der Definition und Dimensionierung des Akzeptanzbegriffs sowie deren psychologische Grundlagen und beleuchtet relevante Einflussfaktoren auf die Akzeptanz von Energieinfrastrukturen wie Erneuerbaren Energien und dem Ausbau des Stromnetzes. Es werden Praxisbeispiele aus unterschiedlichen Anwendungsfeldern berichtet und konkrete Möglichkeiten diskutiert, auf lokaler Ebene akzeptable Lösungen zu erreichen, wobei die besondere Rolle einer konstruktiven Partizipationskultur für die Akzeptanz und die gesellschaftliche Transformation aufgezeigt wird.

Beschreibung: The paper applies the concept of systemic risks to natural disasters, more precisely to the combination of natural and human-induced disasters. the paper highlights policy implications of these strategies and calls out for an integrated, inclusive and adaptive management approach for the systemic aspects of natural hazards.

Beschreibung: Die Konferenz »Bits & Bäume« (2018 in Berlin) bot das bis dato größte Debattenforum für Digitalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit. Über 50 Autor*innen aus Tech-Szene, Nachhaltigkeitsbewegung und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit zeigen in diesem Buch zur Konferenz, wie die Digitalisierung den sozial-ökologischen Wandel voranbringen kann. Die Beiträge beleuchten die Auswirkungen unseres Digitalkonsums im Globalen Süden, den nachhaltigen Umgang mit Daten oder die Risiken und Potenziale eines digitalisierten Wirtschaftssystems. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei stets die drängende Frage: Welche Digitalisierung wollen wir? Die verschiedenen Antworten auf diese Frage machen deutlich: Eine zukunftsfähige Digitalisierung muss sich weniger an Interessen einzelner Wirtschaftsakteure, sondern am Gemeinwohl orientieren.

Beschreibung: In dem Discussion Paper werden die Bedingungen und Herausforderungen für den transformativen Forschungsansatz des IASS diskutiert.

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: Tiếp cận điện năng là vô cùng cần thiết để thúc đẩy kinh tế và phát triển con người. Đây cũng là một động lực quan trọng cho phát triển kinh tế của mỗi quốc gia. Tiếp cận các dạng năng lượng hiện đại, đặc biệt là điện năng, thậm chí còn quan trọng hơn nữa đối với việc phát triển kinh tế-xã hội khu vực nông thôn (có trình độ phát triển cơ sở hạ tầng thấp hơn so với khu vực thành thị). “Điện khí hóa toàn diện” nhằm đạt được các mục tiêu phát triển kinh tế-xã hội (cũng như các mục tiêu phát triển bền vững (SDG)) của Việt Nam sẽ đòi hỏi mọi hộ dân, gia đình, cơ sở sản xuất nông nghiệp, doanh nghiệp địa phương và cộng đồng dân cư nông thôn đều được tiếp cận điện năng 24/7. Để đạt được mục tiêu này, Chính phủ Việt Nam đã tập trung chủ yếu vào việc tạo điều kiện tiếp cận điện năng cho người dân bằng cách mở rộng lưới điện quốc gia. Gần 98% hộ dân ở thành thị và nông thôn Việt Nam đều được điện khí hóa thông qua phương thức này. Tuy nhiên, việc tiếp cận điện năng của 2 % dân số còn lại, tập trung chủ yếu ở các khu vực có điều kiện địa hình không thuận lợi cho việc mở rộng lưới điện quốc gia vẫn còn là vấn đề kinh tế-kỹ thuật cần bàn luận. Để giải quyết vấn đề này, các cuộc thảo luận đã được tiến hành nhằm tìm hiểu xem liệu các giải pháp hệ thống năng lượng tái tạo độc lập có hiệu quả chi phí cao có thể hỗ trợ cho công cuộc điện khí hóa cho 2 % dân số còn lại hay không cũng như thúc đẩy phát triển kinh tế-xã hội hơn nữa cho nhóm người này.

Beschreibung: Wer eine CO2-Besteuerung fordert und gleichzeitig die Einkünfte zurück an die Bevölkerung geben will, statt sie zu investieren, schwächt die Wirkung des Instruments deutlich ab, argumentiert Johan Lilliestam vom Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam in seinem Standpunkt. Wirkungsvoller seien zum Beispiel Änderungen des Strommarktdesigns und Infrastrukturprogramme, um klimaneutralen Technologien den Aufbruch aus ihren Nischen zu ermöglichen.

Beschreibung: Die deutsche Energiewende wird in dem Beitrag als umkämpfter Prozess interpretiert. Mittels einer politökonomischen Analyseperspektive werden die komplexen Artikulationsverhältnisse von ökonomischen Entwicklungen, zivilgesellschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen und staatlichen Politiken analysiert. Das zentrale Argument des Beitrags ist, dass in den letzten Jahren die Dynamiken hin zu einem regenerativen Energieregime im Strombereich abgebremst wurden. Damit hat sich der Charakter der Energiewende von einem stark umkämpften, bestehende Macht- und Herrschaftsverhältnisse in Frage stellenden Prozess hin zu einem Prozess des geordneten, im Rahmen des auf Exportmärkte ausgerichteten deutschen Modells eines „Koordinierten Kapitalismus“ verbleibenden Übergangs verschoben. Im Verkehrsbereich hingegen ist die Dominanz fossiler Energieträger ungebrochen. Die Potentiale und Restriktionen des Wandels hin zu einem post-fossilen Mobilitätsregime sind zu berücksichtigen, um ein umfassenderes Bild der Energietransformation zu zeichnen.

Beschreibung: The article interprets the German “Energiewende” as a contested process. The complex articulation of economic developments, civil society disputes and state policies are analyzed from a political-economy perspective. The central argument is that in recent years the dynamics towards a renewable energy regime in the electricity sector have been slowed down. This is accompanied by a shift of the character of the “Energiewende” from a highly contested process of questioning existing power structures to a process of an orderly and gradual transition, remaining within the framework of the German model of “Coordinated Capitalism”, which is geared towards export markets. In the transport sector, however, the dominance of fossil fuels remains unchanged. In order to draw a comprehensive picture of the energy transformation, the potentials and restrictions of the transformation towards a post-fossil mobility regime are discussed.

Beschreibung: 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]

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: 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).

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

Beschreibung: 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.

Beschreibung: In recent years, manifold ways to deal with the ecological crisis are subsumed under the header “transition/ transformation to sustainability” or even “Great” transformation. This chapter critically discusses the current debate from the perspective of a Polanyian understanding of a Great Transformation. The authors argue that the current debate suffers from a narrow analytical approach to transformation ignoring the dynamics of global capitalism and the power relations involved. Thus, a “new critical orthodoxy” of knowledge about transformation is emerging which runs the danger of contributing to ecologizing capitalism while ignoring the root causes of social-ecological crises. Based on Polanyi, but also on regulation theory, the authors distinguish between three types of transformation which focus either on an adaptation of the current institutional systems or on a new phase of green capitalism. Beside these two types, however, a post-capitalist Great Transformation requires more profound structural changes and exceeds the accumulation imperative as much as other structural constraints of capitalist development.

Beschreibung: The world going low carbon is believed to put an end to petrostates, and to force incumbent oil producers to diversify their economies away from fossil fuels. This article challenges this assumption. Whether petrostates are in for the long game or end up with a ‘panic and pump’ strategy, it is argued, is a function of the lifting costs and the social costs of producing oil. What is more, the low‐carbon energy transition may well throw petrostates an additional lifeline, as fast decarbonizing OECD countries will shed some of their most energy‐intensive sectors, including refineries and petrochemicals, which opens up new export opportunities. Particularly for Middle Eastern petrostates it may therefore be very rational to further specialize in the high‐carbon segment. The policy challenge, therefore, will be twofold: managing a rapidly changing energy system in order to secure the transformation dividends it will bring, for human security and economic welfare; and balancing the (geo) political after pains of the incumbent fuels leaving the system.

Beschreibung: Die internationale Zusammenarbeit zur Förderung einer globalen Energiewende befindet sich im Aufwind. Initiativen und Foren für multilaterale Kooperation werden durch wachsendes bilaterales Engagement ergänzt.

Beschreibung: Profound societal transformations are needed to move society from unsustainability to greater sustainability under continually changing social and environmental conditions. A key challenge is to understand the influences on and the dynamics of collective behavior change toward sustainability. In this paper we describe our approach to (1) understanding how affective narrative expressions influence transitions to more sustainable collective behaviors and (2) how that understanding, as well as the potential for using narrative expressions in modeling of social movements, can become a basis for improving community responses to change in a rapidly changing world. Our focus is on narratives that express visions of desirable futures and narratives that reflect individual and social identities, on the cultures and contexts in which they are embedded, exchanged, and modified, and through which they influence the dynamics of social movements toward sustainability. Using an analytical categorization of narrative expressions of case studies in the Caribbean, Micronesia, and Africa, we describe insights derived from the narratives of vision and social identities in diverse communities. Finally, we suggest that narrative expressions may provide a basis for agent-based modeling to expand thinking about potential development pathways of social movements for sustainable futures.

Beschreibung: Climate has for a long time been a taken-for-granted background against which social, political and economic interactions have taken place. But this taken-for-granted background is cleaving. It is becoming hard to ignore the potential repercussions of a changing climate, and the uneven impact of certain forms of human society and energy cultures that risk undermining their own environmental conditions.In a comprehensive and accessible way, this book:Drawing on the insights of various disciplines and citing numerous examples, Society and Climate probes the interplay between society, science and climate, and warns against making any easy assumptions.

Beschreibung: Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) as a solar radiation management (SRM) technology may provide a cost-effective means of avoiding some of the worst impacts of climate change, being perhaps orders of magnitude less expensive than greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. At the same time, SAI technologies have deeply uncertain economic and environmental impacts and complex ethical, legal, political, and international relations ramifications. Robust governance strategies are needed to manage the many potential benefits, risks, and uncertainties related to SAI. This perspective reviews the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC)’s guidelines for emerging risk governance (ERG) as an approach for responsible consideration of SAI, given the IRGC’s experience in governing other more conventional risks. We examine how the five steps of the IRGC’s ERG guidelines would address the complex, uncertain, and ambiguous risks presented by SAI. Diverse risks are identified in Step 1, scenarios to amplify or dissipate the risks are identified in Step 2, and applicable risk management options identified in Step 3. Steps 4 and 5 involve implementation and review by risk managers within an established organization. For full adoption and promulgation of the IRGC’s ERG guidelines, an international consortium or governing body (or set of bodies) should be tasked with governance and oversight. This Perspective provides a first step at reviewing the risk governance tasks that such a body would undertake and contributes to the growing literature on best practices for SRM governance.

Beschreibung: The natural capital of the vast deep ocean is significant yet not well quantified. The ecosystem services provided by the deep sea provide a wide range of benefits to humanity. Proposed deep-sea economic activities such as fishing, deep-sea mining and bioprospecting therefore need to be assessed in this context. In addition to quantifying the economic benefits and costs of such activities on their own, their potential impact on the deep-sea natural capital also needs to be considered. This article describes such a natural capital approach, identifies relevant ecosystem services and looks at how a range of proposed commercial activities could be assessed in this context. It suggests a methodology for such analysis and suggests an approach to a sustainable blue deep-sea economy that is consistent with environmental precaution. It will close with suggestions of how potential risks can best be handled. The article aims to show that modern environmental economics based on natural capital can provide a useful framework for deciding future deep-sea efforts.

Beschreibung: Einen spannenden, aktions- und forschungsorientierten Einstieg in die Themenfelder Klima und Rohstoffe ermöglicht die Zukunftsbox Kohlenstoff, die das IASS in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Futurium entwickelt hat. Die Materialien eignen sich für Schülergruppen jeder Schulform ab Klassenstufe 8. Die Zukunftsbox kann fachübergreifend eingesetzt werden. Mit ihr will das IASS einen Beitrag zur Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung leisten.

Beschreibung: The role of investor countries remains poorly understood in the contemporary “land grab” debate. This book provides a comparative historical-institutional and politico-economic account of “land grabbing” from a home country perspective. Specifically, the book investigates large-scale land acquisitions from two investor countries: the UK and China. The regional focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, a major target of such land-consuming investments since 2000. The assessment provides an empirical-analytical account of 40 Chinese and British “land grab” projects that occurred during 2000-2015. It also reviews the specific details of the home country’s industrial set-up, development challenges, ideological framing, political economy, and significant events critical to understanding what is happening. The book advances three arguments: Firstly, it shows that Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) mentioned in the “land grab” literature reflects the demands of the country’s resource-intensive and market-dependent manufacturing industry, and is part of economic upgrading. In the case of the UK, large-scale land acquisitions occur in response to reforms in the host countries, to international and domestic energy and climate policies, and to reindustrialization efforts. Secondly, the comparative analysis reveals that in spite of their politico-economic differences, both countries share many similarities, such as the multiplicity of agencies, structures, and events involved, the guiding ideology in place, and the institutional framework supporting such OFDI projects. Notably, both countries’ governments consider outward foreign direct investments (of which “land grabs” form a part) as a strategic instrument to pursue particular national development ambitions. These projects allegedly “push the limits” of profitable business and/or social mobility in an increasingly globalized economy, and serve as a tool to “fight the limits” of national development trajectories that cannot provide sufficient (and good) jobs, erode the national resource base, and are strongly vulnerable in their reliance on export markets. Thirdly, the book reviews the main features of late 19th century colonial and imperial practices, to be aware of important factors and dynamics in the evaluation of contemporary land acquisitions.

Beschreibung: A major hurdle for implementing CCU technologies is often their economic viability as well as the social acceptance for using such technologies. Therefore, assessments regarding the economic and social impacts of CCU technologies are needed. Being among the biggest emitters of anthropogenic CO2, the cement industry requires affordable pathways towards a sustainable future. CCU technologies could potentially contribute to this direction. A technological concept developed in this field is the so called "accelerated carbonation" process. Hereby, CO2 is reacted with activated minerals to form carbonates. The carbonates could potentially be used for multiple purposes, such as fillers or cement additives or for land reclamation projects. Some policy advice reports use the accelerated carbonation process as a positive example for the utilization of CO2 as a feedstock, because unlike most other CCU concepts, the carbonation reaction is energetically favorable. Although the concept is not new, the accelerated carbonation routes lack detailed and comparable economic assessments in literature. In this contribution, economic assessments of several carbonation routes will be presented, uncovering the advantages of certain routes towards an economically viable implementation. Moreover, the evaluation of the circumstances under which these novel technologies become economically feasible as well as the analysis of key factors which can be influenced in order to promote economic feasibility will be investigated. Understanding the economics of accelerated carbonation routes is essential for their further development and deployment in the context of broader sustainability strategies.

Beschreibung: A comprehensive overview is provided evaluating direct real-world CO2 emissions of both diesel and petrol cars newly registered in Europe between 1995 and 2015. Before 2011, European diesel cars emitted less CO2 per kilometre than petrol cars, but since then there is no appreciable difference in per-km CO2 emissions between diesel and petrol cars. Real-world CO2 emissions of diesel cars have not declined appreciably since 2001, while the CO2 emissions of petrol cars have been stagnant since 2012. When adding black carbon related CO2-equivalents, such as from diesel cars without particulate filters, diesel cars were discovered to have had much higher climate relevant emissions until the year 2001 when compared to petrol cars. From 2001 to 2015 CO2-equivalent emissions from new diesel cars and petrol cars were hardly distinguishable. Lifetime use phase CO2-equivalent emissions of all European passenger vehicles were modelled for 1995–2015 based on three scenarios: the historic case, another scenario freezing percentages of diesel cars at the low levels from the early 1990s (thus avoiding the observed “boom” in new diesel registrations), and an advanced mitigation scenario based on high proportions of petrol hybrid cars and cars burning gaseous fuels. The difference in CO2-equivalent emissions between the historical case and the scenario avoiding the diesel car boom is only 0.3%. The advanced mitigation scenario would have been able to achieve a 3.4% reduction in total CO2-equivalent emissions over the same time frame. The European diesel car boom appears to have been ineffective at reducing climate-warming emissions from the European transport sector.

Beschreibung: In search for sustainability of the oceans, the concept of resilience arises as a necessary perspective from which to analyse what course of action to take. Resilience refers to the capacity of a system to absorb change, but also to adapt and develop in face of those changes. Resilience thinking has recently permeated the sphere of legal studies, and the two fields have been interested in exploring the impact they have on one another. To explore this interaction further in the context of the management of the oceans, the present paper looks at areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) as a socio-ecological system. It argues that the law can be a tool for improving the resilience of a system, but that it must, for that purpose, be able to ensure at least some adaptive capacity. In light of the upcoming, consolidated regime for the sustainable management of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) through the development of an internationally legally binding agreement on the topic, and considering the uncertainty surrounding our knowledge of ABNJ, this paper suggests to look at the BBNJ agreement from the perspective of resilience thinking. The paper explores how this perspective could bring new insights to the development of the BBNJ agreement, as well as the emerging literature linking law and resilience.

Beschreibung: Early in October, the German government introduced its “climate package.” It is a comprehensive bill aimed at reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing a sustainable energy transformation, especially in sectors that have not succeeded in these tasks so far: Transportation, buildings, and industry. The bill features annual emission budgets for each sector that are in line with the country’s goal of reducing overall emissions to 55-56 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Among the proposed measures to support these reductions are a carbon price, a tax break for train tickets and building retrofits, and tax credits for commuters. NGOs and think tanks are heavily criticizing the bill for its lack of ambition and the laxity of its instruments. The carbon price has been deemed far too low to be effective, the compliance mechanisms to enforce each sector’s emission budget as well as the external monitoring mechanisms too weak. Overall, experts agree, the bill fails to trigger the large-scale transformation necessary in Germany to ensure Germany’s compliance with its 2030 targets.

Beschreibung: This book systematically introduces historical trajectories and dynamics of environmental policy and governance in India. Following the features of environmental policy in India as outlined in Chapter 1, subsequent chapters explore domestic and international factors that shape environmental policy in the country. The chapters examine the interplay between governmental and non-governmental actors, and the influence of social mobilisation and institutions on environmental policy and governance. Analysing various policy trajectories, the chapters identify and explore five central environmental policy subsystems: forests, water, climate, energy and city development. The authors drill down into the social, economic, political and ecological dimensions of each system, shedding light on why striking a balance between national economic growth and environmental sustainability is so challenging. Drawing on political science theories of policy processes and related theoretical concepts, this innovative edited volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental policy and politics and South Asian studies more broadly.

Beschreibung: Im Jahr 2005 erschien das »ABC der Globalisierung«. Inzwischen zeigen sich die Auswirkungen der neoliberalen Globalisierung in aller Deutlichkeit: Aus dem Wohlfahrtsversprechen ist eine Welt der globalen ­(Un)Ordnung ­geworden. 114 Autorinnen und Autoren greifen in 126 Stichwörtern die aktuellen Entwicklungen auf, erarbeiten politische Orientierungspunkte und zeigen Alternativen.

Beschreibung: This report presents the results of the third and the last workshop in the series “Yamal 2040” organised within Blue-Action work package WP5 “Delivering and valuing climate and information services”. The Blue-Action team at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in cooperation with the Primakov National Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Science (IMEMO) and Foresight Intelligence, and with inputs provided by the National Oceanographic Center (UKRI-NOC) and the M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP-RAS) in the Blue-Action work package WP2 “Lower latitude drivers of Arctic changes” developed forward-looking scenarios to better understand the risks and opportunities associated with multiple developments in the Arctic and help stakeholders to adapt to them. This case study looks at a specific region, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Arctic Russia (YNAO or Yamal region), a region with substantial ongoing and planned petroleum and shipping activities. Together with stakeholder groups, the team has co-developed a suite of scenarios to describe possible futures for this region in 2040 by incorporating cutting edge climate predictions with environmental, social and cultural concerns, economic opportunities, and political and legal developments. The scenarios are the outcome of a truly co-design and co-development process involving partners, stakeholders and using various foresight methods tailored to the project’s needs. These methods allow to constructively deal with cognitive biases, thus enabling participants to think out of the box when planning the future. This approach is very helpful in tackling complex issues linked to numerous interacting uncertainties.

Beschreibung: Ein Klimaschutzgesetz, wie Ministerin Schulze es plant, hülfe nicht nur dem Klima, sondern auch den Unternehmen. Es gäbe ihren Investitionen einen sicheren Rahmen.

Beschreibung: Proteste gegen den Ausbau von Stromtrassen und Windparks zeigen: Technische Lösungen allein reichen nicht aus, um den Umbau des Energiesystems voranzubringen. Bürgerinnen und Bürger wollen die Energiewende mitgestalten und sich in Planungs- und Entscheidungsprozesse einbringen. Doch welche Kommunikations- und Partizipationsverfahren tragen dazu bei, die Energiewende effektiv, fair und sozialverträglich zu gestalten? Das Akademienprojekt „Energiesysteme der Zukunft“ (ESYS) hat in seiner Analyse „Partizipation und Kommunikation in der Energiewende“ verschiedene Instrumente untersucht. Die Autorinnen und Autoren empfehlen, bei Entscheidungen über neue Technologien, Anlagen oder Netzen einen frühzeitigen und transparenten Dialog mit allen Beteiligten zu führen. Nur so kann die Politik Lösungen finden, die sachorientiert, nachvollziehbar und angemessen sind.

Beschreibung: Das Anlageverhalten der Deutschen ist sehr konservativ und führt in Zeiten niedriger Zinssätze zu geringen Renditen. Deshalb liegt es nahe, dass Vermögensbildung eines der Ziele der Staatsfonds-Modelle ist, die aktuell diskutiert werden. Vorgeschlagen werden primär an einem Zweck ausgerichtete Fonds: z. B. für die Finanzierung der Nachhaltigkeitswende, der Bildung oder des öffentlichen Nahverkehrs. Aber auch Fonds, die sich vor allem an der Rendite und den Ausschüttungen orientieren, sind denkbar. Diese können kreditfinanziert sein, um so die hervorragende Kreditwürdigkeit des deutschen Staats und damit eine mögliche Renditedifferenz zwischen Kreditaufnahme und Anlage zu realisieren. Auch die Gründung einer Aktiengesellschaft des öffentlichen Rechts wird vorgeschlagen. Ein Fonds kann aber auch durch Steuererhöhungen finanziert werden. Diskutiert wird zuletzt die Frage, inwieweit ein solcher Fonds der Schuldenbremse oder dem Stabilitätspakt zuwiderläuft.

Beschreibung: Germans are generally very conservative when it comes to investing and this in turn leads to low returns in times of low interest rates. Asset accumulation, among other things, motivates various sovereign wealth fund models. Funds geared toward one purpose are primarily proposed: e.g. for financing the sustainability turnaround, education or local public transport. But funds that are primarily geared toward returns and distributions are also conceivable. These can be credit-financed in order to use the excellent creditworthiness of the German state and thus a possible yield difference between borrowing and investment. The establishment of a limited public company is also proposed. A fund can also be financed by tax increases. The last question to be discussed is to what extent such a fund runs counter to the debt brake or the Stability Pact.

Beschreibung: Die soziale Bewegung der Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie (GWÖ) fordert, dass jegliches Wirtschaften dem Gemeinwohl dienen soll. Mit Blick auf einen Mangel an Forschung zur Praxis gemeinwohlorientierten Wirtschaftens haben wir Interviews mit GWÖ-Unternehmen durchgeführt. Wir beleuchten die Eigenschaften und Praktiken gemeinwohlorientierter Unternehmen und diskutieren, warum die GWÖ ein attraktives CSR-Instrument für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen ist.

Beschreibung: The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) is a social movement that claims that all economic activity should serve the common good. Addressing the lack of research on the common good approach in entrepreneurial practice, we conducted interviews with companies that have joined the ECG. We illuminate common good-oriented companies’ characteristics and practices and discuss why the ECG is an attractive CSR tool for small and medium-sized companies.

Beschreibung: While Marchetti (1977) was the first to propose using ocean density currents to transport and store anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the deep ocean, “marine geoengineering” first came to widespread public attention in 1990 when global headlines announced US ocean scientist John Martin idea that ocean fertilization could be used to enhance biological carbon dioxide uptake and storage to counteract carbon dioxide induced global warming. It came to widespread public attention again in 2007 due to a proposed ocean iron fertilization activity, planned as a commercial venture by Planktos Inc., off the Galapagos Islands. Such ventures have since taken place in the North-East Pacific off Canada and have been planned for the western seaboard of South America off Chile. The Contracting Parties to the London Convention and London Protocol (LC/LP) expressed concern about the marine environmental impacts of the proposed activity off the Galapagos. In 2008 the Parties adopted a resolution deciding that ocean fertilization activities other than legitimate scientific research should be considered as contrary to the aims of both instruments. Subsequently, due to ongoing interest in marine geoengineering, the LP was amended in 2013 to regulate ocean fertilization activities. These amendments also enable the Parties to regulate other marine geoengineering activities within the scope of the LP by listing them in the new Annex 4 of the Protocol. Thus, the LP has a governance framework that potentially can be applied to newly emerging marine geoengineering technologies. Objectives In the light of the growing interest in marine geoengineering techniques and the LP amendment, GESAMP decided that a Working Group (WG) was needed to: 1 Better understand the potential environmental (and socio-economic) impacts of different marine geoengineering approaches; and 2 Provide advice to the London Protocol Parties to assist them in identifying those marine geoengineering techniques that it might be sensible to consider for listing in the new Annex 4 of the Protocol. Establishment of WG 41 The WG was established and comprised mainly natural scientists with wide-ranging expertise relevant to marine geoengineering, along with a smaller group of experts from economics and political sciences. The preliminary and main findings are reported here.

Beschreibung: Exhibiting the fastest growth among all fuels in the electricity sector, renewables are about to fundamentally change the energy system. This change is hoped to bring about important social and economic co-benefits, including sustainable and affordable energy for all, green job opportunities, and increased human health and wellbeing. But there may also be some fundamentally political implications of the low carbon shift. This is what a high level group of global leaders was tasked to look into, the result of which was published in their recent report titled A New World The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation, published by IRENA, the international renewable energy agency. To be sure, the IRENA report is not the first one to ponder the geopolitics of the low carbon transition. For example, a recent book took a deeper look into the geopolitics of renewables, Harvard’s Belfer Center put together a group to tackle similar questions, Nature, the journal, featured a piece on low carbon policy risk, and a recent paper offers some important conceptual insights for the fate of oil producer economies whose business case might wither away. But the report by the Global Commission is the first one which comes close to representing a political document. So what do we learn from it?

Beschreibung: In relation to organizational performance measurement, there is a growing concern about the creation of value for people, society and the environment. The traditional corporate reporting does not adequately satisfy the information needs of stakeholders for assessing an organization’s past and future potential performance. Practitioners and scholars have developed new non-financial reporting frameworks from a social and environmental perspective, giving birth to the field of Integrated Reporting (IR). The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) model and its tools to facilitate sustainability management and reporting can provide a framework to do it. The present study depicts the theoretical foundations from the business administration field research on which the ECG model relies. Moreover, this paper is the first one that empirically validates such measurement scales by applying of Exploratory Factor Analysis on a sample of 206 European firms. Results show that two out of five dimensions are appropriately defined, along with some guidelines to refine the model. Consequently, it allows knowledge to advance as it assesses the measurement scales’ statistical validity and reliability. However, as this is the first quantitative-driven research on the ECG model, the authors’ future research will confirm the present results by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Beschreibung: Un suivi, un contrôle et une surveillance (SCS) efficaces sont essentiels au succès des mesures de conservation et de gestion du milieu marin. Alors que les États ont le droit exclusif de gérer les ressources marines relevant de leur juridiction nationale, les zones situées au-delà de la juridiction nationale (ZAJN) sont soumises à un ensemble complexe de règles et de réglementations internationales (Wright et al., 2018). Le SCS efficace de ces eaux profondes et lointaines constitue un défi technique important et l'intérêt pour la manière dont les outils et les politiques de SCS peuvent être appliqués à ce vaste patrimoine commun mondial ne cesse de croître. Les États de l'Organisation des Nations unies (ONU) négocient actuellement un instrument international juridiquement contraignant (ILBI, par son acronyme en anglais) pour la conservation et l'utilisation durable de la diversité biologique des zones marines situées au-delà de la juridiction nationale (appelé ici "traité sur la haute mer"). Le présent document examine la façon dont les négociations pourraient renforcer le SCS des ZAJN et la contribution que le SCS pourrait apporter à la mise en œuvre d'un futur traité.

Beschreibung: The chapter studies the main features of U.S. energy policy in its emerging international policy dimension. It contrasts the energy policy of Donald Trump with energy and climate policy making under the Obama administration and with the approach in California, highlighting the domestic struggles sustainable energy and climate protection are facing in the U.S.

Beschreibung: Despite their increasing cost competitiveness, the continued expansion of renewable energy remains dependent on policy support. Moreover, the dismantling of renewable energy policies in a number of former pioneer countries indicates that continued policy support is not a foregone conclusion. Yet, in light of the accelerating expansion of renewable energy, the dismantling of renewable energy policies has captured comparatively less attention than the rapid spread of support schemes. This article seeks to fill this important knowledge gap by developing and testing a framework for the analysis of policy dismantling processes in the renewable energy sector. It applies the framework to conduct a comparative analysis of policy dismantling in Spain and the Czech Republic. Both countries represent European pioneers of renewable energy support who subsequently dismantled their policies. The paper finds that the inter-relationship between policy design and the broader configuration of the political economy in the energy sector are key for understanding dismantling processes. It offers a number of conclusions for the design of more robust renewable energy support policies.

Beschreibung: The lack of a comprehensive, up-to-date emission inventory for the Himalayan region is a major challenge in understanding the extensive regional air pollution, including its causes, impacts and mitigation pathways. This study describes a high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) present-day emission inventory for Nepal, developed with a higher-tier approach. The complete study is divided into two parts; this paper covers technologies and combustion sources in residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural diesel-use and transport sectors as Part I (NEEMI-Tech), while emissions from the open burning of municipal waste and agricultural residue in fields and fugitive emissions from waste management, paddy fields, enteric fermentation and manure management for the period 2001–2016 will be covered in Part II (NEEMI-Open). The national total energy consumption (except hydropower, solar and wind energy) estimated in the base year 2011 was 374 PJ, with the residential sector being the largest energy consumer (79 %), followed by industry (11 %) and the transport sector (7 %). Biomass is the dominant energy source, contributing to 88 % of the national total energy consumption, while the rest is from fossil fuel. A total of 8.9 Tg of CO2, 110 Gg of CH4, 2.1 Gg of N2O, 64 Gg of NOx, 1714 Gg of CO, 407 Gg of NMVOCs, 195 Gg of PM2.5, 23 Gg of BC, 83 Gg of OC and 24 Gg of SO2 emissions were estimated in 2011 from the five energy-use sectors considered in NEEMI-Tech. The Nepal emission inventory provides, for the first time, temporal trends of fuel and energy consumption and associated emissions in Nepal for a long period, 2001–2016. The energy consumption showed an increase by a factor of 1.6 in 2016 compared to 2001, while the emissions of various species increased by a factor of 1.2–2.4. An assessment of the top polluting technologies shows particularly high emissions from traditional cookstoves and space-heating practices using biomass. In addition, high emissions were also computed from fixed-chimney Bull's trench kilns (FCBTKs) in brick production, cement kilns, two-wheeler gasoline vehicles, heavy-duty diesel freight vehicles and kerosene lamps. The monthly analysis shows December, January and February as periods of high PM2.5 emissions from the technology-based sources considered in this study. Once the full inventory including open burning and fugitive sources (Part II) is available, a more complete picture of the strength and temporal variability in the emissions and sources will be possible. Furthermore, the large spatial variation in the emissions highlights the pockets of growing urbanization, which emphasize the importance of the detailed knowledge about the emission sources that this study provides. These emissions will be of value for further studies, especially air-quality-modeling studies focused on understanding the likely effectiveness of air pollution mitigation measures in Nepal.

Beschreibung: Wir zeigen, wie die vorgeschlagene 1000 m-Abstandsregelung zwischen Windkraftanlagen und Wohngebäude den Ausbau der Windkraft an Land in Deutschland praktisch stoppen würde. Wir zeigen auch, dass ein Abstand von 600 m gleichzeitig den Schutz der Anwohner und der Ausbau der Windkraft möglich machen kann.

Beschreibung: Die Beiträge dieses Bandes entstanden im Rahmen einer 3-teiligen Tagungsreihe in den Jahren 2016-2018 an der Internationalen Naturschutz Akademie des Bundesamtes für Naturschutz. Sie befassen sich erstens mit konzeptionellen Grundlagen der Suffizienz, also etwa den Fragen, was unter Suffizienz verstanden wird, warum sie wichtig ist und was sie für unterschiedliche Lebensbereiche bedeuten könnte. Sie erörtern zweitens, welche Rahmenbedingungen nötig und möglich sind, um Lebensstiländerungen zu erleichtern, die nachhaltige Entwicklung fördern. Ein dritter Schwerpunkt des Bandes liegt in der räumlichen Dimension von Suffizienz (-politik): Welche Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten birgt Suffizienzpolitik im städtischen und ländlichen Raum? Welches Transformationspotenzial hin zu nachhaltigeren Gesellschaften liegt darin, Räume neu oder anders zu denken? Die Beiträge des Bandes geben Antworten auf konzeptionelle und praktische Fragen der Suffizienz (-politik) und verstehen sich als konstruktiver Beitrag zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung.

Beschreibung: The Anthropocene concept allows human history to be imagined within the temporal framework of planetary processes. Accordingly, some environmentalists increasingly favour massively lengthening the temporal horizons of moral concern. Whilst there are defensible reasons for doing so, I wish to take issue with the ‘secular time’ perspective underlying some such approaches. To make my case, I present, in the first section, two recent manifestations of the long view perspective: a) ‘deep future’ narratives in popular climate science and futurism; b) the ideas behind the Long Now Foundation. In the second section, I apply a critical lens to these perspectives via classic analyses of secular time by Charles Taylor, Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben. I conclude by suggesting that these post-secular critiques should be considered alongside recent approaches to the Anthropocene and the ‘geological turn’ from new materialist perspectives.

Beschreibung: This study quantifies the expenditure savings that may be achieved by residential and commercial consumers in South Africa when installing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with the aim of consuming most of the resulting electricity directly (henceforth termed self-consumption); the study was carried out in the context of the COBENEFITS project with the aim of assessing the co-benefits of a low-carbon energy transition in South Africa.

Beschreibung: Energy Transition towards a low-carbon emission energy system has been a long-term strategy for Germany and China. Both countries are expected to take the lead on the global effort to achieve clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Although Germany and China have different characteristics, international-level strategic cooperation is essential for meeting the goals of both local and global energy transition. However, until now, no comparable research for energy transition in Germany and China exists in a peer-reviewed journal. In order to close this knowledge gap, a critical review was conducted and then some recommendations were proposed. First of all, after reviewing the background, milestones, current situation and challenges, we found infrastructure, policy instruments and market reform played the key roles in the transition process in Germany and China. While nuclear power and coal are likely to be abandoned in Germany, China has more ambition beyond the power sector and to reach self-sufficiency. As the two countries chosen different concepts and pathways to achieve their transition targets, there is great opportunity for them to take the lessons from each other. Germany and China need cooperation at multi-levels varies from politic, economic, scientific to public. Then, recommendations are presented on how to further foster cooperation and enable an energy transition.

Beschreibung: Die G20 Länder unterstützen den Ausbau der Kohlekraft in Schwellen- und Entwicklungsländern durch die Vergabe günstiger Kredite. Das untergräbt nicht nur das Pariser Klimaabkommen, sondern stellt für die Geberländer ein hohes Wirtschaftsrisiko dar. Beim kommenden G20 Gipfel in Japan müssen daher dringend die Richtlinien der Exportfinanzierung im Energiesektor verschärft werden.

Beschreibung: We propose creating and maintaining records of engagement and decision-making (RoED) to help us and our communities better understand ourselves, our goals, our decisions, and the dynamic systems in which we all live. The purpose of RoED is to go well beyond noting that dialogue occurred or a decision was reached. The records should, in ways appropriate to the context and participants, document interactions and note biases, beliefs, emotions, behaviors, norms, and values. These crucial aspects are generally absent in academic papers and formal reports, yet they always play a role in decision-making processes. While not a panacea for addressing critical biophysical and social challenges, we propose that a comprehensive framework for promoting realistic, legitimate and inclusive engagement could enhance trust, establish institutional memory, and when and where appropriate, ensure greater transparency. The aim is to create and maintain RoED to collect significant information and share insights from multi-stakeholder decision-making processes from diverse institutions, contexts, and disciplinary domains. In the long-term RoED could promote more effective adaptive management or governance approaches. This paper describes an exploratory phase intended to catalyze collaborative efforts worldwide.

Beschreibung: Following more than a decade of informal deliberations, States at the United Nations (UN)are currently negotiating an “international legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction” (“BBNJ Agreement”). The negotiations aim to strengthen the international legal framework for the protection and management of the global ocean by addressing gaps in the current framework and building on existing obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to cooperate to protect and preserve the marine environment and conserve marine living resources. This policy brief explores how integrated ecosystem-based management (EBM) in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) can be advanced at the regional level and how the BBNJ Agreement can build on experiences in other legally binding agreements to strengthen regional cooperation, coordination and coherence. To this end, five building blocks are identified: 1. A robust global body such as a Conference of Parties capable of taking decisions and adopting recommendations; 2. A suite of regional mechanisms for integrated policy development and coordination; 3. Effective science-policy advisory mechanisms; 4. Overarching environmental obligations and principles; and 5. Operational principles to ensure good governance. A review of the current President’s draft text of the BBNJ Agreement highlights where the text could be strengthened to advance EBM. In particular, the BBNJ Agreement could draw inspiration from a range of existing instruments and craft specific obligations to: cooperate to promote in-situ conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats; mainstream biodiversity into all decision-making bodies and processes; and strengthen regional cooperation by supporting existing institutions and by building cross-sectoral platforms for cooperation.

Beschreibung: Der vorliegende Policy Brief gibt u.a. konkrete Vorschläge für Maßnahmen, die mit den Einnahmen aus der Bepreisung der Emissionen fossiler Energieträger in den Bereichen Strom, Wärme und Mobilität finanziert werden könnten.

Beschreibung: The overall aim of WP2 is to understand both the actual and possible application of the precautionary principle in eight different cases, and explain potential commonalities and differences in the application of the precautionary principle in the cases. This analysis should reflect the particular context of the case and reveal the arguments that have been used for invoking the precautionary principle and/or adopting precautionary measures (even without mentioning the precautionary principle). The multiple case study component of the RECIPES project is one of the key analytical phases of the project. Within the scope of the entire RECIPES project, WP2 builds on aspects of WP1, in particular the final WP1 report taking stock of the precautionary principle since 2000. The outputs of WP2 will feed directly into WP3, with the aim of the development of new tools and approaches to the PP in a co-creation approach. This document is intended for the individual case study analysis, and does not directly inform the cross-case comparison analysis which will take place in task 2.4.

Beschreibung: Vietnam has the opportunity to transition towards low-carbon planning pathways within the power sector that emphasise the uptake of renewable energy technologies – especially solar and wind, which are experiencing rapid cost declines in Vietnam and globally. However, the impact on employment, both in the power sector and more widely, needs to be effectively understood and prepared for by various actors and decision makers in the country. This study analyses the employment impacts of various scenarios for expanding electricity generation in Vietnam’s power sector; this was carried out in the context of the COBENEFITS project with the aim of assessing the co-benefits of a low-carbon energy transition in the country. Four scenarios are analysed for the future development of the power sector in Vietnam: Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) revised seventh Power Development Plan (PDP 7 (rev)); Danish Energy Agency Stated Policy (DEA Stated Policies); Asian Development Bank “Pathways to low-carbon development for Vietnam” low-carbon scenario (ADB Low-Carbon); and the Green Innovation and Development Centre (GreenID) Base and Renewable Energy (Base & Renew En) scenario. This report presents the resulting employment effects, presuming that the electricity sector focuses on all power generation technologies outlined in the government’s official power sector plan. It also provides an initial assessment of the skill requirements, attainment levels and technical training required for Vietnam’s present power sector plans and future low-carbon power sector ambitions. The four scenarios consider timelines consistent with MOIT’s reporting of the PDP 7 (rev) scenario, which is between the years 2015 and 2030.

Beschreibung: Vier Empfehlungen aus Sicht der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung: In ihrem Standpunkt treffen Ortwin Renn und Sophia Becker eine differenzierte Einschätzung des Klimapakets. Die Forscher des IASS Potsdam halten die Bemühungen der Bundesregierung für zum Teil glaubwürdig und konstatieren Schritte in die richtige Richtung. Ein anspruchsvolles Paket sei es aber nicht, es gebe noch viel zu tun – Renn und Becker raten, vor allem auch auf den sozialen Ausgleich zu achten.

Beschreibung: In den letzten Jahren war viel die Rede von einem Mangel an Utopien. Ohne mögliche Alternativen aber erscheint die Zukunft verschlossen. Der Artikel liefert einen Überblick über die Utopiedebatten der 2010er Jahre.

Beschreibung: There has been much talk of a lack of utopias in recent years. Without possible alternatives, however, the future appears closed. The article provides an overview of the utopia debates of the 2010s.

Beschreibung: Un seguimiento, control y vigilancia (SCV) eficaz es fundamental para el éxito de las medidas de conservación y gestión del medio marino. Mientras que los Estados tienen el derecho exclusivo de gestionar los recursos marinos dentro de su jurisdicción nacional, las zonas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional (ABNJ, por sus siglas en inglés) están sujetas a un complejo mosaico de normas y reglamentos internacionales (Wright et al., 2018). Un SCV eficaz de estas aguas profundas y distantes constituyen un importante desafío técnico y cada vez hay más interés en saber cómo pueden aplicarse las herramientas y políticas de SCV a este vasto patrimonio mundial. Los Estados de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) están negociando actualmente un instrumento internacional jurídicamente vinculante (ILBI, por sus siglas en inglés) para la conservación y el uso sostenible de la diversidad biológica de las zonas marinas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional (denominado aquí "tratado de alta mar"). Este informe explora cómo las negociaciones podrían fortalecer el SCV en ABNJ y la contribución que el SCV podría hacer a la aplicación de un futuro tratado.

Beschreibung: Social and sustainability reporting in universities and research institutes is still in its early stages compared to CSR reporting in corporations. Nevertheless, a growing number of institutions of higher education seek ways to integrate sustainability into their internal processes. The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) balance sheet provides a framework to measure an organizations’ contribution to the common good, focussing on dignity, solidarity, sustainability, justice and democracy. This paper presents case studies of the experiences of the International Graduate Center at City University of Applied Sciences Bremen (IGC) and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam with adapting the ECG framework for strategic management and as an orientation for teaching. It will discuss the challenges in the development of an ECG-based social and sustainability reporting framework, particularly regarding the adaption of the ECG balance sheet which has been originally designed for corporations. Furthermore, the paper will put the ECG framework in relation to other evaluation methods, and outline the impact it has had on major stakeholder groups like students, faculty, staff, and the way in which organisational change has occurred and led to improved accountability and changes in sustainability performance in an academic setting.

Beschreibung: This chapter is mainly based on the "Techno-Economic Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment Guidelines for CO2 Utilisation" written by the authors. This chapter provides a brief introduction to techno-economic assessment (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) for CO2 utilisation, and all topics are explained in further detail in the Guidelines mentioned above.

Beschreibung: The Future Fund meets three essential criteria for transformations to sustainability: It is underpinned by socially and ecologically sustainable finance model; investments made through the Future Fund reflect the priorities of a socio-ecological transformation; and part of its resources and possible returns are used to reduce social inequalities in the transition to sustainability.

Beschreibung: The Digital Revolution, including technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, additive manufacturing or 3D-printing, (general purpose) artificial intelligence, or the Internet of Things, has entered the public discourse in many countries. Looking back, it is almost impossible to believe that digitalization is barely featured in the 2030 Agenda or the Paris Agreement. It is increasingly clear that digital changes, we refer to them as the Digital Revolution, are becoming a key driving force in societal transformation. The transformation towards sustainability for all must be harmonized with the threats, opportunities and dynamics of the Digital Revolution, the goals of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. At the same time, the digital transformation will radically alter all dimensions of global societies and economies and will therefore change the interpretation of the sustainability paradigm itself. Digitalization is not only an ‘instrument’ to resolve sustainability challenges, it is also fundamental as a driver of disruptive change. This report that focuses on the Digital Revolution is the second one by The World in 2050 (TWI2050) that was established by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and other partners to provide scientific foundations for the 2030 Agenda. This report is based on the voluntary and collaborative effort of more than 50 authors and contributors from about 20 institutions, and some 100 independent experts from academia, business, government, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations from all the regions of the world, who met four times at IIASA to develop science-based strategies and pathways toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Presentations of the TWI2050 approach and work have been made at many international meetings such as the United Nations Science, Technology and Innovation Forums and the United Nations High-level Political Forums. In 2018, the first report by TWI2050 on Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals identified Six Exemplary Transformations needed to achieve the SDGs and long-term sustainability to 2050 and beyond: i) Human Capacity & Demography; ii) Consumption & Production; iii) Decarbonization & Energy, iv) Food, Biosphere & Water; v) Smart Cities and vi) Digital Revolution. The focus of this report is the Sixth Transformation, The Digital Revolution. Although it is arguably the single greatest enabler of sustainable development, it has, in the past, helped create many negative externalities like transgression of planetary boundaries. Progress on the SDGs will be facilitated if we can build and implement detailed science, technology and innovation (STI) roadmaps at all levels that range from local to global. STI is a forceful driver of change connected to all 17 SDGs. The Digital Revolution provides entirely new and enhanced capacities and thus serves as a major force in shaping both the systemic context of transformative change and future solutions; at the same time it potentially carries strong societal disruptive power if not handled with caution, care, and innovativeness. This report assesses all the positive potential benefits digitalization brings to sustainable development for all. It also highlights the potential negative impacts and challenges going forward, particularly for those impacted by the ‘digital divide’ that excludes primarily people left behind during the Industrial Revolution like the billion that go hungry every night and the billion who do not have access to electricity. The report outlines the necessary preconditions for a successful digital transformation, including prosperity, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and good governance. Importantly it outlines some of the dramatic social implications associated with an increasingly digital future. It also covers a topic that so far has not been sufficiently dealt with in the cross-over discussions between sustainability and the Digital Revolution, that is, the considerations about related governance aspects.

Beschreibung: The IASS – and the research project Co-creation and Contemporary Policy Advice, in particular – aim to support policymakers in their efforts to address complex societal challenges within the context of a broad transformation towards sustainability. These challenges are interwoven with other issues and embedded within dynamic contexts that are characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, making it difficult to develop a unified approach to their resolution. In response to this, this IASS Discussion Paper presents a model for the development of co-creative policy advice that is intended to support actors from policymaking and public administration in addressing such complex challenges. The primary goal of the process outlined here is the development, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, of an in-depth understanding of a specific challenge – before appropriate strategies and measures for its resolution are put in place. The insights gained in this scoping process shape the development of tailored solution generation processes and the allocation of public procurement contracts for the implementation of societal transformation processes. In this approach, the policy advice process begins well before potential solutions are developed and presented to policymakers and administrative bodies. Rather, this model responds to the need to develop an integrated understanding of societal challenges in close cooperation with the people and institutions affected on the ground before public procurement processes for their resolution are launched.

Beschreibung: The report highlights the fact that many of the world’s most pressing problems are also incredibly complex — including climate change, environmental pollution, economic crises and the digital transformation of societies. What’s more, the scientific knowledge around these areas can often be uncertain or contested. Science is one of many sources of knowledge that inform policy. Its unique strength is that it is based on rigorous enquiry, continuous analysis and debate, providing a set of evidence that can be respected as valid, relevant and reliable. Science advice supports effective policymaking by providing the best available knowledge, which can then be used to understand a specific problem, generate and evaluate policy options and monitor results of policy implementation. It also provides meaning to the discussion around critical topics within society. The advice works best when it is guided by the ideal of co-creation of knowledge and policy options between scientists and policymakers. The relationship between science advisers and policymakers relies on building mutual trust, where both scientists and policymakers are honest about their values and goals. Scientific knowledge should always inform societal debate and decision-making. Citizens often have their own experiences of the policy issue under consideration and should be included in the ongoing process of deliberation between scientists, policymakers and the public.

Beschreibung: Five U.S. B-52 Bombers were conducting a training mission on March 28 high over the Norwegian Sea in the Arctic Ocean. F-16 fighter jets from Norway were also aloft, part of joint NATO exercises involving 10,000 troops in northern Sweden. Unexpectedly, two Russian Tu-160 bombers crossed into the same airspace. Surprised, Norway scrambled the F-16s to follow the interlopers.

Beschreibung: Việt Nam có cơ hội chuyển dịch sang lộ trình quy hoạch các-bon thấp của ngành điện trong đó nhấn mạnh vào phát triển công nghệ năng lượng tái tạo, đặc biệt là điện gió và điện mặt trời – các nguồn năng lượng có chi phí đang giảm mạnh tại Việt Nam cũng như toàn thế giới. Tuy nhiên, các bên liên quan và các nhà lãnh đạo trên cả nước cần hiểu rõ và chuẩn bị kỹ lưỡng cho những tác động đến việc làm đi kèm, không chỉ tính riêng trong ngành năng lượng mà rộng hơn cho cả nền kinh tế. Nghiên cứu đã phân tích những tác động việc làm của nhiều kịch bản phát triển điện tại Việt Nam; nghiên cứu được thực hiện trong khuôn khổ dự án COBENEFITS với mục tiêu đánh giá đồng lợi ích của chuyển dịch năng lượng các-bon thấp trên cả nước. Xét đến sự phát triển của ngành điện Việt Nam trong tương lai, bốn kịch bản đã được phân tích: Quy hoạch Điện VII điều chỉnh của Bộ Công thương (kịch bản QHĐ VII (đc)), Kịch bản Chính sách của Cơ quan Năng lượng Đan Mạch (kịch bản Chính sách DEA), kịch bản các-bon thấp từ Ngân hàng Phát triển Châu Á “Con đường phát triển cácbon thấp cho Việt Nam” (kịch bản Các-bon thấp ADB), và kịch bản Cơ sở và Năng lượng Tái tạo từ Trung tâm Phát triển Sáng tạo Xanh (GreenID) (kịch bản Cở sở & NLTT). Báo cáo này nêu ra những tác động tới việc làm, với giả định rằng ngành điện tập trung vào tất cả các công nghệ phát điện được sử dụng trong quy hoạch điện của Chính phủ. Báo cáo cũng đưa ra đánh giá sơ bộ về yêu cầu trình độ kỹ năng và đào tạo chuyên môn cần thiết cho quy hoạch ngành điện hiện tại và tầm nhìn phát triển các-bon thấp trong tương lai của Việt Nam. Bốn kịch bản đều có các mốc thời gian từ năm 2015 đến năm 2030, tương tự với kịch bản QHĐ VII (đc) của Bộ Công thương.

Beschreibung: In diesem Kapitel wird Partizipation in der Energiewende, also die Beteiligung von Einzelpersonen, Institutionen und anderen Akteuren an Planungsverfahren, Energiewende-Strategien, konkreten Umsetzungsmaßnahmen und an Energieanlagen selbst behandelt. Die Beteiligungsformen werden differenziert in politische und soziale Partizipation (z. B. Öffentlichkeitsbeteiligung), bürgerschaftliches Engagement und materiell-finanzielle Partizipation (z. B. Bürgerenergie) sowie Optionen der direkten Demokratie (z. B. Referenden) und Arrangements partizipativer Governance (z. B. Klimaschutzrat) dargestellt. Näher betrachtet werden das Warum von Partizipation und die Effekte von Beteiligung. Abschließend werden Transformationen von Beteiligungsarten und -verhalten der vergangenen Jahre werden diskutiert.

Beschreibung: Este resumen para los tomadores de decisiones se basa en el informe ‘Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas: Opportunities and Challenges to Improve the Legal and Institutional Framework of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific’. Está dirigido a los tomadores de decisiones, así como a otras personas que trabajan en cuestiones de gobernanza de los océanos, en particular en las regiones del Atlántico Sudeste y el Pacífico Sudeste. El informe se preparó como parte del proyecto Fortalecimiento de la gobernanza regional de los océanos en alta mar (‘STRONG High Seas’) y se basa en estudios anteriores, en particular en relación con el Pacífico Sudeste. El informe tiene por objeto proporcionar un examen de los marcos de gobernanza pertinentes actualmente en vigor para la gestión de la biodiversidad de la alta mar en esas regiones. El informe utiliza las cuestiones que se están debatiendo en las negociaciones en curso para un nuevo instrumento jurídicamente vinculante sobre la conservación y el uso sostenible de la BBNJ en el marco de las Naciones Unidas, así como determinadas metas del Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 14 (ODS 14), como una lente a través de la cual se pueden evaluar los avances hacia la conservación y el uso sostenible.

Beschreibung: Die vorliegende Broschüre stellt die zweite Auswertung des jährlich erhobenen Sozialen Nachhaltigkeitsbarometers der Energiewende vor. Die hier präsentierten Ergebnisse beruhen auf zwei internetbasierten, bevölkerungsrepräsentativen Haushaltsbefragungen, die – in Kooperation mit dem RWI-Leibniz Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung – jeweils im Sommer 2017 und 2018 im Rahmen des forsa.omninet Haushaltspanels durchgeführt wurden. Zum ersten Mal können wir mit der vorliegenden Publikation auch Veränderungen im Zeitverlauf erfassen. Mit dem Sozialen Nachhaltigkeitsbarometer der Energiewende stellen wir eine empirisch fundierte Datenbasis für ein jährliches Monitoring bereit, um die Entwicklungen im Bereich der sozialen Dimensionen der Nachhaltigkeit in ausgewählten Kernbereichen so genau wie möglich zu erfassen. Wie denkt die Bevölkerung in Deutschland über die Energiewende und deren aktuelle Gestaltung? Welche Vorstellungen haben die Menschen von einer gerechten Energiewende? Inwieweit fühlen sie sich betroffen? Wie stark möchten sie sich beteiligen?

Beschreibung: Even though unit costs for renewable energy have fallen sharply, there’s clearly more finance needed for mitigation and adaptation. The least developed countries still don’t have the technologies they need. Can the private sector deliver, or should governments and the UN intervene?

Beschreibung: Today, representative politics are often perceived as being primarily concerned with short-term goals. Moreover, the future appears to be pre-determined by economic or technological necessities. This ‘closing’ of the future, however, becomes increasingly problematic in the face of global existential crises, such as environmental depletion and climate change. These catastrophic developments could only be mitigated by immediate, decisive political interventions, which would amount to systemic changes that redirect technological research and economic activities. This article seeks to outline how political theory and philosophy can contribute to “(re-)Politicizing the Future”. I argue that political thought should take temporality, and in particular futurity, as a central conceptual and methodological concern. Drawing on the works of prominent twentieth century thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Stanley Cavell, and Jacques Derrida, I want to develop a deepened analytical understanding of the possibility for a ‘future directed’ political thought which highlights intrinsic connections between sustainability and democracy.

Beschreibung: In this article, I aim to delineate the genesis and analytical scope of risk governance. Risk governance pertains to the various ways in which many actors, individuals and institutions, public and private, deal with risks surrounded by uncertainty, complexity and/or ambiguity. The ambition is that risk governance provides a conceptual as well as normative basis for how to deal responsibly with complex risks. I propose to synthesize the body of scholarly ideas and proposals on the governance of risks in a set of management regimes: the combination of risk-based, precautionary and discourse-based management regimes. This set of regimes should be read as a synthesis of what needs to be seriously considered in organizing structures and processes to govern risks and to include stakeholders in the assessment and evaluation of risks.

Beschreibung: Against the backdrop of natural hazards and disaster risks, the Sendai Framework articulates the need for improved understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of exposure, vulnerability and hazard characteristics as well as the strengthening of disaster risk governance (UNISDR, 2015). The report introduces the perspective of systemic risks and demonstrates how this perspective contributes to the goals of the Sendai Framework by highlighting the systemic aspects of disaster risks. The report proposes the concept of inclusive risk governance for improved disaster risk governance. Finally, the report puts forward policy recommendations for disaster risk governance.

Beschreibung: The Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings are known as the Third Pole (TP). This region is noted for its high rates of glacier melt and the associated hydrological shifts that affect water supplies in Asia. Atmospheric pollutants contribute to climatic and cryospheric changes through their effects on solar radiation and the albedos of snow and ice surfaces; moreover, the behavior and fates within the cryosphere and environmental impacts of environmental pollutants are topics of increasing concern. In this review, we introduce a coordinated monitoring and research framework and network to link atmospheric pollution and cryospheric changes (APCC) within the TP region. We then provide an up-to-date summary of progress and achievements related to the APCC research framework, including aspects of atmospheric pollution's composition and concentration, spatial and temporal variations, trans-boundary transport pathways and mechanisms, and effects on the warming of atmosphere and changing in Indian monsoon, as well as melting of glacier and snow cover. We highlight that exogenous air pollutants can enter into the TP’s environments and cause great impacts on regional climatic and environmental changes. At last, we propose future research priorities and map out an extended program at the global scale. The ongoing monitoring activities and research facilitate comprehensive studies of atmosphere–cryosphere interactions, represent one of China's key research expeditions to the TP and the polar regions and contribute to the global perspective of earth system science.

Beschreibung: Populistische Strömungen gewinnen weltweit an Resonanz, gleichzeitig beobachten wir ein tiefes Misstrauen in die Problemlösungsfähigkeit der Politik, in die Fairness der Wirtschaft und die Unabhängigkeit der Wissenschaft. Der Soziologe und Risikoforscher Ortwin Renn führt diese Tendenzen auf gesellschaftliche Verunsicherung angesichts gesellschaftlicher Veränderung und Komplexität zurück. In seinem Buch untersucht er die aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Ängste, ihre Ursachen und Folgen. Aufklärend zielt Renn darauf, Verunsicherung abzubauen. Zudem will Renn mit diesem Buch mehr Zuversicht in die Leistungskraft der zentralen gesellschaftlichen Institutionen, aber auch mehr Zutrauen in die eigene Gestaltungskraft wecken. Das Buch beschäftigt sich mit den Ängsten in unserer Gesellschaft, ihrer Wahrnehmung, ihren Gründen und ihrer Wirkung. Was ängstigt die Menschen derzeit genau? Was bedroht uns? Woher kommen diese Ängste? Wie können wir individuell und kollektiv besser damit umgehen? Und was macht es mit unserer Gesellschaft, wenn die Angst zu mächtig wird?

Beschreibung: Effective monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) is critical for the success of marine conservation and management measures. Whereas States have the exclusive right to manage the marine resources within their national jurisdiction, areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are subject to a complex patchwork of international rules and regulations (Wright et al., 2018). Effective MCS of these deep and distant waters is a significant technical challenge and there is growing interest in how MCS tools and policies can be applied to this vast global commons. States at the United Nations (UN) are currently negotiating an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) for the conservation and sustainable use of the biological diversity of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (referred to here as the “high seas treaty”). This brief explores how the negotiations could strengthen MCS in ABNJ and the contribution MCS could make to the implementation of a future treaty.