ALBERT

Description: 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.

Description: We formulate and elicit Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) for assessing possible characteristics of the 2030 German new passenger car fleet, including market shares of different vehicle types, CO2 emissions, user costs, and CO2 abatement costs for internal combustion engine vehicles including hybrid electric vehicles (ICE); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV); and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Seven technology and environmental experts from the German Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) sector were elicited for key relationships and conditional probability values in the model, yielding seven distinct BBNs able to predict how different future technology, economic and policy scenarios will influence model projections. The 2030 scenarios include differing amounts of technological advancement in battery development, regulation, and fuel and electricity greenhouse gas intensities. Across the expert models, 2030 baseline fleet greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to be at 50–65% of 2008 new fleet emissions. They can be further reduced to 40–50% of the emissions of the 2008 new fleet through a combination of a higher share of renewables in the electricity mix, a larger share of biofuels in the fuel mix, and a stricter regulation of car CO2 emissions in the European Union. The experts' BBNs predict that the 2030 ICE will have lower user costs per kilometer than PHEV or BEV for most scenarios, and that ICE will remain the dominant vehicle type in the 2030 German new fleet. According to all of the experts' BBNs, CO2 abatement costs are negative for the 2030 ICE in all scenarios, but can be positive or negative for PHEV and BEV, depending on the expert model and scenario assumed. Critical areas where expert models agree and differ serve to highlight where reductions in uncertainty regarding future technology, economic, environmental and regulatory relationships are most needed to improve our ability to predict and anticipate future vehicle fleet composition and vehicle performance.

Description: India is undergoing structural urban and economic transitions and has set ambitiouspolicy targets to meet its rising energy needs for development. Expanding coal andrenewables are two important pillars of this undertaking and, since 2008, climate protectionis of increasing concern. India’s international engagements reflect these motivationsof both energy security and climate change, where India is increasingly engagingin transfer of clean and efficient energy technologies to developing countries like itself.

Description: The German Energiewende – literally translated as “energy turnaround” – is an outstandingexample of a national effort to transform an energy system. Driven by publicopposition to nuclear energy, and by efforts to combat climate change, the Energiewendebuilds on a massive expansion of renewable energy as well as improvements inenergy efficiency. So far, efforts have focused on the electricity sector, while progressin the heating and transport sector has been very limited. In addition, Germany alsohas a long track record of promoting sustainable energy with its international energypolicies.

Description: 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.

Description: Democracy and Climate Change explores the various ways in which democratic principles can lead governments to respond differently to climate change. The election cycle can lead to short-termism, which often appears to be at odds with the long-term nature of climate change, with its latency between cause and effect. However, it is clear that some democracies deal with climate change better than others, and this book demonstrates that overall stronger democratic qualities tend to correlate with improved climate performance.Beginning by outlining a general concept of democratic efficacy, the book provides an empirical analysis of the influence of the quality of democracy on climate change performance across dozens of countries. The specific case study of Canada’s Kyoto Protocol process is then used to explain the mechanisms of democratic influence in depth. The wide-ranging research presented in the book opens up several new and exciting avenues of enquiry and will be of considerable interest to researchers with an interest in comparative politics, democracy studies and environmental policies.

Description: Air pollution in the Kathmandu valley is influenced by a variety of domestic and industrial sources such as garbage and biomass burning, brick kilns, and vehicular emissions. During non-monsoon seasons, the air quality index is considered hazardous, and consequently, air pollution is a leading cause of death in Nepal. During winter and spring of 2017-18, part two of the Nepal Ambient Monitoring and Source Testing Experiment (NAMaSTE-2) involved stationary sampling of gas and aerosol phase species in four locations across Nepal as well as 14 mobile measurement drives throughout the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. This work presents spatially and temporally resolved aerosol mass spectrometry and gas phase measurements from a mobile laboratory capable of high time resolution aerosol composition measurements. Spatially resolved aerosol composition results highlight chemical differences in aerosol due to strong regional sources, topography, and meteorology. For example, aerosol composition in regions with a high concentration of brick kilns had enhanced concentrations of sulfate aerosol, consistent with emission factors measured from brick kilns. Similarly, small towns outside of Kathmandu exhibited strongly elevated concentrations of chloride and organic aerosol due to garbage burning. These results are important for apportionment of the aerosol burden in the valley to their sources, and the consequent reduction of aerosol emissions.

Description: Integration and harmonization of large spatial data sets is not only since the introduction of the spatial data infrastructure INSPIRE a big issue. The process of extracting and combining spatial data from heterogeneous source formats, transforming that data to obtain the required quality for particular purposes and loading it into a data store, are common tasks. The procedure of Extraction, Transformation and Loading of data is called ETL process. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can take over many of these tasks but often they are not suitable for processing large datasets. ETL tools can make the implementation and execution of ETL processes convenient and efficient. One reason for choosing ETL tools for data integration is that they ease maintenance because of a clear (graphical) presentation of the transformation steps. Developers and administrators are provided with tools for identification of errors, analyzing processing performance and managing the execution of ETL processes. Another benefit of ETL tools is that for most tasks no or only little scripting skills are required so that also researchers without programming background can easily work with it. Investigations on ETL tools for business approaches are available for a long time. However, little work has been published on the capabilities of those tools to handle spatial data. In this work, we review and compare the open source ETL tools GeoKettle and Talend Open Studio in terms of processing spatial data sets of different formats. For evaluation, ETL processes are performed with both software packages based on air quality data measured during the BÄRLIN2014 Campaign initiated by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS). The aim of the BÄRLIN2014 Campaign is to better understand the sources and distribution of particulate matter in Berlin. The air quality data are available in heterogeneous formats because they were measured with different instruments. For further data analysis, the instrument data has been complemented by other georeferenced data provided by the local environmental authorities. This includes both vector and raster data on e.g. land use categories or building heights, extracted from flat files and OGC-compliant web services. The requirements on the ETL tools are now for instance the extraction of different input datasets like Web Feature Services or vector datasets and the loading of those into databases. The tools also have to manage transformations on spatial datasets like to work with spatial functions (e.g. intersection, union) or change spatial reference systems. Preliminary results suggest that many complex transformation tasks could be accomplished with the existing set of components from both software tools, while there are still many gaps in the range of available features. Both ETL tools differ in functionality and in the way of implementation of various steps. For some tasks no predefined components are available at all, which could partly be compensated by the use of the respective API (freely configurable components in Java or JavaScript).

Description: 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.

Description: Inhabitants of Pacific Small Island States are facing multiple socio-ecological pressures and the impacts of global climate change aggravate the situation. In order to reduce present and future vulnerabilities it is necessary to address the causes of such detrimental alterations and to find sustainable ways to cope with present and projected challenges. Studying people’s perspectives and agency, or in other words, their perceptions and behaviour, can help to better understand how sustainable practices can be motivated and can contribute to an increased efficiency of mitigation and adaptation projects. Despite increasing research related to environmental changes and their resulting impacts for the Pacific island region, the breadth of perspectives of local people is often under-represented in science and policy. This thesis therefore illustrates the role and diversity of perceptions that guide human behaviour in the context of addressing environmental challenges. Based on a summary of theoretical considerations three major areas of relevant perceptions have been identified. These include perceptions related to environmental change, coping strategies, and social processes. In a survey study (N=180) perceptions of climate-related environmental changes and ways of addressing resulting impacts have been investigated in Tuvalu, Samoa, and Tonga. The results reveal that the respondents perceive a multitude of alterations and attribute them mainly to irresponsible human behaviour. The perceptions of the intensity of change and the degree of perceived impacts vary within and between island states. A certain fraction of this variance can be explained by geographical and climatic differences between the islands and sociodemographic variables. People’s perspectives on their ability to cope with the impacts on their lives reflect not only the diversity of measures that locals use, but also their will to adapt and the acknowledgement of their own responsibilities. However, the perception of lacking skills, opportunities, and low self-efficacy are likely to hinder effective adaptation. Sustainable ways of adaptation could therefore be encouraged by offering information about effective measures, skills to implement them, and the availability of materials. Here, the study results regarding the expectations that locals have of other actors, such as governments, NGOs, and the church, can be helpful for developing coherent support. The findings could be incorporated by local organizations to a) further identify specific needs of communities, b) work on tailored information about environmental change and effective coping strategies, and c) find ways for approaching and motivating different demographic groups. Thereby, this dissertation could contribute to an enhanced understanding of the complexity of local perspectives on current developments and to advance strategies for a transition to more sustainable lifestyles.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: The Kathmandu Valley, located in the Himalayan foothills in Nepal, is heavily polluted. In order to investigate ambient particulate-bound mercury (Hg) in the Kathmandu Valley, a total 64 total suspended particulates (TSP) samples were collected from a sub-urban site in the Kathmandu Valley, the capital region of Nepal during a sampling period of an entire year (April 2013-April 2014). They were analyzed for ambient particulate-bound Hg (PBM) using thermal desorption combined with cold vapor atomic spectroscopy. In our knowledge, it is the first study of ambient PMB in the Kathmandu Valley and the surrounding broader Himalayan foothill region. The average concentration of PBM over the entire sampling period of a year was found to be 850.5 (±962.8) pg m-3 in the Kathmandu Valley. This is comparable to those values reported in the polluted cities of China and significantly higher than those observed in most of urban areas in Asia and other regions of world. The daily average Hg contents in TSP (PBM/TSP) ranges from 269.7 to 7613.0ngg-1 with an average of 2586.0 (±2072.1) ng g-1, indicating the high enrichment of Hg in TSP. The average concentrations of PBM were higher in the winter and pre-monsoon season than in the monsoon and post-monsoon season. The temporal variations in the strength of anthropogenic emission sources combined with other influencing factors, such as ambient temperature and the removal of atmospheric aerosols by wet scavenging are attributable to the seasonal variations of PBM. The considerably high dry deposition flux of PBM estimated by using a theoretical model was 135μgm-2 yr-1 at the Kathmandu Valley. This calls for an immediate attention to addressing ambient particulate Hg in the Kathmandu Valley, including considering it as a key component of future air quality monitoring activities and mitigation measures. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Description: For a long time the European Union (EU) has been considered a transnational project securing peace and security. In the light of the recent developments of the deep international financial crisis, we argue that the EU suffers from a substantial legitimacy crisis threatening its existence. This crisis combines symptoms of a structural democratic deficit on the one hand and a general lack of solving common problems effectively on the other. The two strengthen and reinforce each other and lead to eroding support and acceptance for the European project and pose questions about opportunities and limits to transnational democracy. Based on a literature review, we discuss different streams of the discourse on institutional reforms of the European Union and develop an argument in favour of a more citizen-oriented Union. We follow arguments for institutional reforms but suggest more specifically to strengthen and redesign specific elements of participatory democracy, which are anchored in the constitutional framework of the Union. Thus, we discuss the benefits and potential application of citizen dialogues and deliberation in the European context. Finally, we briefly exemplify our institutional proposal in applying it to the policy field of the common European energy policy.

Description: The implementation of European emission abatement strategies has led to a significant reduction in the emissions of ozone precursors during the last decade. Ground-level ozone is also influenced by meteorological factors such as temperature, which exhibit interannual variability and are expected to change in the future. The impacts of climate change on air quality are usually investigated through air-quality models that simulate interactions between emissions, meteorology and chemistry. Within a multi-model assessment, this study aims to better understand how air-quality models represent the relationship between meteorological variables and surface ozone concentrations over Europe. A multiple linear regression (MLR) approach is applied to observed and modelled time series across 10 European regions in springtime and summertime for the period of 2000–2010 for both models and observations. Overall, the air-quality models are in better agreement with observations in summertime than in springtime and particularly in certain regions, such as France, central Europe or eastern Europe, where local meteorological variables show a strong influence on surface ozone concentrations. Larger discrepancies are found for the southern regions, such as the Balkans, the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean basin, especially in springtime. We show that the air-quality models do not properly reproduce the sensitivity of surface ozone to some of the main meteorological drivers, such as maximum temperature, relative humidity and surface solar radiation. Specifically, all air-quality models show more limitations in capturing the strength of the ozone–relative-humidity relationship detected in the observed time series in most of the regions, for both seasons. Here, we speculate that dry-deposition schemes in the air-quality models might play an essential role in capturing this relationship. We further quantify the relationship between ozone and maximum temperature (mo3 − T, climate penalty) in observations and air-quality models. In summertime, most of the air-quality models are able to reproduce the observed climate penalty reasonably well in certain regions such as France, central Europe and northern Italy. However, larger discrepancies are found in springtime, where air-quality models tend to overestimate the magnitude of the observed climate penalty.

Description: 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?

Description: The background, purpose, and design of this special section are briefly explained in this introductory article. Three aspects emerged from the articles in this special section and are highlighted to provide a frame of reference for the reader: (1) a paradigm shift towards adaptive and integrative disaster risk governance; (2) a framework that situates adaptive and integrative risk governance in the context of transformation toward sustainability; and (3) the introduction of “implementation science” as a concept, method, and emerging field that brings natural and social sciences, engineering, and humanities jointly to bear in risk mitigation and adaptation.

Description: Tenders are a fast spreading instrument to attract and procure new generation capacity from renewable energy sources. However, there is a need for current analysis of experiences as in many countries tenders were introduced only few years ago. The objective of this study is to provide an up-to-date comparison of tender results for wind power and photovoltaics in Brazil, France, Italy and South Africa. We analyze and discuss rates of completion, market concentration and auction prices, based on data and literature research as well as expert interviews. Data on project status shows that rates of on-schedule completion are well below 100% ranging between 14% in Brazil and 41% in South Africa (wind). However, final rates of completion of 100% are possible (South Africa). With exception of France current data suggests cancellation rates of less than 5%. A systematic connection between project cancellations and the instrument of tenders could not be identified. The market share of the five largest owners differs largely between the countries and ranges from 33% (Italy) to 70% (South Africa). Despite the high level in South Africa, the significant oversubscription of tender volumes suggests that free price formation likely was not constrained. Nevertheless, small actors (〈50 MW total capacity) are rare in Brazil and South Africa. For Italy their share cannot be determined due to lack of data. In all countries except Brazil auction prices have continuously fallen by 33% (Italy, wind energy) to 76% (South Africa, photovoltaics). In Brazil, the auction price increased from auction round eight to 14 from 50% to 85% of the first auction price. However, auction prices are highly dependent on factors outside of the support scheme of tenders (e.g. interest rates), so that their evolution and level are not a suitable indicator to determine whether tenders lead to minimal support costs.

Description: 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).

Description: Education is essential for economic and human development. The effectiveness of education governance, however, is severely inhibited by the condition of (limited) statehood. This chapter sets out to present an overview of the specific characteristics that define education governance, how its effectiveness is assessed, who the main actors are and how they and their interplay strengthens or inhibits education effectiveness in areas of limited statehood (ALS). Empirically, the chapter mainly draws upon sub-Saharan Africa as a region that is prone to exhibit ALS. After providing an overview of empirical findings on the effectiveness of the activities of state and non-state actors—and their joint activities—in ALS, the chapter concludes by formulating policy recommendations for increasing education effectiveness under conditions of limited statehood.

Description: Methane pyrolysis experiments using a quartz glass-steel bubble column reactor filled with liquid tin and cylindrical quartz glass rings serving as a packed bed were conducted at various liquid metal temperature levels in the range of 930–1175 °C. Besides the liquid metal temperature, special attention was paid to the influence of the feed gas volume flow rate in the range of 50–200 mln/min and the inlet feed gas dilution with nitrogen. Increasing liquid metal temperatures resulted in increasing hydrogen yields, leading to a maximum hydrogen yield of 78% at 1175 °C and 50 mln/min methane volume flow rate. Within all experimental runs, less than 1.5 mol-% intermediate products were detected in the product gas. The produced carbon appeared as a powder consisting of flake shaped agglomerations in the size range of 15–20 μm, wherein the particle size varied from 40 nm to 100 nm. During the experiments, the produced carbon was completely separated and accumulated at the top surface of the liquid metal. Only minor quantities were transported with the off gas stream. Within the liquid metal inventory, a thin carbon layer of about 10 μm, probably partly showing the formation of nanotubes, in the hot reaction zone, had been deposited on the quartz glass reactor wall.

Description: 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.

Description: Through the present report, we would like to share with you theinspiring outcomes of our joint experience at the Global Soil Week2017, and offer you an opportunity to reflect on the high potential ofpreparatory events to the HLPF, and of using its thematic reviews asmeans to achieve an integrated implementation of the SDGs.

Description: This work analyses the limiting parameters for long-length superconducting cables and examines their interdependencies. The calculations are carried out for different fluid options and geometries.

Description: 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.

Description: Risk perception differs from scientific or statistical assessment of risks. More than reflecting probability and magnitude, risk perception also includes aspects such as voluntariness of risk, possibility of personal control, or familiarity. It is also based on intuitive processes of making inferences, social values, and cultural beliefs. They follow specific patterns of semantic images and facilitate judgments about acceptability. Risk perceptions should not be seen as irrational responses to complex phenomena but rather as indicators for individual and societal concerns that require management and communication action.

Description: 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.

Description: The evaluation and intercomparison of air quality models is key to reducing model errors and uncertainty. The projects AQMEII3 and EURODELTA-Trends, in the framework of the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants and the Task Force on Measurements and Modelling, respectively (both task forces under the UNECE Convention on the Long Range Transport of Air Pollution, LTRAP), have brought together various regional air quality models to analyze their performance in terms of air concentrations and wet deposition, as well as to address other specific objectives. This paper jointly examines the results from both project communities by intercomparing and evaluating the deposition estimates of reduced and oxidized nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) in Europe simulated by 14 air quality model systems for the year 2010. An accurate estimate of deposition is key to an accurate simulation of atmospheric concentrations. In addition, deposition fluxes are increasingly being used to estimate ecological impacts. It is therefore important to know by how much model results differ and how well they agree with observed values, at least when comparison with observations is possible, such as in the case of wet deposition. This study reveals a large variability between the wet deposition estimates of the models, with some performing acceptably (according to previously defined criteria) and others underestimating wet deposition rates. For dry deposition, there are also considerable differences between the model estimates. An ensemble of the models with the best performance for N wet deposition was made and used to explore the implications of N deposition in the conservation of protected European habitats. Exceedances of empirical critical loads were calculated for the most common habitats at a resolution of 100 × 100m2 within the Natura 2000 network, and the habitats with the largest areas showing exceedances are determined. Moreover, simulations with reduced emissions in selected source areas indicated a fairly linear relationship between reductions in emissions and changes in the deposition rates of N and S. An approximate 20% reduction in N and S deposition in Europe is found when emissions at a global scale are reduced by the same amount. European emissions are by far the main contributor to deposition in Europe, whereas the reduction in deposition due to a decrease in emissions in North America is very small and confined to the western part of the domain. Reductions in European emissions led to substantial decreases in the protected habitat areas with critical load exceedances (halving the exceeded area for certain habitats), whereas no change was found, on average, when reducing North American emissions in terms of average values per habitat.

Description: Japan’s energy policy remains dominated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.While the government continues to be committed to nuclear power, its future is uncertain.Japanese greenhouse gas emissions have increased significantly as nuclear energyhas been replaced by gas and coal. Ambitious policies in the transport sector promotebattery electric and fuel cell vehicles. The introduction of feed-in tariffs favoured thebuild-up of non-residential solar photovoltaics. As part of its climate commitments,Japan aims to further expand the use of renewables, improve energy efficiency andrestart nuclear energy.

Description: Ten years ago, Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen called for research into the possibility of reflecting sunlight away from Earth by injecting sulfur particles into the stratosphere. Across academic disciplines, Crutzen's intervention caused a surge in interest in and research on proposals for what is often referred to as “geoengineering” - an unbounded set of heterogeneous proposals for intentionally intervening into the climate system to reduce the risks of climate change. To mark the 10 year anniversary of the publication of Paul Crutzen's seminal essay, this special issue reviews the developments in geoengineering research since Crutzen's intervention and reflects upon possible future directions that geoengineering research may take. In this introduction, we briefly outline the arguments made in Paul Crutzen's 2006 contribution and describe the key developments of the past 10 years. We then proceed to give an overview of some of the central issues in current discussions on geoengineering, and situate the contributions to this special issue within them. In particular, we contend that geoengineering research is characterized by an orientation toward speculative futures that fundamentally shapes how geoengineering is entering the collective imagination of scientists, policymakers, and publics, and a mode of knowledge production that recognizes the risks which may result from new knowledge and that struggles with its own socio-political dimensions.

Description: The Paris Agreement has been hailed as a victory for multilateralism. However, collective efforts to reach the Paris goals are presently insufficient to protect those adversely affected by the impacts of climate change who stand to suffer loss and damage (L&D). This calls for an assessment to what extent those most vulnerable and adversely affected by climate impacts can shape decisions on L&D. Taking an international law perspective, the article finds that despite a strong normative demand, the mandate and procedures for participation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are presently insufficient to lend an effective voice to affected communities in the negotiations. The article considers the suitability and political feasibility of the affected persons’ organisations (APO) model of representation in the climate regime, specifically in the context of the L&D negotiations. It argues that this model could in principle be useful to enhance the participation of communities vulnerable to and affected by L&D. However, the article finds that in order for the APO model to become a political reality in the specific context of L&D, conceptual challenges of who is affected need to be addressed and a shift in the framing of L&D is required.

Description: This document includes the main policy outcomes of the Global Soil Week 2017 by introducing 1) the principles and methods utilized, 2) the five key policy messages discussed in plenary with the participants and 3) considerations from the discussions at the Global Soil Week supporting the five key policy messages. We respectfully submit the messages below, for consideration by the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), and reinforce our commitment to contribute to strengthening the work and role of the HLPF. We also stand ready to work together with Member States aiming to strengthen the emphasis on soil- and land-related issues in their National Voluntary Reviews and also with platforms aiming to conduct similar reviews.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: Air pollution resulting from rapid urbanization and associated human activities in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal has been leading to serious public health concerns over the past 2 decades. These concerns led to a multinational field campaign SusKat-ABC (Sustainable atmosphere for the Kathmandu Valley – Atmospheric Brown Clouds) that measured different trace gases, aerosols and meteorological parameters in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions during December 2012 to June 2013 to understand local- to regional-scale processes influencing air quality of the Kathmandu Valley. This study provides information about the regional distribution of ozone and some precursor gases using simultaneous in situ measurements from a SusKat-ABC supersite at Bode, Nepal, and two Indian sites: a high-altitude site, Nainital, located in the central Himalayan region and a low-altitude site, Pantnagar, located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The diurnal variations at Bode showed a daytime buildup in O3 while CO shows morning and evening peaks. Similar variations (with lower levels) were also observed at Pantnagar but not at Nainital. Several events of hourly ozone levels exceeding 80ppbv were also observed at Bode. The CO levels showed a decrease from their peak level of about 2000ppbv in January to about 680ppbv in June at Bode. The hourly mean ozone and CO levels showed a strong negative correlation during winter (r2 = 0.82 in January and r2 = 0.71 in February), but this negative correlation gradually becomes weaker, with the lowest value in May (r2 = 0.12). The background O3 and CO mixing ratios at Bode were estimated to be about 14 and 325ppbv, respectively. The rate of change of ozone at Bode showed a more rapid increase ( ∼ 17ppbvh−1) during morning than the decrease in the evening (5–6ppbvh−1), suggesting the prevalence of a semi-urban environ. The lower CO levels during spring suggest that regional transport also contributes appreciably to springtime ozone enhancement in the Kathmandu Valley on top of the local in situ ozone production. We show that regional pollution resulting from agricultural crop residue burning in northwestern IGP led to simultaneous increases in O3 and CO levels at Bode and Nainital during the first week of May 2013. A biomass-burning-induced increase in ozone and related gases was also confirmed by a global model and balloon-borne observations over Nainital. A comparison of surface ozone variations and composition of light non-methane hydrocarbons among different sites indicated the differences in emission sources of the Kathmandu Valley and the IGP. These results highlight that it is important to consider regional sources in air quality management of the Kathmandu Valley.

Description: 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.

Description: This IASS study considers the potential of the G20 to shape a global transition to sustainable energy, urgentlyneeded in order to achieve the UN’s climate and sustainability goals. The G20, a group of major emerging andindustrialised economies, is a high-level political forum that brings together a heterogeneous set of members.The Group carries great weight in international energy governance, and accounts for 80 percent of the world’s totalprimary energy consumption and 82 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. Thus, decisions and actions ofthe G20 and its members have the capacity to significantly impact global energy systems.The study analyses the energy sector developments of 14 G20 members (Argentina, Brazil, China, European Union,France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States).Short case studies trace major trends and policy initiatives in the countries and identify both potential conflictsof interest and existing common ground within the G20. Each study offers an assessment of potential impulsesoriginating from the respective case, and how these might help foster international cooperation for advancing aglobal energy transition.

Description: Table of Contents1. Introduction and Main Insights from the Study - Sybille Roehrkasten, Sonja Thielges and Rainer Quitzow http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19069032. The G20 and its Role in Global Energy Governance - Sybille Roehrkasten and Kirsten Westphal http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19069073. Argentina: From an Energy Stalemate Towards Shale Gas Expansion and Creating a Renewables Market - Moïra Jimeno http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19069104. Brazil: Long Tradition of Renewables-Based Energy Supply and Ethanol Diplomacy - Sybille Roehrkasten http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19069135. China: Emerging Global Power in Clean Energy? - Rainer Quitzow http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19088896. The EU: In the Midst of Crisis – Downgraded SustainableEnergy Ambitions - Kirsten Westphal http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19108887. France: Reducing Nuclear Dominance and Promoting a Low-Carbon Energy System - Carole Mathieu http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19108918. Germany: Promoting an Energiewende Domestically and Globally - Sybille Roehrkasten and Karoline Steinbacher http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:19108959. India: Meeting Energy Needs for Development While Addressing Climate Change - Madhura Joshi and Radhika Khosla http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191089710. Indonesia: A Long Way to Low-Carbon Development - Jens Marquardt http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191090011. Japan: Dominated by Fukushima and Tackling Hard Problemsin Decarbonisation - Llewelyn Hughes http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191090312. Russia: A Gas Superpower Striving for Nuclear Expansion and Starting to Support Renewables - Alexander Gusev http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191090713. Saudi Arabia: Oil as a Burden in the Struggle for Energy Diversification - Sebastian Sons http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191091014. South Africa: Carbon-Intensive Economy and a Regional Renewable Energy Frontrunner - Agathe Maupin http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191091315. Turkey: Great Potential, Missing Will - Jörn Richert http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:191091616. The United States: Domestic Transitions and International Leadership Towards Low-Carbon Energy - Karoline Steinbacher http://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escidoc:1910919

Description: Here, expert authors delineate approaches that can support both decision makers as well as their concerned populations in overcoming unwarranted fears and in elaborating policies based on scientific evidence. Four exemplary focus areas were chosen for in-depth review, namely: - The scientific basis of risk management - Risk management in the area of environmental and ecological policy - Risk management in radiation medicine - Risk management in context with digitalization and robotics General as well as specific recommendations are summarized in a memorandum. Fundamental thoughts on the topic are presented in the introductory part of the book. The idea for and contents of the book were developed at a workshop on “Sustainable Risk Management: How to manage risks in a sensible and responsible manner?” held in Feldafing at Lake Starnberg (Germany) on April 14 to 16, 2016. The book offers important information and advice for scientists, entrepreneurs, administrators and politicians.

Description: Multi-stakeholder participation (MSP) has become a central feature in several institutions and processes of global governance. Those who promote them trust that these arrangements can advance the deliberative quality of international institutions, and thereby improve the democratic quality, legitimacy and effectiveness of both the institutional landscape, as well as decisions made within it. This paper employs a heuristic framework to analyze the deliberative quality of MSP. Specifically, it applies Dryzek’s deliberative systems framework to the case of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The assessment shows that the CFS improves the deliberative quality of food security governance by including and facilitating the transmission of discourses from the public to the empowered spaces. However, the deliberative quality of CFS could be higher with stronger accountability mechanisms in place, more meta-deliberation and adoption of CFS outcomes at national and local levels. Reflecting on the limitations of using this heuristic framework to assess MSP, we conclude that the analysis would benefit from more explicit consideration of different forms of power that are part of the social relations between actors involved in such settings. By proposing this analytical approach, we expect to advance a heuristic framework for assessing deliberation in an international context of the growing importance of MSP in sustainability and global governance.

Description: In support of the first Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) a relational database of global surface ozone observations has been developed and populated with hourly measurement data and enhanced metadata. A comprehensive suite of ozone data products including standard statistics, health and vegetation impact metrics, and trend information, are made available through a common data portal and a web interface. These data form the basis of the TOAR analyses focusing on human health, vegetation, and climate relevant ozone issues, which are part of this special feature.Cooperation among many data centers and individual researchers worldwide made it possible to build the world's largest collection of in-situ hourly surface ozone data covering the period from 1970 to 2015. By combining the data from almost 10,000 measurement sites around the world with global metadata information, new analyses of surface ozone have become possible, such as the first globally consistent characterisations of measurement sites as either urban or rural/remote. Exploitation of these global metadata allows for new insights into the global distribution, and seasonal and long-term changes of tropospheric ozone and they enable TOAR to perform the first, globally consistent analysis of present-day ozone concentrations and recent ozone changes with relevance to health, agriculture, and climate.Considerable effort was made to harmonize and synthesize data formats and metadata information from various networks and individual data submissions. Extensive quality control was applied to identify questionable and erroneous data, including changes in apparent instrument offsets or calibrations. Such data were excluded from TOAR data products. Limitations of a posteriori data quality assurance are discussed. As a result of the work presented here, global coverage of surface ozone data for scientific analysis has been significantly extended. Yet, large gaps remain in the surface observation network both in terms of regions without monitoring, and in terms of regions that have monitoring programs but no public access to the data archive. Therefore future improvements to the database will require not only improved data harmonization, but also expanded data sharing and increased monitoring in data-sparse regions.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: What are the main challenges of capacity development in the marine context, and what are possible approaches to meet them? During the first UN Ocean Conference, a consortium of different collaborating institutions representing the scientific community, international development cooperation and civil society invited participants to exchange their experiences on enhancing capacities for the sustainable management and the use of the ocean and its resources. During the side event “Capacity development for sustainable ocean governance: Lessons learned from academia, policy and practice”, participants discussed the relevance of capacity development for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14 – Life below water). Being practitioners in the field of capacity development themselves, participants contributed valuable insights according to their own experiences. This document summarizes the main points of the discussion: it briefly introduces the different concepts of capacity development and elaborates the main challenges and possible approaches according to the contributions made during the side event. In a last step, the document summarizes the conclusions drawn from the participants’ exchange of experiences.

Description: Puzzled by how geographical changes in the Arctic might cause changes in state behavior the authors of this article have been inspired to return to the roots of geopolitical reasoning. By combining insights from the intellectual roots of the geopolitical tradition with empirical data on geographical changes as well as policy changes in the Arctic today, we investigate the degree to which geopolitics, in the sense of geography influencing politics, is still a useful approach in the discipline of International Relations (IR). In limiting our primary focus to the state level, and investigating the period since the turn of the millennium, this article seeks to develop new knowledge concerning if, how, and to what extent geography matters in international politics. Our empirical investigation indicates that geographical changes in the Arctic have indeed had an effect on power relations among several states. Overall, this article shows that geography is an important factor in IR in the sense of enabling or empowering state actors. However, while it appears that physical geography is a possible factor in the cases analyzed to explain changes in identified power potentials, it does not always account for these changes on its own. Economic, political, legal, and historical factors also play a role in the observed power shifts.

Description: In an international context, auctions are becoming increasingly common as a support scheme for renewable energies. In this case study, we analyze the Brazilian experience with wind power in the period from 2009 to 2015 with regard to the development of auction prices, rates of completion and market concentration. Inflation-adjusted auction prices in Brazil decreased by 54% until the end of 2012, before subsequently growing again to 87% of the first round price. The declines in prices can be attributed to the increasing experience of actors and the increasing level of competition among project developers, investors and turbine manufacturers. Various factors played a role in the price increase, including both regulatory changes such as a modification of grid connection terms, as well as external factors such as the falling value of the Brazilian real against the US dollar. Only 14% of wind projects from the first eight auction rounds were completed on schedule. The reasons cited for this include delayed grid connections, delays resulting from environmental feasibility permits, supply bottlenecks for wind power plants, the bankruptcy of the turbine manufacturer IMPSA or delayed financing approval by the Brazilian development bank BNDES. However, the number of project cancellations is low to date, so that a final rate of completion of between 89% and 98% is likely to be achieved. The number of owners of wind power projects has increased from 16 to 49 actors. The market share of the five largest owners has declined from nearly 60% to 37%. The ratio of pre-qualified to awarded capacity was consistently at over five, and the Herfindahl Index suggests an unconcentrated market. These findings indicate that the level of competition is sufficient to ensure free price formation in the market. The owners are primarily large, financially strong project planners, energy providers or investment firms.

Description: Transnational civil society networks have become increasingly important democratizing actors in global politics. Still, the exploration of democracy in such networks remains conceptually and methodologically challenging. Practice theory provides a framework to study democracy as routinized performances even in contexts of fluid boundaries, temporal relations and a diffuse constituency. The author attempts to understand how new forms of democratic practice emerge in the interaction between political actors and their structural environments.During recent decades, the arenas of political decision-making have increasingly shifted from national governments to intergovernmental and transnational political forums. At the same time, the number and relevance of non-state actors in international politics is steadily growing. These trends have led political scientists to study and theorize about new forms of democracy beyond the national political arenas (Archibugi 2004, Bexell et al. 2010, Nasström 2010). However, democracy beyond the nation state is difficult to conceptualize with the idea of an institutionalized democracy within the borders of nation-states. Therefore, many political scientists emphasize the role of civil society actors as a cure for the democratic deficit in inter-national politics (Steffek & Nanz 2008). Yet, normative and empirical problems arise over the extent of access, selection and role of civil society actors in international organizations (Tallberg et al. 2013). Furthermore, the normative relevance of transnational civil society actors makes it necessary to study their own democratic legitimacy.While international organizations are mostly institutionalized and hierarchical governing bodies, the ever growing diffuse conglomerate of non-state actors is characterized by fluid structures, blurry boundaries and a multi-level setting of interaction (Keck & Sikkink 1998). Thus, in studying democratic practice in transnational civil society networks, we must ask: How institutionalized does political practice have to be and how flexible can it be, to still be considered democratic? Normative theorists reconceptualized democracy in the light of this changing context (Bohman 2007). Recent concepts of participatory, deliberative and representative democracy attempt to reconfigure existing democratic institutions through procedural elements (Fung & Wright 2003, Dryzek 2006) or innovative forms of representation (Phillips 1998, Mansbridge 2003, Castiglione & Warren 2006). This emerging theoretical framework is well suited to analyze the extent, to which democratic practice exists within transnational civil society networks.By applying the concept of practice (Giddens 1984, Schatzki 2001) as a bridging tool between the empirical reality of fluid, temporary and open transnational civil society networks on the one hand and the institution-oriented democratic theory on the other hand, this study explores the extent to which democratic practice develops in a field that lacks traditional institutions to guarantee formal representation and deliberation as well citizen participation. As innovative transnational actors, civil society networks can bring up new forms of democratic practice (see Polletta 2006) that can potentially inspire the debate about transnational democracy as such. This study, with its innovate approach, hopes to invigorate the debate about transnational democracy and transnational civil society, which has stalled to some degree in recent years.The study is divided into three parts: first, a conceptual part that clarifies the question of how democracy as practice can be theoretically conceptualized in transnational civil society networks, which is followed by an empirical exploration of political practice in the transnational civil society networks. In this second part, the main question is how participation, representation and deliberation practice develops in transnational civil society networks. Two cases of transnational civil society networks, the Clean Clothes Campaign and Friends of the Earth, are analyzed to provide insights into the democratic practice within transnational civil society. In the final part, the empirical findings are evaluated in the light of the outlined concepts of democratic theory in order to explore how democratic the political practice actually is.The study identifies implicit and in-process practice of democratic norms in transnational civil society networks. Political practice in transnational civil society networks can become democratic through empowerment measures and trustful relationships. However, deliberation practice can be impeded by disembodied digital communication and complex decision-making. The study explores how new forms of democratic practice emerge in the interaction between political actors and the structural environments of actors and networks.

Description: A positive matrix factorization model (US EPA PMF version 5.0) was applied for the source apportionment of the dataset of 37 non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) measured from 19 December 2012 to 30 January 2013 during the SusKat-ABC international air pollution measurement campaign using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer in the Kathmandu Valley. In all, eight source categories were identified with the PMF model using the new constrained model operation mode. Unresolved industrial emissions and traffic source factors were the major contributors to the total measured NMVOC mass loading (17.9 and 16.8 %, respectively) followed by mixed industrial emissions (14.0 %), while the remainder of the source was split approximately evenly between residential biofuel use and waste disposal (10.9 %), solvent evaporation (10.8 %), biomass co-fired brick kilns (10.4 %), biogenic emissions (10.0 %) and mixed daytime factor (9.2 %). Conditional probability function (CPF) analyses were performed to identify the physical locations associated with different sources. Source contributions to individual NMVOCs showed that biomass co-fired brick kilns significantly contribute to the elevated concentrations of several health relevant NMVOCs such as benzene. Despite the highly polluted conditions, biogenic emissions had the largest contribution (24.2 %) to the total daytime ozone production potential, even in winter, followed by solvent evaporation (20.2 %), traffic (15.0 %) and unresolved industrial emissions (14.3 %). Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) production had approximately equal contributions from biomass co-fired brick kilns (28.9 %) and traffic (28.2 %). Comparison of PMF results based on the in situ data versus REAS v2.1 and EDGAR v4.2 emission inventories showed that both the inventories underestimate the contribution of traffic and do not take the contribution of brick kilns into account. In addition, the REAS inventory overestimates the contribution of residential biofuel use and underestimates the contribution of solvent use and industrial sources in the Kathmandu Valley. The quantitative source apportionment of major NMVOC sources in the Kathmandu Valley based on this study will aid in improving hitherto largely un-validated bottom-up NMVOC emission inventories, enabling more focused mitigation measures and improved parameterizations in chemical transport models.

Description: The German energy transition (Energiewende) is the subject of intensive research, and thankfully so. We now have reliable estimates relating to the required deployment of technology, the costs for end consumers and society, and the expected consequences for health and the environment. It has been firmly established just how much CO2 we have already saved with the energy transition, and what is required in order to reduce CO2 emissions even further. There is also a range of scientific studies on the impact of the expansion of renewable energies on nature conservation and species protection. However, one question has received little academic attention to date: How does the energy transition affect society? It is astonishing that we know so little about this. After all, experts have long been agreed on the fact that sustainability does not just have an economic and ecological dimension, but also a social one. It is essential that we consider the social impact to the same extent as the economic or ecological effects. So it is high time to give the question of social sustainability a solid empirical base. The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), together with the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, conducted a panel survey of more than 7,500 households. Now, with the Social Sustainability Barometer for the German Energiewende 2017, we present the results for the first time.

Description: Programs to plant millions of trees in cities around the world aim at the reduction of summer temperatures,increase of carbon storage, storm water control, and recreational space, as well as at poverty alleviation. Theseurban greening programs, however, do not take into account how closely human and natural systems are coupledin urban areas. Compared with the surroundings of cities, elevated temperatures together with high anthropogenicemissions of air and water pollutants are quite typical in urban systems. Urban and sub-urban vegetation respondto changes in meteorology and air quality and can react to pollutants. Neglecting this coupling may lead tounforeseen negative effects on air quality resulting from urban greening programs. The potential of emissions ofvolatile organic compounds (VOC) from vegetation combined with anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants toproduce ozone has long been recognized. This ozone formation potential increases under rising temperatures.Here we investigate how emissions of VOC from urban vegetation affect corresponding ground-level ozoneand PM10 concentrations in summer and especially during heat wave periods. We use the Weather Researchand Forecasting Model with coupled atmospheric chemistry (WRF-CHEM) to quantify these feedbacks inthe Berlin-Brandenburg region, Germany during the two summers of 2006 (heat wave) and 2014 (referenceperiod). VOC emissions from vegetation are calculated by MEGAN 2.0 coupled online with WRF-CHEM. Ourpreliminary results indicate that the contribution of VOCs from vegetation to ozone formation may increase bymore than twofold during heat wave periods. We highlight the importance of the vegetation for urban areas in thecontext of a changing climate and discuss potential tradeoffs of urban greening programs.

Description: This chapter analyses two groups of non-profit external non-state governance actors that are active in areas of limited statehood (ALS): international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs). After some examples of the collective goods these actors provide in contexts of limited statehood, their effectiveness is assessed in terms of output, outcome, and impact. It is found that in ALS, the activities of MSPs and INGOs can become part of the solution, but may also exacerbate existing problems. Empirical research shows that it is already demanding for INGOs and MSPs to produce good output in ALS, let alone broader impact. The analysis provides insights on the conditions under which INGOs and MSPs can—and cannot—successfully provide governance in ALS and how their activities impact limited statehood itself. Finally, the findings are discussed against the background of recent trends affecting governance by external state and non-state actors in ALS.

Description: A realistic simulation of physical and dynamical processes in the Arctic atmosphere and its feedbacks with the surface conditions is still a challenge for state-of-the-art Arctic climate models. This is of critical importance because studies of, for example, transport of pollutants from middle latitudes into the Arctic rely on the skill of the model in correctly representing atmospheric circulation including the key mechanisms and pathways of pollutant transport. In this work the performance of the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) with two land surface model schemes (Noah and NoahMP) and two reanalysis data sets for creation of lateral boundary conditions (ERA-interim and ASR) is evaluated focusing on meteorological surface properties and atmospheric dynamics. This includes the position and displacement of the polar dome and other features characterizing atmospheric circulation associated to sea ice maxima/minima extent within the Eurasian Arctic. The model simulations analyzed are carried out at 15-km horizontal resolution over a period of five years (2008 to 2012). The WRF model simulations are evaluated against surface meteorological data from automated weather stations and vertical profiles from radiosondes. Results show that the model is able to reproduce the main features of the atmospheric dynamics and vertical structure of the Arctic atmosphere reasonably well. The influence of the choice of the reanalyses used as initial and lateral boundary condition and of the LSM on the model results is complex and no combination is found to be clearly superior in all variables analyzed. The model results show that a more sophisticated formulation of land surface processes does not necessarily lead to significant improvements in the model results. This suggests that other factors such as the decline of the Arctic sea ice, stratosphere-troposphere interactions, atmosphere-ocean interaction, and boundary layer processes are also highly important and can have a significant influence on the model results. The “best” configuration for simulating Arctic meteorology and processes most relevant for pollutant transport (ASR + NoahMP) is then used in a simulation with WRF including aerosols and chemistry (WRF-Chem) to simulate black carbon (BC) concentrations in and around the Arctic and to assess the role of the modeled atmospheric circulation in the simulated BC concentrations inside the Arctic domain. Results from simulations with chemistry are evaluated against aerosol optical depth from several Aeronet stations and BC concentrations and particle number concentrations from several stations from the EBAS database. The results with WRF-Chem show a strong dependency of the simulated BC concentration on the modeled meteorology and the transport of the pollutants around our domain. The results also show that biases in the modeled BC concentrations can also be related to the emission data. Significant improvements of the models and of our understanding of the impact of anthropogenic BC emissions on the Arctic strongly depends on the availability of suitable, long-term observational data of concentrations of BC and particulate matter, vertical profiles of temperature and humidity and wind.

Description: Climate change poses a range of current and future health risks that health professionals need to understand, track, and manage. However, conventional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as practiced in the health sector, including the use of indicators, does not adequately serve this purpose. Improved indicators are needed in three broad categories: (1) vulnerability and exposure to climate-related hazards; (2) current impacts and projected risks; and (3) adaptation processes and health system resilience. These indicators are needed at the population level and at the health systems level (including clinical care and public health). Selected indicators must be sensitive, valid, and useful. And they must account for uncertainties about the magnitude and pattern of climate change; the broad range of upstream drivers of climate-sensitive health outcomes; and the complexities of adaptation itself, including institutional learning and knowledge management to inform iterative risk management. Barriers and constraints to implementing such indicators must be addressed, and lessons learned need to be added to the evidence base. This paper describes an approach to climate and health indicators, including characteristics of the indicators, implementation, and research needs.

Description: 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.

Description: Several holistic urban concepts point to the importance of taking an integrated resources approach in the city. The reason for this is obvious: resource flows are highly interconnected. Think for instance of the high water, energy, and land input for most of our food production, or the vast energy input in water desalination processes. In addition, taking a single-resource approach to cities, mostly done for energy, often leads to negative feedbacks on other resource flows. Carbon-neutral cities do not usually account for higher material in- and output for insulation, efficient appliances, or renewable energy systems, and most often do not even account for the embodied energy of these extra material flows. If, on top of that, carbon offsetting is allowed, one should definitely question if the claimed carbon neutrality weighs against all the externalities of realizing this claim. Therefore, on a conceptual basis, an integrated approach towards resources makes a lot of sense. It is, however, in the translation from theory to practice that such concepts often get stuck. One of the obvious obstacles with respect to hindering progress in implementation is the difficulty to realize cooperation between institutions, experts, and bureaucrats that are neatly organized in a sectorial way, the famous silo effect. Other challenges that are often mentioned are short-termism, lack of mandate and financing of local governments and corruption (WFC 2014). While these are well-known obstacles, I will discuss some often missed elements that are crucial for a successful implementation of holistic urban concepts aiming at sustainable cities and regions. These elements are: transformative change, transdisciplinarity, performance measurability, and demand-side change.

Description: This book outlines how Germans convinced their politicians to pass laws allowing citizens to make their own energy, even when it hurt utility companies to do so. It traces the origins of the Energiewende movement in Germany from the Power Rebels of Schönau to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s shutdown of eight nuclear power plants following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The authors explore how, by taking ownership of energy efficiency at a local level, community groups are key actors in the bottom-up fight against climate change. Individually, citizens might install solar panels on their roofs, but citizen groups can do much more: community wind farms, local heat supply, walkable cities and more. This book offers evidence that the transition to renewables is a one-time opportunity to strengthen communities and democratize the energy sector – in Germany and around the world.

Description: 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.

Description: Having been enmeshed in modernity’s quest for innovative progress on one hand, and in attempts at fundamental critique and warning on the other, academic research nowadays struggles both with a positive conceptual framing of sustainability transformations and with redefining its own roles vis-à-vis policy formulation and societal debate. Expectations towards “transformative research” partially involve the necessity to stronger contribute to societally-defined normative goals. This, however, has the potential to blur the demarcation of research as an independent functional system. Addressing this challenge, the headings of “transdisciplinarity” and “co-creation” promise renewed relevance through procedural modesty, but tend to do so at the expense of substantial goal articulations. The corresponding science society narratives either leave the articulation of sustainability goals to real-world ‘processes,’ thus deferring them into nebulous futures and negating a distinct normative contribution of science itself (beyond process facilitation). Or they simply revert to environmentalist notions of danger prevention, as in the planetary boundaries concept – with limited communicative impact in local policy arenas. In our contribution, we develop a typology of different understandings of transformative research based on explicit and implicit narrative elements of sustainability discourses. If sustainability research were to truly – and not only rhetorically – embrace the term “transformation,” it would have to reflexively seek to reposition itself between semantics of danger prevention and innovation, the latter being a precondition for any substantially loaded transformation concept. This, in itself, is hard enough with hindsight not only to the normative tensions between precaution and adaptation, conservation and betterment, that inevitable arise in almost every developmental context; and it becomes even more difficult when wanting to maintain a productive relationship with actual policy deliberations. To this adds the third, and decisive, key element of modern sustainability discourse: justice. It makes for good stories – including heroes and villains – and seems therefore an ideal candidate for framing sustainability communication. Its semantics, on the other hand, may cause unease for those who wish to be a counterpart to “all relevant stakeholders.” Our conceptual sketch is based on interviews and qualitative discourse analysis (MAXQDA) within our own sustainability research institute and within broader domains of marine and urban mobility policies. We critically reflect on structural elements for narratives of sustainability, such as actor constellations, purpose-agency-ratios, and metaphors, thereby covering substantial parts of the sustainability discourse.

Description: Climate change is one of the largest challenges of our time. One of the major causes of anthropogenic climate change, carbon dioxide, also leads to ocean acidification. Left unaddressed, these two challenges will alter ecosystems and fundamentally change life, as we know it. Under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and through the Paris Agreement, there is a commitment to keep global temperature increase to well below two degrees Celsius. This will require a variety of strategies including increased renewable power generation and broad scale electrification, increased energy efficiency, and carbon-negative technologies. We believe that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is necessary to prove that a technology could contribute to the mitigation of environmental impacts and that Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) will show how the technology could be competitively delivered in the market. Together the guidelines for LCA and TEA that are presented in this document are a valuable toolkit for promoting carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology development.

Description: Evaluation research can provide policy advice on the basis of evidence that it is increasingly expected to rely upon. At the same time, policy advice itself can take on the role of the evaluandum and become the very object of evaluation. Both these dimensions of the evaluation-advice interface merit attention. However, while there are criteria for the evaluation of policy advice, the use of evaluation for policy advice remains a black box, as this is part of less formal communication and consultation. This notwithstanding, this article will offer an introduction to the various reasons for – as well as various contexts of – evaluation’s increasing importance in policy advice.

Description: This guide on Governing Tenure Rights to Commons aims to support states, communitybasedorganizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and other relevantactors, to take proactive measures to implement the standards and recommendationsof the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries andForests in the Context of National Food Security (the Guidelines). The goal is to achievelegal recognition and protection of tenure rights to commons and community-basedgovernance structures.

Description: The Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will benefit from coordinated contributions from G20 countries. International cooperation is particularly important when addressing the sustainable use and protection of global commons such as the ocean (SDG14), especially on the high seas. At the same time SDG14 should be implemented with consideration of the interactions with other SDGs in order to promote coherent ocean policies as a basis for a thriving and sustainable ocean economy. G20 countries have the opportunity to lead global cooperation through both protection and restoration measures for coastal and marine ecosystems and a carefully approach to sustainable exploitation of marine resources. This T20 Policy Brief draws on various recent policy and analysis papers on the ocean economy, the SDGs and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for oceans, seas and marine space and resources and provides a synthesis for decision makers.

Description: This editorial is the introduction to a Special Issue of Scaling Up Biofuels? A Critical Look at Expectations, Performance and Governance which assesses biofuels contribution to sustainability governance and upscaling. The issue aims to contribute to a more informed, evidence-based policy debate on the role of bioenergy for sustainable development. It comprises six review papers that share a solutions-oriented and policy-focused approach towards the assessment of sustainability. Bioenergy production and consumption is not evaluated as an isolated industry or additionality. Instead, it is assessed as an inherent component of the broader social-ecological system and history of which it forms a part. Synthesizing available empirical evidence on performance, and contextualizing the evidence in view of expectations and bioenergy governance in and over time, the papers address the role of biofuels for climate mitigation; their ability to deliver on socio-economic policy expectations; the actual performance in view of risk anticipation and mitigation; the role of state policy considering sector development and sustainability; and the ability of certification schemes to deliver on market conversion, and quality. The synthesis paper draws on the empirical findings to develop a set of sustainability conditions (sine qua nons) that have to be considered in processes of policy making and upscaling.

Description: Lately, black carbon (BC) has received significant attention due to its climate-warming properties and adverse health effects. Nevertheless, long-term observations in urban areas are scarce, most likely because BC monitoring is not required by environmental legislation. This, however, handicaps the evaluation of air quality models which can be used to assess the effectiveness of policy measures which aim to reduce BC concentrations. Here, we present a new dataset of atmospheric BC measurements from Germany constructed from over six million measurements at over 170 stations. Data covering the period between 1994 and 2014 were collected from twelve German Federal States and the Federal Environment Agency, quality checked and harmonized into a database with comprehensive metadata. The final data in original time resolution are available for download (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.881173). Though assembled in a consistent way, the dataset is characterized by differences in (a) measurement methodologies for determining evolved carbon and optical absorption, (b) covered time periods, and (c) temporal resolutions that ranged from half hourly to measurements every 6th day. Usage and interpretation of this dataset thus requires a careful consideration of these differences. Our analysis focuses on 2009, the year with the largest data coverage with one single methodology, as well as on the relative changes in long-term trends over ten years. For 2009, we find that BC concentrations at traffic sites were at least twice as high as at urban background, industrial and rural sites. Weekly cycles are most prominent at traffic stations, however, the presence of differences in concentrations during the week and on weekends at other station types suggests that traffic plays an important role throughout the full network. Generally higher concentrations and weaker weekly cycles during the winter months point towards the influence of other sources such as domestic heating. Regarding the long-term trends, advanced statistical techniques allow us to account for instrumentation changes and to separate seasonal and long-term changes in our dataset. Analysis shows a downward trend in BC at nearly all locations and in all conditions, with a high level of confidence for the period of 2005–2014. In depth analysis indicates that background BC is decreasing slowly, while the occurrences of high concentrations are decreasing more rapidly. In summary, legislation – both in Europe and locally – to reduce particulate emissions and indirectly BC appear to be working, based on this analysis. Adverse human health and climate impacts are likely to be diminished because of the improvements in air quality.

Description: In the last decade, solar geoengineering (solar radiation management, or SRM) has received increasing consideration as a potential means to reduce risks of anthropogenic climate change. Some ideas regarding SRM that have been proposed have receded after being appropriately scrutinized, while others have strengthened through testing and critique. This process has improved the understanding of SRM's potential and limitations. However, several claims are frequently made in the academic and popular SRM discourses and, despite evidence to the contrary, pose the risk of hardening into accepted facts. Here, in order to foster a more productive and honest debate, we identify, describe, and refute five of the most problematic claims that are unsupported by existing evidence, unlikely to occur, or greatly exaggerated. These are: (A) once started, SRM cannot be stopped; (B) SRM is a right-wing project; (C) SRM would cost only a few billion dollars per year; (D) modeling studies indicate that SRM would disrupt monsoon precipitation; and (E) there is an international prohibition on outdoors research. SRM is a controversial proposed set of technologies that could prove to be very helpful or very harmful, and it warrants vigorous and informed public debate. By highlighting and debunking some persistent but unsupported claims, this paper hopes to bring rigor to such discussions.

Description: This report aims to start a conversation on how these priorities can be achieved, focusingparticularly on the potential of Industry 4.0 to help achieve the UN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) related to affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), industry and infrastructure (SDG 9),and climate action (SDG 13) along with the implementation of the Paris Agreement.Based on a review of the current literature and on interviews with experts, the report explorespotential opportunities and also the challenges that Industry 4.0 may pose to countries atvarying levels of industrialization. It analyzes the effects of Industry 4.0 along four countrygroups, namely industrialized, emerging industrial as well as developing and least developedcountries (LDCs).2 The report further discusses how Industry 4.0 could foster the implementationof sustainable energy and help curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the industrial sector.It also outlines potential limits, barriers and risks that Industry 4.0 may pose to sustainable andinclusive economic development.

Description: The Arctic is one of the world’s regions most affected by cultural, socio-economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Over the last two decades, scholars, policymakers, extractive industries, governments, intergovernmental forums, and non-governmental organizations have turned their attention to the Arctic, its peoples, resources, and to the challenges and benefits of impending transformations. Arctic sustainability is an issue of increasing concern as well as the resilience and adaptation of Arctic societies to changing conditions.This book offers key insights into the history, current state of knowledge and the future of sustainability, and sustainable development research in the Arctic. Written by an international, interdisciplinary team of experts, it presents a comprehensive progress report on Arctic sustainability research. It identifies key knowledge gaps and provides salient recommendations for prioritizing research in the next decade.Arctic Sustainability Research will appeal to researchers, academics, and policymakers interested in sustainability science and the practices of sustainable development, as well as those working in polar studies, climate change, political geography, and the history of science.

Description: This paper examines the implications posed by the European Climate Protection Plan and the German Energy Transition. Both involve social conflicts regarding technical feasibility, norms, and values. Technological expertise alone is insufficient to resolve these normative questions and conflicts. In addition to technological expertise, social and communicative competence is therefore needed to deal with the social and cultural challenges of an energy transition. One method to cope with conflicts that arise as a result of the energy transition refers to the use of citizen participation. Many analysts of participatory processes suggest that participation, if done properly, enhances acceptability and legitimacy of a transition process, contributes to improved efficiency of decisions, and promotes factual knowledge. This paper analyses and discusses these anticipated positive effects within a theoretical framework and a corresponding empirical case study.

Description: China’s electricity supply is still strongly dependent on coal, but a strong domesticrenewable energy industry is driving rapid deployment of wind and solar energy. Furtherprogress will depend on the implementation of planned power sector reforms. Intransport, the continued proliferation of automobiles is driving growth in CO2 emissions.Investments in an electric vehicle industry may offer opportunities for decarbonisationin the long term. China’s initiative to promote green finance during its G20presidency is in line with its ambitions to promote overseas markets for its emergingclean energy industry.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

Description: In economics as well as environmental policy, Economic policy instruments for the environment (EPI) are typical and widely used measures to address ecological problems. However, very little is known about teaching and learning EPIs. This paper investigates qualitatively different ways in which teacher trainees of Economics in two German universities assess typical EPIs and compares them to disciplinary criteria. Data has been gained in group discussions. The paper applies the phenomenographic and documentary method. Teacher trainees’ conceptions are found to only partially represent means-end-relations typical for Economics. Furthermore, important differences between teacher trainees’ conceptions are found depending on the scenario used and the instrument they are evaluating. Based on teacher trainees’ preconceptions and a comprehensive literature review of the relevant research from Ecological, Environmental and Behavioural Economics, I derive implications for teaching, primarily for teachers, but adaptable to suit for other students as well.

Description: Climate change is expected to alter global, regional and local meteorological conditions and as a result, the changes in the climate system will play an essential role on future air quality. Tropospheric ozone is considered one of the most harmful pollutants and it is strongly dependent on weather conditions. Therefore, understanding the impacts of near-term climate change on ozone concentrations is crucial for developing effective air quality policies. This dissertation focuses on the analysis of the influence of synoptic and local meteorological conditions on ground-level ozone over Europe and it provides a comprehensive spatial characterization of the most important meteorological key-driving factors of surface ozone concentrations over the whole domain. For this purpose two approaches are proposed: i) a weather types classification and ii) regression methods. Firstly, large-scale atmospheric circulation is examined through a weather types classification, implemented grid cell-by-grid cell over Europe. The ability of a suite of global climate models to reproduce realistic synoptic patterns in the present climate is evaluated against two reanalysis products. Additionally, the association between weather types and anomalies of maximum and minimum temperatures is investigated. In general, the models are able to capture realistic synoptic patterns when compared to the reanalyses. However, some limitations to reproduce the frequencies of certain weather types, such as low flow conditions over South Europe in summer and autumn are found. The projected changes in the frequency of weather types under future climate scenarios reveal an increase of anticyclonic days and warmer conditions affecting the British Isles in summer, and more westerlies and consequently mild winter conditions over Central Europe. As a result of a projected increase of low flow conditions over the Mediterranean basin, stagnant situations would become more frequent, favouring episodes of air pollution. Further analysis indicate that changes in the frequency of weather types represent a minor contribution of the total change of projected European temperatures. Thus, the temperature changes could be attributed to the so-called within-type variations (changes of the weather types themselves). In the context of climate change, that implies that global warming would also affect the characteristics of some weather types over time (i.e., within-type variations) that are associated with warmer temperatures under future conditions. Secondly, the classification of weather types provides an easy physically interpretable framework for assessing the impacts of synoptic conditions on ozone concentrations. A synoptic-regression approach is developed to investigate the effect of both, synoptic and local meteorological conditions on surface ozone over the European domain. It is shown that local meteorological conditions are generally dominant factors influencing surface ozone variability, rather than the synoptic conditions. The results reveal distinctive regional and seasonal patterns of the most influential ozone drivers. In particular, local meteorological conditions have a strong influence over Central and East Europe, where maximum temperature becomes the most important driver of surface ozone in summer and relative humidity along with surface solar radiation in spring. Finally, a multi-model assessment examines the capability of a set of state-of-the-art air quality models to reproduce the observed relationship between meteorological variables and surface ozone. The results show distinctive seasonal and regional performances in the statistical models developed for each dataset (i.e. observations and model outputs). Overall, the air quality models are in better agreement with observations over the regions referred to as internal regions: England, France, Mid-Europe, North Italy and East Europe. On the contrary, they present more limitations over the rest of the regions, referred to as the external regions: Inflow, Scandinavia, Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean and the Balkans. There is a larger meteorological contribution in the internal regions, especially in summer where the local meteorology plays an important role in photochemical processes. A minor meteorological effect is found in the external regions, probably due to a major influence of the dynamical processes that are not captured by the statistical models. Most of the air quality models tend to overestimate the sensitivity to maximum temperature and solar radiation and none of them are able to capture the strength of the observed relationship between ozone and relative humidity appropriately. Here, dry deposition schemes may be a key for the underestimation of such relationship. Further analysis of the slopes of the ozone-temperature relationship indicates that the air quality models capture the observed relationship between ozone and temperature in most of the internal regions in summer, while in spring they overestimate it in most of the European regions.

Description: Da zu erwarten ist, dass der Klimawandel die globalen, regionalen und kommunalen meteorologischen Zustände verändern wird, werden die Veränderungen des Klimasystems eine wesentliche Rolle in Bezug auf die zukünftig Luftqualität spielen. Troposphärisches Ozon gilt als einer der schädlichsten Schadstoffe und ist stark abhängig von den Wetterbedingungen. Die zeitnahen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels zu verstehen ist daher dringend erforderlich, um eine effektive Luftqualitätspolitik zu entwickeln. Diese Doktorarbeit legt den Schwerpunkt auf die Analyse des Einflusses von synoptischen und kommunalen meteorologischen Zuständen auf bodennahes Ozon in Europa und sie liefert eine umfassende räumliche Charakterisierung der wichtigsten Schlüsselfaktoren der Oberflächen-Ozon-Konzentration auf dem gesamten Gebiet. Zu diesem Zweck werden zwei Ansätze vorgeschlagen: i) eine objektive Wetterlagenklassifikation und ii) Regressionsmethoden. Zunächst wird die großflächige atmosphärische Zirkulation durch eine objektive Wetterlagenklassifikation untersucht – umgesetzt in Form von Gitterzelle zu Gitterzelle in Europa. Es wird ein Vergleich zwischen der Fähigkeit mehrerer globaler Klimamodelle realistisch aussehende synoptische Muster im gegenwärtigen Klima zu reproduzieren einerseits und neuen Darlegungen andererseits aufgestellt und anschließend ausgewertet. Darüber hinaus wird der Zusammenhang zwischen Wetterarten und Anomalien von Maximal- und Mindesttemperaturen untersucht. Im Vergleich mit den neuen Darlegungen können die Modelle im Allgemeinen realistische synoptische Muster erfassen. Allerdings gibt es einige Einschränkungen in der Reproduktion der Frequenzen bestimmter Wetterarten, wie z. B. niedrige Strömungsbedingungen über Südeuropa im Sommer und Herbst. Die prognostizierten Veränderungen bezüglich der Häufigkeit der Wetterarten unter zukünftigen Klimaszenarien zeigen einen Anstieg antizyklonischer Tage und wärmeren Bedingungen, die die britischen Inseln im Sommer beeinflussen, sowie mehrere Westwindzonen, welche folglich mildeWinterbedingungen über Mitteleuropa hervorbringen. Infolge einer prognostizierten Zunahme der niedrigen Strömungsbedingungen über dem Mittelmeerraum würden stagnierende Situationen häufiger vorkommen, was die Folgen der Luftverschmutzung begünstigt. Eine Analyse des Abbaus zur Beurteilung der Auswirkungen der Frequenzänderungen auf die prognostizierten Temperaturen deutet darauf hin, dass Veränderungen in der Häufigkeit derWetterarten einen geringen Beitrag zur Gesamtveränderung der europäischen Temperaturen darstellen. So könnten die Temperaturveränderungen den sogenannten In-Typ-Variationen (selbst Änderungen der Wetterarten) zugeschrieben werden. Im Kontext des Klimawandels bedeutet dies, dass die globale Erwärmung auch die Eigenschaften einiger Wetterarten im Laufe der Zeit beeinflussen würde (d.h. In-Typ-Variationen ), die mit wärmeren Temperaturen unter zukünftigen Bedingungen verbunden sind. Zweitens bietet die Einordnung von Wetterarten einen einfachen physikalisch interpretierbaren Rahmen, um die Auswirkungen von synoptischen Bedingungen auf die Ozonkonzentration zu bewerten. Ein Ansatz der synoptischen Regression wird entwickelt, um die Wirkung von sowohl synoptischen als auch kommunalen meteorologischen Bedingungen auf Oberflächen-Ozon auf europäischem Gebiet zu untersuchen. Es wird gezeigt, dass kommunale meteorologische Bedingungen in der Regel dominierende Faktoren sind, die die Oberflächen-Ozon-Variabilität beeinflussen, und nicht synoptische Bedingungen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen regionale und saisonale Muster der einflussreichsten Ozon Treiber. Die Ozon-Persistenz (vom Vortag) ist auch als Prädiktor enthalten und scheint eine wesentliche Rolle über Südeuropa zu spielen, wohingegen die kommunalen/regionalen meteorologischen Bedingungen einen starken Einfluss auf Mittel- und Osteuropa haben. Besonders die Maximaltemperatur und relative Luftfeuchtigkeit sind der wichtigste Treiber für Oberflächen-Ozon im Sommer zusammen mit Oberflächen-Sonnenstrahlung im Frühling. Der letzte Teil der Doktorarbeit untersucht eine Multimodell-Bewertung der Fähigkeit einer Reihe von hochmodernen Modellen zur Luftqualität, um die beobachtete Beziehung zwischen meteorologischen Variablen und Oberflächen-Ozon zu reproduzieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen deutliche saisonale und regionale Leistungen der statistischen Modellen, die für jeden Datensatz (d. H. Beobachtungen und Modellausgaben) entwickelt wurden. Insgesamt stehen die Luftqualitätsmodelle in größerer Übereinstimmung zu den Beobachtungen über die Regionen, welche als folgende interne Regionen bezeichnet werden: England, Frankreich, Mitteleuropa, Norditalien und Osteuropa. Dem gegenübergestellt sind Regionen, welche mehr Einschränkungen gegenüber den übrigen Regionen haben. Solche werden als äußere Regionen bezeichnet: Inflow, Skandinavien, die Iberische Halbinsel, das Mittelmeer und die Balkanstaaten. Es gibt einen größeren meteorologischen Beitrag in den internen Regionen, vor allem im Sommer, wo die lokale Meteorologie eine wichtige Rolle bei photochemischen Prozessen spielt. Eine kleinere meteorologische Wirkung findet sich in den äußeren Regionen, vermutlich aufgrund eines großen Einflusses der dynamischen Prozesse, die nicht durch die statistischen Modelle erfasst werden. Die meisten Luftqualitätsmodelle neigen dazu, die Empfindlichkeit gegen Maximaltemperatur und Sonneneinstrahlung zu überschätzen, und keines von ihnen kann die Stärke der beobachteten Wechselwirkung zwischen Ozon und relativer Feuchtigkeit passend erfassen. Hier könnten trockene Ablagerungsschemata ein Lösungsansatz für die Unterschätzung einer solchen Beziehung bieten. Eine weitere Analyse des Anstiegs der Beziehung zwischen Ozon und Temperatur deutet darauf hin, dass die Luftqualitätsmodelle die beobachtete Beziehung zwischen Ozon und Temperatur in den meisten internen Regionen im Sommer einfangen, während sie diese im Frühjahr sie in den meisten europäischen Regionen überschätzen.

Description: 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.