| 1. |
- Soneryd, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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Politics as a struggle over definition : two case studies
- 2000
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 3:5, s. 277-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In our modern society the production of material welfare causes new kinds of ecological problems. This paper investigates the decision-making process in two cases which are characterised by complex technology and dependence upon science. These cases have implementation on a local level, but are of wider interest. The consequences of the facilities are defined in different ways by different actors at different levels (the national, regional, and the local level). The question is what kind of problems that are generated in relation to these new kinds of ecological problems and how they are handled within present political structures. The findings raise questions about the problem of limited political accountability and tensions between different policy levels. By way of conclusion there is a need for new forms of political responsibility that can respond to the new types of problems that arise in our time.
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| 2. |
- Ahlström, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Governance, polycentricity and the global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 79, s. 54-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Global change and governance scholars frequently highlight polycentricity as a feature of resilient governance, but both theoretical and empirical knowledge about features and outcomes of the concept are lacking at the global scale. Here we investigate the structural properties of governance of global nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles, two processes in the 'planetary boundaries' framework. We have used a mixed-methods approach to institutional analysis, integrating polycentric theory with social network theory in environmental policy and legal studies. We include an actor collaboration case study, the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM), to explore governance challenges associated with global N and P cycles. We set the scope for selection of relevant legal instruments using an overview of global N and P flows between Earth system 'components' (land, water, atmosphere, oceans, biosphere) and the major anthropogenic N and P perturbations. Our network analysis of citations of global N and P governance exposes the structural patterns of a loose network among the principal institutions and actors, in which legal instruments of the European Union serve as key cross-scale and cross-sectoral 'gateways'. We show that the current international regimes in place for regulating N- and P-related issues represent a gap in governance at the global level. In addition, we are able to show that the emergence of GPNM provides synergies in this context of insufficient governance. The GPNM can be viewed as a structure of polycentric governance as it involves deliberate attempts for mutual adjustments and self-organised action.
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| 3. |
- Allen, Andrew, et al.
(författare)
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Paying the price for the meat we eat
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 97, s. 90-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An increasingly gloomy picture is painted by research focusing on the environmental challenges faced by our planet. Biodiversity loss is ongoing, landscapes continue to transform, and predictions on the effects of climate change worsen. Calls have been made for urgent action to avoid pushing our planet into a new system state. One of the principal threats to biodiversity is intensive agriculture, and in particular the livestock industry, which is an important driver of greenhouse gas emissions, habitat degradation and habitat loss. Ongoing intensification of agricultural practices mean that farmland no longer provides a habitat for many species. We suggest the use of a growing policy tool, biodiversity offsetting, to tackle these challenges. Biodiversity offsetting, or ecological compensation, assesses the impacts of new development projects and seeks to avoid, minimise and otherwise compensate for the ecological impacts of these development projects. By applying biodiversity offsetting to agriculture, the impacts of progressively intensifying farming practices can be compensated to achieve conservation outcomes by using tools like environmental taxes or agri-environment schemes. Low intensity, traditional, farming systems provide a number of benefits to biodiversity and society, and we suggest that the consumer and the agriculture industry compensate for the devastating ecological impacts of intensive farming so that we can once again preserve biodiversity in our landscapes and attempt to limit global temperature rise below 2 degrees c.
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| 4. |
- Alpizar, F., et al.
(författare)
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A framework for selecting and designing policies to reduce marine plastic pollution in developing countries
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 109:July 2020, s. 25-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2020 The Authors The polluting of marine ecosystems with plastics is both a global and a local problem with potentially severe consequences for wildlife, economic activity, and human health. It is a problem that originates in countries’ inability to adequately manage the growing flow of waste. We use an impact pathway framework to trace the flow of plastics through the socio-ecological system and identify the role of specific policy instruments in achieving behavioral changes to reduce marine plastic waste. We produce a toolbox for finding a policy that is suitable for different countries. We use the impact pathway and toolbox to make country-specific recommendations that reflect the reality in each of the selected countries.
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| 5. |
- Barron, Jennie
(författare)
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Towards a relational understanding of the water-energy-food nexus: an analysis of embeddedness and governance in the Upper Blue Nile region of Ethiopia
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 90, s. 173-182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Given the need for transformative changes towards more sustainable, integrated management of water, energy and food systems, the water-energy-food nexus concept seems highly relevant. However, while intuitively compelling, the nexus has also been criticized for abstracting and thereby dis-embedding the collaboration processes through which further integration could be achieved. There is a lack of empirical analysis and context-sensitive understanding, of the opportunities and constraints of, collaboration and cross-sector coordination, as faced by actors governing interconnected water, energy and food systems. In this paper we analyse how actors involved in the governance of water, energy and food systems are embedded in social networks, and discuss how that embeddedness shapes collaboration and coordination processes that are relevant for addressing interconnected sustainability challenges. Drawing on the notion of problernsheds, we delineate an analytical space that captures the interactions between water, energy and food systems and the actors influencing them in the Upper Blue Nile of Ethiopia. Our empirical data suggest that the claim that actors from different sectors are disconnected from each other is overly simplistic. The ways in which actors are embedded in hierarchical structures may help to explain why coordination challenges persist, despite the presence of cross-sectoral linkages among them.
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| 6. |
- Bellamy, R., et al.
(författare)
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Incentivising bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) responsibly : Comparing stakeholder policy preferences in the United Kingdom and Sweden
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 116, s. 47-55
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) plays a central role in scenario pathways that limit global warming in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Yet deliberate policy efforts to incentivise BECCS—whether through amending existing climate policies or introducing entirely new ones—remain rare. In this paper, we contend that BECCS must be incentivised responsibly, through policy-making processes which account for diverse and geographically varying societal values and interests. More specifically, we make the case for responsible incentivisation by undertaking a comparative analysis of stakeholder attitudes to four idealised policy scenarios for BECCS, including representatives of government, business, nongovernmental and academic communities, in the UK and Sweden. The scenarios were: business as usual; international policy reform; national BECCS policy; and national policy for negative emissions technologies. Based on our findings, we recommend that policymakers 1) recognise the need to develop new incentives and make enabling reforms to existing policy instruments; 2) consider the risk of mitigation deterrence in their real world (and not abstracted) contexts; 3) employ multi-instrument approaches to incentivisation that do not overly rely on carbon pricing or 4) force a choice between technology specific or technology neutral policies; and 5) attend to the diversity of stakeholder and wider public perspectives that will ultimately determine the success—or failure—of their policy designs.
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| 7. |
- Berglund, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Future options for cultivated Nordic peat soils: Can land management and rewetting control greenhouse gas emissions?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 69, s. 85-93
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Management of peat soils is regionally important as they cover large land areas and have important but conflicting ecosystems services. A recent management trend for drained peatlands is the control of greenhouse gases (GHG) by changes in agricultural practices, peatland restoration or paludiculture. Due to complex antagonistic controls of moisture, water table management can be difficult to use as a method for controlling GHG emissions. Past studies show that there is no obvious relationship between GHG emission rates and crop type, tillage intensity or fertilization rates. For drained peat soils, the best use options can vary from rewetting with reduced emission to efficient short term use to maximize the, profit per amount of greenhouse gas emitted. The GHG accounting should consider the entire life cycle of the peatland and the socio-economic benefits peatlands provide locally. Cultivating energy crops is a viable option especially for wet peat soils with poor drainage, but harvesting remains a challenge due to tractability of wet soils. Paludiculture in lowland floodplains can be a tool to mitigate regional flooding allowing water to be stored on these lands without much harm to crops. This can also increase regional biodiversity providing important habitats for birds and moisture tolerant plant species. However, on many peatlands rewetting is not possible due to their position in the landscape and the associated difficulty to maintain a high stable water table. While the goal of rewetting often is to encourage the return of peat forming plants and the ecosystem services they provide such as carbon sequestration, it is not well known if these plants will grow on peat soils that have been altered by the process of drainage and management. Therefore, it is important to consider peat quality and hydrology when choosing management options. Mapping of sites is recommended as a management tool to guide actions. The environmental status and socio-economic importance of the sites should be assessed both for continued cultivation but also for other ecosystem services such as restoration and hydrological functions (flood control). Farmers need advice, tools and training to find the best after-use option. Biofuels might provide a cost-efficient after use option for some sites. Peat extraction followed by rewetting might provide a sustainable option as rewetting is often easier if the peat is removed, starting the peat accumulation from scratch. Also this provides a way to finance the after-use. As impacts of land use are uncertain, new policies should consider multiple benefits and decisions should be based on scientific evidence and field scale observations. The need to further understand the key processes and long term effects of field scale land use manipulations is evident. The recommended actions for peatlands should be based on local condition and socio-economic needs to outline intermediate and long term plans. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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| 8. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Strongly sustainable development goals : Overcoming distances constraining responsible action
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 129, s. 150-158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable development has been an important policy goal for the international community for over threedecades. Still, the state of the planet continues to worsen. This conceptual article considers the failure largely aresult of structural obstacles and the so-called weak sustainability discourse, popularized by the Brundtlandreport and manifested today in The 2030 Agenda. The article adopts a strong sustainability perspective forexamining structural distances between actors and the consequences of their acts. We argue that these impederesponsible action and that policy should aim to reduce or eliminate distances in the four dimensions of space,time, functions and relations. The article concludes by suggesting Strongly Sustainable Development Goals,which could help transitioning humanity towards sustainability, lower the anthropogenic environmental impacton the planet, and enable the continuity of diverse life on Earth.
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| 9. |
- Borie, Maude, et al.
(författare)
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Institutionalising reflexivity? Transformative learning and the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 110, s. 71-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the wake of controversies surrounding both the legitimacy and effectiveness of intergovernmental expert organisations, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was established in 2012 as a new intergovernmental expert organisation with the explicit mandate to move beyond ‘one-size-fits-it-all’ approaches. During its first eight years of operating, this attempt to ‘do different’ has made IPBES develop into a space for individual, experiential, and organisational learning and has made significant progress towards becoming a ‘learning organisation’. However, learning can take different forms. Looking towards the future development of IPBES, the importance of transformative learning and the need to establish institutional reflexive processes in which this transformative learning can take place will be critical. IPBES has a number of novel features, three key features facilitating transformative learning are its ambitious principles and inclusive approach to a wide range expertise and knowledges, its fellowship programme, and commitment to a transparent and on-going review process. While IPBES’ social organisation is significantly different from previous initiatives and has created opportunities for transformative learning, not all learning and all changes that have taken place have been reflexive and some innovative features also have had unintended consequences for the results of the learning activities. As a result, to live up to its ambitions of contributing to positive and transformative societal and environmental change, IPBES must strengthen its capacity for transformative learning. Some proposals on how to systemise it further are outlined.
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| 10. |
- Brimicombe, Chloe, et al.
(författare)
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Heatwaves : An invisible risk in UK policy and research
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 116, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2019, a heatwave - an unusual extended period of hot weather - broke the UK's highest recorded temperature of 38.7 degrees C set in 2003. Of concern is that for summer 2019, this resulted in 892 excess deaths. With the intensity and frequency of UK heatwaves projected to increase, and summer temperatures predicted to be 5 degrees C hotter by 2070, urgent action is needed to prepare for, and adapt to, the changes now and to come. Yet it remains unclear what actions are needed and by whom. In response, a systematic literature review of UK heatwaves peer reviewed publications, inclusive of keyword criteria (total papers returned = 183), was conducted to understand what lessons have been learnt and what needs to happen next. Our research shows that heatwaves remain largely an invisible risk in the UK. Communication over what UK residents should do, the support needed to make changes, and their capacity to enact those changes, is often lacking. In turn, there is an inherent bias where research focuses too narrowly on the health and building sectors over other critical sectors, such as agriculture. An increased amount of action and leadership is therefore necessary from the UK government to address this.
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