| 1. |
- Martin, Maria A., et al.
(författare)
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Ten new insights in climate science 2021 : a horizon scan
- 2021
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Ingår i: Global Sustainability. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 2059-4798. ; 4, s. 1-20
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Non-technical summary: We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding about the remaining options to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, through overcoming political barriers to carbon pricing, taking into account non-CO2 factors, a well-designed implementation of demand-side and nature-based solutions, resilience building of ecosystems and the recognition that climate change mitigation costs can be justified by benefits to the health of humans and nature alone. We consider new insights about what to expect if we fail to include a new dimension of fire extremes and the prospect of cascading climate tipping elements.Technical summary: A synthesis is made of 10 topics within climate research, where there have been significant advances since January 2020. The insights are based on input from an international open call with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) the options to still keep global warming below 1.5 °C; (2) the impact of non-CO2 factors in global warming; (3) a new dimension of fire extremes forced by climate change; (4) the increasing pressure on interconnected climate tipping elements; (5) the dimensions of climate justice; (6) political challenges impeding the effectiveness of carbon pricing; (7) demand-side solutions as vehicles of climate mitigation; (8) the potentials and caveats of nature-based solutions; (9) how building resilience of marine ecosystems is possible; and (10) that the costs of climate change mitigation policies can be more than justified by the benefits to the health of humans and nature.Social media summary: How do we limit global warming to 1.5 °C and why is it crucial? See highlights of latest climate science.
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| 2. |
- McCauley, Darren, et al.
(författare)
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Energy justice in the transition to low carbon energy systems : Exploring key themes in interdisciplinary research
- 2019
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-2619. ; 233-234, s. 916-921
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the dual challenges of reducing emissions from fossil fuels and providing access to clean and affordable energy, there is an imperative for a transition to a low carbon energy system. The transition must take into consideration questions of energy justice to ensure that policies, plans and programmes guarantee fair and equitable access to resources and technologies. An energy justice framework is outlined to account for distributional, procedural and recognition inequalities, as well as emerging themes such as cosmopolitan and non-Western understandings of justice, in decision-making relating to energy systems. The spectrum of research offers critical perspectives on the energy transition as well as tools for decision-making and policy processes. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods all contribute to our understanding of the problems and the success of responses. The studies presented in this special issue illustrate that the field of energy justice is a rapidly growing arena. There is constant innovation taking place in enabling the transition with new structures, processes and metrics being introduced to guide decision-making and a more holistic view of the community emerging where acceptance, mobilisation and empowerment are opening possibilities for a just transition to a low carbon energy system. The importance of introducing the interdisciplinary approach between social sciences and natural sciences as well engineering implementation supported by scientific data and experiments shall be emphasized in future studies.
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| 3. |
- Mebratu, Desta
(författare)
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Strategy framework for sustainable industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa: Systems-evolutionary approach
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The principal objectives of this research were: · to develop a conceptual framework on sustainability and sustainable development and · to propose a strategy framework for sustainable industrial development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The research was done based on systems evolutionary approach having the following methodological principles as a guide. · The dynamic complexity of environmental and developmental issues can be better understood by utilizing transdisciplinary theories such as ‘General Systems Theory’, ‘General Evolutionary Theory’ and ‘Information Theory’. · The ‘add-on approach’ has limited success both at the macro and micro level. At the macro level, sustainable development requires mainstreaming socio-ecological and socio-economic principles in development policies and strategies. · It is crucial to make a distinction between fundamental and facilitating factors of the development process and to understand the interaction within and among these factors. The following are the major conclusions and recommendation of the research. · Systems can be described by the ‘entity factors’, that define the boundary conditions and the ‘significance factors’, that determine the field of significance of the system. · The interaction between the ‘entity factors’ and the ‘significance factors’ provides the basis for fulfilment of the systemic function. · Sustainability is a systemic property of maintaining the positive slope of the systemic functions through evolutionary succession of systems. · The path and pace of the evolutionary succession of a given system is determined by its ability to identify, process, utilize and accumulate survival-relevant (SR) information. · For societal systems, the ‘entity factors’ are ecological space, demography, and culture while the ‘significance factors’ are institutional structures and norms, capital structures and flows, and technological innovation and diffusion. · Sustainable development is a process of maintaining an optimum interaction between the entity and significance factors of a society to achieve evolutionary succession and productive engagement. · Industrial development strategies that have been promoted in SSA have been of ‘transplanting’ nature instead of being ‘transformational’. This has resulted in a mismatch between the ‘entity factors’ and the ‘significance factors’. · The development of the region’s ability to manage SR information is a fundamental prerequisite for promoting sustainable industrial development. · Identification and utilization of the positive elements of endogenous capacities and indigenous knowledge, as essential repositories of SR information, constitutes the core principle of building such a capacity. · Resource depletion, disoriented property rights regimes, sectoral dichotomy and global inertia were identified as the principal challenges. Hence, valorization of resources is the core element of the strategic framework, supplemented with sub-models on property rights regimes, sectoral synergy global momentum and the sustainability function. The promotion of sustainable development as a social transformation process will require a fundamental reorientation of national, regional and international structures. It is believed that a transdisciplinary approaches provide sound bases to undertake such reorientation at a global scale. This thesis contributes to the promotion of sustainable industrial development in SSA through the application and advancement of transdisciplinary approaches.
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