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- Cong, Cong, et al.
(författare)
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Modeling place-based nature-based solutions to promote urban carbon neutrality
- 2023
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Nature. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; :52, s. 1297-1313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature-based solutions (NbS) are recognized as widely available and cost-effective mechanisms for sequestering carbon and offsetting carbon emissions. Realistic NbS implementations for carbon neutrality need to be effective at the global level and also appropriate for the socio-economic and physical conditions prevailing at the local level. This paper presents a framework that can help stakeholders identify demands, locations, and types of NbS interventions that could maximize NbS benefits at the local scale. Key processes in the framework include (1) interpolating carbon emissions data at larger spatial scales to high-resolution cells, using land use and socio-economic data; (2) assessing NbS effects on carbon reduction and their location-related suitability, through qualitative literature review, and (3) spatially allocating and coupling multiple NbS interventions to land use cells. The system was tested in Stockholm, Sweden. The findings show that the urban center should be allocated with combinations of improving access to green spaces and streetscapes, while the rural and suburban areas should prioritize preserving and utilizing natural areas. Our proposed method framework can help planners better select target locations for intended risk/hazard-mitigating interventions.
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| 2. |
- Kåresdotter, Elisie, et al.
(författare)
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Navigating the Currents: Understanding Global Water Cooperation and Conflict Mitigation Dynamics
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The demand for water is increasing rapidly due to growing populations and intensified human activities such as agriculture, industry, and energy production. This has led to increasing concerns about the availability and sustainable use of freshwater, as conflicts over water are reported to have increased while cooperation has declined over the past decade. Further research on water-related conflict and cooperation is needed to improve understanding of key factors and ways to mitigate the conflicts and counteract their escalating trend. This study investigates which main factors relate to and may have affected cooperation and conflict events worldwide in the last 70 years as a basis for understanding how to promote effective water-based cooperation and conflict reduction; investigated factors include, for example, hydro-climatic and socioeconomic ones, with the latter encompassing, e.g., wealth, export dependency, demographic, and water use factors. The study used panel data models and content analysis of reported event descriptions to achieve its aims of identifying main conflict-influencing factors and which of these may contribute to successful conflict mitigation. The results indicate that countries that cooperate experience significant subsequent decrease in conflicts. Cooperation is particularly effective in areas with low water stress, while in high-stress areas, diplomatic efforts combined with economic collaboration can boost resilience and increase conflict resolution effectiveness. Economic robustness and trade incentives to maintain peace are strongly correlated with fewer conflicts. Cooperation with less affluent countries also emerges as influential for fewer conflicts, and stability or even growth in GDP and exports. Cooperation efforts can thus be strategic investments for promoting diplomatic stability and improving a nation's economic standing. Understanding which measures can be successful for conflict mitigation can provide valuable insights to global policymakers and water management leaders, enabling them to avoid future conflicts based on current and projected water availability.
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| 3. |
- Page, Jessica Faye, 1991-
(författare)
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Sustainable Urban and Regional Development and Related Ecosystem Services and Water-Climate Interactions
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To accommodate a growing global population while mitigating climate change, urban areas must grow while minimising environmental impacts. To achieve this, a city must be treated as a complex socio-ecological system in which many actors and subsystems act in unclear and unpredictable ways. This thesis explores the workings and interactions of this complex socio-ecological system by assessing how urban and regional planning and policy decisions affect the contributions of cities to climate change, and whether appropriate planning and policy tools can minimise these contributions. Computer models were developed to investigate and couple planning and policy decisions and their potential impacts on the environment, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. The models were then employed for generation of scientific knowledge and for converting this knowledge into practical planning tools and recommendations.Methods used in developing models that reflect complex urban systems included cooperation with experienced county planners to improve model accuracy; coupling of sub-system models in a socio-ecological framework for scenario analysis of the outcomes of planning and policy decisions in terms of GHG emissions; systems breakdown analysis of green-blue contributions to the urban carbon cycle; and modelling to identify how these contributions could be harnessed to reduce net urban emissions. The main study area was Stockholm County, Sweden, with later extension of the modelling approach to 54 major European cities. Cooperation with Stockholm County planners during model development resulted in an improved tool for scientific research that was also suited to practical planning, increasing the potential for knowledge developed through scientific research to be applied in reality. Scenario analysis of policies for Stockholm County revealed that zoning reduced the extra GHG emissions associated with necessary urban growth by 72% compared with a baseline scenario. Analysis of the urban carbon cycle in Stockholm County showed that vegetative carbon sequestration helped offset GHG emissions locally, but that re-emissions via surface waters compromised the potential to reach ‘net-zero’ emissions from Stockholm County. However, climate action goals for Stockholm could still be achieved if its ambitious emissions reduction plans are realised and if the current sequestration capacity of Stockholm County’s many green areas can be maintained in coming decades. Extensive modelling of urban emissions in multiple European cities showed potential for green-space sequestration and revealed that nature-based solutions (NbS) applied at city scale could help reduce urban emissions. Incorporation of NbS into climate action plans for these cities would maximise the associated GHG emissions reduction and increase the likelihood of the cities achieving their climate action goals. In conclusion, the climate change impacts of future urban expansion could be mitigated by incorporating planning and policy tools such as zoning, protection of green-blue spaces and NbS into whole-system urban and regional development plans. This could bring cities closer to achieving truly sustainable urban development.
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| 4. |
- Pan, Haozhi, et al.
(författare)
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Contribution of prioritized urban nature-based solutions allocation to carbon neutrality
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Climate Change. - : Springer Nature. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 13:8, s. 862-870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature-based solutions (NBS) are essential for carbon-neutral cities, yet how to effectively allocate them remains a question. Carbon neutrality requires city-led climate action plans that incorporate both indirect and direct contributions of NBS. Here we assessed the carbon emissions mitigation potential of NBS in European cities, focusing particularly on commonly overlooked indirect pathways, for example, human behavioural interventions and resource savings. Assuming maximum theoretical implementation, NBS in the residential, transport and industrial sectors could reduce urban carbon emissions by up to 25%. Spatially prioritizing different types of NBS in 54 major European Union cities could reduce anthropogenic carbon emissions by on average 17.4%. Coupling NBS with other existing measures in Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios could reduce total carbon emissions by 57.3% in 2030, with both indirect pathways and sequestration. Our results indicate that carbon neutrality will be near for some pioneering cities by 2030, while three can achieve it completely.
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