| 1. |
- Moberg, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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De unga gör helt rätt när de stämmer staten
- 2022
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Ingår i: Aftonbladet. - 1103-9000.
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- 1 620 forskare och lärare i forskarvärlden: Vi ställer oss bakom Auroras klimatkrav
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| 2. |
- Bauer, Fredric, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping GHG emissions and prospects for renewable energy in the chemical industry
- 2023
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Ingår i: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-3398. ; 39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chemicals is the industrial sector with the highest energy demand, using a substantial share of global fossil energy and emitting increasing amounts of greenhouse gasses following rapid growth over the past 25 years. Emissions associated with energy use have increased with growth in coal-dependent regions but are also commonly underestimated in regions with higher shares of renewable energy. Renewable energy is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but remains a niche area when considering corporate targets and initiatives aiming at emission reductions, which instead favour incremental energy efficiency improvements. These findings point to a risk for continued lock-in to fossil energy in the industry.
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| 3. |
- Bauer, Fredric, et al.
(författare)
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Petrochemicals and climate change: Powerful fossil fuel lock-ins and interventions for transformative change
- 2023
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the risk of climate breakdown, pressure is increasing for all sectors of the economy to break with fossil fuel dependence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, the chemical industry requires more focused attention as it uses more fossil-fuel based energy than any other industry and the production of chemicals is associated with very large emissions. Beyond the climate crisis, the chemical industry significantly impacts several critical dimensions of sustainability, including the planetary boundaries for novel entities, biosphere integrity, and ocean acidification. In this report, we focus on the petrochemical sector, which represents the largest share of the chemicals industry and is generally understood to refer to the part of the industry that relies on fossil-fuel feedstocks from oil, gas, and coal. The petrochemicals sector produces chemicals mainly used for plastics and fertilisers, but the products also end up in paints, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other applications. This report provides a critical exploration of the petrochemical sector to strengthen awareness of its relevance to the climate crisis and to provide tools and recommendations for decision-makers in different domains to initiate, support, and accelerate much-needed transformation. The report highlights the rapid expansion of the petrochemical sector as well as the range and growth of economic, infrastructural, and political interlinkages with the fossil fuel extraction sector. It argues that these developments and dynamics are crucial to understanding pathways, strategies, and interventions for a low-carbon transition for petrochemicals.
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| 4. |
- Bauer, Fredric, et al.
(författare)
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Petrochemicals and Climate Change : Tracing Globally Growing Emissions and Key Blind Spots in a Fossil-Based Industry
- 2022
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the risk of climate breakdown becoming ever more pressing as the world is on track for 2.7 degrees warming, pressure is increasing on all sectors of the economy to break with fossil fuel dependence and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this context, the chemical industry and the production of important basic chemicals is a key sector to consider. Although historically a driver of economic development, the sector is highly dependent on fossil resources for use as both feedstock and fuel in the production of as well organic as inorganic chemicals. The chemical industry demands both petroleum fractions and natural gas. Petroleum fractions such as naphtha and petroleum gases are used as feedstocks for building block chemicals and polymers (e.g., benzene and polyethylene), while natural gas is used for methanol and ammonia. Indeed, the sector is associated with both large process emissions as well as energy related emissions. Our results demonstrate that in 2020 direct GHG emissions from the petrochemical sector amounted to 1.8 Gt CO2eq which is equivalent to 4% of global GHG emissions. Indirect GHG emissions resulting from the activities in other industries supplying inputs for the petrochemical industry accounted for another 3.8 Gt CO2eq. The petrochemical industry is thus associated with a total of 5.6Gt CO2eq of GHG emissions, equivalent to ~10% of global emissions. Over the past 25 years, emissions associated with petrochemicals have doubled and the sector is the third most GHG emitting industry. This increase is fueled by large growth of petrochemicals production as well as growth in regions with high indirect emissions, i.e., in energy systems with high dependence on coal and other fossil fuels. Over the past decades, the industry has grown rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region especially in China which in 2020 was the source for about 47% of global GHG emissions associated with petrochemicals. USA accounts for 6% of the emissions from the industry and Europe for 5%. The BRIC group of countries, which except for China also includes Brazil, India, and Russia, currently accounts for 57% of GHG emissions from petrochemicals, showing that the emissions from this sector are more geographically clustered in these countries than emissions from other sectors.Proper disaggregated and comparative analyses of key products is currently not possible. Data confidentiality and a high reliance on proxy data limit the reliability of LCA and stands in the way of mapping climate impacts. A strong demand of chemicals life cycle inventory (LCI) data for environmental footprinting has resulted in a general increase of chemicals data in many LCI databases, but the energy demands both for heat and electricity are typically not well-documented for production processes outside the main bulk chemicals. If incinerated at end-of-life plastics and other chemical products will emit embodied carbon as CO2 and if landfilled there is a risk of slow degradation with associated methane emissions. Global estimates based on most LCA datasets will thus significantly underestimate emissions from the chemical industry.The multitude of value chains dependent on the petrochemical industry makes it an important contribution to life cycle emissions in many sectors of the economy. Petrochemicals are used as an intermediate input in many industries and the emissions associated with them thus propagate through the economy, with final demand in manufacturing industries and services being associated with the largest shares of emissions from chemicals. The impacts and emissions downstream in value chains is however poorly understood and disclosure by petrochemical producers is lacking and insufficient. While disclosure of emissions in the industry has increased over the past decades, it remains partial and shows inconsistencies over time. This is due to issues such as different reporting standards, large discrepancies in the extent of disclosure as well as various other gaps and inconsistencies in reporting. This holds for all scopes, although Scope 1 emissions are better covered. Only some firms disclose information about downstream Scope 3 emissions including end-of-life for final products. Emission targets set by firms in the industry do not correspond to the challenge of large and rapid emission reductions. Many targets include only parts of operations and transparent, standardized target-setting is lacking. Reported emission reduction initiatives to achieve targets are far from sufficient focusing mainly on efficiency improvements or insubstantial parts of the operation. Shifting to renewable energy is a key for rapid emission reductions in the industry, yet few firms report strategic targets for this shift. As the industry has historically been closely linked to and integrated with the energy sector it holds a great potential for engaging with the deployment and adoption of renewable energy, although this implies a transformation of the knowledge base and resource allocation in the industry which is still focused on fossil fuels. Roadmaps and scenario analyses show that apart from a shift to renewable energy, a transformation of the industry relies on the deployment of key technologies which are not yet fully developed. This includes new technologies for hydrogen production, e.g., electrolytic (green) hydrogen or hydrogen produced with carbon capture and storage (CCS). New chemical synthesis pathways based on captured carbon, so called carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is also highlighted, but the massive demand for renewable energy associated with this pathway is a significant barrier to its adoption in the near term. The report shows how efficiency improvements continues to be the main focus for reducing the climate impact of petrochemicals, but that this is a completely inadequate approach for achieving the emissions reductions necessary in the coming decades. Breakthrough technologies are unlikely to be deployed at a rate consistent with international climate targets, and there is a great risk in relying on the promises of technologies which are yet to be proven at scale. The large knowledge gaps that remain are key barriers for effective governance of the transition.
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| 5. |
- Bjørn, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Can Science-Based Targets Make the Private Sector Paris-Aligned? A Review of the Emerging Evidence
- 2022
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Ingår i: Current Climate Change Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2198-6061. ; 8:2, s. 53-69
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose of Review: Companies increasingly set science-based targets (SBTs) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We review literature on SBTs to understand their potential for aligning corporate emissions with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Recent Findings: SBT adoption by larger, more visible companies in high-income countries has accelerated. These companies tend to have a good prior reputation for managing climate impacts and most appear on track for meeting their scope 1 and 2 SBTs. More research is needed to distinguish between substantive and symbolic target-setting and understand how companies plan to achieve established SBTs. There is no consensus on whether current target-setting methods appropriately allocate emissions to individual companies or how much freedom companies should have in setting SBTs. Current emission accounting practices, target-setting methods, SBT governance, and insufficient transparency may allow companies to report some emission reductions that are not real and may result in insufficient collective emission reductions. Lower rates of SBT diffusion in low- and middle-income countries, in certain emission-intensive sectors, and by small- and medium-sized enterprises pose potential barriers for mainstreaming SBTs. While voluntary SBTs cannot substitute for more ambitious climate policy, it is unclear whether they delay or encourage policy needed for Paris alignment. Summary: We find evidence that SBT adoption corresponds to increased climate action. However, there is a need for further research from a diversity of approaches to better understand how SBTs may facilitate or hinder a just transition to low-carbon societies.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Hunt, Oliver, et al.
(författare)
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‘Risk on steroids’ : Investing in the hydrogen economy
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Ingår i: Environment & Planning A. - 1472-3409.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A global energy transition requires alternatives to fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries and transport sectors, which are particularly reliant on the unique material properties of fossil fuels as fuel and as feedstock. Renewable energy transitions, therefore, demand large-scale investments in green hydrogen to produce substitutes as a means of indirect electrification. In the context of European climate governance, a political consensus has emerged to support the establishment of such production networks to lower emissions and create renewable-based fuels and feedstock. Yet, despite seemingly strong momentum, investment decisions are far behind global net zero scenarios. Through interviews with key actors, participant observation and document analysis, we explore investments in this type of production capacity, focusing on the challenges associated with financing such investments. We argue that risk expectations and uncertainties around profitability are holding back energy companies and institutional investors from investing in hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives. While investors and creditors await public derisking, fossil fuel incumbents maintain favourable financing conditions vis-à-vis renewable energy developers. These findings suggest clear limits to derisking and highlight the relevance of disciplinary measures to compel incumbents to scale up alternatives to fossil fuels.
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| 9. |
- Hunt, Oliver, et al.
(författare)
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“Risk on steroids” : The Political Economy of Power-to-X
- 2024
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The global energy transition requires alternatives to fossil fuels in the energy-intensive industries and transport sectors, which are particularly reliant on the unique material properties of fossil fuels as fuel and as feedstock. The build-up of non-fossil infrastructure therefore demands large-scale investments in power-to-x. In the context of European climate governance, a political consensus has emerged to support the establishment of power-to-x production networks to lower emissions and create synthetic fuels and feedstock to substitute hydrocarbons. Yet, despite a seemingly strong momentum, investment decisions are lacking behind global scenarios. Through interviews with key actors, participant observation, and document analysis, we explore the political economy of investments in power-to-x production capacity, focusing on the challenges associated with financing such investments. We argue that uncertainties around profitability threaten to undermine investments. It makes investors await public derisking, and fossil fuel incumbents maintain favorable financing conditions vis-à-vis renewable energy developers. These findings suggest limits to derisking and highlight the relevance of compelling fossil fuel incumbents to scale up power-to-x.
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| 10. |
- Lund, Jens Friis, et al.
(författare)
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Forskere: Nogle planer for CO2-fangst får hårene til at rejse sig : Den emiratiske COP28 præsident ønsker udfasning af fossile udledninger – ikke produktion af fossil brændsler. Det er en farlig tilgang, skriver Jens Friis Lund, professor, Københavns Universitet, Kirstine Lund Christiansen, PhD studerende, Københavns Universitet og Joachim Peter Tilsted, PhD studerende, Lund Universitet, i dette debatindlæg.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Klimamonitor.
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 11. |
- Palm, Ellen, et al.
(författare)
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Imagining circular carbon : A mitigation (deterrence) strategy for the petrochemical industry
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - 1462-9011. ; 151
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Petrochemical producers both rely upon and generate some of the most problematic substances in the current age of socioecological crisis: fossil fuels and plastics. With mounting calls to cap fossil fuel extraction as well as plastics production, the industry appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Nonetheless, betting on continuously increasing global plastic demand, petrochemical production is expanding significantly. This predicament raises the question of how the industry attempts to square increasing petrochemical production with the need to address environmental issues. In recent years, leading actors in and around the industry have promoted notions of carbon circularity as a desirable mitigation strategy. In this paper, we examine this strategy, using discourse analysis to uncover what we refer to as the imaginary of circular carbon. We highlight how the circular carbon imaginary risks delaying climate mitigation by rendering alternative mitigation pathways undesirable. It does so by reconciling increased production, carbon neutrality, and circular economy in a vision of a circular carbon economy, framing the climate crisis as an issue of carbon management. In the circular carbon economy, carbon dioxide, petrochemicals, and plastics all fit as mere flows of carbon. The circular carbon imaginary thereby helps future-proof the petrochemical industry in legitimizing its carbon-intensive practises essential to the fossil world order and the plastic crisis.
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| 12. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Accounting matters : Revisiting claims of decoupling and genuine green growth in Nordic countries
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009. ; 187
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecological modernisation in the form of support to the notion of green growth remains the dominant discourse in environmental policy globally. Still, questions of limits to economic expansion and growth on a planet with finite natural resources have been at the core of environmental discourses at least since the 1970's. A recent effort by Stoknes and Rockström (2018) seeks to unite notions of ecological limits with the concept of green growth by proposing genuine green growth as denoting a situation when growth respects planetary boundaries. Focusing on recent trajectories in emissions intensity, they highlight Nordic countries including Denmark as examples of such genuine green growth. In this article, we demonstrate that the specific conceptualization of genuine green growth and resulting claims about the Nordic countries rest on particular assumptions, specifically concerning national-level carbon accounting frameworks and the size of the remaining global carbon budget. By opening up these assumptions for analysis we illustrate the partiality and potentially misleading nature of the conceptualization of GGG.
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| 13. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Connected We Stand: Lead Firm Ownership Ties in the Global Petrochemical Industry
- 2023
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Ingår i: SSRN Electronic Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1556-5068.
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Using oil, gas, and coal to create platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given prospects for demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to the fossil fuel interests. Starting from the perspective that internationalised networks are important to understand prospects for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the global petrochemical industry. Internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and diffuse dominant rationalities forming a global regime. Economic ties strengthen integration by establishing a material and juridical relation. In this paper, we explore such relations and theorize how they foster alignment on a global scale. We review network conceptualisations in the sustainability transitions, global value chain and global production network literatures. Building on this review, we analyse ownership relations among lead firms in the global petrochemical sector. We find a truly global but polycentric network aligning interests across major producers which we argue help maintain and reproduce commitments to fossil fuels. The findings illustrate the relevance of pursuing parallel transitions across and along the petrochemical value chain including energy, chemicals, and plastics to break from fossil fuel dependency.
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| 14. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Connected we stand: Lead firm ownership ties in the global petrochemical industry
- 2024
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009. ; 224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using oil, gas, and coal to produce platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to fossil fuel interests. Arguing that internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and are important for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the global petrochemical industry. In this paper, we conceptualise such relations and explore how they foster alignment on a global scale. We emphasise the role of internationalised networks in global socio-technical regimes, arguing for the importance of economic ties that establish a financial and juridical relation. On this basis, we theorise that extensive lead firm ties strengthen global regimes and shape socio-technical reconfigurations to align the interests of incumbent actors. Applying this framework, we analyse ownership relations amongst lead firms in the global petrochemical sector. We find a polycentric but global network aligning interests across major producers which we argue helps maintain and reproduce commitments to fossil fuels. The findings illustrate the relevance of pursuing parallel transitions along the petrochemical value chain, including energy, chemicals, and plastics, to break from fossil fuel dependency.
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| 15. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Corporate climate futures in the making: Why we need research on the politics of Science-Based Targets
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - 2214-6326. ; 103, s. 103229-103229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this Perspective article, we call for more scholarly attention to the politics of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Specifically, we argue for a need to examine the emission pathways and decarbonised futures that are expressed and promoted through Science-Based Targets and what futures they render more likely in the pursuit of low-carbon transitions. We highlight how the SBTi's guidance material is characterized by a narrow and linear view of science (as input) as well as a similarly narrow portrayal of decarbonised futures (as outcome), despite the negotiated character of target-setting and the open-endedness of transitions. The SBTi thus currently tends towards obscuring the politics embedded within it and promoting an incumbent-driven transition, thereby legitimizing a transition shaped by some of the world's largest corporations and, in this sense, shielding them from democratic control. This argument illustrates the need for more scholarly engagement with the politics of knowledge that informs the SBTi and its governance framework. On a broader note, it highlights the need for continued critical engagement with corporate climate governance as it develops and takes on more ambitious forms.
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Ending fossil-based growth: Confronting the political economy of petrochemical plastics
- 2023
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Ingår i: One Earth. - Göteborg : IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet AB. - 2590-3322 .- 2590-3330. ; 6:6, s. 607-619
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The expanding petrochemical industry depends on fossil fuels both as feedstock and a source of energy and is at the heart of the intertwined global crises relating to plastics, climate, and toxic emissions. Addressing these crises requires uprooting the deep-seated lock-ins that sustain petrochemical plastics. This perspective identifies lock-ins that stand in the way of ambitious emission reductions and ending plastic pollution. We emphasize that addressing the growing plastic production and consumption requires confronting the political economy of petrochemicals.We put forward key elements needed to address the dual challenges of moving away from the unsustainable production of plastics and drastically reducing emissions from the petrochemical sector and argue for attention to the links between fossil fuels and plastics, which in turn involves challenging entrenched power structures and vested interests linked to the fossil-based plastics economy. A critical step would be ensuring attention to the production of petrochemicals and related upstream issues in the upcoming global plastics treaty.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Tilsted, Joachim Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Green frontrunner or indebted culprit? Assessing Denmark’s climate targets in light of fair contributions under the Paris Agreement
- 2023
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Ingår i: Climatic Change. - 0165-0009. ; 176:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper contributes to academic and policy debates about climate leadership by illustrating an approach to examining national emission reduction targets focusing on Denmark. Widely recognized as a climate leader, Denmark is cherished for both its historical track record and its current climate targets. With a target of 70% emissions reduction by 2030 compared to 1990 stipulated in national law, central actors in Danish policymaking claim that domestic climate policy is aligned with the Paris temperature goals and present Denmark as a ‘green frontrunner.’ We examine the pledges and targets enshrined in the Danish Climate Act in reference to a 1.5 °C global greenhouse gas budget using five different approaches to burden sharing. For all five approaches, we find that the Danish climate target is inadequate given the 1.5 °C goal. Moreover, when only looking at equity approaches for distributive climate justice globally, the Danish target appears drastically insufficient. Denmark is, in this sense, not a green frontrunner but rather an indebted culprit, challenging the dominant narrative in Danish climate policy. Our results thus call into question the premise of the claim of Danish climate leadership, which works to legitimize existing policy and obscure the many dimensions of climate change.
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