| 1. |
- Blasiak, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Evolving Perspectives of Stewardship in the Seafood Industry
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Humanity has never benefited more from the ocean as a source of food, livelihoods, and well-being, yet on a global scale this has been accompanied by trajectories of degradation and persistent inequity. Awareness of this has spurred policymakers to develop an expanding network of ocean governance instruments, catalyzed civil society pressure on the public and private sector, and motivated engagement by the general public as consumers and constituents. Among local communities, diverse examples of stewardship have rested on the foundation of care, knowledge and agency. But does an analog for stewardship exist in the context of globally active multinational corporations? Here, we consider the seafood industry and its efforts to navigate this new reality through private governance. We examine paradigmatic events in the history of the sustainable seafood movement, from seafood boycotts in the 1970s through to the emergence of certification measures, benchmarks, and diverse voluntary environmental programs. We note four dimensions of stewardship in which efforts by actors within the seafood industry have aligned with theoretical concepts of stewardship, which we describe as (1) moving beyond compliance, (2) taking a systems perspective, (3) living with uncertainty, and (4) understanding humans as embedded elements of the biosphere. In conclusion, we identify emerging stewardship challenges for the seafood industry and suggest the urgent need to embrace a broader notion of ocean stewardship that extends beyond seafood.
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| 2. |
- Crona, Beatrice, et al.
(författare)
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China at a Crossroads : An Analysis of China's Changing Seafood Production and Consumption
- 2020
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Ingår i: One Earth. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 3:1, s. 32-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- China is a key player in global production, consumption, and trade of seafood. Given this dominance, Chinese choices regarding what seafood to eat, and how and where to source it, are increasingly important—for China, and for the rest of the world. This perspective explores this issue using a transdisciplinary approach and discusses plausible trajectories and implications for assumptions of future modeling efforts and global environmental sustainability and seafood supply. We outline China's 2030 projected domestic seafood production and consumption through an examination of available statistics, and qualitatively evaluate these in relation to key stated Chinese policy targets, consumer trends, and dominant political narratives. Our analysis shows that by 2030 China is likely to see seafood consumption outstrip domestic production. To meet the seafood gap China will likely attempt to increase domestic freshwater and offshore aquaculture, increase seafood imports, possibly expand the distant water fishing industry, and invest in seafood production abroad.
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| 3. |
- Crona, Beatrice, et al.
(författare)
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Four ways blue foods can help achieve food system ambitions across nations
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 616:7955, s. 104-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Blue foods, sourced in aquatic environments, are important for the economies, livelihoods, nutritional security and cultures of people in many nations. They are often nutrient rich1, generate lower emissions and impacts on land and water than many terrestrial meats2, and contribute to the health3, wellbeing and livelihoods of many rural communities4. The Blue Food Assessment recently evaluated nutritional, environmental, economic and justice dimensions of blue foods globally. Here we integrate these findings and translate them into four policy objectives to help realize the contributions that blue foods can make to national food systems around the world: ensuring supplies of critical nutrients, providing healthy alternatives to terrestrial meat, reducing dietary environmental footprints and safeguarding blue food contributions to nutrition, just economies and livelihoods under a changing climate. To account for how context-specific environmental, socio-economic and cultural aspects affect this contribution, we assess the relevance of each policy objective for individual countries, and examine associated co-benefits and trade-offs at national and international scales. We find that in many African and South American nations, facilitating consumption of culturally relevant blue food, especially among nutritionally vulnerable population segments, could address vitamin B12 and omega-3 deficiencies. Meanwhile, in many global North nations, cardiovascular disease rates and large greenhouse gas footprints from ruminant meat intake could be lowered through moderate consumption of seafood with low environmental impact. The analytical framework we provide also identifies countries with high future risk, for whom climate adaptation of blue food systems will be particularly important. Overall the framework helps decision makers to assess the blue food policy objectives most relevant to their geographies, and to compare and contrast the benefits and trade-offs associated with pursuing these objectives.
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| 4. |
- Crona, Beatrice, et al.
(författare)
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Sharing the seas : a review and analysis of ocean sector interactions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 16:6
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ocean activities are rapidly expanding as Blue Economy discussions gain traction, creating new potential synergies and conflicts between sectors. To better manage ocean sectors and their development, we need to understand how they interact and the respective outcomes of these interactions. To provide a first comprehensive picture of the situation, we review 3187 articles to map and analyze interactions between economically important ocean sectors and find 93 unique direct and 61 indirect interactions, often mediated via the ocean ecosystem. Analysis of interaction outcomes reveals that some sectors coexist synergistically (e.g. renewable energy, tourism), but many interactions are antagonistic, and negative effects on other sectors are often incurred via degradation of marine ecosystems. The analysis also shows that ocean ecosystems are fundamental for supporting many ocean sectors, yet 13 out of 14 ocean sectors have interactions resulting in unidirectional negative ecosystem impact. Fishing, drilling, and shipping are hubs in the network of ocean sector interactions, and are involved in many of the antagonistic interactions. Antagonistic interactions signal trade-offs between sectors. Qualitative analysis of the literature shows that these tradeoffs relate to the cumulative nature of many ecosystem impacts incurred by some sectors, and the differential power of ocean sectors to exert their rights or demands in the development of the ocean domain. There are also often time lags in how impacts manifest. The ocean governance landscape is not currently well-equipped to deal with the full range of trade-offs, and opportunities, likely to arise in the pursuit of a Blue Economy in a rapidly changing ocean context. Based on our analysis, we therefore propose a set principles that can begin to guide strategic decision-making, by identifying both tradeoffs and opportunities for sustainable and equitable development of ocean sectors.
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| 5. |
- Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste, et al.
(författare)
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Leverage points in the financial sector for seafood sustainability
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 5:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Can finance contribute to seafood sustainability? This is an increasingly relevant question given the projected growth of seafood markets and the magnitude of social and environmental challenges associated with seafood production. As more capital enters the seafood industry, it becomes crucial that investments steer the sector toward improved sustainability, as opposed to fueling unsustainable working conditions and overexploitation of resources. Using a mixed-methods approach, we map where different financial mechanisms are most salient along a seafood firm's development trajectory and identify three leverage points that can redirect capital toward more sustainable practices: loan covenants, stock exchange listing rules, and shareholder activism. We argue that seafood sustainability requirements need to be integrated into traditional financial services and propose key research avenues for academic, policy, and practice communities. While our study focuses on the role of finance in seafood sustainability, the insights developed are also of high relevance to other extractive industries.
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| 6. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, et al.
(författare)
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A global analysis of potential self-sufficiency and diversity displays diverse supply risks
- 2023
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Ingår i: Global Food Security. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-9124. ; 37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- International trade plays a fundamental role in today's globalized food system, however, trade-related disruptions to national food supply have become increasingly prevalent. Although national food self-sufficiency and the resilience of domestic food production are both increasingly discussed, they are rarely investigated in tandem. This hinders our understanding of the diversity of risks to national food supply. In this article we investigate the contribution of production to these risks, through the compilation of a comprehensive national production dataset and a multi-indicator assessment of self-sufficiency and diversity. Our results show that most of the world (127 countries and territories, 87% of the global population) achieves high levels of potential self-sufficiency (≥6 nutrients fulfilled), however only 33% of the world population (41 countries) are fully self-sufficient. Of countries with high levels of self-sufficiency, fruit and vegetable production (a proxy for many micronutrients) is the most common “missing” sufficiency. 66 countries (6% of population) have a low degree of self-sufficiency, highlighting potential vulnerability to trade-related disruptions. The relationship between sufficiency and diversity is not homogeneous, highlighting that some production systems are reliant on very few products.
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| 7. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, et al.
(författare)
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Adapting risk assessments for a complex future
- 2022
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Ingår i: One Earth. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 5:1, s. 35-43
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human activities have progressively eroded the biosphere basis for our societies and introduced various risks. To navigate these risks, or potential undesirable outcomes of the future, we need tools and an understanding of how to assess risk in a complex world. Risk assessments are a powerful tool to address sustain ability challenges. However, two issues currently hamper their ability to deal with sustainability risks: the limited sustainability science engagement with the multifaceted nature of risk and the lack of integration of social-ecological, complex, and resilience thinking into risk assessment. In this Perspective, we review and synthesize the wide range of risk definitions and uses and juxtapose them with knowledge on complex adaptive social-ecological systems. Through this synthesis, we highlight the strengths of each risk approach and outline five challenges that, if overcome, could turn risk assessments into a much-needed multifaceted toolbox for dealing with the certain uncertainty of a complex future.
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| 8. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, et al.
(författare)
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Aggravation Risk: A tool to capture multiple pathways of corporate sustainability risk
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is increasing awareness that companies are not only impacting the environment but also dependent upon it for resources and services, on so-called natural capital. The awareness of this dependency has spurred the development of the concept of nature-related financial risk, as a part of corporate sustainability risk assessment. Nature-related (financial) risk is risk to financiers and corporations through impacts on the natural capital upon which their operations depend. The early developments in this field are promising, however we argue that there are two knowledge gaps which current conceptualisations and assessment tools still miss. The first gap is the lack of acknowledgement that it is company practises themselves, through their impact on the environment, that create risks. Risk is therefore not only something that is created by the environment or other actors, it can also be self-created. The second gap is acknowledging and capturing the long-term risk to natural resources and the ability of ecosystems to continue to create natural capital. This longer-term and wider ecosystem perspective on risk is currently not captured by the focus on short-term financial risk in the existing tools. Together these two gaps highlight that risk is created and affect companies from multiple different pathways. We contribute in this paper to the nascent field of nature-related risk by addressing these two knowledge gaps and developing a tool to capture multiple different pathways of corporate sustainability risk. We use three primary sector industries (fisheries, aquaculture, and agriculture) to operationalise the tool.
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| 9. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, et al.
(författare)
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Creative destruction in academia : a time to reimagine practices in alignment with sustainability values
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Nature. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 18:6, s. 2769-2775
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Academia has experienced acceleration and expansion in parallel with the Great Acceleration, which has shaped the Anthropocene. Among other pressures, the expectation to be internationally mobile conflicts with many values held by sustainability scholars and results in disillusionment. The changes in the academic system can be seen through the framework of the adaptive cycle, which can help us understand historical parallels and shape the system to better align with sustainability values in future. We hope this piece can contribute to the discussion of the next steps forward to reimagine academia.
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| 10. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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Essential environmental impact variables : A means for transparent corporate sustainabilityreporting aligned with planetary boundaries
- 2024
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Ingår i: One Earth. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 7:2, s. 211-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite numerous pledges to the contrary, corporate activities are inflicting environmental harm and are pushing the Earth system toward and beyond planetary boundaries. Several sustainability accounting frameworks exist, designed to track corporate environmental impacts through corporate reporting, and there is currently a push toward standardization of these. However, most sustainability accounting frameworks still fail to fully capture the connections between corporate activities and impacts, as they depart from what is important for the companies (materiality assessments) and often rely on relative metrics. Here, we propose 15 essential environmental impact variables (EEIVs), applicable to all sectors, based on absolute metrics and what is essential for staying within the planetary boundaries. We argue that standardization must rather depart from these underlying premises. By designing EEIVs for seven primary industries with large environmental footprints and demonstrating the operationality via the aquaculture sector, we show how EEIVs efficiently identify the most important corporate impact information while increasing transparency between companies and stakeholders, thus enabling external assessment of corporate sustainability.
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| 11. |
- Wassénius, Emmy
(författare)
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Risk and resilience : An integrated approach for navigating a complex world
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Risks are all around us, events or situations that could result in undesirable outcomes. Risk assessments are a way to understand and navigate the shocks and stressors we face and to avoid the undesirable outcomes that may come from them. We talk about risks in our everyday lives, and it is a concept that exists in many different academic disciplines. However due to its use in many academic disciplines, the concept has diverse meanings and no single way to identify and assess risks. This presents a problem for interdisciplinary sustainability science scholars who aim to see across disciplinary divides and integrate the understanding of each for a better view of sustainability problems and solutions. Resilience thinking on the other hand is well integrated with the sustainability science domain and addresses how to deal with shocks and stressors in the face of uncertainty. Although more and more research on risk is appearing in the field of sustainability science, there is a lack of integration between these concepts. In this licentiate theses I aim to bridge these gaps and to investigate the diversity of risk concepts and how they relate to social-ecological resilience. I address these gaps from a conceptual point of view, through literature review and synthesis (paper I) and by utilising both concepts to identify risks in the global food production system (paper II).
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| 12. |
- Wassénius, Emmy, 1991-
(författare)
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Sustainability Risk : A social-ecological systems perspective
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today’s world is characterised by new levels of complexity; however our societies remain deeply embedded in and dependent on a functioning biosphere. A biosphere that is increasingly being degraded by human activities. In this complex and intertwined world, acute shocks as well as chronic pressures of unsustainable activities have therefore become a prevalent feature. Together these shocks and chronic pressures create a complex risk landscape that we need to navigate with inter- and transdisciplinary solutions. However, the study of risk and the risk assessment tools in use, are siloed into scholarly disciplines and mismatched with the complexity at hand. In this thesis I tackle this mismatch, by using a social-ecological systems perspective and a variety of methodological approaches. Together the four papers of the thesis develop the interdisciplinary concept of sustainability risk and start to operationalise it through the application to national food systems and corporate sustainability risk assessment. Paper I introduces the concept of sustainability risk that I use and develop through-out the thesis. The paper also summarises some of the key definitions of risk within different disciplines and proposes five key dimensions that need to be adapted and developed in order for the existing risk assessment methods to fully capture risks in a complex world. Papers II-IV all represent applications of the concept of sustainability risk to different contexts. Paper II addresses national food supply risks and highlights how diverse risks to national self-sufficiency can come from low self-sufficiency (resulting in risk from trade disruptions) and low production diversity (resulting in risk from production shocks). Paper III addresses the data limitations we encounter when attempting to assess corporate sustainability risk and aims to overcome some of these limitations by developing fifteen novel reporting variables. These variables also contribute to the ongoing efforts to standardise corporate sustainability reporting. Paper IV builds on Paper III and develops an initial framework for assessing the risks to long-term natural resource production emanating from the impacts of corporate activities, thus broadening the conceptualisation of what risk is and how we assess it in the corporate sphere.
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| 13. |
- Wood, Amanda, et al.
(författare)
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Reframing the local–global food systems debate through a resilience lens
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Food. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2662-1355. ; 4:1, s. 22-29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the growing knowledge that food system solutions should account for interactions and drivers across scales, broader societal debate on how to solve food system challenges is often focused on two dichotomous perspectives and associated solutions: either more localized food systems or greater global coordination of food systems. The debate has found problematic expressions in contemporary challenges, prompting us to revisit the role that resilience thinking can play when faced with complex crises that increase uncertainty. Here we identify four ‘aching points’ facing food systems that are central points of tension in the local–global debate. We apply the seven principles of resilience to these aching points to reframe the solution space to one that embeds resilience into food systems’ management and governance at all scales, supporting transformative change towards sustainable food systems.
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