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Urban GHG emissions and resource flows : methods for understanding the complex functioning of cities
(2015)
This paper sums up the recent developments in concepts and methods being used to measure the impacts of cities on environmental sustainability. It differentiates between a dominant trend in research literature that concentrates on the accounting and allocation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use to cities, and a re-emergence of studies focusing on the direct and indirect urban material and resource flows. The availability of reliable data and standard protocols is greater in the GHG accounting field and continues to grow rapidly.
Automakers close factories, the stock exchange crashes, empty streets and cafés everywhere and suddenly working from home is recommended or even required for a large part of the working population in Germany. The Corona pandemic is defining our current everyday life and hitting Germany, Europe and the world at a time when there are a multitude of huge challenges to be solved already. Economic aid is indispensable during and in the aftermath of such a crisis, but the primary focus is to prevent the spread of the pandemic and limiting the health implications. Economic stimulus packages and structural aid are an effective means of overcoming the long-term economic consequences of such disruptive developments. However, they must not be distributed according to the "watering can principle"; financial support must be provided in a future-oriented manner for urgently needed investments. The aim must be to promote the necessary sustainable transformation processes within our economy and society, such as climate protection. According to the authors, the preparations must be made now. This discussion paper shows which criteria and measures are needed.
The challenges of resource efficiency and appropriate strategies : a special issue in "SAPIENS"
(2011)
Wolfgang Sachs wrote a seminal series of essays for the New Internationalist in 1992 called "Development: a guide to the ruins". The concept of development lives on - and takes on new shapes as it is reframed by the UN, reinterpreted by the Vatican or hijacked by authoritarian populists to serve their own nationalist agenda. But, he argues now, we need to move beyond its misguided assumptions into a new post-development era based on eco-solidarity.
This paper presents the results of a collaborative project on public acceptance of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Germany, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The project "Socio-economic Research on Acceptance of CCS" (April 2006 to March 2008) analyzed various aspects of public acceptance of CCS mainly in the national context of Germany. It was the first project to handle this subject matter. Public acceptance is one of the crucial factors for the implementation of CCS in the future.
Additional binding reduction targets for greenhouse gases are necessary and they must also apply to important developing and transition countries. So far, these countries have been treated as a uniform group. In future, different rules will have to be used according to varying capabilities and different exposures to risk. A team of 14 researchers from
rich and poor countries puts forward proposals on how to proceed.
The representative survey studies provide a comprehensive database on the public awareness and perception of CCS in six selected European countries. Our results provide insights into the public understanding and knowledge of energy related issues and CCS topics. The embedded experimental research provides insights into how information affects CCS perceptions. The results discuss implications for CCS communication methods.