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Shifting the resource base for chemical and energy production from fossil feedstocks to renewable raw materials is seen by many as one of the key strategies towards sustainable development. The utilization of biomass for the production of fuels and materials has been proposed as an alternative to the petroleum-based industry. Current research and policy initiatives focus mainly on the utilization of lignocellulose biomass, originating from agriculture and forestry, as second generation feedstocks for the production of biofuels and electricity. These activities act on the assumption that significant amounts of biomass for non-food purposes are available. However, given a certain productivity per area, the current massive growth in global biofuels demand may in the long term only be met through an expansion of global arable land at the expense of natural ecosystems and in direct competition with the food-sector. Although many studies have shown the potential of biofuels production to reduce both, greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy consumption, these production routes are still linear processes which depend on significant amounts of agricultural or forestry production area. Cascading use, i.e. when biomass is used for material products first and the energy content is recovered at end-of-life, may provide a greater environmental benefit than primary use as fuel. Considering waste and production residues as alternative feedstocks could help to further reduce pressures on global arable land. This research focused on thermochemical and biochemical technologies capable of utilizing organic waste or forestry residuals for energy, chemical feedstock, and synthetic materials (polymers) generation. Routes towards synthetic materials allow a closer cycle of materials and can help to reduce dependence on either fossil or biobased raw materials. The system-wide environmental burdens of three different technologies, including (1) municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), (2) plasma gasification of construction and demolition (C&D) wood for syngas production with energy recovery, and (3) forest residuals use in a biorefinery for polyitaconic acid (PIA) production, were assessed using life-cycle assessment. The first two studies indicated that MSW gasification and subsequent ethylene and polyethylene production via FTS has lower environmental impacts than conventional landfilling. In the future, as societies may shift towards the use of renewable energy, power offset by conventional waste-to-energy systems would not be as significant and chemicals production routes may then become increasingly competitive (in terms of environmental burdens) also to waste incineration. While production cost of Fischer-Tropsch derived chemicals seems not yet competitive to fossil-based chemicals provision, future price increases in global oil prices as well as changes in waste tipping fees, and efficiency gains on site of the waste conversion systems, may alter the economics and allow carbon recycling routes to reach a price competitive to fossil-based production routes. The third study found that plasma gasification of C&D wood for energy recovery has roughly similar environmental impacts than conventional fossil-based power systems. However, process optimization with respect to coal co-gasified, coke used as gasifier bed material, and fuel oil co-combusted in the steam boiler, would allow to significantly lower the system-wide environmental burdens. The fourth study looked at PIA production from softwood hemicellulose in a stream integrated approach (with the partially macerated wood and lignin being used in other existing processes such as pulp & paper plants for conventional pulp and bioenergy production). The assessment indicated lower global warming potential, energy demand, and acidification, for the wood-based PIA polymer, when compared to corn-based PIA and fossil-based polyacrylic acid (PAA). However, water use associated with wood-derived PIA was found to be higher than for fossil-based PAA production and land occupation is highest for the wood-derived polymer. It is hoped that results of this dissertation will add to the current debate on sustainable waste and biomass utilization and to establish future supply chains for green and sustainable chemical products.
Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of maize-biogas and photovoltaics on a land use basis
(2010)
This study aims to stimulate the discussion on how to optimize a sustainable energy mix from an environmental perspective and how to apply existing renewable energy sources in the most efficient way. Ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV) and the maize-biogas-electricity route are compared with regard to their potential to mitigate environmental pressure, assuming that a given agricultural area is available for energy production. Existing life cycle assessment (LCA) studies are taken as abasis to analyse environmental impacts of those technologies in relation to conventional technology for power and heat generation. The life-cycle-wide mitigation potential per area used is calculated for the impact categories non-renewable energy input, green house gas (GHG) emissions, acidification and eutrophication. The environmental performance of each system depends on the scenario that is assumed for end energy use (electricity and heat supply have been contemplated). In all scenarios under consideration, PV turns out to be superior to biogas in almost all studied impact categories. Even when maize is used for electricity production in connection with very efficient heat usage, and reduced PV performance is assumed to account for intermittence, PV can still mitigate about four times the amount of green house gas emissions and non-renewable energy input compared to maize-biogas. Soil erosion, which can be entirely avoided with PV, exceeds soil renewal rates roughly 20-fold on maize fields. Regarding the overall Eco-indicator 99 (H) score under most favourable assumptions for the maize–biogas route, PV has still a more than 100% higher potential to mitigate environmental burden. At present, the key advantages of biogas are its price and its availability without intermittence. In the long run, and with respect to more efficient land use, biogas might preferably be produced from organic waste or manure, whereas PV should be integrated into buildings and infrastructures.
Given that over 50% of Myanmar's urban inhabitants and nearly 75% of the rural population lack access to adequate electricity, the country's development agenda includes electrification as a key policy goal. The government's National Electrification Project (NEP) aims to reach 100% household electrification by 2030. To achieve this ambitious target, the government of Myanmar has established a set of strategic electrification priorities. The primary focus is to electrify the country through extension of the national grid and construction of large power plants based on fossil fuels and renewable energy.
For decades, decentralised energy solutions have played a niche role in Myanmar's electrification journey. Local developers have constructed thousands of nominal "mini-grids", powered by a range of sources, including water, diesel, and solar. With the support of local communities, these initiatives provide positive stimuli for the social and economic development of villages across the country. To achieve its electrification goals, the NEP includes a segment to promote the development of new mini-grids through a set of subsidies and private sector cooperation initiatives. These target remote regions, which are difficult to electrify through extension of the main grid.
This report takes an in-depth look at decentralised electrification through community-based mini-grids with a focus on renewable energy. The aim is to provide insights into the potential role of sustainable electrification and to identify both enabling and limiting factors related to the institutional and policy landscape (macro), as well as the local conditions (micro). It also aims to explore whether the cooperative model is a suitable organisational framework for the operation of mini-grids in Myanmar. The results of the study will help to inform policymakers and supporters of decentralised electrification about the potential role for cooperatives and provide ways to improve the operating environment for sustainable, community-based mini-grids.
What are the best policies and measures to stimulate energy efficiency in buildings? The debate around this is at least as diverse as the markets and concepts for energy efficiency in buildings, and often quite controversial. However, no magic formula seems to have been found so far. It is, therefore, time to address the question in a new way - by combining both theoretical evidence on what policy support markets need, and empirical evidence on which combinations or packages of policies have worked.
In the context of its new four-year project bigEE - "Bridging the Information Gap on Energy Efficiency in Buildings", the Wuppertal Institute is implementing this new approach. The bigEE project aims at developing an international internet-based knowledge platform for energy efficiency in buildings. Hence, it must provide evidence-based information. On the theoretical side, the analysis starts with value chains in the building sector and the barriers but also actor-inherent incentives that the different types of market participants face. This enables to identify, which policies and measures need to be combined to jointly overcome the barriers and strengthen the incentives. On the empirical side, model examples of good practice are collected and compared. The search for these is guided by the results of the theoretical analysis, international expert opinion, and existing databases and platforms. In order to identify what is "good practice", the project uses a newly developed multi-criteria assessment scheme. Finally, the impacts achieved with the model examples, lessons learned, and their transferability will be used to validate the model policy package identified in the theoretical analysis.
The public launch of the bigEE platform is planned for autumn of 2011; eceee Summer Study participants will get a first glance at its content through this paper. The paper presents the methods and tools used and showcases their application for the case of new buildings
Biomass-fueled combined heat and power systems (CHPs) can potentially offer environmental benefits compared to conventional separate production technologies. This study presents the first environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of a novel high-efficiency bio-based power (HBP) technology, which combines biomass gasification with a 199 kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to produce heat and electricity. The aim is to identify the main sources of environmental impacts and to assess the potential environmental performance compared to benchmark technologies. The use of various biomass fuels and alternative allocation methods were scrutinized. The LCA results reveal that most of the environmental impacts of the energy supplied with the HBP technology are caused by the production of the biomass fuel. This contribution is higher for pelletized than for chipped biomass. Overall, HBP technology shows better environmental performance than heat from natural gas and electricity from the German/European grid. When comparing the HBP technology with the biomass-fueled ORC technology, the former offers significant benefits in terms of particulate matter (about 22 times lower), photochemical ozone formation (11 times lower), acidification (8 times lower) and terrestrial eutrophication (about 26 times lower). The environmental performance was not affected by the allocation parameter (exergy or economic) used. However, the tested substitution approaches showed to be inadequate to model multiple environmental impacts of CHP plants under the investigated context and goal.
This paper addresses future perspectives for the management of resources on an international level. Failures of international open markets result in significant material leakage. Here, taking the example of material used vehicles, we develop elements of an international metal covenant that should allow for a more sustainable management of global material flows in that area. Our proposal is based on two principles: any regulation should actively seek industry participation, taking advantage of business interest in supplying a sufficient quantity of materials while lowering materials costs; and it should also address public issues such as sustainability of recycling and waste. In this paper we first analyse contracts as a tool for bridging gaps in knowledge when multiple actors are involved. We then give empirical evidence for material leakage in the case of used vehicles from Germany, before outlining the elements of a proposed international metals covenant. Finally, we analyse potential impacts and discuss legal and institutional issues.
The exploitation of coltan in Central Africa can be considered a case of conflict minerals due to its nature. Many international organizations and bodies, national governments and private sector organizations seek to address this conflict, in particular via transparency, certification and accountability along the material supply chain. This paper analyses the international trade dimension of coltan and gives evidence on the dimension of illicit trade of coltan. The authors start from the hypothesis that illicit trade of coltan sooner or later will enter the market and will be reflected in the statistics. The paper is structured in the following manner: first, a short section gives a profile of coltan production and markets; second, an overview of the mining situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and related actors. The third section addresses mechanisms, actors and measurement issues involved in the international trade of coltan. The final part draws lessons for certification and conflict analysis and offers some guidance for future research.
The paper identifies two main possible gateways to trace illegal trade in coltan: the neighboring countries, especially Rwanda, and the importing countries for downstream production, in particular China. Our estimation is that the value of such illicit trade comes close to $ 27 million annually (2009), roughly one-fifth of the world market volume for tantalum production. With regard to any certification the paper concludes that this will become challenging for business and policy: (a) Central Africa currently is the largest supplier of coltan on the world market, many actors profit from the current situation and possess abilities to hide responsibility; (b) China will need to accept more responsibility, a first step would be the acceptance of the OECD guidelines on due diligence; (c) better regional governance in Central Africa comprises of resource taxation, a resource fund and fiscal coordination. An international task force may provide more robust data, however more research will also be needed.
Resource efficiency in production and technological innovations are inadequate for considerably reducing the current use of natural resources. Both social innovations and a complementary and equally valued strategy of sustainable consumption are required: goods must be used longer, and services that support collaborative consumption (CC) patterns must be extended. "Using rather than owning" strategies, such as product sharing, have the potential to conserve resources. Based on the results of different German studies, this article highlights the resource-saving potentials of CC patterns and recommendations proposed for policies and further research questions. The purpose of this paper is to show that a general resource-saving potential can be realized by "use rather than own" schemes, depending on the application field and the framework for implementation. CC is suitable for making a positive contribution to achieving the Factor 10 target by playing an important role in changing consumer patterns.
The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency, cognition and institutions. It derives from analytical shortfalls of the prevailing literature, which features strongly engineering and business economics, by using insights from New Institutional Economics, from Cognitive Sciences and, partly, from Evolutionary Economics. It emphasises the role cognition and institutions play in the adoption of "green" technologies by firms. A cognitive perspective derives from recent research on simple heuristics and context-based rationality; it is proposed that those recent findings can serve to analyse decision-making of individual actors or firms and, thus, should complement economic analysis. A second proposition is that eco-efficiency and normative rules such as a Factor Four strongly rely upon institutions, i.e. the ability of institutions to evolve over time and the development of those institutions that are most appropriate to enhance technological change. In this regard, business institutions and competition are crucial, but regulatory needs remain in order to safeguard continuity of knowledge creation. The framework allows for an analysis why overall adoption of eco-efficiency still can be considered relatively slow and why some markets and firms are far ahead. As a brief case study the article reflects upon German waste law’s ability to enhance eco-efficiency.
The paper sketches out a theoretical framework for analysing the interplay between eco-efficiency, cognition and institutions. It derives from analytical shortfalls of the prevailing literature, which features strongly engineering and business economics, by using insights from New Institutional Economics, from Cognitive Science and, partly, from Evolutionary Economics. It emphasises the role cognition and institutions play in the adoption of "green" technologies by firms. A cognitive perspective derives from recent research on simple heuristics and context-based rationality; it is proposed that those findings can serve to analyse decision-making of individual actors respectively firms and, thus, should complement economic analysis. A second proposition is that eco-efficiency and normative rules such as a Factor Four strongly rely upon institutions, i.e. the ability of institutions to evolve over time and the development of those institutions that are most appropriate to enhance technological change. In this regard, business institutions and competition are crucial, but regulatory needs remain in order to safeguard continuity of knowledge creation. The framework allows for an analysis why overall adoption of eco-efficiency still can be considered relatively slow and why some markets and firms are far ahead. As a brief case study the article reflects upon German waste law's ability to enhance eco-efficiency.
Several countries with large coal deposits but limited domestic oil reserves show high interest in coal-to-liquid (CtL) technologies, which could reduce crude oil imports by converting coal into liquid hydrocarbon fuels. After decades of successful large-scale operating experiences in South Africa, CtL activities in the United States, China and Germany have been fanned by the high oil price in the last years. However, CtL indicates negative techno-economic and resource-related features, such as high capital costs, high greenhouse gas discharges and high water consumption. Therefore, the technology's diffusion strongly depends on a favourable framework of policies and strong technology advocates. Daniel Vallentin analyses interdependencies between technical and non-technical parameters affecting the diffusion of CtL technologies in the United States, China and Germany. Applying the inter-disciplinary technological system approach, he identifies factors which determine the market prospects of CtL in these countries, including costs, the geographic distribution of coal reserves, actor constellations and technology, energy and climate policies. At the end of his study, he derives general conclusions with regard to driving forces and barriers for CtL diffusion. As the investigated countries are major consumers of energy and belong to the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, their strategies in substituting crude oil based fuels are of utmost global relevance. Therefore, Vallentin's study is recommended to experts, planners, decision-makers, and politicians in the field of climate and resource protection.
CO2-capture and geological storage as a climate policy option : technologies, concepts, perspectives
(2007)
The idea of removing carbon dioxide from flue gas and industrial gas flows and putting it into suitable long-term storage sites is referred to as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This publication provides a close look at this new line of technologies, describing its current status and outlining the prospects for development. The approach is both diagnostic and analytical, identifying the questions a technology assessment poses and showing the steps that need to be taken to implement CCS.
CCS is currently moving to the centre of climate policy discussion. Nonetheless this line of technologies is still the subject of controversial discussion. On the one hand there is a clear hope that these technologies will open up opportunities to use fossil fuels without harming the climate and thus make it possible to continue using oil, natural gas and above all coal even under a stricter climate regime. Accordingly, numerous R&D projects have been initiated all over the world, and various demonstration projects are at the planning or implementation stage. On the other hand, CCS (especially the storage part) has given rise to considerable scepticism from an ecological point of view.
The CO2 utilisation is discussed as one of the future low-carbon technologies in order to accomplish a full decarbonisation in the energy intensive industry. CO2 is separated from the flue gas stream of power plants or industrial plants and is prepared for further processing as raw material. CO2 containing gas streams from industrial processes exhibit a higher concentration of CO2 than flue gases from power plants; consequentially, industrial CO2 sources are used as raw material for the chemical industry and for the synthesis of fuel on the output side. Additionally, fossil resources can be replaced by substitutes of reused CO2 on the input side. If set up in a right way, this step into a CO2-based circular flow economy could make a contribution to the decarbonisation of the industrial sector and according to the adjusted potential, even rudimentarily to the energy sector.
In this study, the authors analyse potential CO2 sources, the potential demand and the range of applications of CO2. In the last chapter of the final report, they give recommendations for research, development, politics and economics for an appropriate future designing of CO2 utilisation options based upon their previous analysis.
The transition to a greener and more circular economy has been a European policy priority for several years. The Circular Economy Action Plan of 2020 underlines the ambition. The following EEA initiatives are meant to support the transition process:
- Bellagio Process on circular economy monitoring principles (EPA network);
- Enhancement of EEA indicators on circular economy (ETC/WMGE);
- Explorative work on novel data streams (FWC);
- Co-creation work - knowledge sharing of monitoring experience (ETC/Eionet).
The scope of the present task was to report on the co-creation process that was undertaken at the end of 2020. The co-creation process was organised to identify:
(i) best practices on monitoring strategies, data sources and target setting; and
(ii) areas of circularity measuring and monitoring that remain challenging and require additional investment.
The co-creation process partially built on the work done during the Bellagio Process/Initiative which was run in parallel. This ETC report presents and documents the evidence gathered throughout the co- creation process as well as providing a retrospective analysis of the links to the Bellagio Principles.
Six German scenario studies on urban passenger transport for Munich 2058, Wuppertal 2050, Eastern Ruhr Region 2030, Tuebingen 2030, Cologne 2020 and Hanover Region 2020 investigate the key question: With which strategies and on what kind of scale, is it possible to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of urban passenger transport to accomplish the 2 °C climate protection goal with a consequently huge reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80% to 95% by 2050 in relation to the base year 1990? The scenarios show that the major challenge of a "climate-friendly city transport" can be achieved by appropriate measures (regarding direction and scale): in small and medium-sized cities, large cities, cities of over a million people, and metropolitan regions. The scenarios demonstrate the extent to which the considered measures contribute to the CO2 reduction, and which gap to the achievement of the goal remains if that which is currently regarded as realistic in practice is really implemented in future. Thus, they illustrate the conflict between that which is necessary for climate protection and that which is currently considered feasible in politics. The scenarios show that it is essential to act quickly and appropriately, and not hesitantly or without conviction.
In less than ten years, emissions trading has forged ahead as a climate policy instrument - from the setting of the agenda through the formulation of policy to the stage of implementation. This has happened at several policy levels: on the one hand, as international emissions trading in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, and on the other hand as emissions trading for energy-intensive companies within the European Union. Not only because of the speed of the process, but also because emissions trading is generally being perceived as an effective means to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, ist introduction is mostly regarded as a success story. This claim is here critically examined with the help of a number of theoretical hypotheses borrowed from the field of multilevel governance research. The theoretical discussion is woven into a detailed descriptive-analytic account of the introduction of emissions trading, bringing out the most important players, conflicts and milestones in the process. What were the consequences of this rapid introduction for the interdependence of players and institutions in the multi-level policy system? To what extent was it accompanied with a transfer of authority from national governments to supranational or international institutions? Can we speak here of a further loss of sovereignty by national states in the age of globalisation? And has the introduction of emissions trading, as a new generation of climate policy instruments, brought about institutional changes in negotiation patternsand decision-making processes? This set of questions is being derived from the concept of multi-level governance which serves as the framework of analysis of this paper and is then being used to analyse fifteen theses in order to explain the complexity of the introduction of emissions trading and highlight problems and deficits in the negotiating processes. The aim of the paper is to give a answer to the question of whether the meteoric rise of the policy instrument may be described as a "success story".
In 2005 two very important milestones of international climate policy were reached: The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the installation of a European wide emissions trading system. In Germany, the publication of the fifth report of the inter-ministerial working group on climate policy was published with an evaluation of climate protection policies. In 2004 the Japanese climate protection policy was fully revised so that Japan will also bring forth important developments in this area. The traditional close cooperation in this area between Japan and Germany, must now result in more concrete projects to keep this dynamic going well into the future. There is much potential to achieve a lot.
Within the unique framework of the Germany in Japan Year 2005-2006, the German Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Innovation of Northrhine-Westfalia, together with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan) and the Wuppertal Institute (Germany) put together a two day event in Tokyo comprising an experts workshop and a one day conference.
At the conference, experts and practitioners of the German government, the states, the private sector and environmental organisations from Germany and Europe presented the decisive factors for success as well as the difficulties encountered namely in introducing an eco-tax and the Emissions Trading Scheme. Japanese experts and practitioners reported on Japanese approaches and reviewed the German/European experiences in light of the Japanese situation. At the expert workshop, researchers and decision makers discussed the experiences with policy dialogues and stakeholder involvement. They assessed the transferability of German/European experiences into the Japanese context and the broader inclusion of civil society into the governmental decision making process, that is so say, the opportunities in co-operating with politics, private sector and environmental organisations. This report documents the events and highlights the most outstanding conclusions and ideas for further cooperation in the future.
This paper analyses the results of the climate conference in Lima 2014 in the light of the coming climate summit in Paris by the end of this year (COP21). The authors from the Wuppertal Institute make recommendations for the improvement of the current cooperation in the context of the climate convention and they suggest to complement the existing UN regime with a club of forerunner countries in order to provide new breath for international climate policy.
The 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the consequent accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, have had consequences far beyond Japan itself. Reactions to the accident in three major economies Japan, the UK, and Germany, all of whom were committed to relatively ambitious climate change targets prior to the accident are examined. In Japan and Germany, the accident precipitated a major change of policy direction. In the UK, debate has been muted and there has been essentially no change in energy or climate change policies. The status of the energy and climate change policies in each country prior to the accident is assessed, the responses to the accident are described, and the possible impacts on their positions in the international climate negotiations are analysed. Finally, the three countries' responses are compared and some differences between them observed. Some reasons for their different policy responses are suggested and some themes, common across all countries, are identified. Policy relevance: The attraction of nuclear power has rested on the promise of low-cost electricity, low-carbon energy supply, and enhanced energy independence. The Fukushima accident, which followed the Japanese tsunami of March 2011, has prompted a critical re-appraisal of nuclear power. The responses to Fukushima are assessed for the UK, Germany, and Japan. Before the accident, all three countries considered nuclear as playing a significant part in climate mitigation strategies. Although the UK Government has continued to support nuclear new build following a prompt review of safety arrangements, Japan and Germany have decided to phase out nuclear power, albeit according to different timescales. The factors that explain the different decisions are examined, including patterns of energy demand and supply, the wider political context, institutional arrangements, and public attitudes to risk. The implications for the international climate negotiations are also assessed.
More and more companies are announcing their intention to become climate-neutral and numerous companies already offer climate-neutral products or services: From climate-neutral parcel delivery to air travel. But what exactly do the companies' net-zero targets mean? Is the target set ambitious? And what role does offsetting play, i.e., purchasing carbon credits that are accounted against the company's own climate target? The approaches behind the proclaimed targets are often difficult to understand. Against this background, this Zukunftsimpuls provides ten recommendations for the definition and implementation of neutrality targets. Among other things, the authors advocate the use of a robust database as the basis for net-zero targets, emphasize the importance of transparent communication, and highlight the role that offsetting should play. Purchased carbon credits should make as limited a contribution as possible for meeting climate targets and should only be used to offset emissions that cannot be reduced or avoided. More generally, net-zero targets should not be made the sole criterion for ambitious climate strategies. Rather, they are a building block of a much more comprehensive strategy of corporate climate action.
2020 was meant to be the year of climate ambition. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the Glasgow conference was postponed to November 2021, and climate policy generally appeared to have been put on the backburner. But towards the end of the year prospects seemed to brighten with a series of zero-emission pledges and the election of Joe Biden as US President. This article analyses what the year of the pandemic achieved in terms of combating climate change. This article first summarizes the virtual events that were organised to substitute for the physical UNFCCC conferences and what progress was or was not made on the outstanding items of the "Paris rulebook", implementation of the Gender Action Plan, and other items. Subsequently, the article surveys the status of NDC updates and to what extent recovery programmes have been used to advance climate action. Finally, the article takes a closer look at the current dynamics among non-Party actors. In summary, while formal negotiations essentially stopped in the year of the pandemic, the conservation did not. However, implementation is still lagging far behind the ambitious targets that have been set. While implementation is mostly the domain of national policy, the international process has a number of options at its disposal to foster climate action.
As of June 2017, 150 countries have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement calls for, among other things, strong reductions in CO2 emissions by 2030 and beyond. This paper reviews the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) plans of six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and compares their current and projected future CO2 levels across sectors, and their stated targets in the context of their economic and demographic situations. This comparison reveals wide variations in the types of targets, with the "ambition" level changing as the perspective changes from total CO2 to CO2/capita and per unit gross domestic product (GDP). We also review national plans as stated in NDCs and find that while there are many types of policies listed, few are quantified and no attempts are made to score individual or groups of policies for their likelihood in achieving stated targets. We conclude that more analysis is needed to better understand the possible impacts of current policies and plans on CO2 emissions, and whether current plans are adequate to hit targets. Considerations on better aligning targets are also provided.
This report provides an overview of current activities regarding climate change mitigation in six emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. We cover the institutional set up, measurement, reporting and verification systems for greenhouse gases and mitigation policies and measures. The analysis also addresses existing barriers to mitigation and considers where the international community could provide support to remove these.
Purpose - This paper sets out to tackle the issue of climate change from a business perspective. It seeks to discuss why it is important to take climate change considerations into account in business decisions, how this can be done and what further action is required from managers and business scholars.
Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes ways of reducing emissions and adapting to climate change that can be implemented by any business. As an illustration, the proposed climate strategy of a large European utility company, RWE, is provided.
Findings - There are numerous ways to reduce emissions within business operations, along the supply chain and surrounding product usage and disposal. Climate-proofing operations is also becoming increasingly pertinent to businesses.
Research limitations/implications - New ways have to be found yet in order to take emission reductions to a more ambitious level by altering patterns of production and consumption.
Practical implications - The paper discusses how businesses can reduce their carbon footprint and anticipate changes in the physical and political environment related to climate change.
Originality/value - The paper is of value to managers who, today, are expected not only to reduce emissions from operations, but also to gain an awareness of the physical, political and social risks stemming from the impacts of climate change.
The Paris Agreement marks a milestone in international climate policy. Though, the positive appraisal was not unanimous. This article will argue that the Paris Agreement embraces a new paradigm. Climate change is no longer seen as a clear-cut environmental problem, nor as a developmental issue, but as a challenge to fundamentally transform global societies. While criticism through the lens of the former paradigms is worthwhile, the Paris Agreement should be acknowledged as a pacemaker for the transformation processes that lay ahead of us.
At the time of the Rio Conference, it had already become clear that climate change is far from being just an ecological issue; it is also an issue of equity. In particular, climate change was identified as an issue of intergenerational equity. It became ominously clear to observers that global warming, since it modifies important parameters of the ecology of the planet, such as sea levels or weather patterns, will affect the relations between present and future generations. Today's generation, by filling up the absorptive capacity of the atmosphere, lives at the expense of tomorrow's generation. At the same time, it came to the fore that the use of fossil fuels not only affects inter-generational equity, but also intra-generational equity, i.e., the relations between nations and social groups within a generation. Who will be allowed to reap the benefits from fossil fuel combustion? Who will have to carry the burden of emission abatement? Equity within a generation has at least two dimensions (Wuppertal Institute, 2005). First, it implies the fair distribution of burdens and benefits of fossil fuel use among nations. Secondly, however, it also implies the universal protection of human dignity by securing the fundamental rights of every human person to water, food, housing, and health. The article will focus on the latter dimension; it will explore the links between human rights and climate change, without, however, losing sight of the broader framework of equity in climate politics.
International climate policy is one of the most fascinating issues in foreign policy, yet in recent years it has become one of the most contentious. The failure of the conference in The Hague revealed, among other things, strongunderlying rifts in the transatlantic relationship. As the self-acclaimed worldleader, the United States is not in a position to exert leadership in this vital area owing to a mixture of constitutional constraints and an ever-growing cultural dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and gas. It therefore falls to the European Union to take up this challenge. This will require careful coalition building with the rest of the world as well as confidence in the ability of Europe to develop a united position, to stick to that position and to translate the rules of the Kyoto Protocol into stringent domestic climate policy. The climate change regime is at a crossroads. At the resumed COP-6 con-ference, the Parties must decide whether to continue the process under theassumption ‘that global problems require global solutions’ or whether to turn to the more regional concept of "think globally, act locally". In either case, steering climate policy in this century on to a successful path will require the skills and dedication not only of natural scientists and technology developers, but also of those in the foreign policy community.
This paper examines the Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA) and discusses options to improve sub- and non-state involvement in post-2020 climate governance. A framework that stimulates sub- and non-state action is a necessary complement to national governmental action, as the latter falls short of achieving low-carbon and climate-resilient development as envisaged in the Paris Agreement. Applying design principles for an ideal-type orchestration framework, we review literature and gather expert judgements to assess whether the GCAA has been collaborative, comprehensive, evaluative and catalytic. Results show that there has been greater coordination among orchestrators, for instance in the organization of events. However, mobilization efforts remain event-driven and too little effort is invested in understanding the progress of sub- and non-state action. Data collection has improved, although more sophisticated indicators are needed to evaluate climate and sustainable development impacts. Finally, the GCAA has recorded more action, but relatively little by actors in developing countries. As the world seeks to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and enters a new decade of climate action, the GCAA could make a vital contribution in challenging times by helping governments keep and enhance climate commitments; strengthening capacity for sub- and non-state action; enabling accountability; and realizing sustainable development.
Cleaning up the CDM
(2010)
Cleaner vehicles
(2016)
This review of sources has assessed existing evidence for economic benefits arising from innovations or interventions that aim to improve the environmental performance of vehicles - such as enhancements to engine and vehicle technologies or improved fuels. It is designed to support cities in their decision making and measure selection process. The article is one of 22 reviews published in this volume.
City-wide programmes of activities : an option for significant emission reductions in cities?
(2012)
There is a growing body of scientific evidence supporting sufficiency as an inevitable strategy for mitigating climate change. Despite this, sufficiency plays a minor role in existing climate and energy policies. Following previous work on the National Energy and Climate Plans of EU countries, we conduct a similar content analysis of the recommendations made by citizen assemblies on climate change mitigation in ten European countries and the EU, and compare the results of these studies. Citizen assemblies are representative mini-publics and enjoy a high level of legitimacy.
We identify a total of 860 mitigation policy recommendations in the citizen assemblies' documents, of which 332 (39 %) include sufficiency. Most of the sufficiency policies relate to the mobility sector, the least relate to the buildings sector. Regulatory instruments are the most often proposed means for achieving sufficiency, followed by fiscal and economic instruments. The average approval rate of sufficiency policies is high (93 %), with the highest rates for regulatory policies.
Compared to National Energy and Climate Plans, the citizen assembly recommendations include a significantly higher share of sufficiency policies (factor three to six) with a stronger focus on regulatory policies. Consequently, the recommendations can be interpreted as a call for a sufficiency turn and a regulatory turn in climate mitigation politics. These results suggest that the observed lack of sufficiency in climate policy making is not due to a lack of legitimacy, but rather reflects a reluctance to implement sufficiency policies, the constitution of the policy making process and competing interests.
The transformation of cities towards sustainable and inclusive development is a key objective of the New Urban Agenda (United Nations 2017). Transport infrastructure is a critical factor in shaping cities, determining the energy intensity of mobility and providing access to essential social and economic opportunities. The sector also plays an important role in global climate change mitigation strategies, as it currently accounts for about 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC 2014).
There is substantial potential to improve urban access, air quality, safety and the quality of life in cities along with reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions if an integrated policy approach is applied that combines all intervention areas for transport policy and involves all levels of government. A package that achieves low-carbon transport and fosters sustainable developed includes avoided journeys through compact urban design and shifts to more efficient modes of transport, uptake of improved vehicle and engine performance technologies, low-carbon fuels, investments in related infrastructure, and changes in the built environment. From a governance perspective, all relevant political institutions at the local and national level need to be involved in the coalition building along with key societal actors, such as unions, industry and civil society organisations. Bringing the policy objectives of these actors together with an integrated policy package is a vital step towards a low-carbon, sustainable mobility system.
Policy design and governance are critically interlinked as the ability of institutions to find a political consensus and to maintain policy stability heavily influences the success of measures to shape the transformation pathway towards sustainable mobility. This thesis aims to analyse these linkages and highlight the role of different policy and governance approaches. This analysis builds on transport and urban development research, but takes a transdisciplinary research perspective, building on the Multi-Level-Perspective on sustainability transitions (Geels 2002) and aims to highlight the potential for a consensus oriented policy approach (Lijphard 1999) that builds on co-benefits among key policy objectives and coalitions among key political actors, which leads to the main question for this thesis and the focus areas for the analysis.
Cities as "real world laboratories" for system innovations : theories, models and empirical designs
(2012)
The construction sector is the second largest area for the application for plastics. Due to the long life times of construction products, the implementation of the circular economy faces its own challenges. To investigate this challenge, the study covers a market study for Germany, voluntary take-back and recycling schemes of construction products, as well as the use of plastic recyclates in construction products. In addition, plastic packaging of construction products is covered. Opportunities and barriers to the use of recycled plastics in construction products are derived from the intersection of available technologies, recyclate supply, and technical requirements for construction products. The report concludes with recommendations to various stakeholders on how to promote the use of recyclates in construction products and their packaging. Important points here are the introduction of a recyclate quota for films as construction product packaging and the description of recycling possibilities and recyclate content in the technical documentation of construction products.
The rising popularity and strong increase in the number of electric bicycles make it necessary to consider the built-in resources as well as possible treatments after the use phase. The time lag between the purchase and the occurrence of relevant defects suggests significant increases in defective components. Especially the great dynamics of the market due to regular innovations, product renewals, and the lack of spare parts availability for older models make the long-term use by customers much more difficult than for conventional bicycles. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze circular business models for the electric bicycle market. In this way, the required structures for a sustainable electric bicycle industry can be created so that valuable materials do not go into disposal but undergo a new use phase. Based on the results of "AddRE-Mo-Value Preservation Scenarios for Urban Electromobility of Persons and Loads through Additive Manufacturing and Remanufacturing," a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, this paper addresses four circular business models, two sales models, and two service models. The guiding research interest of this paper is the combination of remanufacturing and additive manufacturing from a business model perspective, analyzing the extent to which additive remanufacturing can be considered a solution for electric bicycles' circularity. After describing the approach and methods used to develop these four circular business models the business models are described and analyzed using the Business Model Canvas. Based on this analysis, it is shown that the combination of remanufacturing and additive manufacturing can be applied to the electric bicycle market and be integrated into both sales and service models. The description of these business models will help managers design viable business models in the context of sustainable electric bicycles. It also shows that the individual partners within the value chain must collaborate more closely. In the electric bicycle industry, a single company will probably not be able to close the product cycle completely. Further research is needed to develop concepts of the business models and examine their practical feasibility in technical and organizational operations to achieve a circular economy.
China and climate change
(1997)
Real-world laboratories (RwLs) often put researchers in highly demanding research contexts regarding their roles and self-conceptions. Helpful roles of researchers have been described but still little is known about the factors influencing the adoption of certain roles. Using data from three parallel RwLs in Wuppertal, Germany, we found four roles of researchers: the reflective scientist, the facilitator, the change agent and the (self-)reflexive scientist. We sequenced the RwLs into situations and analysed them by RwL process steps and conditions, considering the roles of researchers as outcomes. Although the conditions convey only limited explanatory power, there was a consistent picture that being pressured to carry out real-world action, having a practice partner with fewer resources and working without a functional project group is (in conjunction) sufficient to cause the researcher to partake in activities beyond conventional research. Process steps played a minor role. Our research on factors influencing the adoption of roles may help RwL researchers to perform their roles as intended.
As illustrated by the case studies of end-of-life vehicles and waste electric and electronic equipment, the approach of an extended producer responsibility is undermined by the exports of used and waste products. This fact causes severe deficits regarding circular flows, especially of critical raw materials such as platinum group metals. With regard to global recycling there seems to be a responsibility gap which leads somehow to open ends of waste flows and a loss or down-cycling of potential secondary resources. Existing product-orientated extended producer responsibility (EPR) approaches with mass-based recycling quotas do not create adequate incentives to supply waste materials containing precious metals to a high-quality recycling and should be amended by aspects of a material stewardship. The paper analyses incentive effects on EPR for the mentioned product groups and metals, resulting from existing regulations in Germany. It develops a proposal for an international covenant on metal recycling as a policy instrument for a governance-oriented framework to initiate systemic innovations along the complete value chain taking into account product group- and resource group-specific aspects on different spatial levels. It aims at the effective implementation of a central idea of EPR, the transition of a waste regime still focusing on safe disposal towards a sustainable management of resources for the complete lifecycle of products.
Due to significant success in technology development and cost reductions, the electricity system is now widely perceived as the part of the energy system to be first in decarbonisation. This means a double challenge for the system: Firstly, it will undergo significant change due to rapidly increasing shares of fluctuating renewable generation; Secondly, there will be an expansion of electricity into other fields of the energy system such as heat generation and transport.
Today more than 45 % of all energy-related CO2 emissions come from burning coal. Thus, reducing CO2 emissions from coal use is a necessity for reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement. This will not only pose challenges for coal consumers (restructuring of the energy system), but also for countries whose economy is strongly depending on the production of coal. This paper examines the role of coal in three countries, which are or were in recent years among the top coal exporters: Indonesia, Colombia and Vietnam. Understanding challenges and possible transition pathways in these countries will help to develop global strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from coal in the short to mid-term.
Causal strands for social bonds : a case study on the credibility of claims from impact reporting
(2022)
The study investigates if causal claims based on a theory-of-change approach for impact reporting are credible. The authors use their most recent impact report for a Social Bond to show how theory-based logic models can be used to map the sustainability claims of issuers to quantifiable indicators. A single project family (homeownership loans) is then used as a case study to test the underlying hypotheses of the sustainability claims. By applying Bayes Theorem, evidence for and against the claims is weighted to calculate the degree to which the belief in the claims is warranted. The authors found that only one out of three claims describe a probable cause–effect chain for social benefits from the loans. The other two claims either require more primary data to be corroborated or should be re-defined to link the intervention more closely and robustly with the overarching societal goals. However, all previous reported indicators are below the thresholds of the most conservative estimates for fractions of beneficiaries in the paper at hand. We conclude that the combination of a Theory-of-Change with a Bayesian Analysis is an effective way to test the plausibility of sustainability claims and to mitigate biases. Nevertheless, the method is - in the presented form - also too elaborate and time-consuming for impact reporting in the sustainable finance market.
On the one hand, a large number of companies have committed to achieve net zero emissions and many of them foresee to offset some remaining emissions with carbon credits, suggesting a surge of future demand. Yet, the supply side of the voluntary carbon market is struggling to align its business model with the new legal architecture of the Paris Agreement. This article juxtaposes these two perspectives. It provides an overview of the plans of 482 major companies with some form of neutrality/net zero pledge and traces the struggle on the supply side of the voluntary carbon market to come up with a viable business model that ensures environmental integrity and contributes to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Our analysis finds that if carbon credits are used to offset remaining emissions against neutrality objectives, these credits need to be accounted against the host countries' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to ensure environmental integrity. Yet, operationalizing this approach is challenging and will require innovative solutions and political support.
Key policy insights:
There is a growing mismatch between the faith placed in carbon credits by private sector companies and the continued quest for a common position of the main suppliers of the voluntary carbon market.
The voluntary carbon market has not yet found a way to align itself with the new legal architecture of the Paris Agreement in a credible and legitimate way.
Public policy support at the national and international level will be needed to operationalize a robust approach for the market’s future activities.