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The economic assessment of low-carbon energy options is the primary step towards the design of policy portfolios to foster the green energy economy. However, today these assessments often fall short of including important determinants of the overall cost-benefit balance of such options by not including indirect costs and benefits, even though these can be game-changing. This is often due to the lack of adequate methodologies.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive account of the key methodological challenges to the assessment of the multiple impacts of energy options, and an initial menu of potential solutions to address these challenges.
The paper first provides evidence for the importance of the multiple impacts of energy actions in the assessment of low-carbon options.
The paper identifies a few key challenges to the evaluation of the co-impacts of low-carbon options and demonstrates that these are more complex for co-impacts than for the direct ones. Such challenges include several layers of additionality, high context dependency, and accounting for distributional effects.
The paper continues by identifying the key challenges to the aggregation of multiple impacts including the risks of overcounting while taking into account the multitude of interactions among the various co-impacts. The paper proposes an analytical framework that can help address these and frame a systematic assessment of the multiple impacts.
In this paper three approaches on transitions pathways are combined to study the role of agricultural nature conservation in the Dutch land use domain for achieving internationally agreed climate and biodiversity targets. The three perspectives used are the Multilevel Perspective (MLP), Initiative Based Learning (IBL) and Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM). The analysis provides insights in how the combination of different research approaches can lead to more comprehensive policy advice on how agricultural nature conservation could help to achieve internationally agreed sustainability goals related to climate change and biodiversity. IAM shows under which conditions agricultural nature conservation could be consistent with European and global long-term goals regarding food security, biodiversity and climate. MLP provides insight into the extent in which agricultural nature conservation has affected or changed the existing nature and agricultural regimes. IBL, finally, reveals the challenges of encouraging agricultural nature conservation with policy measures. Our analysis shows that a combined perspective provides a deeper understanding of the underlying processes, reasons and motives of agricultural nature conservation, leading to more comprehensive policy recommendations.
Das Fortschreiten des Klimawandels und die Schädigung der Ökosysteme machen deutlich, dass die seit Jahrzehnten international geforderte nachhaltige Entwicklung zu den wichtigsten Herausforderungen gehören.
Um die von den Vereinten Nationen in der Agenda 2030 festgeschriebenen Nachhaltigkeitsziele, den sogenannten Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), zu erreichen, sind alle relevanten Akteurinnen und Akteure - die Politik, die Wirtschaft sowie jede und jeder Einzelne - gefragt.
Eine nachhaltige Entwicklung, die zugleich Umweltschonung, stabile wirtschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung sowie soziale Gerechtigkeit berücksichtigt, beruht damit auf der Kompetenz oder auch der "Literacy" der Einzelnen, für sich und im Kollektiv nachhaltiges Handeln auszuüben und im gegenseitigen Miteinander fördern zu können. Doch welche Fähigkeiten sind notwendig, um nachhaltig Handeln zu können? Welche Fähigkeiten brauchen insbesondere Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten, um ihre Produktions- und Konsummuster nachhaltiger (mit-)gestalten zu können?
Antworten darauf liefert die "Literacy für nachhaltigen Konsum", die in dem vorliegenden Diskussionspapier entwickelt und vorgestellt wird.
Der Gebäudebereich steht nicht nur aufgrund seiner Umweltwirkungen vor großen Herausforderungen. Bei der Einhaltung der Klima- und Nachhaltigkeitsziele spielen auch die mit langen Lebens- und Nutzungsdauern von Gebäuden einhergehenden Investitionszyklen eine entscheidende Rolle. Politische und planerische Maßnahmen werden bislang hauptsächlich im Rahmen von Effizienz- und Konsistenzstrategien entwickelt und umgesetzt, um Umweltwirkungen zu minimieren. Die Suffizienzstrategie erfährt im Vergleich dazu eine deutlich geringere Aufmerksamkeit. Ziel dieses Vorhabens ist es deshalb, Suffizienz für den Gebäudebereich zu definieren, geeignete technische und organisatorische Ansätze zu ihrer Unterstützung zu identifizieren sowie Vorschläge zu ihrer Verankerung in politischen und rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen und Instrumenten zu erarbeiten und exemplarisch darzustellen.
Practices and research on measuring traditionally urban sustainability abound, therefore the challenge now is related to how the urban carbon issues are included into current measuring methods, thus there is a need to develop methods for measuring urban low-carbon sustainability. In this paper, a simple method, which is based on low-carbon sustainability index, is developed. The overall urban low-carbon sustainability index is the weighted sum of 11 single indices, and each single index is defined as the indicator assessing the development level against the baseline. The baseline is often the criteria or the minimum requirement of low-carbon sustainability. Case studies in four Chinese cities have put this method into practice, and the results show that all four selected cities fail to pass the testing of sensible low-carbon sustainability rule and they are all in weakly low-carbon sustainable development. Although the four cities have made great progress in their capacity building on pollution control and their capacities on wastewater treatment, main pollutants' removal and household and hazardous wastes treatment are enough to meet the needs of local development, they are all facing the great challenges on using of sustainable energy, offsetting of CO2 emissions and adoptions of nature-based solutions. The method developed by this research is a useful tool for decision makers identifying whether the local development is not on a low-carbon sustainable path.
Energy service companies (ESCOs) play crucial role in building energy efficiency retrofit sector. However limited access to green financing has prevented ESCOs in their expansions in China. This paper, based on a survey of 469 samples and on-site visiting to and interviewing relevant 50 actors of ESCOs, financial institutions and local housing authorities, identifies main barriers of accessing to green financing at both systemic policy level and operational meso and micro level in China, and analyzes good practices at local level that overcome the barriers. The paper concludes that, although there are barriers existing at the policy level in China, substantial attentions and priorities should be given to take actions for overcoming the barriers existed at the operational meso and micro level. The paper suggests that the good practices of capacity building for ESCOs and local financial sector, intensifying participation of intermediate organizations or facilitators and diversifying financial sources and funding mechanisms and models that emerge from the local level should be disseminated in China.
Creating statistics for China's building energy consumption using an adapted energy balance sheet
(2019)
China's regular energy statistics does not include the building sector, and data on building energy demand is included in other types of energy consumption in the Energy Balance Sheet (EBS). Therefore data on building energy demand is not collected based on statistics, but rather calculated or estimated by various approaches in China. This study aims at developing and testing China's building energy statistics by applying an adapted EBS. The advantage of the adapted EBS is that statistical data is from the regular statistical system and no additional statistical efforts are needed. The research result shows that the adapted EBS can be included in China regular energy statistical system and can be standardized in a transparent way. Testing of the adapted EBS shows that China's building energy demand has shown an annual increase of 7.6% since 2001, and a lower contribution to the total energy demand as compared to the developed world. There is also a close link to lifestyle and living standard while industrial energy demand is mainly driven by economy and decoupling of building energy demand with increasing of building floor area, this is due to a considerable improvement of building energy efficiency. The adapted EBS creates a method for China conducting statistics of building energy consumption at the sector level in a uniform way and serves as the basis for any sound building energy efficiency policy decisions.
In recent years, most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, have rolled out national policies with the goal of decarbonising their economies. Energy policy goals in these countries have been characterised by expanding the deployment of renewable energy technologies in the electricity mix in the medium term (i.e., until 2030). This tacitly signals a transformation of socio-technical systems by 2030 and beyond. Nevertheless, how these policy objectives actually translate into future scenarios that can also take into account a long-term perspective up to 2050 and correspond to local preferences remains largely understudied. This paper aims to fill this gap by identifying the most widely preferred long-term electricity scenarios for Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. During a series of two-day workshops (one in each country), the research team, along with local stakeholders, adopted a participatory approach to develop multiple 2050 electricity scenarios, which enabled electricity pathways to be modelled using Renewable Energy Pathway Simulation System GIS (renpassG!S). We subsequently used the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) within a Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) to capture local preferences. The empirical findings show that local stakeholders in all three countries preferred electricity scenarios mainly or even exclusively based on renewables. The findings demonstrate a clear preference for renewable energies and show that useful insights can be generated using participatory approaches to energy planning.
Energy sufficiency is one of the three energy sustainability strategies, next to energy efficiency and renewable energies. We analyse to what extent European governments follow this strategy, by conducting a systematic document analysis of all available European National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTSs). We collect and categorise a total of 230 sufficiency-related policy measures, finding large differences between countries. We find most sufficiency policies in the transport sector, when classifying also modal shift policies to change the service quality of transport as sufficiency policies. Types of sufficiency policy instruments vary considerably from sector to sector, for instance the focus on financial incentives and fiscal instruments in the mobility sector, information in the building sector, and financial incentive/tax instruments in cross-sectoral application. Regulatory instruments currently play a minor role for sufficiency policy in the national energy and climate plans of EU member states. Similar to energy efficiency in recent decades, sufficiency still largely referred to as micro-level individual behaviour change or necessary exogenous trends that will need to take place. It is not treated yet as a genuine field of policy action to provide the necessary framework for enabling societal change.
On the pathway to climate neutrality, EU member states are obliged to submit national energy and climate plans (NECPs) with planned policies and measures for decarbonization until 2030 and long-term strategies (LTSs) for further decarbonization until 2050. We analysed the 27 NECPs and 15 LTSs submitted by October 2020 using an interrater method. This paper focuses on energy sufficiency policies and measures in the transport sector.
We found a total of 236 sufficiency policy measures with more than half of them (53 %) in the transport/mobility sector. Additionally, we found 41 measures that address two or more sectors (cross-sectoral measures). From the explicit sufficiency measures within the transport sector, 82 % aim at modal shift. A reduction of transport volumes is much less addressed. Countries plan to use mainly fiscal and economic instruments. Those are in many cases investments in infrastructure of low-carbon transport modes and taxation instruments. Plans on decarbonisation measures are also frequently mentioned. The majority of cross-sectoral measures are carbon taxes or tax reforms, also economic instruments.
On the one hand it is encouraging that Member States strongly emphasize the transport sector in their NECPs and LTSs - at least quantitatively and concerning sufficiency measures - because this sector has been the worst-performing in climate mitigation so far. On the other hand, the measures described seem not sufficient to reach ambitious climate targets, and we doubt that the presented set of policy instruments will get the transport sector on track to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the necessary extent.
Impact chains are used in many different fields of research to depict the various impacts of an activity and to visualize the system in which this activity is embedded. Research has not yet conceptualized impact chains specifically for energy sufficiency policies. We develop such a concept based on current evaluation approaches and extend these by adding qualitative elements such as success factors and barriers. Furthermore, we offer two case studies in which we test this concept with the responsible climate action managers. We also describe options for integrating these impact chains into different types of energy models, which are key tools in policy consulting.
Energy Efficiency First (EEF) is an established principle for European Union (EU) energy policy design. It highlights the exploitation of demand-side resources and prioritizes cost-effective options from the demand-side over other options from a societal cost-benefit perspective. However, the involvement of multiple decision-makers makes it difficult to implement. Therefore, we propose a flexible decision-tree framework for applying the EEF principle based on a review of relevant areas and examples. In summary, this paper contributes to applying the EEF principle by defining and distinguishing different types of cases - (1) policy-making, and (2) system planning and investment - identifying the most common elements, and proposing a decision-tree framework that can be flexibly constructed based on the elements for different cases. Finally, we exemplify the application of this framework with two example cases: (1) planning for demand-response in the power sector, and (2) planning for a district heating system.
Nigeria is Africa's largest economy and home to approximately 10% of the un-electrified population of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2017, 77 million Nigerians or 40% of the population had no access to affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity. In practice, diesel- and petrol-fuelled back-up generators supply the vast majority of electricity in the country. In Nigeria's nationally-determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, over 60% of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reductions are foreseen in the power sector. The goal of this study is to identify and critically examine the pathways available to Nigeria to meet its 2030 electricity access, renewables and decarbonization goals in the power sector. Using published data and stakeholder interviews, we build three potential scenarios for electrification and growth in demand, generation and transmission capacity. The demand assumptions incorporate existing knowledge on pathways for electrification via grid extension, mini-grids and solar home systems (SHS). The supply assumptions are built upon an evaluation of the investment pipeline for generation and transmission capacity, and possible scale-up rates up to 2030. The results reveal that, in the most ambitious Green Transition scenario, Nigeria meets its electricity access goals, whereby those connected to the grid achieve a Tier 3 level of access, and those served by sustainable off-grid solutions (mini-grids and SHS) achieve Tier 2. Decarbonization pledges would be surpassed in all three scenarios but renewable energy goals would only be partly met. Fossil fuel-based back-up generation continues to play a substantial role in all scenarios. The implications and critical uncertainties of these findings are extensively discussed.
Implementation of nationally determined contributions : Islamic Republic of Iran country report
(2018)
The study analyses the country background, emissions trends, ongoing activities and barriers relating to the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the UNFCCC. A special emphasis is laid on further mitigation potentials in the fields of demand-side efficiency through energy-price reform, upstream oil and gas efficiency (with an emphasis on gas flaring) and a sustainable energy mix (with an emphasis on renewable energies).
It is now widely recognized that effective communication and demand-side policies for alternative energy require sound knowledge of preferences and determinants of demand of the public and consumers. To date, public attitudes towards new transport technologies have been studied under very different conceptual frameworks. This paper gives an overview of the various conceptual frameworks and methodologies used, where four main approaches can be distinguished: general attitudinal surveys, risk perception studies, non-market economic valuation studies, and other approaches such as those based on semiotic theory. We then review the findings of the recent literature on acceptance, attitudes and preferences for hydrogen and fuelcell end-use technologies, focusing on vehicles. These studies are then contrasted with related research into alternative fuel vehicles. The paper finally discusses the main trends in research and avenues for further work in this field. We recommend, among other things, the use of approaches that build knowledge and familiarity with the technology prior to the exploration of attitudes, and the set up of studies that take a whole-systems perspective of hydrogen technologies and that look at hydrogen in the context of other competing clean technologies.
In recent decades, better data and methods have become available for understanding the complex functioning of cities and their impacts on sustainability. This review synthesizes 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 emissions and energy use to cities and a reemergence of studies that focus on the direct and indirect material and resource flows in cities. The methodological approaches reviewed may consider cities as either producers or consumers, and all recognize that urban environmental impacts can be local, regional, or global. As well as giving an overview of the methodological debates, we examine the implications of the different approaches for policy and the challenges these approaches face in their application on the field.
The industry sector accounted for just over 30% of global GHG emissions in 2010 and scenarios envisage a continuing rise in demand for energy-intensive materials. This article sums up the most recent international analysis (IPCC, IEA, UNIDO, Global Energy Assessment) to give a broad view of the current prospects for reducing GHG emissions in industry. It does so from a global perspective, complementing where necessary where regional and sector-specific case studies. The article addresses the portfolio of options available, their technical and economic potentials, the experience in the use of policy instruments in industry, the synergies and tradeoffs that mitigation in the industry sector can have with other policy objectives, and the specific concerns of developing countries. Long-term decarbonisation pathways for the sector are also presented.
The cost of power is usually calculated by focusing only on the power plant - equipment, operating cost, maintenance and fuel. However, the true cost of generating power goes beyond that, and includes costs that society has to pay for, such as air and water pollution, displacement of communities and the effects of climate change caused by carbon emissions from the power plants. This report by energy researcher Maria Yetano Roche uses well established international methods to identify the true Nigerian cost of each energy source.
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.
Nigeria is Africa's top cement producer and could be on course to be one of the top producers globally. The goal of this study is to identify and critically examine the pathways available to Nigeria to meet its decarbonisation goals in the cement sector. Based on a literature review, the study assesses demand drivers and decarbonisation potentials for the sector. It then presents two different quantitative pathways for growth in production of cement by 2050, and three different pathways for decarbonisation of the sector. Using published data and a scenario analysis tool, the study calculates how the sector's emissions might evolve under each of these pathways. The results indicate that, in the most ambitious scenario, emissions from the sector can plateau by the late 2030s, resulting in an overall increase of 21% by 2050 (compared to 2015 levels). Achieving this scenario is necessary in order to put the sector on a path to net zero emissions beyond 2050. The scenario is driven by reductions in both energy-related and process emissions, as well as a small share of carbon capture and storage and demand management. A moderately ambitious scenario that relies mostly on savings on energy-related emissions results in an 84% increase in emissions by 2050. Finally, the Business-as-Usual scenario results in an almost tripling of emissions by 2050. The results indicate a strong potential for policies to drive improvements in energy efficiency and clinker-to-cement ratio. Critical areas of uncertainty within the assumptions include the production rates (including the evolution of the export market) and the fuel mix.
Research on environmental behaviour is often overlooked in literature on regime destabilization in energy transitions. This study addresses that gap by focusing on socio-political and demographic factors shaping support for carbon regime destabilization policies in one of the most carbon-intensive regions of Europe. Carbon-intensive industries, especially coal mining and coal-based power generation, are often concentrated in a few carbon-intensive regions. Therefore, decarbonization actions will affect those regions particularly strongly. Correspondingly, carbon-intensive regions often exert significant political influence on the two climate mitigation policies at the national level. Focusing on Poland, we investigate socio-political and demographic factors that correlate with the approval or rejection of the two climate mitigation policies: increasing taxes on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal and using public money to subsidize renewable energy such as wind and solar power in Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region. Using logistic regression with individual-level data derived from the 2016 European Social Survey (ESS) and the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), we find party-political ideology to be an important predictor at the national level but much less so at the regional level. Specifically, voting for right-wing party is not a divisive factor for individual support of the two climate mitigation policies either nationally or regionally. More interestingly, populism is a strong factor in support of increasing taxes on fossil fuel in the carbon-intensive Silesia region but is less important concerning in support of using public money to subsidize renewable energy in Poland overall. These results show the heterogeneity of right-wing party and populism within the support for the two climate mitigation policies. Socio-demographic factors, especially age, gender, education level, employment status, and employment sector, have even more complex and heterogeneous components in support of the two climate mitigation policies at the national and regional levels. Identifying the complex socio-political and demographic factors of climate mitigation policies across different national versus carbon-intensive regional contexts is an essential step for generating in situ decarbonization strategies.
In Germany, the number of renewable energy prosumers has increased rapidly since 2000. However, the development of prosumers has faced and will continue to face various economic, social, and technological challenges, which have triggered the emergence of a number of innovative business models (BM). This paper enriches the empirical basis for prosumer-oriented BMs by investigating two BM innovations in Germany (P2P electricity trading and aggregation of small-size prosumers) drawing on business model and socio-technical transition theories. A mix of qualitative data collection methods, including document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews, was applied. We found that while both BMs can potentially address the challenges associated with renewable energy prosumer development in Germany, small-scale prosumers’ participation in both BMs has been limited so far. We identified various internal and external drivers and barriers for scaling up these BMs for prosumer development in Germany. Despite these barriers, both aggregation and centralized P2P targeting prosumers may potentially be also taken up by incumbent market actors such as utilities. Decentralized P2P on the other hand still faces significant internal and external barriers for upscaling. Based on the analysis, the paper provides policy recommendations with respect to the identified drivers and barriers. From a theoretical perspective, our findings provide further evidence to challenge the dichotomous understanding of niche actors and incumbents, the latter of which are often theorized to be resistant to radical innovations.
In the past few decades, geochemically scarce metals have
become increasingly relevant for emerging technologies in
domains such as energy supply and storage, information and
communication, lighting or transportation, which are regarded as
cornerstones in the transition towards a sustainable post-fossil
society. Accordingly, the supply risks of scarce metals and possible
interventions towards their more sustainable use have been
subject to an intense debate in recent studies. In this article, we
integrate proposed intervention options into a generic life cycle
framework, taking into account issues related to knowledge
provision and to the institutional setting. As a result, we obtain
a landscape of intervention fields that will have to be further
specified to more specific intervention profiles for scarce metals
or metals families. The envisioned profiles are expected to have
the potential to reduce action contingency and to contribute to
meeting the sustainability claims often associated with emerging
technol ogies.
Im Zeitalter der Machine Economy ist der maschinelle Dialog allgegenwärtig - das bietet neue Chancen für Nachhaltigkeit, erhöht gleichzeitig aber durch die zugrundeliegenden Technologien auch den Druck auf unsere Umwelt. Internet of Things (IoT), Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) und Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) sind das technologische Fundament der Machine Economy. Damit verbunden sind Infrastrukturen, Datenströme und Anwendungen, die hohe Energie- sowie Ressourcenaufwände erzeugen. Der derzeitige politische Diskurs sowie die Nachhaltigkeitsforschung fokussieren sich auf Umweltwirkungen durch digitale Infrastrukturen. Daten, Applikationen sowie die Rolle von Akteuren als Treiber der Umweltwirkung werden zu wenig beleuchtet. In diesem Papier sprechen sich die Autorinnen und Autoren für eine "Grüne Governance der Machine Economy" aus. Adressiert werden Annahmen zu systemübergreifenden Treibern von Umweltbelastungen und ihrer Wirkung. Ziel ist es, ein Gesamtsystem nachhaltiger Entscheidungen und ein ökologisches Zusammenspiel aller beteiligten Technologien in der Wertschöpfung zu ermöglichen. Zukünftige Forschung soll die hier vorgestellten Hypothesen weiter ausarbeiten und konkrete Handlungsoptionen für eine Stakeholder übergreifende Roadmap erarbeiten.
CICERONE aims to bring national, regional and local governments together to jointly tackle the circular economy transition needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions and meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement and EU Green Deal. This document represents one of the key outcomes of the project: a Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Europe, to support owners and funders of circular economy programmes in aligning priorities and approaching the circular economy transition in a systemic way.
Measuring progress towards sustainable development requires appropriate frameworks and databases. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) is undergoing continuous refinement with these objectives in mind. In SEEA, there is a need for databases to encompass the global dimension of societal metabolism. In this paper, we focus on the latest effort to construct a global multi-regional input-output database (EXIOBASE) with a focus on environmentally relevant activities. The database and its broader analytical framework allows for the as yet most detailed insight into the production-related impacts and "footprints" of our consumption. We explore the methods used to arrive at the database, and some key relationships extracted from the database.
Im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts "Wirtschaftsförderung 4.0" leistet die vorliegende Arbeit einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der systematischen Stärkung zivilgesellschaftlicher Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen. Das Ziel der Analyse besteht darin, Ansatzpunkte möglicher Unterstützungsmaßnahmen aufzuzeigen, die im Zuge kommunaler Wirtschaftsförderung aufgegriffen werden können.
Zur Erarbeitung wurden zunächst mithilfe theoretischer Grundlagen aus der Transition- und Diffusionsforschung zentrale Einflussfaktoren zusammengetragen, die förderlich oder hemmend auf transformative Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen wirken können. Mit dem Ziel, kontextangepasste Maßnahmen zu entwickeln, wurden die literaturbasierten Faktoren anschließend in einer qualitativen Befragung mit einer Praxisperspektive verglichen und ergänzt: Mittels leitfadengestützter Experteninterviews mit nachhaltigkeitsorientierten Initiativen in der Region Osnabrück wurden kommunale Gegebenheiten sowie die jeweiligen Erfolgsfaktoren, Herausforderungen und Bedarfe der Graswurzelinitiativen erfasst.
Im Ergebnis zeigen sich sieben übergreifende Bedarfsfelder, die vor allem aus der empirischen Erhebung abgeleitet wurden. Aus ihnen wurden Handlungsempfehlungen und Ansatzpunkte kommunaler Unterstützung erarbeitet und diskutiert.
After two weeks of negotiations, climate diplomats completed the implementation of the Protocol, refined some of its instruments for implementation and agreed on processes for moving forward beyond the first Kyoto commitment period. The report by the Wuppertal Institute provides an overview and assessment of the agreements reached in Montreal.
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.
Der Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) des Kyoto-Protokolls hat eine zweifache Zielsetzung. Erstens soll damit den Industrieländern erlaubt werden, in emissionssparende Projekte in Entwicklungsländern zu investieren und sich die so erzielte Emissionsreduktion auf ihre Kyoto-Ziele anzurechnen. Denn dort sind Emissionsreduktionen oft kostengünstiger zu erzielen als in Industrieländern. Zweitens sollen die CDM-Projekte zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung der Gastgeberländer beitragen. Inzwischen sind weltweit über 2.000 CDM-Projekte genehmigt und weitere Tausende sind beantragt. Der Mechanismus hat damit eine Dimension erreicht, in der er wesentliche Wirkungen auslösen kann - zum Positiven oder zum Negativen. Laut Kyoto-Protokoll sind die beiden oben genannten Ziele gleichrangig. Es wird jedoch nur der Aspekt der erzielten Emissionsreduktionen durch ein internationales Verfahren reguliert und überwacht. Die Entscheidung, ob ein Projekt zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung beiträgt, obliegt allein den Gastgeberländern, die bisher jegliche Vorschläge, auch für diese Frage ein internationales Verfahren einzurichten, abgelehnt hatten. Jedes Entwicklungsland hat daher ganz eigene Kriterien für die Bewertung der Nachhaltigkeit seiner Projekte entwickelt, doch meist ohne die erforderlichen Kapazitäten, um Projekte wirklich zu prüfen.
Die hier vorgestellte Diplomarbeit von Bea Wittger untersucht diese Problematik am Beispiel Brasilien. Brasilien beheimatet weltweit die drittmeisten CDM-Projekte und hat den Ruf, ein besonders gründliches Genehmigungsverfahren durchzuführen. Doch auch in der brasilianischen Zivilgesellschaft wird teils harsche Kritik am CDM geübt. Die Diplomarbeit wurde an der Universität zu Köln vorgelegt und von Wolfgang Sterk betreut. Sie nimmt eine detaillierte Analyse der brasilianischen Genehmigungsverfahren und -praxis vor, erstens anhand ihrer inhärenten Konsistenz und Stringenz und zweitens anhand von zwei Projektbeispielen.
Die Akzeptanz von grünem Wasserstoff in Nordrhein-Westfalen : Status quo und Handlungsempfehlungen
(2023)
Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) ist Heimat energieintensiver Industrien wie der Stahl- und Chemieindustrie. Künftig wird grüner Wasserstoff notwendig sein, damit die Industrie in NRW Klimaneutralität erreichen kann. Die Herausforderungen hierbei sind jedoch vielfältig - auch wenn die Akzeptanz für grünen Wasserstoff sowohl in der Gesellschaft als auch bei unmittelbar beteiligten Akteursgruppen hoch ist. Die Autor*innen fassen in diesem In Brief die Ergebnisse von zwei durchgeführten Akzeptanzstudien zu grünem Wasserstoff in NRW zusammen und diskutieren, welche Handlungsempfehlungen sich daraus ergeben.
Akzeptanz von industriellem CCS in Nordrhein-Westfalen : Empfehlungen für Politik und Industrie
(2023)
Für die Landesregierung Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) ist die industriell genutzte Kohlenstoffabscheidung und -speicherung (engl. industrial carbon capture and storage, kurz iCCS) ein zentraler Baustein für den Übergang zu einer klimaneutralen Industrie bis 2045. Dafür braucht es aber eine breite gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz - zumal Pläne zur CO2-Abscheidung bei Kohlekraftwerken vor über zehn Jahren schon einmal an mangelnder gesellschaftlicher Akzeptanz gescheitert sind. In diesem In Brief haben die Autor*innen die Ergebnisse von zwei durchgeführten Akzeptanzstudien zu iCCS in NRW zusammengefasst und diskutieren, welche Handlungsempfehlungen sich daraus ergeben.
To limit global warming, the use of carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS) is considered to be of major importance. In addition to the technical-economic, ecological and political aspects, the question of social acceptance is a decisive factor for the implementation of such low-carbon technologies. This study is the first literature review addressing the acceptance of industrial CCS (iCCS). In contrast to electricity generation, the technical options for large-scale reduction of CO2 emissions in the energy-intensive industry sector are not sufficient to achieve the targeted GHG neutrality in the industrial sector without the use of CCS. Therefore, it will be crucial to determine which factors influence the acceptance of iCCS and how these findings can be used for policy and industry decision-making processes. The results show that there has been limited research on the acceptance of iCCS. In addition, the study highlights some important differences between the acceptance of iCCS and CCS. Due to the technical diversity of future iCCS applications, future acceptance research must be able to better address the complexity of the research subject.
The basic materials industries are a cornerstone of Europe's economic prosperity, increasing gross value added and providing around 2 million high-quality jobs. But they are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite efficiency improvements, emissions from these industries were mostly constant for several years prior to the Covid-19 crisis and today account for 20 per cent of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions.
A central question is therefore: How can the basic material industries in the EU become climate-neutral by 2050 while maintaining a strong position in a highly competitive global market? And how can these industries help the EU reach the higher 2030 climate target - a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55 per cent relative to 1990 levels?
In the EU policy debate on the European Green Deal, many suppose that the basic materials industries can do little to achieve deep cuts in emissions by 2030. Beyond improvements to the efficiency of existing technologies, they assume that no further innovations will be feasible within that period. This study takes a different view. It shows that a more ambitious approach involving the early implementation of key low-carbon technologies and a Clean Industry Package is not just possible, but in fact necessary to safeguard global competitiveness.
Zur Gestaltung von tiefgreifenden Transformationsprozessen fehlen oft handlungsleitende Kompetenzen und der Mut, Strukturen aufzubrechen.
Dafür braucht es andere Lernformen und neue Räume des Lernens für nachhaltigen Wandel. Um solche zu etablieren, haben die Vereinten Nationen die Dekade des Handelns ausgerufen, in deren Rahmen zwei Projekte des Wuppertal Instituts gestartet sind: die Transformationsakademie und HumboldtN.
Große Erzählungen im Engelsjahr 2020 handeln von der Textilindustrie gestern und heute. Die vorliegenden kleinen Erzählungen spielen in anderen textilen Welten und jenseits der großen Fabriken. Von ihnen erzählt Friedrich Engels nicht. Dem Erzählten und Nicht-Erzählten auf der Spur finden wir schließlich heraus, dass auch zu Friedrich Engels selbst in einer bestimmten Weise erzählt - und nicht erzählt wird.
Das Paper stellt zunächst die unterschiedlichen Commonsbegriffe vor und zeigt die den Debatten innewohnenden politischen Rationalitätsmuster auf. Weiter wird von der Ideengeschichte vorherrschender politischer und ökonomischer Logiken erzählt und dargelegt, weshalb und inwiefern diese Logiken Commons zerstören. Die Ambivalenz öffentlichen und privaten Eigentums wird am Beispiel Wald aufgezeigt. Schließlich werden Theorie und Praxis von Commons, Commoning und Commoners skizziert.
Der Forschungskontext der hier vorgelegten Untersuchung liegt innerhalb des in der sozial-ökologischen Forschung angesiedelten Forschungsverbundes "Blockierter Wandel? Denk- und Handlungsräume für eine nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung". Der Untersuchungsraum ist die Region "Muldemündung" in Sachsen-Anhalt. Dort, bei Dessau, mündet die Mulde in die Elbe. In dem Teilprojekt geht es um vielfältige Tätigkeiten, die, nur zum Teil als Arbeit anerkannt, in verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Räumen stattfinden - in "Tätigkeitsräumen". Im Mittelpunkt der Überlegungen steht die Anerkennung und Bewertung der bisher vom sichtbaren Erwerbsarbeitsraum abgetrennten sorgenden und pflegenden Tätigkeiten. Denn in ihnen, so die These der Autorinnen, gibt es Fähigkeiten für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung. Verursacht wurde ihre Ausgrenzung durch abspaltende und hierarchische Konzeptionen des Politischen und des Ökonomischen. Die hier maßgeblichen Ansätze von John Locke und Adam Smith werden daher theoriegeschichtlich analysiert. Ansätze zu Konzeptionen, die diese Trennungen nicht mehr brauchen, finden sich in zwei untersuchten Praxisbeispielen, deren Auswertung jeweils spezifische kreative Potenziale für eine sozial-ökologische Transformation i. S. einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung sichtbar werden lässt - Potenziale vieler Menschen sowie der ökologischen Natur. Ihre Aktivitäten weisen auf die Herausbildung eines ganzheitlichen Tätigkeitskonzepts mit anderen Bewertungen und einer anderen "Natur der Arbeit" hin. Die Projekte stellen, analytisch gefasst, kleine neue Gesellschaftsverträge dar, über die neue, nicht trennende Konzepte von Politik und Ökonomie entwickelt werden können, die wiederum das neue Tätigkeitskonzept absichern. Gleichzeitig machen die Praxisbeispiele aber auch deutlich, wie stark neoliberale Kräfte die alten Strukturen stützen. Diese Ambivalenz wird verstärkt durch die vielfachen Schrumpfungsprozesse, denen die Untersuchungsregion ausgeliefert ist.
Die Energiewende stellt eine gesellschaftliche Herausforderung dar und bedarf neuer Arbeitskonzepte. Diese These vertreten Uta von Winterfeld und Adelheid Biesecker in ihrem Beitrag "Bitte zweimal wenden! - Die Transformation der Energie- und Arbeitswelt". Ausgehend davon, dass die Energiewende einer sozial-ökonomischen Revolution gleichkomme und die Geschichte der Energie eine Geschichte steigender Arbeitsproduktivität sei, weswegen regenerative Energiequellen wie Sonne und Wind die Entwicklung bedrohen und zu einer Rückkehr zu einer früheren zivilisatorischen Phase führen würden, zeigen die Autorinnen, dass man zu letzterer Einsicht nur dann gelangt, wenn man die Energiewende ohne die notwendige Arbeitswende betrachtet. Damit die Energiewende nicht nur gelingt, sondern auch wirtschaftlich und gesellschaftlich positiv verläuft, braucht es laut Autorinnen eine Neuorganisation von Energie und Arbeit.
Erzählungen
(2022)
Herrschaft und Macht
(2022)
Zwei Großbegriffe wie Herrschaft und Macht in einem Artikel fassen zu wollen, ist eine arge Herausforderung. Doch es liegt nahe, beide Begriffe aufeinander zu beziehen und voneinander zu unterscheiden. Sie sind nicht einfach zu erhellen und werden oft synonym verwandt. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass begriffliche Großlandschaften in verschiedenen Sprachen unterschiedlich ausgeprägt sind. Im Englischen wird beispielsweise oft "power" anstelle von "Herrschaft" benutzt (etwa "critique of power" für "Herrschaftskritik").
Im ersten Abschnitt folgt die Autorin zunächst etymologischen Spuren in der deutschen Sprache und zeige dabei zugleich, dass beide Begriffe patriarchal eingefärbt sind. Sprache ist lebendig. Sie verändert sich - und sie ist selbst herrschaftlich. Anschließend skizziert die Autorin begriffliche Unterscheidungen und Ausprägungen, insbesondere bei Max Weber (in seiner Herrschaftssoziologie), bei Michel Foucault und bei Hannah Arendt. Derart ausgestattet legt die Autorin im zweiten Abschnitt dar, wie und anhand von was die Begriffe in der Politischen Ökologie verwandt werden oder verwandt werden könnten. Im Ausblick münden die Darlegungen in den Versuch einer Anwendung kritischer Herrschafts- und Machtanalyse ein.
Natur
(2022)
Natur (aus dem Lateinischen, griechisch "Physis") gilt als einer der umfassendsten Begriffe überhaupt. Daher scheint von vornherein aussichtslos, sie begrifflich definierend zu einem positiven Ende führen zu wollen. Gleichwohl bleiben Verständnisse von Natur und Vorschläge für eine Definition spannend, gerade auch mit Blick auf Mehrdeutigkeiten und Ambivalenzen.
Dem humorvoll skeptischen Blick auf den Zeitgeist zeigt sich ein seltsames Bild: Es scheint eine Zeit der Wenden ohne wirkliche Wende zu sein. So lange schon wird von "Wende" geschrieben und gesprochen, dass inzwischen beispielsweise in Verbindung mit Energie von alter (1980er-Jahre) und von neuer (2010er-Jahre) Energiewende die Rede ist. Viele Wenden sind in deutscher Sprachmanier zusammengesetzte Substantive und beziehen sich - von der Mobilitäts- über die Konsum- und die Agrar- bis hin zur Waldwende - auf ökologische Probleme. Manchen Wenden ist ein Adjektiv beigefügt, das eine Strömung im politisch-ökonomischen Raum beschreibt, so etwa die neoliberale Wende in der Sozialpolitik. Meist wird im Kontext der Ökologie konstatiert, dass die Probleme zwar bekannt, die eingeleiteten Wendestrategien und Wendemaßnahmen aber völlig unzureichend seien. Daher schlägt Benedikt Schmid eine "kritische Wende" vor. Die wachstums- und fortschrittsgebundenen Denkmuster gelte es aufzubrechen. Sie seien beharrlich und würden sich immer wieder auch in den zeitlichen und räumlichen Vorstellungen alternativer Ansätze einnisten. (1)
Das Forschungsprojekt VorAB ("Vorsorgend handeln - Avantgardistische Brückenansätze für nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung") fragt nach strukturellen Hindernissen für nachhaltige Regionalentwicklung und nach Potenzialen fortschrittlicher Ansätze zu fairer Land- und Ressourcennutzung. (2) Es untersucht die Transformationsfelder Wald-, Energie- und Landwirtschaft in der Region Lübeck. Erste Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bei dem Terminus Wende mit Blick auf qualitative und grundlegende Veränderungen Vorsicht geboten ist.