Current climate and environmental changes have brought unprecedented rates of change to mountain ecosystems. These changes are impacting the provisioning of ecosystem services. Despite the... Show moreCurrent climate and environmental changes have brought unprecedented rates of change to mountain ecosystems. These changes are impacting the provisioning of ecosystem services. Despite the increase in academic publications on ecosystem services, research on cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their availability in mountain regions has largely been neglected. Here we analyse how important different CES are for inhabitants and visitors in the Lower Engadine region (Switzerland). We use questionnaires and maps to identify the most important CES for individual and collective wellbeing as well as their geographical location in the region. We had 48 participants in this study of which 28 grew up in the Lower Engadine. Our results show that the most important (i.e., ‘Highly important’) CES are: ‘The view of mountains, rivers or glaciers’; the presence of plants typical for the region, for example Fire Lily and Edelweiss (i.e., Lilium bulbiliferum subsp. croceum, Edelweiss-Leontopodium alpinum); ‘Hiking’; ‘Local customs’; ‘Watching large mammals’; and the importance of ‘Terraces for traditional Agriculture activities’. Results from the spatial analysis show that identical geographical locations in the Lower Engadine provide multiple CES and bring health benefits to the users. Show less
This research delves into the decision-making processes within Brazilian energy governance, with a particular focus on its engagement with international climate change mitigation agreements. The... Show moreThis research delves into the decision-making processes within Brazilian energy governance, with a particular focus on its engagement with international climate change mitigation agreements. The recurrent utilization of power relations strategies in the nation's energy governance hinders the development of policies that facilitate an transition towards sustainable energy sources. The presence of monopolistic and oligopolistic practices, fuelled by crony capitalism and rent-seeking, not only shapes policy decisions but also enforces the adoption of established technologies. Furthermore, the exploration of behavioural dynamics in policymaking, as investigated through behavioural economics, sheds light on the fact that policymakers are influenced not solely by political, economic, and institutional challenges, but also by deeply ingrained personal behaviours. These behaviours wield significant influence over the decision-making processes and contribute to the prevailing inertia in the Brazilian energy sector. Brazil stands as the fifth-largest country in the world, the sixth most populous, the thirteenth highest emitter of greenhouse gases, and boasts 60 percent of the Amazon, the planet's largest forest, within its borders. These attributes position Brazil at the forefront of global climate governance efforts. An in-depth understanding and vigilant monitoring of the Brazilian context play a vital role in advancing worldwide initiatives to combat climate change. Show less
This chapter examines the position of the UN Security Council within the institutional framework on environmental peacebuilding. It starts with an analysis of the UN's peacebuilding architecture,... Show moreThis chapter examines the position of the UN Security Council within the institutional framework on environmental peacebuilding. It starts with an analysis of the UN's peacebuilding architecture, which assigns complementary roles to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, based on each organ's respective function within the UN system. The chapter then turns to the practice of the Security Council with respect to 'conflict resources' on the one hand and environmental degradation more broadly on the other. This analysis demonstrates major differences in the substantive contributions by the Security Council with respect to 'conflict resources' on the one hand and to climate change and other ecological threats on the other. It argues that the institutional division of responsibilities between the three main UN organs provides a powerful rationale for explaining these differences. Show less
Changes in climate and land-use may elicit an increased emission of allergenic pollen amounts in the air, causing a rise in respiratory allergies and affecting public health more than previously... Show moreChanges in climate and land-use may elicit an increased emission of allergenic pollen amounts in the air, causing a rise in respiratory allergies and affecting public health more than previously thought. Here we have used a well -established pollen transport model SILAM (System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition) for attributing the long-term changes in airborne pollen concentrations of birches and grasses to climate change and vegetation dynamics. The pollen transport model is applied for Belgium and is driven by ECMWF ERA5 mete-orological data (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate). The dynamic vegetation components of the model are based on multi-decadal datasets for 1982-2019 on spatially distributed birch and grass pollen emission sources. For each model gridcell we have computed the change rate of the seasonal birch and grass pollen cycles based on daily pollen concen-trations, and of the daily meteorological model input. Finally, the gridcell based association between trends in pollen and climate change are derived. Our findings show that during the period 1982-2019 a strong increase in birch pollen concentrations is associated with increasing radiation, decreasing precipitation and decreasing horizontal wind speed near the surface. A strong decrease of grass pollen concentrations over time is driven by a decreasing trend in grass pollen sources, and it is also associated with decreasing precipitation. The magnitude of the associations between meteorology and airborne birch pollen concentrations are almost twice the association between meteorology and grass pollen, and the spatial variations are substantial even on the scales of small countries. The specific contribution of birch tree and pollen production dynamics to the concentrations of birch pollen in the air over time is highly associated with wind speed and precipitation. Introducing the inter-seasonal variation in birch pollen production during the period 1982-2019 intensifies the climate induced increase of airborne birch pollen concentrations with-6%. In contrast, the grass pollen production dynamics resulted into-10 times less grass pollen over the studied period compared to climate change effects. Show less
This chapter provides an overview of the kind of questions one has to answer to take position on the question of who owes what to future generations in the context of climate change and discusses... Show moreThis chapter provides an overview of the kind of questions one has to answer to take position on the question of who owes what to future generations in the context of climate change and discusses several possible answers as well as their upsides and downsides. It first asks whether we have duties of justice to future at all, raising several challenges to the idea of including future generations under the scope of justice. Second, it asks how much we owe to future people: equality, sufficiency, or just basic human rights. Even if there are theoretical reasons to embrace a more demanding account, there may be political or feasibility reasons to endorse a less demanding view. The third question is what we owe to future people: what kind of world, with what kind of goods and opportunities, do we owe to future people? Before concluding, the chapter discusses the distribution of duties to future people among contemporaries, the idea that we might have to limit the amount of future people, and possible institutional responses to challenges of intergenerational justice. Show less
Harpprecht, C.I.; Miranda Xicotencatl, B.; Nielen, S.S. van; Meide, M.T. van der; Li, C.; Li, Z.; Steubing, B.R.P. 2023
Metals have an important role in the global economy. With the energy transition, the demand for many metals is expected to sharply increase in the future. Although many studies apply prospective... Show moreMetals have an important role in the global economy. With the energy transition, the demand for many metals is expected to sharply increase in the future. Although many studies apply prospective LCA to assess future environmental impacts of metal supply, the methods have not yet converged to a common approach. This study aims to provide an overview of these studies and their approaches, following 2 research questions: 1. Which metals have been addressed by previous prospective LCA studies and what are their expected future supply impacts according to the identified studies? 2. What are the studied parameters of the metal supply chains, the applied scenario modelling approaches, and data sources used? We performed a systematic literature review to identify studies which assess future environmental impacts due to the supply of metals. This includes publications about absolute impacts of global metal demand, but also relative impacts assessed by comparative LCAs of emerging technologies. For these studies, we analysed both the results and the methods to integrate prospective elements in the LCA models focussing on the choice of parameters, background scenarios, data sources and modelling approaches. The literature review yielded 40 papers. We found that the majority of publications investigate bulk metals like Cu, Fe and Al. Most studies investigate relative impacts (i.e. per kg metal produced). Fewer studies also address absolute impacts of the total future demand; however, these mostly agree that absolute environmental impacts associated with global metal demand are likely to increase. Moreover, the results show that the majority of studies assess CO2 emissions, while other impacts are less often investigated. Furthermore, we found that the parameters considered most frequently are future ore grades, recycling shares, and energy efficiency. Background scenarios were primarily energy scenarios, which were most often electricity scenarios from the integrated assessment model IMAGE. Background scenarios modelling other developments are less common. Overall, the review reveals a wide variety of parameter choices, scenario modelling approaches and data sources. This study stresses the necessity to reduce environmental impacts of metal supply. Moreover, it highlights the need for guidelines for prospective LCA as well as for the documentation of modelling choices, LCI and scenario data to facilitate transparency and sharing of LCA scenarios in the community. Show less
