Suchergebnisse

Every day there are millions of people around the world who struggle with food security. Currently, Australia is in an enviable position of food security, being rated as food secure by the IPC. However, as weather patterns around the world become more and more volatile and unpredictable, current food production outcomes and techniques might not always be possible. To find an example of this, one only needs to look back to the intense droughts all over Australia in 2006. It is because of these uncertainties in weather patterns that can and do affect food security that Australia needs to be forward looking and progressive with the issue of food security, and the best way to do so would be to try and achieve food security sustainably. It is an unfortunate fact that many of the resources used today in food production will one day be gone. Non-renewable resources such as petroleum (used in countless items including gasoline and plastics) and phosphorus (used in fertilizers) will run out, and when they do there will be a need for an alternative. Because of this sustainability becomes important, as without sustainability, the current system will not be able to be continued for much longer. As weather patterns are becoming more and more volatile, a belief held by many is that climate change is a contributing factor. Though there are those who would contest this view, it should not be overlooked. Food production undoubtedly releases multitudes of greenhouse gasses (through animal waste, burning of fossil fuels for energy, and other factors), which are thought to cause climate change. This means that strategies to reduce greenhouse gasses are needed to help make food production sustainable, and food security more stable and safe for all. There are many ways discussed in this research in which greenhouse gas emissions could be drastically lowered, and food security made more sustainable overall. Whether it is by replacing meat proteins with plant proteins wherever possible (as meat production emits massive amounts of greenhouse gasses and uses huge amounts of resources), switching meat consumption to livestock less damaging to the environment (kangaroos over pork, for example), capturing greenhouse gasses (such as methane) and using them for fuel, reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, or any of the other hundreds of possibilities. Steps must be taken to achieve sustainable food security, and many of the steps are already out there, with even more waiting to be discovered. In this research there are many examples of ideas that would contribute to or help attain sustainable food security, but there is a common thread between all. What this research has found is that there is no singular solution to the sustainable food security issue. Governments can only help so much without the input and efforts by the population, and vice versa. Sustainable food security is only possible when broken up into small pieces, all with a common goal. Though there are those who would deny the effects of climate change on food security, or that sustainability is not worth focusing on, the International Fund for Agricultural Development says it best when they state, "uncertainty about the future is no reason for inaction." Sustainable food security requires an effort from all parties involved, but is certainly attainable and a worthwhile goal for Australia to be striving towards.

The aim of this study is to assess how different renovation scenarios affect the environmental and economic impacts of a multi-dwelling building in a Nordic climate, how these aspects are correlated and how different energy carriers affect different environmental impact categories. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union has set an agenda in order to reduce energy use in buildings. New buildings on the European market have a low replacement rate, which makes building renovation an important factor for achieving the European Union goals. In this study, eight renovation strategies were analyzed following the European Committee for Standardization standards for life cycle assessment and life cycle costs of buildings. This study covers all life cycle steps from cradle to grave. The renovation scenarios include combinations of photovoltaics, geothermal heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation and improved building envelopes. Results show that, depending on the energy carrier, reductions in global warming potential can be achieved at the expense of an increased nuclear waste disposal. It also shows that for the investigated renovation strategies in Sweden there is no correlation between the economic and the environmental performance of the building. Changing energy carriers in Sweden in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be a good alternative, but it makes the system more dependent on nuclear power. ; Open Access APC beslut 10/2019

Se destacan los aspectos fundamentales de los principales instrumentos en la política energética europea que afectan a la bioenergía, en el marco de las energías renovables. Se presenta la situación actual en la Unión Europea (UE) de cada una de las cuatro fuentes energéticas diferentes correspondientes a la bioenergía: biomasa sólida, residuos sólidos urbanos, biogás y biocarburantes, señalando en cada caso los países más importantes así como las correspondientes medidas que tienen instauradas para su promoción. Por otra parte, se examina la contribución potencial de la expansión de cultivos bioenergéticos al cumplimiento de los objetivos de reducción de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, de promoción de las energías renovables y de fomento del uso de biocarburantes en la UE, tendiendo en cuenta sólo lo que puede producirse en el territorio de la UE. ; It highlights the fundamental aspects of the main instruments in the European energy policy that affects the bioenergy, in the frame of the renewable energies. This paper reflects the current situation of the EU in each of the four energy sources related to bioenergy: solid biomass, urban solid waste, biogas and biofuel, pointing out in each case the most important countries together with the corresponding measures they have established for such purpose. On the other hand, the paper analyses the potential contribution of the spread of bioenergy growing to the fulfilment of goals like the reduction in Greenhouse gasses emissions, the foster of renewable energy and the use of biofuel in the EU, bearing in mind just what can be produced in the EU territory.

Takes the issue of environmental risk to argue that politics should not abdicate policy & planning to the market. As the 1987 Brundtland Report on sustainable development makes clear, long-term responsible environmental planning is required to ensure humane human survival. That deregulated markets are ill-equipped to perform such work is illustrated using the examples of renewable energy sources & the reduction of greenhouse gasses. In agreement with Ulrich Beck (eg, 1993) & against certain interpretations of systems theory, it is contended that politics is indispensable & irreplaceable by the market as a means to protect future quality of life. 12 References. Adapted from the source document.

The European Union is planning to introduce an emission-trading scheme for the shipping industry to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. The scheme will be flag blind and will cover all vessels calling at European ports. The legality under international law of such a shipping EU ETS will be assessed. Unilateral greenhouse gas regulations are contested due to cooperation obligations found in the Kyoto Protocol and in the law of the sea. In order for a port state to prescribe and enforce measures, a sufficient jurisdictional basis needs to exist in international law. Territorial en extra-territorial port state jurisdiction are both relevant for assessing the legality of a shipping EU ETS. The following two research questions are answered: 1. Can the European Union unilaterally regulate greenhouse gas emissions from shipping? 2. To what extent is an EU ETS that covers voyages from non-EU vessels that take place beyond EU territory in conformity with international law?

TAIWAN'S CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: ON THE WAY TO CLIMATE NEUTRALITYThe aim of this paper is to present the Taiwan's policies and actions relating to climate change. Despite the exclusion from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Taiwan has voluntarily ratified global climate conventions and has implemented a number of legislative, technical and organizational measures to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Tackling both climate change and minimizing its effects is a priority for Taiwan. In order to achieve the sustainable development goals Taiwan treats renewable energy as a critical solution in combating climate change and ensuring energy security by adding diversity to an overall electricity mix.

As an emerging economy, Indonesia's economy has been growing fast in recent years. The positive economic growth drives electricity consumption growth. However, the increase of electricity consumption contributes to the increase of greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions. Energy sector is the second main contributors of the national GHG emission, hence, reducing GHG emission from power sector would contribute significantly to the national efforts of reducing GHG emission. This paper identifies opportunities for climate change mitigations in the Indonesia's power sector. The identification is based on literature review on power sector and climate change in Indonesia. It is observed that available renewable energy resources, government policies, climate finance, and low carbon technologies create opportunities for climate change mitigations in the Indonesia's power sector.

There is an economic potential for increased energy efficiency in Nordic buildings. How much is however difficult to assess, partly because of insufficient energy statistics for buildings. Several barriers hinder the use of more efficient solutions when building and using buildings, e.g. lack of information, energy issues having low priority, and different incentives for builders, owners and users. Climate concerns and the need to secure energy supply are important drivers for energy efficiency policies. Promoting energy efficiency in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions might however induce large rebound effects causing total emissions to be reduced very little or not at all. This might be the case if reduced energy use in buildings is replaced with more emission intensive activities, like travel. To avoid this it is important to include all greenhouse gasses in tax or quota systems, and to restrain financial support to energy efficient investment in order not to make them too cheap.

Since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations produced the Paris Agreement1 of December 2015, despite its subsequent notorious political challenges, the zeitgeist of global warming and subsequent climate change (GWCC) concerns has moved on from debating its very existence, toward understanding the way in which GWCC is and will manifest now and in the future. Any dispute regarding the attribution of global warming, and the consequences of climate change, to industrial-era emissions of greenhouse gasses emanating from anthropogenic origins, is now in the realm of 'Flat-Earthers'. The more relevant questions are now about how we rehabilitate the worldwide fossil fuel addiction (mitigation) and how we respond to the impacts of GWCC (adaptation). ; http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ojid20 ; am2019 ; Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology

A significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and forestry can be achieved with adequate economic instruments. There are also other measures on disposal, such as good agricultural practice and organic production that involve the use of agronomic and biotechnological knowledge and skills with the purpose to produce healthy and safe food, with the preserving the environment and production resources. In the paper we analyze the previous experience in the application of economic instruments for the reduction of greenhouse effect in Agriculture and Forestry, in the broad and narrow sense, both in the domestic and international context. Special attention is given to the experiences in the implementation of the so-called flexibility mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. As a result of these experiences, in the period after 2012, new instruments have been created, mainly on a voluntary basis, which does not inspire confidence in their effectiveness. It has been noted that the system of economic instruments for the promotion of agricultural production in Serbia is in contradiction with the objectives of the climate protection policy. Changes are proposed in terms of abolishing direct benefits per hectare and the livestock units, as well as introduction of incentives for energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and specifically for the organic production. Punitive measures must, once and for all, stop the harmful and dangerous practice of burning crop residues on fields. ; Značajno smanjenje emisije gasova sa efektom staklene bašte iz poljoprivrede i šumarstva, može se ostvariti jedino uz adekvatne ekonomske instrumente. U radu se analiziraju dosadašnja iskustva u primeni ekonomskih instrumenata u širem i užem smislu, kako u domaćim, tako i međunarodnim okvirirma. Posebna pažnja se pridaje iskustvima u primeni tzv. fleksibilnih mehanizama iz Kjoto protokola. Kao rezultat tih iskustava, u periodu posle 2012. godine, stvoreni su novi instrumenti, pretežno na dobrovoljnoj bazi, što ne uliva poverenje u njihovu delotvornost. Konstatuje se da sistem ekonomskih instrumenata za podsticanje poljoprivredne proizvodnje u Srbiji je u suprotnosti sa ciljevima politike zaštite klime. Predlažu se promene, u smislu ukidanja direktnih davanja po hektaru i broju grla stoke, kao i podsticaji za energetsku efikasnost, upotrebu obnovljivih izvora energije i posebno za organsku proizvodnju. Kaznenim merama se mora, jednom za svagda, prekinuti štetna i opasna praksa paljenja žetvenih ostataka na poljima.

From the earliest studies examining the impacts of the coal-powered Industrial Revolution, the field of sociology has possessed an intimate, if often implicit, interest in the interconnectedness of fossil fuels and modernity. With the looming climate crisis, the world must rapidly wean itself from these resources in favor of others that emit little to no greenhouse gasses. And while this energy transition will likely have profound social implications, it has only recently begun to receive sustained attention from sociologists across subfields. Consequently, although debates have emphasized the technological and market dimensions of this shift, its relational dimensions and human aspects have remained relatively marginal. In this article, we review research on the social impacts of fossil fuel production and transitions to renewables. Such work is critical and urgent, since the main barriers to combating the climate crisis are neither technological nor economic; they are, instead, deeply social.