Suchergebnisse

In the article we introduce the concept of duality of structures as our starting point for understanding the linkages between sustainability and health. We argue that the two concepts cannot be separated but must be understood as mutually dependent in the sense that health conditions sustainability and vice versa sustainability conditions health. This we denote the duality between sustainable development and health promotion, and argue that strategies directed towards sustainable development must be correlated with strategies for health promotion, to avoid unintended, negative effects. We refer to the current debate on global food loss and food waste to take a closer look at the consequences of food waste reduction strategies and how these strategies affect the prospects for promoting health and sustainable food production and consumption, mainly using Denmark as an example with references to selected policy documents on food waste reduction strategies launched by international organizations such as FAO, WHO, and UN. We conclude that the strategies directed towards reducing food waste ignore the problems related to the oversupply of food. Neither do the proponents of the food waste reduction strategies explicitly articulate the built-in option to reduce the supply of food as food waste is reduced. Assuming a reduction in the demand for food as less food is wasted is not touched on neither in the political strategies or in the public debate on food waste. Nor do the strategies articulate the prospects for indirectly reducing the oversupply of food, explicitly. The lack of attention given to reducing the oversupply of food calls for governance initiatives directed towards reducing the overproduction of primary food produce for reaping the environmental benefits of reducing food waste. Another challenge not articulated explicitly is the optimistic approach to change the overwhelming amount of food waste generated by households. Keywords: health promotion, sustainable development, duality of structures, food security, food loss and food waste ; A In this article we introduce the concept of duality of structures as our starting point for understanding the linkages between sustainability and health. We argue that the two concepts cannot be separated but must be understood as mutually dependent in the sense that health conditions sustainability and, vice versa, sustainability conditions health. Thus, to avoid unintended, negative effects the strategies directed towards sustainable development must be correlated with strategies for health promotion. The conceptual model is used to take a closer look at the complexities of food waste reduction and how these strategies affect the prospects for promoting health and sustainable food production and consumption. Danish food waste reduction strategies are used as examples with references to selected policy documents on food waste reduction strategies launched by international organisations such as FAO, WHO, and the UN. We conclude that the strategies directed towards reducing food waste ignore the health and sustainability problems related to the oversupply of food. Neither do the Danish proponents of food waste reduction strategies explicitly articulate the built-in option to reduce the supply of food as food waste is reduced. The lack of attention given to reducing the oversupply of food calls for governance initiatives directed towards reducing the overproduction of primary food produce in order to reap the environmental benefits and the health promotion benefits of reducing food waste

This report has been produced by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) under a grant from the Nordic Council of Ministers under its Arctic Cooperation Program, as part of a pilot project to reduce emissions of black carbon reaching the Arctic from residential heating from wood burning in Nordic countries. The report reviews legislation and other measures in the Nordic countries pertinent to the reduction of particulate matter (PM2.5) and Black Carbon (BC) –soot. It then assesses the effectiveness of the different policy instruments used in the Nordic countries as well as points to measures which may be most effective in reducing emissions of Black Carbon and PM2.5 from wood burning.

Content The importance of being sustainable Towards a green economy Nordic SCP co-operation Cleaner technologies and innovations How can government support clean technologies? Resource efficiency in eco-design BAT – Best Available Techniques Green public procurement Promoting green technology by public demand Nordic push for EU green procurement criteria LCC – as easy as ABC? Environmental information and sustainable lifestyles Nordic Ecolabel – flying high Retailers facilitating green demand Sustainable lifestyles – lessons from successful projects SCP in small communities References

In November 2011, the Nordic Prime Ministers commissioned the Nordic Council of Ministers to launch a new cross sectoral initiative for green growth. The Prime Ministers' commission was based on the report, The Nordic Region – leading in green growth, prepared by a Nordic working group for green growth. The Nordic countries should together utilise their position in terms of energy efficiency, development of sustainable energy, environmental awareness, innovation and research initiatives, andhigh international goals in the environmental and climate area. The aim is to work in areas in which the Nordic countries can build on and develop existing positions of strength, improve co-ordination between the Nordic countries, and take the lead in relation to the development in the European Union (EU).The Councils of Ministers are making tangible the working group's eight recommendations for project activities, which have been granted a total of DKK 45 million in the period 2012–2014. This status report presents the most important advances in each project. More information on the initiative is also available on the home page of the Council of Ministers, www.norden.org/greengrowth.

"….Taking the structure and functioning of the Arctic regional economies and the degree of economic dependence as a point of departure, these region's self-reliance and comparative socio-economic performance is analyzed. The fundamental problem is still the dependency Arctic regions have on their mother economies in the south" "….the impact from climate changes and the global economy strongly influence the self-sufficiency constraints and potentials of the Arctic societies. Traditional approaches to economic valuation may not be sufficient to capture these relationships. Neo-classical economics and the trade off model look upon nature as a good commensurable with all other goods, and henceforward there is a substitution possibility. The rational self-interest and 'homo economicus' is however, not the same as responsible self-interest included in ecological economics. This suggests broader approaches to environmental uncertainties, which take into account ethical values and conflicts of interest". Contributors: Hans Aage, Iulie Aslaksen, Andrée Caron, Gérard Duhaime, Solveig Glomsröd, Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Ivar Jonsson, Jack Kruse, Joan Nymand Larsen, Svein Mathiesen, Anna Ingeborg Myhr, Birger Poppel, Rasmus Ole Rasmussen, Erik Reinert, Hugo Reinert, Chris Southcott, Gorm Winther, Lyudmila Zalkind.

The FIMAGLOW project is a Nordic project with the aim to study possible drivers and impacts of global warming on Arctic fisheries. Two workshops has been held, serving to identify the relevant set of institutions and people, updating the research community on on-going research projects and initiatives in this realm, and pointing to some critical issues for further research. The material presented in the workshops is collected in this report, which hopefully then may serve as a stepping stone for further explorations of this important issue. A web site for the FIMAGLOW program has been set up and is available at the URL: http://fimaglow.maremacentre.com. The website includes program information and tentative programs for the workshops. MaReMA Centre at Norwegian College of Fisheries Science is organizing the program, Alf Håkon Hoel and Arne Eide being the project managers.

One of the most significant environmental and social problems of the world corresponds to unsustainable patterns of production, distribution, consumption and disposal of products. These unsustainable patterns are the result of choices made by a myriad of actors across the value chain of products. These choices can be influenced by making credible and meaningful information about the products they are producing, trading or consuming more readily available to market actors and decision-makers to enable them to make more informed choices. Such information should be based on the impacts of a product´s life cycle to ensure the net improvement and avoid burden shifting7.In this sense, ecolabels and other product information tools have played an important role in advancing more sustainable consumption and production patterns. Their function is to provide information about environmental and/or social aspects of products to all actors of the value chain. Ecolabels not only guide manufacturers towards the right choices of raw materials, production processes, packaging and end-of-life logistics, but also influence the behaviour of consumers so that their choice of product comes with an environmental and/or social conscience (Prasad, 2012). Thus, ecolabels are widely supported as an integral component of comprehensive policy frameworks and initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable consumption and production patterns (DEFRA, 2010).In this respect, Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) plays a crucial part in the uptake of ecolabelling. Public procurement constitutes a significant part of domestic consumption. Through specific SPP policies, governments have backed the creation of markets for domestic ecolabelled products (Horne, 2009). Equally, ecolabels are a key element for the widespread and better application of SPP, as they can be used to outline and comply with specifications of tendering processes (AMPHOS 21, 2011). The strong inter-linkage between ecolabelling and SPP is evidenced in the case of the EU Ecolabel, where diverse countries have implemented successful national ecolabelling programmes that have facilitated the development of sound SPP policies (AMPHOS 21, 2011).Compared to developed regions, Southern Cone (SC) countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) have little experience with the use of ecolabelling and SPP for promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns. At the same time, there is a wide range in the levels of activity across the countries in the SC.

This report presents the third evaluation of the Nordic Swan ecolabelling scheme. The evaluation is conducted from the perspective of the public administration, and it examines the role of the Nordic Swan in a policy context. Recommendations are presented for authorities in the Nordic countries and for the bodies operating the schemes on a Nordic and national level. The evaluation focuses on current opportunities and challenges in the operating environment of the scheme. It examines the relations between the Nordic Swan and the EU Eco-label in the Nordic countries, including their governance procedures, popularity and reception in the market. Other current topics addressed include the progress achieved by the Nordic marketing strategy for the Swan and some current governance issues in the scheme, including the grounds for public funding for the Nordic Swan. The report also analyses the relations between the Swan and other environmental information systems. In particular, the report investigates the opportunities and challenges ensuing from the current attention to climate issues for the Nordic Swan.

The purpose of this Nordic set of indicators is to inform the public and political decision makers whether the Nordic countries and self-governing areas are heading in the right direction towards sustainable development or not, both in general and in specific areas. The indicators also point out if there is a need to promote the development towards a more sustainable direction. The chosen indicators are monitoring the Nordic implementation of the goals and initiatives for 2005-2008, as they are set up in the revised Nordic Strategy ",Sustainable development - New bearings for the Nordic countries.The set of indicators contains a number of overall key-indicators as well as indicators relevant to the specific sectors or cross-cutting areas pointed out in the revised strategy. New areas in the revised strategy are the social dimension as well as sustainable production and consumption.The Nordic Council of Ministers has published Nordic sets of indicators in 2002 and 2003.

The Council Decision of 19 December 2002 establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills pursuant to Article 16 of and Annex II to Directive 1999/31/EC (the Landfill Directive) was published on 16 January 2003. It should be implemented into national legislation in all member states and associated countries before 16 July 2004. In order to support and provide inspiration for this process, the Landfill Group under the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Centre for Waste Research (C-RES) decided to organise a joint seminar on sustainable landfill in view of the implementation of the EU Landfill Directive and the Council Decision on waste acceptance criteria. The seminar took place on June 18 and 19, 2003, at the Comwell conference centre in Holte, Denmark. This report documents the seminar and the most important conclusions and recommendations resulting from the discussions. Abstracts and slides are included in appendices.

Arctic marine ecosystems are among the most productive and most vulnerable in the world, both from an economic and ecological perspective of growing accessibility. The complexity of Arctic marine ecosystems and their location poses challenges for management, valuation, and the establishment of sound policy to protect them. This special issue of Temanord presents papers from a workshop devoted to this topic. In October 2013, a group of multidisciplinary experts on marine invasive species and the Arctic came together in Esbjerg, DK for a two-day workshop titled: "Marine Invasive Species in the Arctic: Management Issues". Attendees of the workshop came from academic, governmental and scientific institutions in Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Canada, and the United States. This volume presents papers based on the presentations of the workshop speakers