China has been experiencing great economic development and fast urbanisation since its reforms and opening-up policy in 1978. However, these changes are reliant on consumption of primary energy, especially coal, characterised by high pollution and low efficiency. China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the most significant contributor, have also been increasing rapidly in the past three decades. Responding to both domestic challenges and international pressure regarding energy, climate change and environment, the Chinese government has made a point of addressing climate change since the early 2000s. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of China’s CO2 emissions and policy instruments for mitigating climate change. In the analysis, China’s CO2 emissions in recent decades were reviewed and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis examined. Using the mostly frequently studied macroeconomic factors and time-series data for the period of 1980-2008, the existence of an EKC relationship between CO2 per capita and GDP per capita was verified. However, China’s CO2 emissions will continue to grow over coming decades and the turning point in overall CO2 emissions will appear in 2078 according to a crude projection. More importantly, CO2 emissions will not spontaneously decrease if China continues to develop its economy without mitigating climate change. On the other hand, CO2 emissions could start to decrease if substantial efforts are made. China’s present mitigation target, i.e. to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared with the 2005 level, was then evaluated. Three business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios were developed and compared with the level of emissions according to the mitigation target. The calculations indicated that decreasing the CO2 intensity of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 is a challenging but hopeful target. To study the policy instruments for climate change mitigation in China, domestic measures and parts of international cooperation adopted by the Chinese government were reviewed and analysed. Domestic measures consist of administration, regulatory and economic instruments, while China’s participation in international agreements on mitigating climate change is mainly by supplying certified emission reductions (CERs) to industrialised countries under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The most well-known instruments, i.e. taxes and emissions trading, are both at a critical stage of discussion before final implementation. Given the necessity for hybrid policies, it is important to optimise the combination of different policy instruments used in a given situation. The Durban Climate Change Conference in 2011 made a breakthrough decision that the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol would begin on 1 January 2013 and emissions limitation or reduction objectives for industrialised countries in the second period were quantified. China was also required to make more substantial commitments on limiting its emissions. The Chinese government announced at the Durban Conference that China will focus on the current mitigation target regarding CO2 intensity of GDP by 2020 and will conditionally accept a world-wide legal agreement on climate change thereafter. However, there will be no easy way ahead for China. / QC 20120424

Na atualidade, os serviços ambientais podem ser descritos como as atividades antrópicas que auxiliam no aumento dos benefícios ao meio ambiente, enquanto os serviços ecossistêmicos são processos ecossistêmicos capazes de fornecer sustentação à vida sendo dois temas mundialmente pesquisados. Neste sentido o pagamento por práticas que forneçam a melhoria da qualidade ambiental conhecidas como pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) têm surgido e avançado no Brasil nos últimos anos, embora ainda não possuam regulamentação legal específica. No primeiro capítulo procurou-se analisar os projetos de lei (PLs) em trâmite no Congresso Nacional PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Projeto de Lei do Senado (PLS) 276/2013 e PL 312/2015 com relação à adicionalidade, princípios do direito ambiental e teorias econômicas que regulamentam o PSA no Brasil. No segundo capítulo foi realizada a estimativa de serviços ecossistêmicos de biodiversidade de abelhas e carbono na região do Xingu na Amazônia brasileira, onde utilizou-se a equação alométrica para cálculo da biomassa e índices de diversidade para avaliar a diversidade de plantas e abelhas, e verificou-se a possível relação entre a diversidade de plantas e abelhas e o carbono estocado na vegetação para avaliar a relação dos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na região. Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama sobre a legislação atual de PSA no Brasil e um estudo de caso de quantificação de adicionalidade ambiental provida pelos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na área do Rio Xingu, no estado do Pará. Embora os estudos sobre serviços ecossistêmicos e as funções do ecossistema tenham surgido há muito tempo, pouco tem sido estudado sobre a adicionalidade ambiental destes serviços. Logo, como descrito no art. 5 do Paris Agreement da COP 21, as Partes são encorajadas a realizar pagamentos através de incentivos e políticas sobre redução de emissões de desmatamento e degradação florestal no papel da conservação na gestão sustentável das florestas, enquanto que na Contribuição Nacionalmente Determinada (INDC) o Brasil incluiu como uma das metas a implementação de atividades de REDD+ e pagamento por seus resultados representando possíveis avanços para o PSA em nível nacional e mundial. / Environmental services described as human activities that help to enhance the benefits to the environment and ecosystem services on ecosystem processes capable of providing support to life are two highly specific topics discussed on all the world. Payment for environmental services (PES) have emerged and advanced in Brazil in recent years, though it is still not regulated. In the first chapter we tried to analyze the Law\'s project (PL) in current analisys on National Brazilian Congress PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Federal Senate (PLS) PLS 276/2013 and 312/2015 regarding additionality principles of environmental law and economic theories involved in PLs. Although studies on ecosystem services and ecosystem functions, have arisen for over fifty years ago, few has been studied about the provision of these services together through environmental additionality. In the second chapter was held on ecosystem services and carbon estimate bee biodiversity in the Xingu endemic region of the Brazilian Amazon. For this we used the allometric equation for calculating the biomass and diversity index to evaluate the diversity of plants and bees, there had a relationship between the diversity of plants and bees and the carbon stocked in the vegetation to assess the relationship of ecosystem services of carbon and biodiversity in the region. Soon, as defined by the Art. 5 of the Paris Agreement of COP 21, Parties are encouraged to make payments through incentives and policies on reduction of deforestation and forest degradation emissions in the role of conservation in sustainable forest management while in INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution), Brazil included as goals from other actions the implementation of REDD + activities and payment by results reprensenting major advances can be made to the PSA at the national and global levels. So this paper presents an overview of the current project legislation on PSE in Brazil and a case study to quantify environmental business as usual provided by the ecosystem service of carbon and biodiversity in the Xingu River area in the state of Pará as contemporary and integrated assessment on the topic involving environmental additionality.

Na atualidade, os serviços ambientais podem ser descritos como as atividades antrópicas que auxiliam no aumento dos benefícios ao meio ambiente, enquanto os serviços ecossistêmicos são processos ecossistêmicos capazes de fornecer sustentação à vida sendo dois temas mundialmente pesquisados. Neste sentido o pagamento por práticas que forneçam a melhoria da qualidade ambiental conhecidas como pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) têm surgido e avançado no Brasil nos últimos anos, embora ainda não possuam regulamentação legal específica. No primeiro capítulo procurou-se analisar os projetos de lei (PLs) em trâmite no Congresso Nacional PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Projeto de Lei do Senado (PLS) 276/2013 e PL 312/2015 com relação à adicionalidade, princípios do direito ambiental e teorias econômicas que regulamentam o PSA no Brasil. No segundo capítulo foi realizada a estimativa de serviços ecossistêmicos de biodiversidade de abelhas e carbono na região do Xingu na Amazônia brasileira, onde utilizou-se a equação alométrica para cálculo da biomassa e índices de diversidade para avaliar a diversidade de plantas e abelhas, e verificou-se a possível relação entre a diversidade de plantas e abelhas e o carbono estocado na vegetação para avaliar a relação dos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na região. Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama sobre a legislação atual de PSA no Brasil e um estudo de caso de quantificação de adicionalidade ambiental provida pelos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na área do Rio Xingu, no estado do Pará. Embora os estudos sobre serviços ecossistêmicos e as funções do ecossistema tenham surgido há muito tempo, pouco tem sido estudado sobre a adicionalidade ambiental destes serviços. Logo, como descrito no art. 5 do Paris Agreement da COP 21, as Partes são encorajadas a realizar pagamentos através de incentivos e políticas sobre redução de emissões de desmatamento e degradação florestal no papel da conservação na gestão sustentável das florestas, enquanto que na Contribuição Nacionalmente Determinada (INDC) o Brasil incluiu como uma das metas a implementação de atividades de REDD+ e pagamento por seus resultados representando possíveis avanços para o PSA em nível nacional e mundial. / Environmental services described as human activities that help to enhance the benefits to the environment and ecosystem services on ecosystem processes capable of providing support to life are two highly specific topics discussed on all the world. Payment for environmental services (PES) have emerged and advanced in Brazil in recent years, though it is still not regulated. In the first chapter we tried to analyze the Law\'s project (PL) in current analisys on National Brazilian Congress PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Federal Senate (PLS) PLS 276/2013 and 312/2015 regarding additionality principles of environmental law and economic theories involved in PLs. Although studies on ecosystem services and ecosystem functions, have arisen for over fifty years ago, few has been studied about the provision of these services together through environmental additionality. In the second chapter was held on ecosystem services and carbon estimate bee biodiversity in the Xingu endemic region of the Brazilian Amazon. For this we used the allometric equation for calculating the biomass and diversity index to evaluate the diversity of plants and bees, there had a relationship between the diversity of plants and bees and the carbon stocked in the vegetation to assess the relationship of ecosystem services of carbon and biodiversity in the region. Soon, as defined by the Art. 5 of the Paris Agreement of COP 21, Parties are encouraged to make payments through incentives and policies on reduction of deforestation and forest degradation emissions in the role of conservation in sustainable forest management while in INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution), Brazil included as goals from other actions the implementation of REDD + activities and payment by results reprensenting major advances can be made to the PSA at the national and global levels. So this paper presents an overview of the current project legislation on PSE in Brazil and a case study to quantify environmental business as usual provided by the ecosystem service of carbon and biodiversity in the Xingu River area in the state of Pará as contemporary and integrated assessment on the topic involving environmental additionality.

Uppsatsen tar avstamp ifrån social hållbarhet genom fokus på människans behov, i det här fallet människans hälsa och välbefinnande och hur den påverkas av grönstruktur i städer. För att fokusera på den fysiska planeringens roll för ämnet undersöker uppsatsen kommunens planering, något som blir naturligt på grund av kommunernas planmonopol och de som har störst rådighet och kunskap kring den lokala utformningen. Det objekt som undersöks är Kristianstads kommun och staden Kristianstad. Undersökningen sker genom fyra delar, först intervjuer med centrala aktörer ,innehållsanalys av policydokument samt platsanalyser för att undersöka själva objektet. För att sedan försöka få ett ännu tydligare bild på kommunens arbetssätt med grönstrukturens roll för hälsa och välbefinnande i staden görs en jämförande studie av projektförslag i ett utvecklingsområde. Denna del kan se som ett tillämpande experiment. Där det ena förslaget arbetar utifrån den kunskap som samlats in om studieobjektet Kristianstads kommun medan det andra förslaget baseras på forskningen och platsanalyser utifrån en metod inriktad på grönytors värde för hälsa och välbefinnande.

New Zealand’s First World War studies have traditionally focused on the soldier and battlefield experiences. ‘The Rural Home Front’ breaks with that tradition and focuses on the lives of people and the local communities that the soldiers left behind in the predominantly rural region of Taranaki in New Zealand. ‘The Rural Home Front’ is essentially a study of the impact and effects of the First World War on rural society. By focusing on topics and themes such as ‘war enthusiasm’, the voluntary spirit of fund raising and recruiting, conscription, attempting to maintain normality during wartime, responses to war deaths, the influenza epidemic, the Armistice and the need to remember, this thesis argues that civilians experienced the Great War, too, albeit differently from that of the soldiers serving overseas.