Environmental accounting and documentation of each industry and organization is required for the sustainable development. In addition, environmental awareness is creating pressure to the industry to declare and label environmental features of their product to the consumers. Industrial products interact with environment during entire life cycle of a product and consequences are undesirable environmental impacts. The solution for minimum environmental impacts is the development of methods and tools to measure and compare environmental impacts of products (goods and services are summarized under the term product according the ISO 14040). ISO 14020 series, ISO 14025 - environmental declaration, ISO 14024 - environmental label, and ISO 14021 - self declared environmental claim are facilitating to the industry to communicate environmental impacts of their product. At present, global warming and it’s consequences in climate change are major concerns of environmental impacts for the global society. One specific means to communicate global warming environmental impact is ‘carbon footprint’ of the product, which can be declared to the consumers following the methodology of upcoming ISO 14067- carbon footprint of products. Life cycle assessment is the back bone for industries to quantify environmental impacts, and to document and declare environmental impacts of production activities. This thesis reviews existing environmental documentation system of product, accesses ISO standard for carbon footprint of product and relates it to the environmental product labeling and declaration (EPDs), develops system theory to model a road case system for carbon footprint, calculates carbon footprint of the road construction case and recommends carbon footprint as part of environmental product declaration (EPD). The thesis starts with reviewing existing environmental documentation and carbon footprint accounting systems with a main focus on ISO requirements. The thesis further discusses system theory of industrial ecology to account carbon footprint of the products. System engineering and LCA methodology are taken as tools to account carbon footprint of the products. Road construction case E6 – Kroppen – Tonstad, Trondheim, is taken as case for the carbon footprint account, which is a part of transportation service. Finally, discussions are made on the connection between environmental declaration and carbon footprint, issues of ISO 14067 – carbon footprint of product, system boundary and data aggregations for LCA methodology for road case.

In 2006 an international standard, ISO 14025, was published on the principles and procedures of environmental product declarations (EPD). The standard gives requirements to the development of EPDs and PCRs and is used as a basis of EPD development within many EPD programmes globally. Despite an international standard, published EPDs today have different contents and format depending on who published the EPD. The main goal of EPDs is to provide objective, comparable and credible information about the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle. These objectives can be diminished by the variations seen in EPDs and PCRs today. Through the mapping of six different international EPD programmes and the analysis of published PCRs and EPDs, this thesis shows that there is a need for communication between and harmonisation of EPD programmes at a global level. The main objective of this thesis is to contribute in the harmonisation of standards and guidelines for communication of environmental performance products and services in Norway. The thesis results in a recommendation to the Norwegian EPD Foundation within five areas; o format and layout of EPD o front page of EPD o environmental impact categories o user guide o online database

Vosso, the second-largest watershed in Norway, was considered special as it produced some of the biggest salmon in the country. This salmon had economic, cultural as well as ecological importance. Due to its diversity, it was regarded a unique biological resource. Yet in the late 1980s the stock collapsed, quite abruptly and unexpected. This triggered a large-scale scientific research and eventually led to a rescue project to restore the wild Vosso salmon. The goal of this thesis was to explore the fundamental questions about the impact of human activity on nature and the conflicts of interest that exist within the management for the restoration of the wild salmon population in Vosso. The study aimed to answer the following question: “How does the strategy of the salmon restoration project in Vosso address the human dimensions for the restoration of the wild Vosso salmon population on a short and long term?” A systems approach was used for data collection and analysis. According to Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology, the researcher first started with an examination of the background of the problem. The second step was to examine systems thinking about the situation. This step was operationalized with help of interviews, a questionnaire, content analyses and a discourse analysis. The third step of SSM required the development of a common understanding of the change and the change processes needed among the stakeholders involved in the rescue project. The strategy of the salmon restoration project in Vosso is mostly directed towards finding the causes for the decline of the Vosso salmon population. The measures taken to restore the salmon are primarily centered on producing salmon and treating sea lice. In the short term, this may lead to an increase of salmons in the river. But, if the sources of salmon threats are not eliminated, the survival of the salmon stock will be at risk, and the goal of reaching a sustainable salmon stock that reproduces naturally will be a challenging one. The inclusion of human dimensions in the rescue project is based on the involvement of people with different world views, neglecting differences in interest and centering on achieving the same objective: a wild salmon population that is able to reproduce naturally. However, salmon management in Vosso disregards long-term human dimensions: those human values embedded in institutions and passed on from generation to generation. For reaching sustainable salmon stocks, it is not only important to involve stakeholders with different values in salmon management, it is also crucial to understand the environmental discourses that trigger these values. This understanding needs to occur at all levels of management that influence the outcome of the salmon restoration project in Vosso. This study has shown that the salmon restoration management is trying to achieve sustainability, while employing a problem-solving discourse of administrative rationalism. For the achievement of a sustainable salmon population, the prevailing discourse of administrative rationalism in salmon management needs to make room for the discourse of sustainability.

Climate change has been described as a malign, wicked, and super wicked problem. I focus on key characteristics that make international collective action challenging: asymmetry, fear of free riding, scientific uncertainty, and inherent interdependencies. I argue that an institution designed to tackle such a complex problem requires a key set of features: leadership, linkage, quality information, differentiated obligations, monitoring/enforcement, transparency, and flexibility. I assess the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol to determine what aspects are missing. I then ask why the European Union (EU), with incentives to the contrary, set broad unilateral goals. I argue that the framework of political and economic integration made deep cooperation possible. Lastly, I consider whether this experience is specific to the EU and ask whether regional trade networks have a role in the global arsenal of climate change solutions.

The object of this thesis is to analyse the politics involved in low-carbon transformations from the point of view of the exercise of state power in the economy. It starts from the premise that large-scale socio-technical transformations such as that required by the overhaul of energy systems based on the burning of fossil fuels involve confrontations of interests and ideologies, and therefore are contentious and political. The objective of the thesis is to analyse how this political challenge has unfolded in China, which is relevant not only because of its global environmental impact, but also because its industrialisation experience invites a reflection on the way in which these issues have been analysed in the West. Thus, the thesis explores how, in China, the necessity to address environmental issues has transformed the way in which the state exercises its power over the economy, particularly over the electric power system. The research involves a longitudinal analysis of the political transformation of China’s state institutions from the 1980s to 2015, as well as two case studies in the field of low-carbon policy: the promotion of renewable energy and the implementation of administrative pollution targets in the electric power sector. The focus on the production of electric power stems from both its centrality to China’s low-carbon transformation and the particular position of the electric power industry in the market reforms. The key findings of this research are twofold. Firstly, the CPC absorbed environmental claims in its developmental doctrine, which validated the resort to authoritarian interventions in the economy and society, and by the same token also increased the resistance to them, undermining the construction of a rule-based state power. Secondly, it finds that the political logic of the market reforms, characterised by an expansionary economic logic accompanied by periodical political interventions to correct perceived excesses, also characterised the way in which the green transformation was handled. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The thesis aims to uncover and challenge the prevailing assumptions related to transnational networks in the field of climate change (TNCCs). TNCCs are often seen as promoters of a more horizontal model for global climate governance. Throughout the chapters, the thesis challenges this common conception. Focusing on the relation between the C40 cities network and two Latin American cities, Lima and Mexico City, I argue that transnational networks are actors facilitating access to cities by transnational companies instead of solely promoting the sharing of experiences and the support for a more inclusive global climate governance model. Put differently, based on the empirical evidence, the thesis claims that transnational climate networks work as an instrument for the transnational capitalist class (TCC, see Carroll, 2010) promoting market-based solutions and economic hegemony in climate politics. Empirically, the thesis shows how the C40 operates as a facilitator to transnational corporate investment in a range of infrastructures in cities from the global South. In particular, the study focuses on the intervention in urban policies related to Low Carbon Emissions Public Transportation (LCEPT) infrastructures. Both directly and indirectly – through other Western Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (e.g., WRI, ITDP) - the C40 creates channels for transnational corporate actors to gain access to local policy-makers and, in that way, gain access to such transnational investments. As a result, these interventions impact the type of urban climate politics promoted in southern cities (a constant struggle between mitigation vs. adaptation policies) and the actors who benefits from these policies (private companies or the population). The chapters in the first part help us to fill the gap in the conceptualization of the role of transnational networks in urban public policy. The literature survey shows that governance is conceptualized, for the most part, with an institutionalist framework undermined by the evidence given in the case studies. The theoretical chapters also reveal the misconceptions in the literature related to transnational networks, not as promoters of horizontal collaboration, but as facilitators for transnational companies and the private sector, promoting transnational corporate (TNC) developed solutions to climate change. Differing from the conceptions in the literature, transnational networks do not always promote an exchange of information and practices among its members. The transnational networks that have the support of philanthropic organizations or multimillionaire companies such as C40, prioritize the creation of public/private partnerships, as well as the endorsement of technical and TNC-developed responses when addressing climate change. Likewise, like the C40, transnational networks encourage a transfer of climate policies from IOs (mainly from the global north), multinational and philanthropic foundations that involve technological and market-based solutions with a top-bottom approach. As shown in the empirical chapters, legislation in both cases – Mexico City and Lima - promotes private actors. Nonetheless, access to the design and decision-making process of climate politics for local NGOs and civil society in general, is not the same as for transnational NGOs and wealthy philanthropies. What transnational networks have brought to cities in the global South is the expansion and the reinforcement of economic links among the TCC. As a result, these transnational actors have included cities in Latin America in the last decades, utilizing business relations and infrastructure projects aligned to this TCC network. In other words, transnational networks promote economic relations and economic globalization at the city level. The present study reflects the dominance of Northern corporations and think-tanks in the ‘green sector’ as part of climate colonialism (Bachram, 2004; Katz-Rosene & Paterson, 2018; P. J. Newell & Paterson, 2010), indicating the way this transnational class drives the 'solutions' in urban climate politics. The empirical section of the study shows the result from interviews performed between March 2017 and March 2018, and the analysis of the empirical evidence from official documents, legislation, and governmental programs until September 2018. The second part aims to illustrate the complexity of transnational governance through the observation, interpretation, and analysis of two representative cities in Latin America. The main goal is to show the how of transnational climate change relations in Latin American cities. For instance, how does the network C40 facilitate access to urban climate politics for other actors, and how do they work as intermediaries between multinational corporations and cities? The study further demonstrates this argument by analyzing the influence of transnational actors in Lima and Mexico City, who working within the network C40 promote the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in each city. The chapter on LCEPT describes how transnational actors influence public transportation policies mainly in two ways: by offering technical solutions or contacting those who have technical solutions with city officers. These transnational actors contribute to shaping different cities' strategies in the public transportation sector. Throughout the rest of the chapters, the study demonstrates where the most substantial influence comes from. By observing urban climate policies in each city, the thesis shows the level of influence from transnational actors in LCEPT politics.

The South China Sea is known as an area where the Chinese government stands against its Southeast Asian neighbors in unresolved sovereignty conflicts over the disputed islands and the exploration for natural resources. Therefore, the South China Sea presents challenges for multilateral environmental cooperation. China was not an active participant in the multilateral environmental cooperation in the South China Sea before the 1990s. However, the approval of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)/Global Environmental Facility (GEF) South China Sea Project in 1999 marked a dramatic attitude change by the Chinese government towards the South China Sea environmental protection. It is the first multilateral inter-governmental initiative signed by China on any issues related to the South China Sea. Before signing its approval of the UNEP/GEF South China Sea Project, the Chinese government strongly opposed any multilateral cooperation concerning the South China Sea, since most of the islands in the South China Sea are territorially disputed islands between China and other coastal countries. This thesis tries to find the reasons why China changed its attitudes on the multilateral environmental cooperation in the South China Sea. Based on an analysis what happened for China from 1995 when the UNEP/GEF South China Sea project was initiated, to 1999, when China approved this project, this thesis found that the motivations for China to participate in the multilateral environmental cooperation in the South China Sea are collective of national interests, rather than a pure environmental interest. / Master of Arts

The diploma essay named The development and orientation of the Czech environmental politics in the historical and geopolitical context aims to introduce in detail the forms of the Czech environmental politics since 1990. The first chapter of the essay provides readers with the theory of environmental politics and sustainable development, for example with different types of environmental instruments, actors or goals. Three following chapters are grounded in this theory and in detail introduce the main pillars of the environmental politics of the Czech Republic, or rather CSFR. The development of the Czech environmental politics is in the essay divided into a few phases, the accession to the EU represents the main milestone. The fourth chapter summarizes the development of the Czech environmental politics, compares it with the environmental politics of the EU and offers the evaluation of the current form of the Czech environmental politics.

[pt] Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar a capacidade do Regime Internacional da Biodiversidade (RIB) em resolver o problema de perda da diversidade biológica. Considerando que regimes são efetivos quando servem para solucionar os problemas que motivaram sua criação, este exercício se fundamentou no cruzamento de dois modelos de avaliação: o modelo pressão-estado-resposta, e o modelo de avaliação da efetividade de regimes ambientais. Como resultado, argumenta-se que é possível dar uma visão instrumental ao Regime da Biodiversidade de modo que ele seja visto como um indicador de sustentabilidade ambiental, através de seu grau de efetividade. Neste sentido, utilizando-se do caso exemplar da Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Mamirauá, discutiu-se a contribuição dos diferentes atores envolvidos na implementação do RIB e, em que medida os mecanismos de cooperação internacional e financiamento propiciam o fortalecimento institucional necessário para a implementação do Regime. Na conclusão, observou-se que o RIB viabiliza o arcabouço institucional diversificado que contempla a flexibilidade administrativa necessária para gestão e captação de recursos na solução da perda de diversidade biológica. Sua efetividade, entretanto, está diretamente ligada a um processo político onde através do diálogo entre atores estatais e sociedade civil global é possível estabelecer um fluxo continuado de experiências, entre o local/global, que em muito contribui para redução da perda de diversidade biológica, ampliando estoques de recursos naturais e, conseqüentemente, contribuindo para a promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável. / [en] The goal of this study is to analyze the capacity of the International Biodiversity Regime (IBR) to resolve the problem of the biology diversity loss. Considering that regimes are effective when they serve to solve the problems that caused his creation, this exercise was based on the crossroad of two models of evaluation: the model pression-state-answer and the model of evaluation of the effectiveness of the environmental regimes. As the result, it is argued that is possible to give an instrumental vision to the Biodiversity Regime, in way, throught his degree of effectiveness, it is seen as an indicator of environmental sustainability. In this sense, using the exemplary case of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, there was discussed the contribution of the different actors wrapped in the implementation of the IBR and in which measure the mechanisms of international cooperation and financing can favor institutional strengthening necessary to the Regime implementation. In the conclusion, it was observed that the IBR make practical the institutional diversified outline that contemplates administrative necessary flexibility for management and resources collectation in the solution of the biology diversity loss. His effectiveness, however, is straightly connected with a political process, where throught the dialog state actors and civil global society is possible to settle a continuated flow of experiences, between the local and the global, which in much contributes to the reduction of the biological diversity loss, enlarging the natural resources stocks and consequently, contributing to the promotion of the sustainable development.

nÃo hà / O presente estudo sobre o movimento ambientalista em Fortaleza faz uma anÃlise de sua organizaÃÃo, da inserÃÃo das questÃes ambientais nos debates polÃticos e nos movimentos sociais no contexto das dÃcadas de 1970 e 1980. Pela da anÃlise das falas, dos panfletos, manifestos e artigos de jornais, foi possÃvel compreender o processo histÃrico do movimento, suas contradiÃÃes, seus limites, potencialidades e prÃticas sociais. Um dos momentos significativos para os ambientalistas foi a luta vitoriosa pelo Parque do Cocà que configurou na legitimaÃÃo deste movimento, tornando-se referÃncia para as lutas posteriores num processo de politizaÃÃo da ecologia, num novo contexto onde a SOCEMA sede lugar para as ONGs. / The present study on the environmentalist movement in Fortaleza analyzes its organization, the insertion of environmental issues in the political debates and in the social movements in the contexts of the 70âs and 80âs. Through the analysis of oral narratives, pamphlets, manifestos and newspaper articles, it was possible to understand the historical process of this movement, its contradictions, limits, potentialities and social practices. One of the most significant moments for the environmentalists was the victorious struggle for the Cocà Park, which represented the legitimacy of this movement, becoming a reference for the subsequent fights in the ecology politicization process, in a new context where SOCEMA yields place to NGOs.