Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth of such forests are under the control of local communities, which primarily manage forests for subsistence and to meet their livelihood needs. The trend of bottom-up community control is increasing through the adoption of decentralization reforms over the last 40 years. In contrast, the United Nations has introduced the top-down program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon and the sustainable management of forest in developing countries. REDD+ incentivizes forest-managing communities to sequester carbon and reduce emissions. REDD+ has created hope for managing forests to mitigate climate change and has created fear that the new initiative may not be effective and may not ensure continuing forest-managing community benefits. However, little research has been conducted to answer these concerns. By taking nationally representative data from Nepalese community-managed forests (“forest commons"), I bring insights into whether and how these forests can contribute to REDD+ initiatives, particularly as they relate to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, equity in benefit sharing and collective action. My results indicated the highly variable carbon and biodiversity in the forest plots across the country, depicting the availability of space for additional growth in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. My results also reflect the complex and varied relationships of carbon with different indices of biodiversity at the national level, across geographic and topographic regions, and in forests with varying canopy covers. Weak positive relationships between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation indicate the possibility of synergies between carbon-forestry and biodiversity conservation. I also found that the formal community forestry program (CFP) has clearly positive impacts on biodiversity conservation and household-level equity in benefit sharing and a negative impact on carbon sequestration at the national level. However, disaggregated results of impacts of CFP on biodiversity, carbon and equity across geography, topography, forest quality and social groups display mixed results i.e., either positive or negative or neutral. I also identified that different drivers of collective action have different (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) associations with carbon sequestration, which either supports or challenges established knowledge. In aggregate, my research indicates the potential of contribution by forest commons, and specially the CFP, to global environmental initiatives such as REDD+. It suggests that targeted, dedicated policies and programs to increase carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and foster equity and collective actions are critical. In addition, my results also contribute to the growing literature on socio-ecological implications of forest commons that demonstrated the need of interdisciplinary research to understand human-nature relationships in the changing context.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was signed by nations all over the world. The new climate agreementwill replace previous Kyoto Protocol post-2020 and will likely change the conditions for using carbonoffsetting. It is probable that even more stringent controls will be required to ensure a credible carbon marketwhich avoids double counting and secures environmental integrity. Voluntary use of offsetting has to becompatible with the new rules set under the Paris Agreement to manage these risks. More countries will countemission reductions to their new nationally determined contributions, and therefore increases the risk ofdouble counting. Hence, the purpose of this master thesis was to reveal how the Swedish companies’ currentuse of voluntary carbon offsetting is compatible with the likely carbon market post-2020. The companiesreasons as why they use voluntary carbon offsetting, together with their underlying ethical view, based ontheir practices around carbon offsetting, were investigated. Eight qualitative semi-structured interviews withSwedish companies using voluntary carbon offsetting were conducted during February - March in 2020. Theresult was analysed through the ethical theories consequentialist and duty-based theory to understand theirunderlying ethical view in relation to their carbon offsetting. The result showed that there are two primaryreasons as why companies use voluntary carbon offsetting. The first reason is that voluntary carbon offsettingis a part of their strategy to reduce their climate impact, and the second reason is to gain the trust of customersand marketing themselves through voluntary carbon offsetting. The thesis concludes that for the companies’to best guarantee the expected outcome of their offsetting, and be compatible with the post-2020 carbonoffsetting, they should have a combination of consequentialist and duty-based underlying ethical view withstrong follow up. Furthermore, regardless of reason for using voluntary carbon offsetting, or their ethicalview towards the action, the companies may choose to move to the alternative of financially supportingthe host countries in their work to reduce their GHG emissions instead of offsetting post-2020.

1 Název práce: Mezinárodní režim ochrany klimatu ve světle závazků vybraných smluvních stran Rámcové úmluvy OSN o změně klimatu Autor práce: PhDr. Ing. Přemysl Štěpánek Školitel: Doc. PhDr. Jan Karlas, M.A., Ph.D. Pracoviště: Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd, Institut politologických studií, Katedra mezinárodních vztahů. Rok obhajoby: 2018 Abstract To complement the current research on countries' action in relation to global public goods, this dissertation examines the strength of UNFCCC Parties' emission commitments and the influence of selected factors derived from rationalism and constructivism on the strength of these commitments in two different contexts, under the Copenhagen Accord (2009) and the Paris Agreement (2015). Using a multiple linear regression analysis on the sample of 27 and 54 cases in the first and the second period, respectively, and as well as through case studies on three important UNFCCC Parties with a strong commitment and variance in values of the independent variables (the European Union, the Russian Federation, South Africa), the conclusions are as follows. The regression analysis in both contexts showed, in line with the assumptions, the positive influence of two factors on the strength of commitments, namely the share of alternative and nuclear energy and economic...

In rural areas of least developed countries, the preparation of meals remains the predominant energy consuming activity. Cooking is mostly performed with firewood – using the ancient “technology” of the 3-stone fire. This practice results in numerous challenges that hinder the transformation envisioned by the Millennium Development Goals and it therefore contributes towards slowing the development of rural areas. Activities focussing on amending this status-quo can be termed insufficient in scope- and sustainability. The main deficiencies of most projects are that the prime focus of the mainstream of these endeavours has been on demand side management, mainly performed by disseminating cookstoves, and that there has been little innovation in respect to raising stove adoption rates. As the strict efficiency focus obviously only captures one side of the problem – merely focussing on treating symptoms rather than providing an effective solution, this thesis stresses the need for a paradigm shift towards more holistic interventions. This work very much focuses on the topic of stove adoption. This is a complex topic - very much linked to attaining behavioural change. Deliberations concluded that the identification of enabling factors for adoption, which can be termed a prerequisite for developing sustainable methods for stove projects, requires a mix of instruments. To suffice the required data demand the initial literature review was complemented by a thorough assessment of the kitchen environment and the cooking behaviour of stove owners. The fieldwork concentrated on 210 beneficiaries of an efficient cookstove project. The applied methods included interviews, observations and pictorial documentation. As a remedy to the challenges and current shortcomings identified during field work and literature review, the author herein develops a novel and more holistic implementation strategy for stove projects – the so- called 3-Step approach. This is based on the simultaneous implementation of availing cookstoves, building capacity in respect to kitchen management, as well as performing small-scale household level tree planting. The research, which further encompassed the piloting of the 3-Step approach, led to the overall conclusion that the proposed increase in project scope holds a multitude of opportunities for improving the livelihoods of the rural target groups. The main impact of this innovative strategy lies in a decrease of average transaction costs as well as in a considerable increase in project sustainability. As will be extensively elaborated, the former is achieved by a more effective utilisation of the extensive infrastructure of trained artisans. The latter refers to the expected income increase on household level, as well as to improvements in environmental- and human health. In combination these enable rural communities to better adapt to climate change.

During the last few years cities are taking the lead against climate change. Theyare aware of the big contribution they can make to mitigate the climate change, so theyare working actively in this field. This thesis’ aim is to study what cities are doing andthe chance they have to be successful. The cities selected for this thesis were Madrid,Barcelona, London, Manchester an Dublin. The method followed to active the aim wasto read all the information available from the selected cities’ Councils about themeasures they are carrying out. Then, transform that information to a way that all thecities’ information can be compared. As a result, it can be seen that there are fewdifferences in their lines of action,excluding some punctual facts. All the cities areworking actively to reduce transport sector’s emissions, to improve the energy use athomes and to increase the importance of the renewable energies. Spanish cities’emissions reduction targets are still not ambitious enough, while London’s are the mostambitious among the studied cities. As a conclusion, it can be said that cities shouldwork together to face the challenge of climate change, because there’s still much to do,targets have to be more ambitious and measures stricter. / Estos últimos años las ciudades están tomando la iniciativa en contra del cambioclimático. Son conscientes de las grandes oportunidades que tienen para mitigarlo, asíque están trabajando activamente en este sentido. El propósito de esta tesis es estudiar loque están haciendo las ciudades para mitigar el cambio climático y las oportunidadesque tienen de tener éxito. Las ciudades seleccionadas para este estudio son Madrid,Barcelona, Londres, Manchester y Dublín. El método para conseguir el propósito fueleer toda la información disponible por parte de los ayuntamientos de las distintasciudades acerca de las medidas que están llevando a cabo. A continuación transformaresa información a unos parámetros comunes a todas las ciudades y compararla. Comoresultado se observa que hay muy pocas diferencias en sus líneas de acción, con algunaexcepción puntual. Todas las ciudades están trabajando activamente para reducir lasemisiones del sector transporte, mejorar el aprovechamiento energético doméstico ypara aumentar la proporción de energías renovables. Las ciudades Españolas todavía notienen objetivos de reducción de emissiones suficientemente ambiciosos, al contrarioque Londres. Como conclusión, las ciudades deberían trabajar unidas en contra delcambio climático, porque todavía queda mucho por conseguir, los objetivos deben sermás abiciosos y las medidas más estrictas. / <p>www.ima.kth.se</p>

Thesis (Ph.D. (Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Changes in climate and land-use, collectively called environmental changes, have been a source of concern globally, particularly in dryland grasslands, where people still heavily rely on services from these ecosystems. Extreme climatic conditions have been projected to increase both in intensity and frequency globally. In semi-arid regions, drought is anticipated to occur more frequently and to last longer as a consequence of climate change. Moreover, as human populations continue to grow, there is an increase in demand for natural resources that are already diminishing. Consequently, the combination of these factors has a negative effect on the functions and services of the dryland grassland ecosystems. Therefore, to counteract the degradation of these socioeconomically significant ecosystems, it is vital to understand how these systems respond to the long-term effects of drought and grazing. Limpopo province is largely dominated by drylands; comprising arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems. In Limpopo province, rangelands and agroforestry systems deliver important ecosystem services. Arable lands, rangeland, agroforestry, and orchards are three major land-use types contributing greatly to local livelihoods within Limpopo’s multi-use landscapes. Motivated by the above mentioned factors this study had the following objectives; (i) to review the impact of climate change on dryland grasslands, (ii) to evaluate ecosystem functioning through the assessment of climate related effects on taxonomic diversity and density demography from the grass layer, (iii) to analyse the effects of drought and grazing on the grass layer and to understand the factors affecting tree populations, particularly tree establishment patterns, (iv) to measure ecosystem service provision from the savanna ecosystem and also, to bridge the knowledge gap on the importance of biodiversity in an ecosystem. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a comprehensive literature analysis was conducted on the effects of climate change on dryland grasslands to assess the magnitude of this impact and the existing understanding of vegetation dynamics in the face of climate change. The study also took advantage of the large-scale field experiment which evaluated, through precipitation manipulation, the impact of drought on grazed and ungrazed vegetation in the dryland grasslands of Limpopo province, South Africa, labeled drought Act experiment. In the Drought Act experiment, passive rain-out shelters and grazing ex-closure fences were set up to simulate a severe drought in combination with differing resting schemes of the rangeland. This was done in order to assess the effect of previous drought events on herbaceous vegetation. Grazing and drought treatments were implemented across four treatment plots per block, via a full factorial design. The study also took advantage of the steep gradient of climatic aridity in Limpopo province and used a space-for-time substitution to evaluate the effects of climate-induced risks and factors impacting the establishment of encroaching woody species under conditions of climate change. Two climate zones and soil types were selected; semi-arid vs. dry sub-humid zone, and Glenrosa soil vs. Hutton soil. Data analysis was executed using the R statistical software package. The examination of literature revealed that African dryland ecosystems are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, resulting in biodiversity loss, structural and functional changes to the ecosystem, and a diminished capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Climate change’s most susceptible species and functions have a great potential to be utilized as early warning signs. Furthermore, precipitation manipulation experiments are a great tool for investigating the impact of climate change as they allow for precipitation reduction below the natural range. There is still a general lack of information regarding the effects that extreme climatic conditions have on ecosystems and the mechanisms that determine how ecosystems respond and recover from stress and disturbances. The Drought Act experiment showed that prolonged drought had a substantial and negative impact on the biomass output of the vast majority of taxonomic groups and plant functional types (PFTs). This reduction in biomass production from the grass layer results in limited grazing for livestock, which is a primary ecosystem service provided by dryland grasslands. However, the study revealed that few species and PFTs were resistant to the effects of prolonged drought and grazing. In general, the study showed that long-term drought and grazing winners were primarily forbs and narrow-leaved perennial grasses with low leaf area (LA) and high leaf dry matter content (LDMC). Furthermore, the negative impact of drought on the taxonomic richness and species per unit area and ultimately diversity, worsened as the drought period increased. Additionally, grazing exclusion (resting) was shown to have a negative influence on species richness, abundance, and diversity, especially over long periods of time. Bottom-up mechanisms such as soil type had a greater impact on the establishment, recruitment, and survival of invading woody species than top-down mechanisms such as precipitation. In addition, the significant correlation that was established in the study between the age of trees and the circumferences of their stems, measured at breast height, provided evidence that non-destructive methods of estimating the age of trees are feasible. Further development of non-invasive approaches in the field of dendrochronology is also made possible by these findings. The findings of this thesis indicate, on the whole, that; to gain a better understanding of dryland vegetation dynamics in the face of drought, researchers need to investigate further the impact of climatic extremes on ecosystem functions and services. Moreover, winners and losers of long-term drought can be distinguished by their unique characteristics; hence, taxonomic groups and functional characteristics could be utilized as early markers of veld degradation, which would permit timely management interventions. The negative impact of long-term drought and grazing on the grass layer limits the ecosystem’s capacity to carry livestock and wildlife for extended periods, thus impacting the livelihoods of the people who rely on these ecosystems. In addition, the tendency of higher tree establishment in lower rainfall years suggests that drought could be a driving factor for woody vegetation propagation. The trait-based approach is very instructive when it comes to researching the dynamics of vegetation in dryland grasslands. This is especially true when considering the effects of changing climate and land-use. This study has contributed to a better knowledge of the ecosystem function under changing climate and land-use, which is the basis of enhancing the resilience of different land-use systems and reducing risks to ecosystem functions and services while optimizing production. / NRF, DAAD, UL, SALL net, Universitat Potsdam

Bygg- och anläggningssektorn är ansvarig för en betydande del av Sveriges totala koldioxidutsläpp och står inför stora utmaningar när den nu skall försöka minska dess klimatpåverkan. Bygg- och anläggningssektorn behöver under det kommande decenniet hitta lösningar och arbetssätt som halverar sektorns totala koldioxidutsläpp. Entreprenörer kommer att behöva hitta sätt att effektivt genomföra både befintliga lösningar och sådana som inte ännu inte finns tillgängliga. Det här examensarbetet har undersökt vilka nyckelfaktorer som finns för ett lyckat genomförande av nya lösningar med låg klimatpåverkan vid väg- och anläggningsprojekt. Som en fallstudie undersöktes implementeringen av Multicem vid två av Skanskas projekt. Multicem är ett klimatmässigt fördelaktigt alternativ till produkten kalkcement och används vid genomförande av inblandningspelare i jordförstärkningssyfte. Fallstudien tillsammans med litteratur och intervjuer bidrog till slutsatser om vad som måste till för att projekt skall kunna genomföra klimateffektiviseringsåtgärder. Det som har observerats är att projekts möjlighet att klimateffektivisera beror på projekt-, organisations- och sektorspecifika faktorer och tydligt försvåras av bygg- och anläggningssektorns projektstruktur. Studien visar att nyckelfaktorer på projektnivå är att lösningar introduceras tidigt, är ekonomiskt fördelaktiga och kan implementeras enkelt med hjälp av standardiserade arbetssätt. Dessutom måste tidigare erfarenheter spridas effektivt inom organisationen, så att erfarenheter från projekt blir tillgängliga för nya projekt. Organisatoriska nyckelfaktorer för lyckad klimateffektivisering är engagerad ledning på alla nivåer och samverkan mellan olika aktörer och olika projekt. Examensarbetet visar även att bygg- och anläggningssektorn är beroende av att ett övergripande arbete för klimateffektivisering sker inom sektorn. Entreprenörer är beroende av att grönt innovationsarbete pågår i hela leverantörskedjan för att möjliggöra nya fördelaktiga arbetssätt. Dessutom är Trafikverkets roll vid upphandlingsskeden och kravställning ytterst viktig eftersom myndigheten styr arbetet som entreprenörer och andra aktörer kan utföra. / The construction industry accounts for a major part of Sweden’s overall carbon dioxide emissions, and is because of that, today facing significant challenges in its aim to mitigate the industry’s total climate impact. During the coming decade, the Swedish infrastructure construction industry must find solutions that can mitigate its carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent. This means that contractors will have to find ways to efficiently implement both existing and innovative solutions. This master’s thesis has researched which key factors apply for successful implementation of green solutions at infrastructure development. As a case study, the implementation of the product Multicem at two of Skanska’s developments was researched. Multicem is a product that can be used in dry deep mixing in order to limit carbon emissions. The case study, together with literature and interviews, provided conclusions on which factors are relevant for successful implementation of solutions that result in less carbon dioxide emissions. The research shows that a project’s capacity to mitigate its emissions is decided by projectspecific, organisational and sectorial factors, and is limited by the construction industry’s project-based characteristics. The study shows that key aspects on a project-level are that the solutions ought to be introduced during an early phase, be economically beneficial and also be implemented easily through standardised working routines. Additionally, earlier experiences must be spread efficiently within the organization so that internal knowledge can be accessible for new developments. Organisational key factors for successful green innovation are: engaged managerial personnel and cooperation between different companies and developments. The results from this master’s thesis show that the construction industry is dependent on that climate change mitigation efforts are taken within the whole industry. In order to develop beneficial solutions and methods, contractors are reliant on that the entire supply chain work towards green innovation. Additionally, the Swedish Transport Administration’s role when designing contracts and legislation is of the outmost importance, since it as an authority regulates the work contractors and consultants perform.

Biochar systems have been beneficial to Kenyan residents living in the rural areas, particularly in Kwale, following recent research interventions. Biochar system starts from the biomass feedstock sourcing, its production method, and finally its application to soil. The aim of this study is to assess the climate change impacts of the application of biochar in smallholder farms and households in rural Kenya, against the traditional agriculture and cooking practices under realistic conditions and from a life cycle perspective. The scope of this study includes the biomass sourcing identification, biomass availability measurement, cooking practice observation and biochar application during planting season (April to May) at one of the rural areas, the Waa Ward in Kwale County under The Biochar Project. Field observation was carried out to identify and measure on-farm biomass availability and cooking performance. The identification and measurement of biomass weight were conducted through survey and manual scale, respectively. While the cooking performance was observed with uncontrolled Kitchen Performance Test (KPT) method. A life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate the climate change impact of biochar system in Kwale. The biochar production method, also called the improved system in this study, is compared against the traditional system. This study focuses at the cookstove used for the two systems, Gastov and three-stone open fire. Gastov is a type of Top-Lit UpDraft (TLUD) natural draft gasifier cookstove investigated. The biomass measurement established the biomass and energy availability on-farms in Kwale. Meanwhile, the KPT found that Gastov required lesser fuel for cooking due to higher thermal efficiency in comparison to three-stone open fire. The LCA results showed that the improved system performs better than the traditional system in terms of climate change impacts and that the improved system potentially offset GHG emissions caused by traditional system as well as generates a net carbon credit. Lastly, the ‘hotspot’ of the improved system was identified in the cooking process, although it was also significantly better than the traditional cooking process. The sensitivity analysis showed that both fraction of stable carbon and fraction of non- renewable biomass (fNRB) were major factors in the biochar system in Kwale, Kenya. The conclusion is that the biochar system presents more advantages as applied in Kwale compared to the traditional system through biomass management, improved cooking method, and biochar application to soil.

<p>A major challenge of achieving sustainable development is to balance two critical targets with finite resources: to secure food security for a growing population with rising consumption demands, and to prevent further pollution into the environment and losses in ecosystem services. More importantly, the targets of food production and environment protection are not only related to socio-economic and technological development, but also tangled together both ecologically and economically, in particular regarding competition for land – the necessary natural resource for achieving both targets. In view of this, a comprehensive understanding about how to achieve sustainable development requires integrated analyses of the nexus of agricultural production, land use and environmental protection (the “agriculture-land-environment nexus”), interactions between these components,  and their responses to socio-economic development and policies. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This dissertation consists of three essays focusing on the impacts of environmental protection polices and infrastructure on the agriculture-land-environment nexus. The first essay analyzes how pollution reduction influences ecosystem services, with both a theoretical model and also empirical analysis with city-level data from China. Existing literature from the environmental and ecological fields reports that pollution reduction contributes to ecosystem services, but the ecosystem effects via economic channels remain under-addressed. We find when integrated together with an economic system, the reduction of pollution causes losses in the area of natural land that supports ecosystem services, which is further supported by empirical evidence. This finding emphasizes the importance of taking ecosystem effects into account on the design, implementation and evaluation of pollution control policies.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second essay researches the impact of a large-scale forestry and grassland conservation policy in China, the grain-to-green project (GTGP), on cropland supply and crop production. In this essay, we first develop a theoretical model of the relationships between cropland supply, land value (with market access as proxy) and GTGP, and then empirically test these relationships using gridded data from China. We find GTGP not only directly reduces cropland area, but also restricts the elasticity of cropland supply in response to market access. Furthermore, we apply the GTGP’s impacts on cropland supply elasticity on a grid-solving computable model, in order to both validate the model and elasticity estimates via hindcasting and evaluate the GTGP’s impact on agricultural production via simulation. In the computable model where all grids are connected with crop markets, we find two effects of GTGP on agriculture: the direct effect that restricts cropland use and crop production in regions where it is implemented, and the indirect effect that increases crop production on regions not restricted or less restricted by GTGP. Essay 2 contributes to the literature by not only estimating the pattern of gridded cropland supply in China, but also reveals the indirect effect of GTGP on agriculture, which has seldom been researched. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The third essay researches the impact of transportation infrastructure on Brazilian agriculture, land use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Combining a geographic information system (GIS) based analysis and computable model simulation, we find the expansion of infrastructure mainly contributes to the transportation cost reduction in inland Brazil and causes local cropland expansion and increased GHG emissions from land conversion. However, the shifting of crop production towards inland Brazil reduces the demand for cropland in southeastern and southern Brazil, which offsets the impact on cropland expansion and GHG emissions at the national level. Findings in Essay 3 indicate the importance of capturing both spatial heterogeneity and spatial spillover effects of infrastructure expansion when evaluating agricultural and environmental impacts. </p>

Oil palm dominates global oil production, trade, and consumption. Nigeria is one of the leading palm oil producers and consumers. A significant challenge of the palm oil industry is to reduce the environmental impacts (e.g. pollution and carbon footprint) and integrate a circular economy in operation. This study aims to comparatively quantify the environmental impacts of technologies used by different mills. We applied a life cycle assessment in the case of Nigeria. The study covers the reception and processing of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) to end-product palm oil. The inputs include generated empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fibre, palm kernel shell, palm oil mill effluent, diesel, water and all outputs to the environment for a functional unit of 1-tonne FFB. The results showed that large-scale mills perform worse (468 kg CO₂-eq per t FFB) than the semi-mechanised and smallholder mills in effects on climate change but better in the other impact categories, including human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and fine particulate matter formation. In large-scale mills, the climate change impacts decrease by 75% when the raw palm oil mill effluent (POME) is used in composting EFB. Similarly, climate change impacts reduce by 44% when biogas from POME substitutes diesel in the semi-mechanised and smallholder mills. We conclude that regulatory measures are needed to ensure improved management practices in the production processes. Particular attention should be paid to the generation and reuse of biomass and POME. This study provides a handy reference to assist the sustainable energy transition in Nigeria’s and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa’s oil palm industry to mitigate climate change and form a cleaner bioeconomy.