In recent decades, there has been increasing consensus that sustainable urban development is critical to the future of human societies and planetary systems. The effects of population growth and the environmental impacts of human activities are evident around the world, observable not only in the rapid urbanisation of many large cities, but also in small-medium conurbations, rural communities, and even uninhabited areas. For this reason, sustainable urban development is the theme of this licentiate thesis. The thesis focuses on the role of municipal organisations, the ways in which processes to develop strategies and policies addressing urban sustainability are organised, and how other stakeholders participate in such processes. The thesis concludes by presenting a new conceptual framework that aims to inform such strategic processes - the “five factors” influencing strategic planning processes for urban sustainability in municipalities. The five factors concern the capacity of municipalities and others to act for urban sustainability; their mandate to do so; the resources available to them; the scope of their processes and intended outcomes; and their will, individually and collectively, to pursue urban sustainability. The “five factors” concept may aid future analysis of urban sustainability processes, both in planning and implementation. The “five factors” are based upon the findings of the three appended papers and the synthesis of their results in this thesis. The first and second papers present studies of energy and climate strategy planning processes in Swedish municipalities active in a national programme, the Sustainable Municipality (Uthållig kommun). Paper 1 focuses upon the organisation of processes to develop energy and climate strategies, whereas Paper 2 reflects upon the experiences of participating stakeholders in such processes. The two papers build upon existing theoretical frameworks and present empirical data from case studies of five municipalities, based on document studies, interviews and comparative analysis, in order to make conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of variations in the form and composition of energy and climate planning (e.g. that early involvement of stakeholders results in more comprehensive strategies). In contrast, Paper 3 presents analysis of a multidisciplinary sample of academic journal articles addressing “urban sustainability” and published during the period 2011-2012. As such, this paper focuses on how urban sustainability is practiced, observed and represented in academic literature, and considers different issues that arise as a consequence (e.g. a lack of analysis of urban sustainability governance processes in municipalities). Whereas Papers 1 and 2 observe practice, making insights with reference to specific theoretical perspectives, Paper 3 provides overview and identifies wider challenges and opportunities for research on the theme of urban sustainability. Together, the three papers highlight a number of issues that influence the development of municipalities’ strategic work for urban sustainability – the five factors. / På senare år har konsensus att hållbar stadsutveckling är kritisk-för jordens och mänsklighetens framtid vuxit fram. Effekterna av befolkningstillväxten och människors påverkan på miljön syns runt om i världen, och är inte bara märkbar i många stora städer utan även i mindre städer, på landsbygden och till och med i obebodda områden. Därför står i hållbar stadsutveckling i fokus i denna licentiatavhandling.Avhandlingen fokuserar på kommunorganisationens roll i hållbar stadsutveckling och organisering av processerna att utveckla strategier och politik som syftar till hållbar stadsutveckling. Utöver det har även deltagandet av andra aktörer i sådana processer studerats. Avhandlingen avslutas genom att presentera ett nytt begrepp som kan underlätta strategisk planering, nämligen ”de fem faktorerna”.De fem faktorerna är kommuners/aktörers kapacitet att arbeta för hållbar stadsutveckling; deras mandat att driva hållbar stadsutveckling; tillgängliga resurser som får disponeras; processernas omfattning och önskat utfall; och den individuella- och kollektiva viljan att uppnå hållbar stadsutveckling. Femfaktorsbegreppet skulle kunna bidra till framtidsanalys av hållbara stadsutvecklingsprocesser, i såväl planering som genomförande. De fem faktorerna bygger på slutsatser från licenciatsavhandlingens tre artiklar samt en syntes av dessa.Den första och andra artikeln presenterar resultaten från ett forskningsprojekt som granskade processerna kring framtagande av energi- och klimatstrategier i kommuner som deltog i det svenska nationella programmet Uthållig kommun. I första artikeln ligger fokus på organiseringen av processerna, medan erfarenheterna av deltagande intressenter reflekteras över i den andra artikeln. De två artiklarna bygger på befintliga teoretiska ramverk och presenterar en mängd empiri från fem kommuner, som erhållits genom t.ex. dokumentstudier, intervjuer. Utifrån detta harslutsatser dragits kring för- och nackdelar i utformningen av planeringsprocesser för energi- och klimatstrategier, t.ex. att processer som involverar intressenter tidigt även resulterar i strategier som är mer omfattandeI den tredje artikeln presenteras resultaten av en multidisciplinär litteraturundersökning. Vetenskapliga artiklar som handlar om ”hållbar stadsutveckling” och publicerade under perioden 2011-2012 står i fokus. Artikeln syftar till att bättre förstå hur hållbar stadsutveckling tillämpas i praktiken, hur det beaktas, hur det representeras i den akademiska litteraturen, samt vilka effekter som uppstår på grund av denna representation, såsom t.ex. ett brist på analys av governance processer för hållbar stadsutveckling i kommuner. Medan de första artiklarna behandlar praktiken med hänsyn till specifika teoretiska perspektiv, syftar den tredje artikeln till att ge en överblick och identifiera utmaningar och möjligheter inom forskningen för hållbar stadsutveckling. Tillsammans illustrerar de tre artiklarna ett flertal aspekter som påverkar utvecklingen av kommunernas strategiska arbete för hållbar stadsutveckling – de fem faktorerna.

A questão das mudanças climáticas é indicada como um dos principais desafios atuais à humanidade. As empresas, enquanto ator importante da sociedade, inicialmente se mostraram refratárias à imputação da responsabilidade parcial pela questão das mudanças climáticas, tendo, por vezes, uma postura de negação quanto a sua ocorrência e contra a imposição de regulações que as obrigassem a reduzir suas emissões. Atualmente, contudo, as empresas têm se mostrado mais proativas no desenvolvimento de ações visando gerir as mudanças climáticas, o que inclui a mensuração e o estabelecimento de metas quanto às suas emissões de gases de efeito estufa, o desenvolvimento de estratégias de mitigação das emissões e a adaptação a possíveis consequências das mudanças climáticas. Isso tem ocorrido pela constatação das empresas de que as mudanças climáticas encerram tanto oportunidades quanto riscos aos seus negócios, sendo esta dinâmica variável de acordo com a visão estratégica da empresa a respeito da questão, dos países onde a empresa atua ou do setor ou cadeia produtiva da qual faz parte. Da mesma forma que vem acontecendo com outros aspectos da estratégia empresarial, a dimensão ambiental, incluindo a questão das mudanças climáticas, também tem sido observada sob o prisma da cadeia produtiva. A cadeia produtiva de carne bovina no Brasil se mostra muito sensível a essa dinâmica, seja porque a pecuária de corte bovina é bastante dependente do ambiente natural, seja porque é apontada como sendo responsável pelo maior volume de emissões de gases de estufa no Brasil e frequentemente é vista e sofre pressões por parte de diversos stakeholders, que a questionam a respeito de seu impacto ambiental. Por outro lado, a pecuária de corte bovina tem um eminente papel no país em termos econômicos, sociais e territoriais. Diante desse cenário, a presente dissertação tem como objetivo identificar as estratégias, desafios e oportunidades da cadeia produtiva de carne bovina no Brasil em relação à gestão das mudanças climáticas. Metodologicamente, optou-se por realizar uma pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando-se da estratégia de estudo de caso de três empresas atuantes no Brasil, cada qual representando cada um dos principais elos dessa cadeia produtiva: Grupo JD/Fazenda São Marcelo, o pecuarista; O Grupo Marfrig, o frigorífico e a indústria alimentícia; e o Grupo Carrefour, o varejo. Os resultados mostram que todos os elos da cadeia produtiva apresentam visão estratégica sobre as mudanças climáticas e têm desenvolvido estratégias relativas à gestão das mudanças climáticas, sendo que o frigorífico se mostrou o elo mais desenvolvido. Como principais oportunidades, observam-se fontes de financiamento e outras técnicas visando o aumento de produtividade da pecuária, melhorias de processos produtivos e logísticos nos frigoríficos e varejistas, e mecanismos que contribuem para o aprimoramento da coordenação da cadeia bovina a partir da questão ambiental. Como principais desafios, menciona-se o aprimoramento das metodologias para mensuração das emissões, a limitação da expansão territorial da fronteira agrícola e o investimento nas ações de adaptação. / The issue of climate change is indicated as one of the main current challenges to humanity. Companies, while an important actor of society, initially proved to be refractory to the imputation of partial liability by the issue of climate change, with sometimes an attitude of denial regarding its presence and against the imposition of regulations that obligate them to reduce their emissions. Currently, however, companies have been more proactive in developing actions to manage climate change, which includes measuring and setting the goals on their emissions of greenhouse gases, developing strategies to mitigate the emissions and adapting themselves to the possible consequences of climate change. This is due to the fact that companies are realizing that climate change presents both opportunities and risks to their business; and this dynamic is variable based on the company\'s strategic vision on the issue, on the countries where the company operates or on the industry or chain production which the company is part of. As with other aspects of business strategy, the environmental dimension, including the issue of climate change, has also been observed through the prism of the production chain. The production chain of beef in Brazil proves to be very sensitive to this dynamic, whether it\'s because the beef cattle segment is quite dependent on the natural environment, or because it is seen as being responsible for the highest level of greenhouse gases emissions in Brazil and it\'s often seen and coerced by several stakeholders, which argue about its environmental impact. On the other hand, the beef cattle segment has a prominent role in the country in terms of economic, social and territorial aspects. Against this backdrop, this thesis aims to identify the strategies, challenges and opportunities in the production chain of beef in Brazil in relation to the climate change management. Methodologically, a qualitative study was conducted using the case study strategy of three companies operating in Brazil, each representing one of the main links in the supply chain: Grupo JD/Fazenda São Marcelo, the cattle breeder; Marfrig, slaughterhouses and food industry, and the Carrefour Group retailer. The results show that all the links in the chain have strategic vision on climate change and have developed strategies for the management of climate change, being the cold storage facility the most developed link. As major opportunities, it has been observed sources of funding and other techniques aimed at increasing livestock productivity, improvements in production and logistics processes in cold storage facilities and retailers, as well as mechanisms that contribute to the improvement of the coordination of bovine chain from the environmental issue. As major challenges, it is mentioned the improvement of methodologies for measuring emissions, limiting the territorial expansion of the agricultural frontier and investment in adaptation actions.

A questão das mudanças climáticas é indicada como um dos principais desafios atuais à humanidade. As empresas, enquanto ator importante da sociedade, inicialmente se mostraram refratárias à imputação da responsabilidade parcial pela questão das mudanças climáticas, tendo, por vezes, uma postura de negação quanto a sua ocorrência e contra a imposição de regulações que as obrigassem a reduzir suas emissões. Atualmente, contudo, as empresas têm se mostrado mais proativas no desenvolvimento de ações visando gerir as mudanças climáticas, o que inclui a mensuração e o estabelecimento de metas quanto às suas emissões de gases de efeito estufa, o desenvolvimento de estratégias de mitigação das emissões e a adaptação a possíveis consequências das mudanças climáticas. Isso tem ocorrido pela constatação das empresas de que as mudanças climáticas encerram tanto oportunidades quanto riscos aos seus negócios, sendo esta dinâmica variável de acordo com a visão estratégica da empresa a respeito da questão, dos países onde a empresa atua ou do setor ou cadeia produtiva da qual faz parte. Da mesma forma que vem acontecendo com outros aspectos da estratégia empresarial, a dimensão ambiental, incluindo a questão das mudanças climáticas, também tem sido observada sob o prisma da cadeia produtiva. A cadeia produtiva de carne bovina no Brasil se mostra muito sensível a essa dinâmica, seja porque a pecuária de corte bovina é bastante dependente do ambiente natural, seja porque é apontada como sendo responsável pelo maior volume de emissões de gases de estufa no Brasil e frequentemente é vista e sofre pressões por parte de diversos stakeholders, que a questionam a respeito de seu impacto ambiental. Por outro lado, a pecuária de corte bovina tem um eminente papel no país em termos econômicos, sociais e territoriais. Diante desse cenário, a presente dissertação tem como objetivo identificar as estratégias, desafios e oportunidades da cadeia produtiva de carne bovina no Brasil em relação à gestão das mudanças climáticas. Metodologicamente, optou-se por realizar uma pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando-se da estratégia de estudo de caso de três empresas atuantes no Brasil, cada qual representando cada um dos principais elos dessa cadeia produtiva: Grupo JD/Fazenda São Marcelo, o pecuarista; O Grupo Marfrig, o frigorífico e a indústria alimentícia; e o Grupo Carrefour, o varejo. Os resultados mostram que todos os elos da cadeia produtiva apresentam visão estratégica sobre as mudanças climáticas e têm desenvolvido estratégias relativas à gestão das mudanças climáticas, sendo que o frigorífico se mostrou o elo mais desenvolvido. Como principais oportunidades, observam-se fontes de financiamento e outras técnicas visando o aumento de produtividade da pecuária, melhorias de processos produtivos e logísticos nos frigoríficos e varejistas, e mecanismos que contribuem para o aprimoramento da coordenação da cadeia bovina a partir da questão ambiental. Como principais desafios, menciona-se o aprimoramento das metodologias para mensuração das emissões, a limitação da expansão territorial da fronteira agrícola e o investimento nas ações de adaptação. / The issue of climate change is indicated as one of the main current challenges to humanity. Companies, while an important actor of society, initially proved to be refractory to the imputation of partial liability by the issue of climate change, with sometimes an attitude of denial regarding its presence and against the imposition of regulations that obligate them to reduce their emissions. Currently, however, companies have been more proactive in developing actions to manage climate change, which includes measuring and setting the goals on their emissions of greenhouse gases, developing strategies to mitigate the emissions and adapting themselves to the possible consequences of climate change. This is due to the fact that companies are realizing that climate change presents both opportunities and risks to their business; and this dynamic is variable based on the company\'s strategic vision on the issue, on the countries where the company operates or on the industry or chain production which the company is part of. As with other aspects of business strategy, the environmental dimension, including the issue of climate change, has also been observed through the prism of the production chain. The production chain of beef in Brazil proves to be very sensitive to this dynamic, whether it\'s because the beef cattle segment is quite dependent on the natural environment, or because it is seen as being responsible for the highest level of greenhouse gases emissions in Brazil and it\'s often seen and coerced by several stakeholders, which argue about its environmental impact. On the other hand, the beef cattle segment has a prominent role in the country in terms of economic, social and territorial aspects. Against this backdrop, this thesis aims to identify the strategies, challenges and opportunities in the production chain of beef in Brazil in relation to the climate change management. Methodologically, a qualitative study was conducted using the case study strategy of three companies operating in Brazil, each representing one of the main links in the supply chain: Grupo JD/Fazenda São Marcelo, the cattle breeder; Marfrig, slaughterhouses and food industry, and the Carrefour Group retailer. The results show that all the links in the chain have strategic vision on climate change and have developed strategies for the management of climate change, being the cold storage facility the most developed link. As major opportunities, it has been observed sources of funding and other techniques aimed at increasing livestock productivity, improvements in production and logistics processes in cold storage facilities and retailers, as well as mechanisms that contribute to the improvement of the coordination of bovine chain from the environmental issue. As major challenges, it is mentioned the improvement of methodologies for measuring emissions, limiting the territorial expansion of the agricultural frontier and investment in adaptation actions.

The Swedish Act on Municipal Energy Planning was written in 1977 in a time of energy crisis and requires each municipality to have a plan for rational supply and distribution of energy. With regards to the on-going climate change however, there is a need for energy planning to emphasise on shifting towards an efficient energy system with high share of renewables, and low impacts on the climate and the environment. The legislation is therefore argued to be outdated and is currently under review. This study shows that most municipalities are working with the energy issue, as 71% have adopted a policy document with focus on energy and climate. However, 41% has not adopted an energy plan as referred to in the Act on municipal energy planning. The results show that the energy strategies have a wider focus than what is stated in the legislation, which strengthens the view that the legislation can be regarded as outdated. Energy Strategies however still have an important function at the municipal level, as they can help to integrate energy aspects into spatial planning, as well as function as support for the daily energy and climate work in the choice of strategies and measures. The study further shows that the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment has potential to increase the consideration of environmental quality objectives, especially those that might be impacted from the energy plans, but the use of it has been fairly limited and only conducted in 6% of the energy plans. It is therefore recommended that the Act on Municipal Energy Planning is revised to instead include requirements for municipal energy and climate strategies, and that they are made subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment, thus promoting a transition to a sustainable energy system, where environmental objectives are taken into account and possible conflicts can be addressed early in the planning process. / Med beaktande av klimatförändringarna finns ett stort behov av att energiplaneringen har ett holistiskt och strategiskt förhållningssätt med hänsyn till klimat- och miljöpåverkan. Kommunerna har en viktig roll i utformandet av den hållbara staden på grund av sitt planmonopol, och ska även enligt lag ha en aktuell energiplan. Lagen om kommunal energiplanering skrevs dock vid en tid av energikris och fokuserar mer på tillgång och distribution av energi än ett hållbart energisystem. Kommunala energiplaner omfattas även av det så kallade SMB-direktivet och som huvudregel ska en strategisk miljöbedömning göras för samtliga energiplaner. Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att undersöka nuvarande praxis för kommunal energiplanering, genom att kartlägga kommunernas energistrategier antagna under åren 2004-2015. Vidare studeras ifall strategisk miljöbedömning ökar hänsyn till nationella miljökvalitetsmål relaterade till energi och om kommunal energiplanering har influerat översiktsplaner genom mål och strategier. Kartläggningen visar att de flesta kommunerna arbetar med energifrågan, då 71 % har antagit någon form av policy-dokument med fokus på energi och klimat inom tidsintervallet. En tämligen stor andel (41 %) har dock inte antagit en energiplan såsom lagen åsyftar. Intervjustudien stärker även bilden att kommunerna har ett vidare fokus än vad som anges i lagen om kommunal energiplanering, och att lagen därmed är utdaterad. Energistrategierna fyller dock viktiga funktioner på den kommunala nivån, dels för att de kan bidra till att integrera energiaspekter i fysisk planering, men även som stöd i det dagliga energi- och klimatarbetet vid val av strategier och åtgärder. Strategisk miljöbedömning har gjorts i ganska begränsad omfattning, för cirka 6 % av energiplanerna. Resultat från intervjuer pekar på att de inte har ökat hänsyn av miljökvalitetsmålen i någon större utsträckning, men däremot fungerat som en försäkran för att de beaktades. De kvantitativa resultaten pekar dock på att för miljökvalitetsmål som inte har en så tydlig koppling till energi och klimat, men där negativa miljökonsekvenser likväl kan uppstå, så ökar strategisk miljöbedömning att dessa tas i beaktande. Det är därför rekommenderat att lagen om kommunal energiplanering revideras till att istället omfatta krav på kommunala energi- och klimatstrategier, och att strategisk miljöbedömning görs för dessa. På så vis främjas en omställning till ett hållbart energisystem, där miljökvalitetsmålen beaktas och eventuella målkonflikter kan behandlas tidigt i planeringsprocessen.

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.

No description available.