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Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:28:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:56:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

The complex nature of waste management and planning requires a long-term strategic policy formation approach incorporating sustainable development principles. Consequently, the transition from a waste paradigm to valuing materials as resources is central for transitioning towards a 'zero waste' future. A need is identified, via infrastructure planning, to move beyond short-term forecasting and predictive methods previously used in waste research in order to overcome target-driven decision-making. The application of a participatory backcasting methodology: visioning, baseline assessment, scenario development and feasibility testing; produced transformative scenarios which are visualised using GIS reflecting the choices, ideas and beliefs of participants. The structural governance (e.g. waste infrastructure planning and strategic waste policy) of an English county is used to evaluate the efficacy of waste management scenarios. A quantitative model was developed to test scenarios for three metrics (tonnages, economics and carbon). The final model utilises the synergy between backcasting and GIS to spatially and temporally analyse empirically quantified outputs. This structured approach produced three transformative scenarios and one reference scenario. Waste prevention and changes to systemic waste generation produced long-term tonnage reductions across the transformative scenarios. Costs of future waste management witnessed the reference scenario outperforming one of the transformative scenarios; while the highest emissions savings were attributable to the scenario most closely reflecting the notion of 'deep sustainability'. In terms of waste infrastructure planning, a centralised pattern of large integrated facilities emphasising catchments rather than administrative boundary were most effective. All three transformative scenarios surpassed the 90% recycling and recovery level used as the zero waste benchmark. The research concludes that backcasting can offer a range of potential futures capable of achieving an arbitrary definition of zero waste. Further, these futures can be visualised and analysed via GIS; enhancing stakeholder engagement. Overall, the GIS-based Backcasting Framework Model (G-BFM) produced has the potential to benefit a range of stakeholders and practitioners and is strategically scalable.

Municipal governments consider the provision of water supply as an essential service for public health and safety, economic growth, and community well-being. As the demand for water increases with population growth, municipal water sources are approaching their limits and water source expansion is often constrained by the physical and seasonal availability of fresh water, environmental protection policies and other factors. As systems strive to balance supply and demand, it is important to know what choices U. S. cities are making in developing new sources of supply and, in particular, how U.S. environmental policies are influencing the range of water supply alternatives. This research inquiry was constructed based on four hypotheses: 1) development of large surface water impoundments is no longer a preferred choice of a new source, 2) water utilities increasingly are relying on non-conventional sources for augmenting their supplies. 3) environmental statutes act as constraints in developing water sources, and 4) water needs and planning choices vary by geographic region and water system size. Evidence to explore these hypotheses was collected from detailed case studies of the history of source development of ten municipal water systems and an email survey of 189 drinking water systems throughout the U.S. The historical record of these systems was used to identify a pattern of three distinct periods of water source development: i) groundwater regime, ii) surface water regime, and iii) non-conventional regime. Source development before the Great Depression (1930s) was identified as the groundwater regime. The surface water regime began with the addition of large number of reservoirs that were added as part of the public works programs instituted after the Great Depression. Surface water source development slowed after the 1970s due to the enactment of environmental statutes and the non-conventional regime began. The nationwide water utility survey showed that about 88 percent of respondents reduced their per capita water use since the institution of national plumbing standards in the 1990s. The research also found that development of large surface water impoundments is no longer a preferred choice for cities or municipalities and that "non-conventional" water sources, such as water reclamation and desalination and reclamation began to be employed as alternative sources in 1980s. Environmental statutes such as, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA), and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WRSA) have been criticized as constraints to the development of new water sources. However, this research shows that water utilities in general perceive that these statutes are not a constraint. Only 24 percent of respondents perceived them as a constraint and some respondents actually perceived these statutes as an enabler to sustainable water source development. In general, the ESA, CWA 404 permit and NPDES permits were reported to be barriers to water source development, while the SDWA was most reported as an enabler. The research also found that water supply needs and planning choices vary by geographic region. Water systems in the West were more likely to be in need of water source expansion than systems in the East. When considering supply expansions, eastern cities are more likely to pursue conventional sources whereas western cities more likely to pursue a combination of conventional and non-conventional. The water utility survey and case studies showed that while U.S. water systems have employed water demand management techniques to make dramatic reductions in their per capita water use, they nonetheless continue to pursue new water supply sources to meet anticipated future water demands. In spite of this trend toward capacity expansion, virtually all the ten case study water systems currently have surplus water with their current supply exceeding their water demand.

Climate change is arguably the most important global societal challenge. Developing ‘low-carbon societies’, i.e. reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapting to a changing climate, is becoming a policy goal across the globe. Agriculture plays an important role in this transformation. The sector is highly vulnerable to climate variability, and is a significant source of emissions. At the same time, it has potential for reducing GHG emissions and also provides opportunity for carbon sequestration in soils and crop biomass. Policy support for mitigating GHG emissions is being informed by scientific evidence on the effectiveness and costs of mitigation opportunities. This information is frequently depicted in marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs), an assessment tool which can help to visualise the hierarchy of technical measures and their cumulative level of abatement. Similarly to other assessment tools, MACCs’ suitability to provide information has certain limitations. Furthermore, different derivations of MACCs are appropriate to answer different questions. In order to draw both informative and reliable conclusions for policy decisions, the characteristics of the MACCs and the resulting limitations have to be presented clearly. This dissertation seeks to answer the general question whether the agricultural MACCs can be improved so that they provide more comprehensive and tailored information to policy makers. In particular five limitations of the MACCs are discussed: the lack of representation of wider effects, the issue of cost-effectiveness of policy instruments and the inclusion of transaction costs, the uncertainty in the MACCs, the boundaries and the heterogeneity of the analysis. Theoretical frameworks are developed and case study examples are provided for these limitations, and the frameworks are assessed in terms whether they achieve the goal of providing more comprehensive information to policy makers than a conventional MACC. Furthermore, the dissertation summarises the available methodologies and applications in agriculture to enhance the MACCs and provides guidelines for researchers and policy makers about the choice of methods and the communication of the results in order to improve the use of MACCs in the policy process.

The dominance of motor vehicle use throughout America reflects a massive government intervention on behalf of automobiles. Congress directs billions of dollars into America's highway system annually, assuming that building new roadways is the best option to move people and goods from one place to another. These policies stand in direct contradiction to today's travel patterns. This research examines ways to improve federal law to achieve a more sustainable transportation future. First, it identifies the specific provisions in federal transportation law that inhibit the development of "low-build" transportation projects. Second, it describes challenges to halting roadway construction through litigation in federal court. Understanding the problems of federal transportation law and litigation sheds light on the ways to make positive change in the next federal surface transportation reauthorization. This research culminates in recommendations for how Congress can implement policies that require a comprehensive approach to transportation planning.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-07-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:54:44Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 nassaro_alf_me_assis.pdf: 1333303 bytes, checksum: c32ca47486fdac649ed2f3ad85cfd7d0 (MD5) / Esta pesquisa objetivou a análise da permanência do tráfico de animais silvestres e suas faces no oeste do Estado de São Paulo nos anos seguintes à entrada em vigor da “Lei de Crimes Ambientais” (Lei nº 9.605, de 1998), apesar da fiscalização e da prevenção desenvolvidas pelo policiamento ambiental junto a outras iniciativas públicas e privadas voltadas à proteção da fauna silvestre. O texto examina a dinâmica criminal em um ciclo iniciado com os atos de caça, passando pelo transporte, o cativeiro e a negociação, em capítulos próprios, partindo do estudo dos registros policiais dos boletins de ocorrência ambiental no mesmo período e que resultaram na apreensão de animais silvestres em situações relacionadas ao comércio ilegal na área do Segundo Batalhão de Polícia Ambiental de São Paulo (2º BPAmb). A dissertação discute cada uma das fases criminosas, suas particularidades e desdobramentos quanto à irregular exploração e apropriação do recurso natural, junto com a evolução da estrutura de prevenção e de repressão estatal refletida nas estratégias e ações de proteção à fauna silvestre. Para esse fim, enfrentou-se a necessidade de amplo levantamento e análise da legislação especial e de atos normativos diversos – definindo-se por referência inicial a década de 1930. Ainda, no propósito de compreensão da permanência da prática ilegal do tráfico de animais silvestres, buscou-se uma reconstituição aproximada das tensões entre a estrutura de fiscalização e a desafiadora prática ilícita que se perpetua, ao mesmo tempo que se revela uma mudança sensível da postura policial para privilegiar ações preventivas inseridas no amplo conceito de educação ambiental / The research proposes the analysis of the permanence of wild animals trafficking and its many iterations in the west of the São Paulo state at the following years after the passing of the “Environmental Crimes Law” (Law 9.605, 1998) despite the improvement in the monitoring and prevention by environmental policing and other public and private initiatives aimed at protecting wildlife. From the study of environmental police reports of the same period, which resulted in the seizure of the wild animals illegally traded in the area of the Second Environmental Police Battalion of São Paulo (2nd BPAmb), the criminal dynamics of a cycle that begins with hunting acts, going through the stages of transport, captivity and trade were examined in specifically dedicated chapters. This dissertation discusses each one of these criminal phases, their characteristics and implications related to the exploitation and irregular appropriation of that natural resource, along with the evolution of a structure of prevention and state repression in the strategies and actions turned to wildlife protection. For this goal, an extensive research and analysis of special legislation and different normative acts was necessary, defining 1930 as initial reference. With the intention of comprehending the continuing illegal trafficking of wildlife, we sought after a reconstruction of the tensions created by the monitoring structure and the conflicting unlawful practice. At the same time, a noticeable change of the police attitude revealed to privilege preventive action based on the concept of environmental education

abstract: Sustainability requires developing the capacity to manage difficult tradeoffs to advance human livelihoods now and in the future. Decision-makers are recognizing the ecosystem services approach as a useful framework for evaluating tradeoffs associated with environmental change to advance decision-making towards holistic solutions. In this dissertation I conduct an ecosystem services assessment on the Yongding River Ecological Corridor in Beijing, China. I developed a `10-step approach' to evaluate multiple ecosystem services for public policy. I use the 10-step approach to evaluate five ecosystem services for management from the Yongding Corridor. The Beijing government created lakes and wetlands for five services (human benefits): (1) water storage (groundwater recharge), (2) local climate regulation (cooling), (3) water purification (water quality), (4) dust control (air quality), and (5) landscape aesthetics (leisure, recreation, and economic development). The Yongding Corridor is meeting the final ecosystem service levels for landscape aesthetics, but the new ecosystems are falling short on meeting final ecosystem service levels for water storage, local climate regulation, water purification, and dust control. I used biophysical models (process-based and empirically-based), field data (biophysical and visitor surveys), and government datasets to create ecological production functions (i.e., regression models). I used the ecological production functions to evaluate how marginal changes in the ecosystems could impact final ecosystem service outcomes. I evaluate potential tradeoffs considering stakeholder needs to recommend synergistic actions for addressing priorities while reducing service shortfalls. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2014

Orientador: Paulo Henrique Martinez / Banca: José Luis Bendicho Beired / Banca: Marcelo Lapuente Mahl / Resumo: Esta pesquisa objetivou a análise da permanência do tráfico de animais silvestres e suas faces no oeste do Estado de São Paulo nos anos seguintes à entrada em vigor da "Lei de Crimes Ambientais" (Lei nº 9.605, de 1998), apesar da fiscalização e da prevenção desenvolvidas pelo policiamento ambiental junto a outras iniciativas públicas e privadas voltadas à proteção da fauna silvestre. O texto examina a dinâmica criminal em um ciclo iniciado com os atos de caça, passando pelo transporte, o cativeiro e a negociação, em capítulos próprios, partindo do estudo dos registros policiais dos boletins de ocorrência ambiental no mesmo período e que resultaram na apreensão de animais silvestres em situações relacionadas ao comércio ilegal na área do Segundo Batalhão de Polícia Ambiental de São Paulo (2º BPAmb). A dissertação discute cada uma das fases criminosas, suas particularidades e desdobramentos quanto à irregular exploração e apropriação do recurso natural, junto com a evolução da estrutura de prevenção e de repressão estatal refletida nas estratégias e ações de proteção à fauna silvestre. Para esse fim, enfrentou-se a necessidade de amplo levantamento e análise da legislação especial e de atos normativos diversos - definindo-se por referência inicial a década de 1930. Ainda, no propósito de compreensão da permanência da prática ilegal do tráfico de animais silvestres, buscou-se uma reconstituição aproximada das tensões entre a estrutura de fiscalização e a desafiadora prática ilícita que se perpetua, ao mesmo tempo que se revela uma mudança sensível da postura policial para privilegiar ações preventivas inseridas no amplo conceito de educação ambiental / Abstract: The research proposes the analysis of the permanence of wild animals trafficking and its many iterations in the west of the São Paulo state at the following years after the passing of the "Environmental Crimes Law" (Law 9.605, 1998) despite the improvement in the monitoring and prevention by environmental policing and other public and private initiatives aimed at protecting wildlife. From the study of environmental police reports of the same period, which resulted in the seizure of the wild animals illegally traded in the area of the Second Environmental Police Battalion of São Paulo (2nd BPAmb), the criminal dynamics of a cycle that begins with hunting acts, going through the stages of transport, captivity and trade were examined in specifically dedicated chapters. This dissertation discusses each one of these criminal phases, their characteristics and implications related to the exploitation and irregular appropriation of that natural resource, along with the evolution of a structure of prevention and state repression in the strategies and actions turned to wildlife protection. For this goal, an extensive research and analysis of special legislation and different normative acts was necessary, defining 1930 as initial reference. With the intention of comprehending the continuing illegal trafficking of wildlife, we sought after a reconstruction of the tensions created by the monitoring structure and the conflicting unlawful practice. At the same time, a noticeable change of the police attitude revealed to privilege preventive action based on the concept of environmental education / Mestre