Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Following the case study research strategy, this thesis has investigated the implementation of corporate environmental policies in subsidiaries of transnational corporations in Brazil. More specifically, it investigated six subsidiaries from three countries of origin - the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany - operating in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. This comparative study has resulted in a theoretical framework to explain transnational corporations' environmental practices. This framework follows an interdisciplinary approach, consisting of four levels. First, at the international level, an overview of the constraints regarding transnational corporations and environmental issues is addressed. The second level is represented by the environmental regulatory policies in the home and host countries. The third level accessed the influences from the industry's structure (in both international and Brazilian contexts). Finally, the fourth level is centred on the companies, which specifically discusses the home-host dilemma in the management of transnational corporations. The most important conclusion is that the main source of pressure over subsidiaries' practices is the environmental regulation of the host country. Nevertheless, there are cases of non-compliance and cases of overcompliance regarding Brazilian environmental legislation. However, these contradictory results are explained by the headquarters-subsidiary relationship. That is, poor environmental performance was explained by lack of control from the headquarters. Otherwise, good performance was explained by tight control from headquarters over subsidiaries' practices in Brazil. Additionally, there is indication that regulation is the main driving force in the home countries. However, attempts at self-regulation are in progress in the chemical industry in order to balance these external pressures for environmental improvements. Finally, there is evidence that the nationality of the selected companies is a relevant aspect of their environmental policies and practices. This is mainly because the legal requirements and management approach of the home countries are incorporated into their environmental management.

The pace at which South Africa is implementing Clean Development Mechanism projects has been regarded as slow, below the country’s potential and lagging other developing countries. Factors discouraging implementation of CDM projects in South Africa are universal and not just unique to South Africa. China, India and Brazil were evaluated for the purpose of this research and were found to be implementing very similar interventions to address these factors. Further to this, factors that are regarded as success factors in the implementation of CDM were also found to be similar across these countries. There were three objectives that the research sought to address. The first objective was to establish if documented factors discouraging CDM in South Africa are unique to South Africa or also applicable to other countries. The second objective was to establish the interventions these countries implement in addressing factors discouraging CDM as well as success factors that encouraged CDM in the above mentioned countries. The third objective was to develop a framework with lessons that can be transferred and applied to the South African environment. An interpretive methodology was used in analysing data collected from 13 semistructured interviews, conducted with international and local CDM experts. The research further sought to identify recurring themes across South Africa, China, India and Brazil. The outcome of the research was aimed in highlighting a framework of lessons for South Africa and recommendation on how South Africa can implement such lessons to accelerate CDM implementation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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Licentiatavhandling (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Kungliga tekniska högskolan, 2006. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Ce travail s’attache à comparer les politiques environnementales des deux ensembles que sont les Etats-Unis et l’Union Européenne. Plus précisément, il examine les convergences et les divergences de ces politiques et tente de mettre en lumière quelques-unes des raisons possibles à ces évolutions concourantes ou non, dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Dans une perspective propre à l’histoire des idées politiques, l’accent est mis sur les argumentaires scientifiques, juridiques et sociologiques. Ces arguments sont replacés dans leur contexte historique et culturel, ce qui permet d’en éclairer la portée stratégique. Plusieurs niveaux sont envisagés : l’étude des décisions portant sur l’atmosphère permet d’aborder l’esprit des lois et le cheminement des idées jusqu’à leur édiction législative sur les sols nationaux et d’en dégager les principaux points de concours et de différence ; l’intérêt porté aux stratégies de gestion des eaux et des sols permet de mettre en évidence l’importance de l’implication des deux ensembles dans les enjeux environnementaux transfrontaliers et dans la prise en charge mondiale des problèmes liés à l’environnement ; finalement, les questions de nature et de traitement des déchets autorisent une discussion sur l’histoire des idées et la prégnance des représentations dans la mise en place d’une/des politique(s) environnementale(s). Les conclusions auxquelles mène ce parcours sont rassemblées dans un bref chapitre conclusif dont le propos est à la fois de synthétiser l’ensemble des remarques préalables et d’ouvrir la discussion sur un possible rapprochement des politiques environnementales Américaines et Européennes dans un futur proche. / This thesis deals with a comparison between the environmental policies of two supranational entities: the United States and the European Union. More precisely, while their convergences and divergences are examined, attempts of explanations are provided. The study is essentially based on scientific, sociologic and legal arguments which are set in a cultural and historical context allowing a highlight of their strategic scope. Different aspects are discussed. The protection of the atmosphere and the related bills are analyzed to scrutinize the spirit of the laws and the national progression of ideas leading up to their enactment. The water and soil management strategies study enables to underline the great importance of the involvement of both the USA and Europe in world environmental decision-making. It also allows a questioning of their positions within a transborder context. Finally, the questions of nature and waste management are used to consider the American and European history of ideas and the imprinting of representations in the setting-up of environmental policies. The conclusions are grouped in a brief chapter which aims at both synthesizing the different elements studied and opening the debate on further evolution and even the possible rapprochement between the American and European environmental policies.

Student Number : 0102782D - MA research report - School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies - Faculty of Humanities / The South African environmental policies, NEMA (1998), and the White Paper on Environment and Development (1995) support the incorporation of environmental education into the national school curriculum. These policies propose that environmental education should be interdisciplinary and holistic in approach and should run across all school learning areas and disciplines. The policies further recognize the role of environmental education as a potential tool through which learners and the general public can engage themselves in critical issues related to environmental justice in South Africa. Interviews with teachers, government officials and Delta personnel show that the national policy initiatives, documents and projects have not yet reached schools in the Gauteng region. The triangulated findings from this research show that there is poor coordination between parties responsible for the implementation of policies. This poor coordination has resulted in teachers not being prepared and empowered to initiate, organise, implement and run environmental education in schools. As a result integrated environmental education is not being implemented across the curriculum in the schools that were interviewed in the study. The basic problem seems to be that teachers and school principals have poor understanding of the nature of environmental education. It appears, from the research findings, that this is linked to a lack of training and support.

This thesis investigates environmental and energy policies that Turkey needs to adopt on its way to a sustainable development path. A comparative-static, multi-sectoral CGE model, TurkMod, is developed in order to analyze the potential scenarios available for the Turkish economy to attain a low-carbon society with a reduced reliance on fossil fuel imports. Domestic energy demand has significantly increased in Turkey over the past decades and this has put a lot of pressure on policy-makers as the economy greatly depends on imports of natural gas and oil as far as current energy consumption is concerned. The CGE model in this study is based on a 2012 energy-disaggregated Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) constructed as a part of this thesis as well. The energy-disaggregated SAM incorporates 18 sectors for production activities, 11 products as commodities, 2 factors of production as labor and capital, 3 institutional accounts as firms, households, and the government, a separate account for taxes on commodities, taxes on production and taxes on different types of factor use, a capital account, and finally the rest of the world (ROW) account. Disaggregating the electricity sector to include 8 different types of power generating sectors (5 of which are renewable energy sources) enables electric power substitution in the model. The energy-disaggregated SAM is further linked with satellite accounts which include data on derived energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The macroeconomic and environmental impacts of four distinct sets of scenarios are analyzed with respect to the baseline scenario. The first scenario simulates a 30% increase in energy efficiency in the production sectors and the residential sector and evidence is found for reaching the 21% GHG mitigation target set in Turkey’s pledge for Paris Agreement compliance. The second set of scenarios is the inclusion of a medium-level and high-level carbon tax rates for coal, oil and natural gas. The carbon tax scenarios produce significant effects on both emission reduction targets and substituting fossil fuel technologies with cleaner energy types. The third scenario investigates the sectoral and welfare impacts of providing subsidies for renewable energy sources. Turkey has already adopted a scheme where renewable energies are beings subsidized and promoted, however, this policy does not produce the necessary transformation for the Turkish society when utilized solely on its own. The fourth scenario estimates the effects of changes in world prices of energy on the Turkish economy. A 20% increase in world energy prices, i.e. oil, natural gas, and coal, induces substantial changes in the breakdown of TPES and the power-generating sector, but this scenario is a rather hypothetical one as it cannot be suggested as a viable policy option. All in all, these potential energy scenarios have significant and influential impacts on the Turkish economy and its environment. Notwithstanding, a carbon tax policy proves to be the most viable scenario which leads to reduced energy intensities in all sectors, a 21% GHG emissions abatement, and a transformation of the energy sector towards having a low-carbon content along with a reduced reliance on fossil fuel imports. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Many studies exist on whether Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) improve firms’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the literature on VEPs theorizes that specific features contribute to program performance. This study examines the ability of Voluntary Environmental Programs to reduce emissions and the role of institutional design on their performance. Specifically, this study aimed to identify if specific features influence performance more than others do. The indicator of performance focuses on the overall emission reductions of firms across years 2007-2009. To analyze performance and features, the study examines the emission data and design features of each program. The results reveal the ability of the VEPs to reduce emissions and a combination of features that may have a greater influence on performance. This suggests that the success of VEPs rely on their ability to institute these features.

A proteção da natureza tem sido cada vez mais reconhecida como necessária para a manutenção dos recursos naturais e para a sobrevivência da humanidade. Nesse sentido, a legislação brasileira estabelece a manutenção de áreas protegidas na forma de áreas de preservação permanente (APP) e de reserva legal (RL) nos estabelecimentos rurais. Entretanto, nos últimos anos essas áreas vêm sendo questionadas em relação ao possível impacto na produção de alimentos e na vulnerabilidade socioeconômica de alguns produtores rurais, especialmente aqueles com menos terra e com menor poder socioeconômico, como alguns agricultores familiares. Visando equilibrar as necessidades sociais, econômicas e ambientais, é necessário compreender a relação entre as áreas protegidas e as características socioeconômicas desses produtores. Desse modo, o estudo objetivou analisar os impactos econômicos gerados pelas áreas protegidas nos agricultores familiares do estado de São Paulo. Buscou-se compreender os elementos que dificultam a produção agropecuária nesses estabelecimentos, observando também as variações regionais e as relações de características como: as rendas familiares, as áreas protegidas e outras características relacionadas: à produção (uso da terra, uso de tração animal, mecânica, adubos, corretivos etc.); à assistência técnica; à obtenção de financiamentos e investimento; à associação a cooperativas e a características do produtor (idade, escolaridade, experiência). Para isso, utilizaram-se métodos quantitativos de análise exploratória univariada, bivariada e multivariada (análise de fatores). Foram utilizados dados secundários do Censo Agropecuário de 2006 (realizado pelo IBGE) com tabulação especial, que separou os estabelecimentos familiares em dois grupos por município: os que possuíam, no ano de 2006, áreas de APP e/ou RL e os demais produtores familiares. As análises corroboram com a literatura e apontam que há diversas dificuldades de produção para os estabelecimentos familiares, que variam desde fatores básicos relativos à capacitação e à escolaridade do produtor até fatores estruturais como dificuldade de comercialização, de transporte da produção, falta de assistência técnica especializada à realidade do agricultor familiar entre outros. Nas diversas análises realizadas, as áreas protegidas não foram identificadas como barreira para a produção desses produtores e as rendas de ambos os grupos foram semelhantes para o ano analisado, pois predominaram rendas médias anuais por propriedade variando entre quatro mil reais e 18 mil reais. Desse modo, pode-se concluir que as áreas protegidas nos estabelecimentos familiares não devem ser apontadas como fator determinante para a diminuição da renda familiar, como tem sido argumentado. Para obter o equilíbrio socioeconômico e ambiental nesses estabelecimentos, indicam-se o manejo de sistemas agroecológicos e agroflorestais complexos na área de reserva legal bem como a imprescindível eliminação das barreiras produtivas nesses empreendimentos. / Nature protection has been strongly considered necessary so that natural resources and humanity survival can be maintained. The Brazilian legislation has established the maintenance of protected areas as permanent preservation areas (PPA) and legal reserve areas (LR) on rural farms. However, in recent years these areas have been questioned regarding their possible impact on food production and the socioeconomic vulnerability of farms, especially the ones of small areas and low socioeconomic power, as familiar smallholders. The relation between protected areas and socioeconomic characteristics of the families must be comprehended for the equilibration of their socio, economic and environmental necessities. This doctoral thesis reports on an analysis of the economic impacts of protected areas on familiar smallholders of São Paulo State. The focus is on the comprehension of the elements that hamper the agricultural production on these farms, as well as the observations of regional variations and the relations between characteristics, such as familiar incomes, protected areas and others related to the production ( land uses, use of animal and mechanical, fertilizers and liming), access of technical assistance, obtaining of loans and investment, cooperative association and some characteristics of the producer (age, education and experience). Quantitative methods of exploratory univariate, bivariate and multivariate (factor analysis) analyses were applied. Secondary data from the Agricultural Census of 2006 (conducted by IBGE) were used with special tabulation, which enabled the separation of the familiar smallholders into two groups by municipalities: one that had protected areas (PPA and/or LR) in 2006 and another that had no such areas. In agreement with a literature review, the analysis revealed that familiar smallholders have diverse production difficulties, which range from basic factors related to the improvement in the education of the familiar producers to structural factors, as difficulties in marketing, transportation, specialized technical assistance among others. The protected areas were not identified as a barrier for the production of the families, and both groups revealed similar incomes in the year analyzed, as the average annual income per family ranged between four thousand reais and eighteen thousand reais. It can be concluded that protected areas in familiar smallholders should not be considered the main factor that determines a lower familiar income, as it has been argumented. For a socioeconomic and environmental equilibrium in familiar smallholders, the complex agroecologic and agroforestry systems must be managed in the legal reserve and the production barriers for such farms must be eliminated.