Recently, with the escalating demands for optical communications, the need for bandwidth in optical communication network has increased. The technology fiber fabrication opens the possibility for fiber bandwidth form 1.3 to 1.6£gm. Cr4+:YAG double-clad crystal fiber (DCF) grown by the co-drawing laser-heated pedestal growth method has a strong spontaneous emission spectrum from 1.3 to 1.6£gm. Such fiber is therefore, eminently suitable for optical coherence tomography (OCT), broadband optical amplifier, amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE) light source, and tunable solid-state laser applications. In this thesis, multilayer dielectric thin films were directly deposited by E-gun coating onto the end faces of the Cr4+:YAG DCF. To improve thin-film quality, we can increase transmittance of laser output, and to design for the high power laser. For broadband optical amplifier in dual-pump and double-pass scheme, a 2.8-dB gross gain, a 1.6-dB insertion loss, and a 1.2-dB net gain at 1.4-£gm signal wavelength have been successfully developed with HR coating onto one of the Cr4+:YAG DCF end faces.

Biodiversity loss has been stated as one of the greatest risks for the future society according to the World Economic Forum (2018, p. 5). A million species is risking extinction due to current societies’ practices according to a report published during the conduction of this study(Brondizio et al., 2019, p. 3). This situation of biodiversity has led an increasing amount of countries to enforce legislation which requires companies that work with land development to comply with no net loss goal. In Sweden, no such legislation existed with regards to biodiversity. Against this background, a group of seven companies in Sweden voluntarily chose to strive toward the goal of biodiversity net gain. According to BNG strategy, a company does not only avoid, minimise, restore and offset to reach the point where zero net loss of biodiversity is achieved, but goes farther to create a net gain. As it is not sufficient for companies to stop emissions in order to halt the loss of biodiversity, BNG practices can help mend and even reverse the negative impacts until a gain of biodiversity is attained. A greater understanding of the opportunities that companies can benefit from implementing BNG helps spread this practice across industries. No previous research within the business literature explains companies’ voluntary initiatives to embrace BNG. Therefore, this explorative study suggested the research question of what the drivers are encouraging companies to voluntarily work towards achieving biodiversity-net-gain in Sweden. Due to the lack of previous research about companies’ drivers to engage with BNG, our theoretical framework was found based on the drivers from business case for sustainability and CSR approaches as a factor to generate change. To be able to answer the research question, it was necessary to establish what BNG is and how it has developed from the concept of ecosystem services. Having an interpretivistic standpoint, this study was completed according to an inductive and deductive approach. This was in order to facilitate the exploratory nature that our qualitative and comparative study. We conducted a multiple-case study through semi-structured interviews with seven large companies in the context of Sweden. These businesses are considered as the most ambitious in working towards BNG’s goal. The findings from the primary data was complemented by secondary data about the companies, the status of current legislation in Sweden and the sustainability status in Sweden. As a result of this thesis, we found that cost and cost reduction, risk and risk reduction, sales and profit margin, reputation and brand value, attractiveness as employer, innovative capabilities, stakeholders and health and well-being of future society to all be drivers for BNG. By applying our theoretical framework in the Swedish context, the seven companies were identified to engage in a proactive corporate biodiversity behaviour. Business cases for biodiversity were identified in some of the companies.

Economic development through the exploitation of natural resources has led to biodiversity loss among other environmental issues around the world. The use of biodiversity offsets to balance economic development and biodiversity conservation goals has significantly increased during the last three decades. A recent report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released in December of 2016 identified at least 56 countries with laws or policies requiring the use of these types of instruments worldwide. There are over 100 biodiversity offset programs operating in countries such as United States of America, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Australia and others, which are injecting over 3 USD billion per year into the world’s economy. Experiences of different jurisdictions indicate that biodiversity offsets can become a promising tool in addressing the biodiversity loss issue in their territories. Canada and some of its provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia, which have important oil and gas sectors, and are home to important wildlife species, have been part of the biodiversity offsets debate, and have been exploring their use. This research derives from the observation that although some of the international biodiversity offset experiences have been vastly studied, there is little experience analyzing the legal challenges of implementing biodiversity offset systems, including biodiversity banks (a type of biodiversity offset that creates biodiversity markets) on public lands. The very nature of public land, where multiple users may simultaneously access the land and conduct a variety of potentially incompatible activities, can create extra legal challenges with respect to the implementation of biodiversity offsets. Through an Alberta-focused case study, the thesis explores the characteristics that a planning and legal framework of a province with a majority of public lands would need to have in order to support the use of biodiversity offsets and a biodiversity banking system. It also identifies and analyzes the legal issues and challenges of implementing long lasting biodiversity offsets in that context. Under the system studied by this dissertation, the main users of Alberta’s public forests (forest operators and oil and gas developers) become the biodiversity bankers or suppliers, and buyers of biodiversity credits, respectively. This thesis is therefore a contribution to knowledge about how biodiversity offsets, specifically biodiversity banks, can be applied on provincial public lands, used by multiple users. It focuses on the legal frameworks, property right issues, permanence, and additionality needed for a potential biodiversity banking system for a province such as Alberta.

‘Nature-positive’ (NP) is emerging as an increasingly used term, intended to encompass goals aimed at reversing the global decline in biodiversity and the incessant destruction of ecosystems. The 1.5-degree goal of the Paris agreement has become a unifying target in the climate discourse, accompanied by the guiding concept of ‘net-zero’ emissions. Anequivalent, widely accepted target for biodiversity has been called for, with NP being named a contender to take this position. However, the concept NP, and net-zero alike, have been subject to criticism. Building on an extensive literature search, this study seeks to identify and analyse the most frequently employed definitions of NP, and who promotes them. It also aims to draw conclusions from a comparative analysis where definitions of NP are mapped onto the IPBES- promoted Nature Futures Framework (NFF). For this purpose, an assessment tool (‘the NFF Mixing Triangle’) is presented. The study finds that NP is frequently used without specifying its meaning, in scientific and non-scientific literature alike. While existing dominant definitions are largely aligned on the conceptual level, there is a lack of consensus on a common definition among stakeholders. The Global Goal for Nature (GG4N) stands out as the most referenced source for defining NP, and is found to have the strongest alignment with NFF. While problematising and discussing criticism, the study suggests a number of focus areas that could serve the future potential of NP. This includes converging NP definitions, balancing definitions across the NFF value dimensions, and considering applicability across multiple scales. An aspiration to consolidate guiding frameworks, use of the Mitigation Hierarchy to strengthen the robustness of NP, and focus on stewardship inside corporations as well as across sectors and value chains, is proposed. Meanwhile, the study suggests that the external drivers of legislation and regulation, and the current growth paradigm and consumption patterns, need to be addressed in concert if NP is to have a real contribution to sustainability transformation.