Is the participatory formulation of policy strategies worth the effort? The case of climate change adaptation in Austria

Participation is usually regarded as a good practice in environmental policymaking, but its effects on policy strategies are unclear. Based on literature research, surveys, and interviews with participants, the present paper assesses whether decisional participation in formulating Austria’s National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) was worth the effort. Assessed against the goals of the participation process, we find that it raised awareness for adaptation and facilitated an exchange among the participants and that it improved the content of the NAS. However, regarding the goal of enhancing the acceptance of and commitment to the NAS, we find that this has been achieved among those who participated but not among high-level policymakers who are responsible for implementing the NAS. We conclude that (decisional) participation has its benefits in formulating comprehensive policy strategies but that it is most likely not able to overhaul their well-documented weaknesses, among them weak political commitment and implementation failures.

     

Assessing climate change adaptation strategies—the case of drought and heat wave in the French nuclear sector

Regional Environmental Change - Nuclear energy is a very important component of overall power supply in France. If the effects of future extreme weather events or climate shifts are not addressed,...     

Environmental fate and ecotoxicity of lanthanides: Are they a uniform group beyond chemistry?

Lanthanides are a chemically uniform group of metals (La–Lu) that, together with yttrium (Y) and scandium (Sc), form the group of rare earth elements (REEs). Because of their many applications (e.g., agriculture, medicine, motor industry), their global production has increased exponentially in the last decades and their biogeochemical cycles are being disrupted by human uses (e.g., gadolinium anomalies in freshwater and tap water, REEs enrichment of soils as a consequence of agricultural practices). However, ecotoxicological effects and mechanism of action of these elements are still poorly understood. In particular, there is no consensus as to lanthanides showing a coherent and predictable pattern of (eco)toxicity in the same way as their atomic properties. For aquatic organisms, contradictory conclusions on this issue can be found in the bibliography. This review shows that the variable composition of culture media used in ecotoxicology, and the associated differences in lanthanide's speciation, are the most likely cause for such discrepancies. In particular, the formation of insoluble species in some highly complexing media likely leads to changes in the soluble concentration of lanthanide during some tests; with the potential for a generalized underestimation of their toxicity at the present state of knowledge. For terrestrial organisms, suitable studies to establish trends in lanthanides' toxicity are practically nonexistent; with most research focusing on the effects of REE mixtures. Molecular level studies to elucidate the mechanisms of action of lanthanides are essentially limited to La, pointing to the need for further research to identify common mechanisms of action or modes of action across lanthanides. Overall, agreement on the correct procedures to follow to obtain reliable and comparable data for individual lanthanide is the first action to take in order to arrive at a reliable risk assessment for this group of elements in both aquatic and terrestrial systems.     

Does information on the interdependence of climate adaptation measures stimulate collaboration? A case study analysis

A key issue in implementing adaptation strategies at the landscape level is that landowners take measures on their land collectively. We explored the role of information in collective decision-making in a landscape planning process in the Baakse Beek region, the Netherlands. Information was provided on (a) the degree to which measures contribute to multiple purposes, (b) whether they are beneficial to stakeholders representing different sectors of land use, and (c) the need for landscape-level implementation of adaptation measures. Our analysis suggests that the negotiation process resulted in collective decisions for more collaborative adaptation measures than could be expected from individual preferences previous to the planning session. Based on the results, it is plausible that the provided information enhanced integrative agreements by leading stakeholders to realize that they were mutually interdependent, both in acquiring individual benefits as well as in implementing the measures at the landscape level. Our findings are significant in the context of the emerging insight that targeted information provision for climate adaptation of landscapes can support collaboration between the relevant stakeholders.     

Rainfall trends,land use change and adaptation in the Chaco salteño region of Argentina

Regional change under agricultural expansion in the Chaco of Argentina is determined by interactions of rainfall change, infrastructure development, socio-economic actions and values, and the social perceptions of change. Our study focused on adaptation in the socio-environmental system which is the key to understanding opportunities, uncertainties and risk in the context of historical change. Change in land use from extensive grazing through mixed farming and on to industrial-scale soybean production was made possible by a trend of increasing rainfall that reduced the risk of crop failure from drought since the 1970s. Rainfall change coincided with a period in which the Chaco forest was suffering extensive degradation from long-term extractive use. The degradation aided agricultural expansion since the degraded state of the ecosystem justified public policies of deforestation. In parallel to these resource-based processes, public policy changed in the late 70s and 80s toward favoring privatization of state land and exclusion of small producers. This permitted the land concentration needed for industrial-scale production. Technological innovation in both water and land resource management reinforced the process of concentration because small producers rarely have the financial or educational capital to develop or implement emerging technologies. One of the results of the intensification and expansion of agriculture is that soil surface sealing, waterlogging and flood risk are now effective at a landscape scale. To address these risks, private enterprise and government efforts must now come together toward innovative policies in integrated landscape management.     

Inside and beyond the Petro-State frontiers: geography of environmental conflicts in Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution

Venezuela is well known for its century-old oil economy, which has significantly shaped its social fabrics, territories, and eco-systems. Since 1999, the Bolivarian Revolution has led to important transformations in the context of the ‘Socialism of the 21st century’ project, but the extractivist model has deepened. This situation has created or intensified several ecological distribution conflicts, which have been further exacerbated by an extraordinary national crisis unleashed in the period 2013–2016. In this paper, a geography of the 20 most emblematic and representative socio-environmental conflicts in the period of the Bolivarian Revolution is presented. From a comparative political ecology perspective, this article aims to understand how power relations are expressed through territorial configurations and spatial dynamics of resistance, and what are the implications for sustainability. It is argued that a remarkable new situation of environmental injustice is occurring in this period. Despite the ‘eco-socialist’ discourse raised, the current Petro-State has updated the traditional regime on eco-systems, territories, and human bodies primarily by resorting to the assimilation of socio-environmental conflicts through a strategic distribution policy of oil rents. However, it has maintained a pattern of ecological degradation and social marginalization as an outcome of its economic development model. The current context of crisis has fostered intense territorial disputes and conditions for the emergence of new social actors, practices, scenarios, and geographies linked to underground economies and criminal bands, which complicate an already concerning scenario of unsustainability. The current extractivist model is reaching a breaking point. New commodity frontiers have become a main area of dispute.     

Climate change and crop diversity: farmers’ perceptions and adaptation on the Bolivian Altiplano

Crop diversity is central to traditional risk management practices on the Andean Altiplano and may find renewed importance in adapting to climate change. This study explored the role of crop diversity in farmers’ adaptation actions in eight Aymara communities on the northern Bolivian Altiplano. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including multifactor analysis and a community resilience self-assessment, we investigated how farmers’ use of diversity in adaptation is related to their perceptions of crop and variety tolerances and other environmental, social, and economic factors. Few crops and varieties were perceived as tolerant to increasingly intense and unpredictable drought, frost, hail, and pest and disease outbreaks. Some local crops and varieties were perceived as vulnerable to emerging conditions (e.g. oca, papalisa, isaño), whereas bitter potatoes and wild relatives of quinoa and cañahua were perceived as highly stress tolerant and provide food in harsh periods. A total 19% of households surveyed (N = 193) had introduced new crops or varieties—often disease resistant or early maturing—as an adaptive action. Introduction of commercial crops was a common adaptation action, reflecting farmers’ response to warming temperatures and changing economic opportunities, but greater sensitivity of the introduced crops may cause maladaptation. Despite intensification of cropping systems, households continue to maintain a median four potato varieties with different tolerance traits, yet this risk management practice was not perceived as adaptation. Strengthening resilience will require a combination of actions, including maintaining and expanding crop portfolios and restoring soil and ecosystem health, using both traditional and innovative approaches.     

Can the African food supply model learn from the Asian food supply model? Quantification with statistical methods

This study seeks to verify the relationship or correlation between food supply and four variables that are fertilizers, machinery, permanent cropland and permanent pasture land in Africa and Asia. The data were obtained from FAOSTATS and the World Resource Institute. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 19. Pearson’s correlation statistical tool and the multiple linear regression methods were then used within the SPSS interface to analyze the data. The results show that the levels of fertilizer application and machinery use are more significant in affecting food supply in Asia than in Africa with respect to the four variables. In Africa, permanent cropland is of greater significance when food supply is concerned with respect to these four variables. The likely trend is for Africa to enact policies that will encourage investments in machines and organic fertilizers to be able to improve its food production and supply rather than merely increasing farm sizes.     

Prepared for climate change? A method for the ex-ante assessment of formal responsibilities for climate adaptation in specific sectors

Climate change-related risks encompass an intensification of extreme weather events, such as fluvial and pluvial flooding, droughts, storms, and heat stress. A transparent and comprehensive division of responsibilities is a necessary—but not the only—precondition for being prepared for climate change. In this paper, we present, and preliminarily test, a method for the ex-ante assessment of the division of public and private responsibilities for climate adaptation in terms of comprehensiveness, transparency, legitimacy, and effectiveness. This method proofs particularly suited for the assessment of adaptation responsibilities in combination with a sectoral approach. It helps identifying a number of shortcomings in divisions of responsibilities for climate adaptation. We conclude that this method is useful as a diagnostic tool for identifying the expected climate change preparedness level, and recommend to combine this with ex-post analyses of real-life cases of extreme events in order to assess the actual preparedness for climate change. Besides the scientific purpose of providing a generally applicable assessment method, with this method, we also intend to assist policy-makers in developing and implementing adaptation plans at various levels.     

Threshold and dose response estimation using the “filter model”

The “filter model” has been developed to explain the biologic effects of radiation and chemicals. We have examined nearly 300 sets of dose response data, of which 50 are presented here. Responses (induced by radiation and chemicals) which have been examined include in vitro survival studies on animal and plant tissues, induction of cellular aberrations and time to tumor or death. Similar data from in vivo studies has also been examined. All of the data appear to fit the model R = a lnD + b(lnD)² + c, where R is the response, a and b are parameters fitted by regression to a particular set of data, and c is the response at zero (or lowest) dose. By writing this model in exponential form, it can be seen that the response R results from multistage filtering (by net amounts a and b) of the initial dose, D. The threshold is obtained from this model as the point, $\text{D}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{T}}$, at which the second derivative becomes zero. This is given by $\text{D}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{=}\text{exp}\text{(1 ?}\text{a}\text{2b}\text{)}$ when a and b are oppositelt signed.     

Will the application of Ammonium-Ferric-Hexacyano-Ferrate enhance the vertical migration of radiocaesium?

The consideration of a possible enhanced vertical migration of radiocaesium with the application of ammonium-ferric-hexacyano-ferrate (AFCF) as countermeasure, due to the colloidal nature of AFCF, made us set up a series of migration experiments. For the study two soil types were considered, which were either left unplanted or cultivated with ryegrass. Two AFCF concentrations, 1 and 10 g m^-2, and an untreated control were applied. A simple diffusion–convection model was fitted to the data.The application of AFCF did not enhance the downward migration of radiocaesium in the profile. Moreover, for an unplanted sandy soil the application of AFCF significantly retarded the migration: 10 g AFCF m^-2 decreased the convection term, V, from 0·78 to 0·42 cm a^-1 and the diffusion component, D, from 0·21 to 0·09 cm² a^-1. For all other experimental conditions (unplanted loamy soil, ryegrass cultivated sandy and loamy soil), the application of AFCF did not have any effect on radiocaesium migration. Since AFCF does not promote the vertical migration of radiocaesium, enhanced groundwater contamination is improbable.     

Empirical analysis of carbon tariff’s effect on the export structure of China’s manufacturing industry and social welfare based on the GTAP model

In recent years, carbon emissions have gradually evolved from an environment issue into a political and economic one. Carbon tariff has brought about new trade barriers of developed countries, and in order to enhance the industrial competitiveness of developed countries, it will produce unfavorable impact on developing countries. Concentrated on the manufacturing industry, which is the most intensive high-carbon industry in China’s export structure, this article studies the relationship between carbon tariff policy and industry structure of export trade and builds up a relation between climate change and international trade. First, by means of establishing a partial equilibrium model, it applies geometric analysis and mathematical analysis to compute the impact on China’s manufacturing export trade and the consequences of the introduction of the US carbon tariff to China’s manufacturing industry that has already imposed a domestic shipping carbon tax. Furthermore, with the application of the GTAP model, it estimates the overall economic and welfare effects on China’s manufacturing industry if the US and Europe introduce carbon tariff by means of four ways, and then analyzes the influence on China’s manufacturing industry export structure and social welfare as well. The result shows that the introduction of the US carbon import tariff lowers China’s export price and export volume, and the implementation of a domestic carbon tax justifies a higher export price and a lower export volume for China. However, the degree of export reduction is smaller than that under the effect of the US carbon tariff. In the case of developed countries imposing carbon tariff on China’s energy-intensive industries, such as chemical rubber products, oil and coal-processing industry and paper industry, whose export would be reduced, the negative impact on the paper industry is the severest, which will decrease the paper industry’s export ranging from 1.79% to 6.05%, whereas the other industries’ export will increase. Anyhow, it will promote China’s manufacturing industry to adjust the export structure to a certain extent. In addition, it will lead to a decrease in China’s welfare, with a decrease between $2.134 billion and $8.347 billion. Finally, this paper provides information on international coordination, export structure adjustment and green manufacturing adjustment as a reference for the development of China’s manufacturing industry.     

The role of farmers’ objectives in current farm practices and adaptation preferences: a case study in Flevoland,the Netherlands

The diversity in farmers’ objectives and responses to external drivers is usually not considered in integrated assessment studies that investigate impacts and adaptation to climate and socio-economic change. Here, we present an approach to assess how farmers’ stated objectives relate to their currently implemented practices and to preferred adaptation options, and we discuss what this implies for assessments of future changes. We based our approach on a combination of multi-criteria decision-making methods. We consistently assessed the importance of farmers’ objectives and adaptation preferences from what farmers say (based on interviews), from what farmers actually do (by analysing current farm performance) and from what farmers want (through a selected alternative farm plan). Our study was performed for six arable farms in Flevoland, a province in the Netherlands. Based on interviews with farmers, we reduced the long list of possible objectives to the most important ones. The objectives we assessed included maximization of economic result and soil organic matter, and minimization of gross margin variance, working hours and nitrogen balance. In our sample, farmers’ stated preferences in objectives were often not fully reflected in realized farming practices. Adaptation preferences of farmers largely resembled their current performance, but generally involved a trend towards stated preferences. Our results suggest that in Flevoland, although farmers do have more objectives, in practical decision-making they focus on economic result maximization, while for strategic decision-making they account for objectives influencing long-term performance and indicators associated with sustainability, in this case soil organic matter.     

Enchytraeus albidus (Enchytraeidae): a test organism in a standardised avoidance test? Effects of different chemical substances

Enchytraeids (Enchytraeus albidus) directly improve the pore structure of the soil and are indirectly involved in regulating the degradation of organic matter. Due to their behavior they are able to avoid unfavorable environmental conditions. Avoidance tests allow a first assessment of toxicity of a contaminated or spiked soil within 48 h, by using the reaction of the enchytraeids as measurement endpoint. In this period, the organisms can choose between the control soil and the test soil. In the tests reported here, enchytraeids were exposed to LUFA 2.2 soil spiked with the following set of toxic substances: copper chloride, zinc chloride, cadmium chloride, phenmedipham, benomyl, carbendazim, dimethoate, atrazine, pentachlorophenol, chlorpyriphos, lindane, TBTO, Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates (LAS) and boric acid. Different chemical concentrations were tested. EC50s ranged from 8 mg/kg (Carbendazim) to >1000 mg/kg (e.g. LAS). While the tested heavy metals showed clear dose-response relationships, the effect pattern differed considerably in the tests with organic chemicals, e.g. no avoidance behaviour was observed in LAS, even at very high doses. Here we proposed to standardize the Enchytraeid avoidance test in a way similar to what is currently done for the earthworm and collembolan avoidance tests by the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO).     

Social justice in the context of adaptation to climate change—reflecting on different policy approaches to distribute and allocate flood risk management

Regional Environmental Change -     

Between Scylla and Charybdis? On the place of economic methods in sustainability science

The flaws of mainstream economic methodology are becoming widely acknowledged. Should we, therefore, reject all of its concepts within the quest for sustainability? A predicament looms: neither would it make sense to neglect useful tools, nor to redundantly replicate the mainstream’s narrow perspective on sustainability problems. We argue that avoiding both fallacies is possible because power of judgment facilitates non-dogmatic methodological decisions: the scientists’ judgment, that is, the capacity to apply general concepts to specific situations, supports their decisions concerning which methods are suitable for tackling a given sustainability problem. The intersubjective quality of judgment prevents the resulting methodological pluralism from drifting toward arbitrariness.