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Forest management is an important tool for GHG mitigation by representing three carbon pools: living biomass, forest soil, and wood-based products. Additionally, increasing attention has been given to the potential for wood products to substitute fossil-intensive products as a climate mitigation strategy. The goal of this paper is to analyse the theoretical GHG effects of fully replacing four common non-wood products with wood-based products of 'low' and 'high' technology options that have a similar functionality: (1) Spruce particle board substituting polyurethane (PU) foam insulation board; (2) spruce cross-laminated timber beam (CLT) substituting steel beam; (3) birch energy wood substituting electric heating; and (4) birch plywood substituting plaster board. The analysis was based on forestry in Western Norway as a case study, where forests typically consist of naturally generated birch and expanding areas of planted Norway spruce. In this study we compare wood products derived from paired stands of Norway spruce and downy birch. The analysis showed that spruce gave a higher theoretical substitution effect relative to birch for the selected pairs of woody and non-woody products. CLT substituting steel beam gave the highest substitution effect, approximately 15% higher than particle board substituting PU foam board. The theoretical substitution effect in mass units of carbon per kg wood product for the two spruce wood products was approximately 17 times higher relative to substituting Norwegian hydro energy-based electric heating, whereas plywood substituting plaster board may in fact increase GHG emissions. As the gross emissions were relatively similar for the birch plywood and the spruce particle board, the major substitution effect was related to the avoided emission of the non-woody product rather than to the tree species per se. The paper concludes that the choice of product to be substituted was the key factor that determined the final substitution effects. Furthermore, the study showed that transportation was the single most important factor that affected the emissions between planting and delivery of the timber at production gate. The analysis enables informed decisions related to CO 2 -emissions at the various steps from tree planting to wood conversion, and underline the importance of informed decision related to the choice of substitution products. • We compared the theoretical substitution effect of four wood products (spruce particle board, spruce cross-laminated timber beam, birch energy wood, and birch plywood) for the case of Western Norway. • The spruce products gave a better substitution effect relative to birch, and cross laminated beam from spruce substituting steel beam had the highest substitution effect amongst the four selected alternatives. • Avoided emission was the major determining factor for the calculated substitution effect, thus, the estimated substitution factors were mainly related to the selected product to be substituted rather than to the tree species used as raw material. • Emissions related to transportation was the single most important emission factor of all forestry activities, amounting to approximately 48% of the estimated emissions. Export by boat suggested a potential increase in the transport emissions of 62%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food production contributes considerably to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Animal products – particularly meat from ruminants – generally have higher GHG emissions than plant products. Over the last few decades the global per capita consumption of animal products has increased. This has a negative impact on climate change, land and water availability, and human health. We are faced with the two-fold challenge of reducing GHG emissions while still producing enough food for our growing population. Part of the solution could be for consumers to change towards a more sustainable diet. In this paper we take Norway as a case study for estimating optimal taxes and subsidies on different food items which can change consumption patterns in order to reduce the GHG emissions derived from the average Norwegian diet. In the estimate we ensure that the average calorie intake with the new diet remains the same as with the current diet, and factor in other health considerations. Our findings suggest that limited but useful emission reduction targets can be set with only a few changes in diets. The methodology presented in this paper may be used to estimate optimal climate taxes and subsidies under different emission, quantities, taxes, subsidies, and health constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement suggests that all countries engage in significant emission reductions. To stay within safe guardrails, usually defined as a maximum warming of 1.5 °C compared to pre-industrial times, this will mean decarbonisation within less than 30 years. This significant challenge is complicated because of growth in some sectors, such as tourism. This paper analyses emissions and economic output in Norway, considering national Tourism Satellite Accounts. Novel aspects of this paper include a longitudinal perspective covering 12 years through which critical developments and progress on emission reduction pathways can be assessed. Findings suggest that the carbon intensity of tourism (emissions per NOK) is more than twice the Norwegian economy average. Aviation in particular is a major barrier to emission reductions, as it generates 17% of national tourism revenue and 75% of direct tourism emissions. Trend extrapolation shows that tourism will be the largest emission sub-sector of the Norwegian economy by 2030. The Norwegian economy will have to decarbonise at a rate more than 30 times faster than its current rate, if it is to decarbonise to mid-century, while continuing on its observed economic growth trajectory. • Tourism contributed 3.6% of GDP and 8.8% of emissions in Norway in 2019. • Norwegian national emissions declined by 0.2% per year between 2007 and 2019. • Direct tourism emissions increased by 3.2% per year between 2007 and 2019. • Aviation is responsible for 80% of the net emission increase in tourism. • Norway will have to decarbonise 30 times faster to be net-zero by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural activities and associated land use change are a major contributor to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making climate change mitigation in the agricultural sector all the more critical. However, farmers' willingness to adopt GHG abatement depends, to a large extent, on the financial implications of new practices. Climate change mitigation is unlikely to be adopted without external (financial, socio-cultural, or other) incentives. The research presented in this paper considers farmers' preferences for financing climate change mitigation practices through public crowdfunding. As a first study of its kind, we investigate farmers' attitudes towards climate change mitigation, knowledge of crowdfunding as a fundraising method, and interest in using public crowdfunding campaigns to finance on-farm mitigation practices. Based on a choice experiment survey with 443 Norwegian farmers, we show that knowledge about crowdfunding as an alternative finance method is generally low. Respondents who are interested in using crowdfunding prefer donation- or reward-based crowdfunding models that cover the full cost of mitigation over a loan-based model or campaigns that only fund a proportion of the costs. A financially secure farming business, previous exposure to crowdfunding, and a strong sense of responsibility to abate climate change are associated with higher farmers' interest in using crowdfunding. We find that farmers in Norway are hesitant to be publicly presented as recipients of crowdfunding, which suggests that crowdfunding is best set up as joint campaigns (e.g. with other farmers) that are run by intermediary organisations (rather than by individual farmers). Our findings highlight that, while opportunities to use crowdfunding as a fundraising method for agricultural climate change may be limited, properly designed campaigns can provide an effective instrument to engage certain groups of farmers in on-farm climate change mitigation. • Crowdfunding can be used to raise funds for agricultural climate change mitigation. • There is currently no research on farmers' interest in crowdfunding. • We conduct a choice experiment survey of Norwegian farmers. • About 25% of farmers would be interested in crowdfunding to finance mitigation measures. • Donation- or reward-based models, and campaigns that collaborate with other farmers are preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]