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This paper examines the literature on the Sustainability in the Arctic region, using a bibliometric analysis of 213 English-language articles published between 1980 and 2022 exploiting Bibliometrix, an R package. To find relevant literature using the Web of Science (WOS) database, we searched for documents using mesh terms based on the query of two terms, "Arctic & Sustainability". We used the Boolean operator "AND" to combine the two terms and the Boolean operator "OR" to include synonyms of the terms. The articles retrieved were authored by 724 researchers, published in 98 journals, representing 132 countries, and growing at 5.08% annually. The findings reveal that a substantial portion of the Arctic sustainability literature placed significant emphasis on the examination of climate change, adaptation, and vulnerabilities affecting local communities. Furthermore, the more recent publications in this field concentrate predominantly on exploring perceptions and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size and number of global threats to humanity's at least cultural survival on the very small blue planet of Earth is growing. Exponential population growth and additionally exponential growth of all kinds of consumption have led to the planet's limits finally being exceeded in the final quarter of the last century. Meanwhile this growth has already probably generated irreversible changes in the world which have brought or will bring the climate very soon beyond "tipping points" leading to "runaway effects", endangering mankind or at least its cultural achievements. Science and education need to provide pathways for survival and the design of a sustainable future, and thereby replace having to deal with short-term and small problems by tackling these global threats. This paper discusses these issues, underlines the significance of global studies and outlines approaches to the design of a trans-disciplinary global sustainability science curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the usefulness of the water-energy-food nexus in assessing the sustainability of an economy. All economic activity depends on its surrounding physical environment, and especially on the interconnection between these three essential resources. As a result, the nexus is a useful tool for detecting the economic risk of resource scarcity, optimising investments or resource use, and assessing the effects of economic policies or shocks such as climate change. The nexus approach is also useful for guiding policies towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We show that both the objective of each study and the scale on which it is conducted are factors worth considering when choosing the most suitable research methodology. We detected important challenges relating to the heterogeneity of the methods, scales and variables used, and therefore necessary measures nare suggested in order to homogenise the studies for their comparability and/or integration, both horizontally and vertically, or over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts such as the Glasgow United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties 26, the Paris Agreement (Paris agreement, United Nations, Paris, 2015) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are supporting the drive to protect the planet from global warming by ensuring sustainable development. The oil and gas industry, as key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, must transition to more sustainable energy solutions and play their part in reducing these emissions. Currently, oil and gas companies are implementing technical solutions to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The energy transition from fossil fuel reliance has also happened by exploiting alternative renewable energy sources to meet global energy demand such as wind, solar, biogas and bioderived feedstocks. This net zero energy transition will require a fair and just transition for all in society, and to implement this, it is crucial for those working in the oil and gas industry to understand the technologies needed, the importance of carbon policies and their roles. This research presents a modified Delphi study of employees in Malaysia's national oil and gas company to understand their perceptions towards a net-zero carbon future. The paper briefly reviews Malaysia's low-carbon policy plans, its current carbon dioxide accounting balance, and identifies potential technologies for decarbonisation to set the scene for the modified Delphi study. The results indicated that the national oil and gas company has both the capabilities and the financial resources to significantly contribute towards Malaysia transitioning to a carbon neutral nation. This can be achieved by implementing advanced technologies complementing with nature-based solutions to realise net zero carbon emissions. This study also portrays the confidence that the portfolio of solutions should be executed through a coordinated effort to maximise the outcome and minimise the financial impact in terms of economical sustainability. Implementation of activities towards this energy transition will require significant social commitment, and hence, gauging their perception towards this journey is key objective of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of restoration plans for the Iraqi marshlands is encountering significant challenges due to water scarcity and the impacts of climate change. This paper assesses the impact of water scarcity on the possibility of continuing the application of restoration and sustainable management plans for the main marshlands in Iraq. This assessment was conducted based on the available data and expected situation of available water resources under climate change conditions until the year 2035. Additionally, a satellite image–based index model was prepared and applied for the period 2009–2020 to obtain the spatiotemporal distribution of the restored marshlands. The results show that the shortage in water resources and insufficient inundation rates prevented the adequate application of the restoration plans. Also, applying the scenarios of distributing the deficit equally over all water demand sectors (S1) and according to the percentage of demand for each sector (S2) shows that the expected deficit in available water for the three marshes by the years 2025 and 2035 will be approximately 25% and 32% for S1 and 9% for S2. Consequently, the considered marshes are expected to lose approximately 20 to 33% of their eligible restoration areas. Accordingly, looking for suitable alternatives to support the water resources of these marshes became a very urgent matter and/or recourse to reduce the areas targeted by inundation and being satisfied with the areas that can be sustainable and maintain the current status of the rest of the regions as an emerging ecosystem characterized by lands that are inundated every few years. Accordingly, steps must be urged to develop plans and programs to maintain the sustainability of these emerging ecosystems within the frameworks of climate change and the conditions of scarcity of water resources and water and air pollution to ensure that they are not lost in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present climate change crisis forced humanity to opt for sustainable development. Sustainability assessment is vital to determine the relative superiority among alternatives, characterized by multiple sustainability indicators to ensure sustainable development. Various methods, such as the Euclidean distance method, geometric mean method, and elimination et choice translating reality, have been suggested in the literature to identify the most sustainable option among alternatives. These diverse approaches adopt different normalization and aggregation formulations (the two most significant steps of any sustainability assessment), leading to conflicting results. This paper proposes a generalized sustainability framework to quantitatively identify the most suitable alternative. The proposed framework incorporates various mathematical characteristics of normalization and aggregation processes and identifies mathematical functions that satisfy these characteristics. Based on the desired characteristics, the proposed approach identifies the min–max normalization function and a novel antinorm-based aggregation function as one of the appropriate functions for a quantitative sustainability framework. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework, different case studies are adopted from the literature: sustainable power plants for electricity generation in Portugal, sustainable feedstocks for the biodiesel supply chain, and sustainable negative emission technologies. The results are compared with those reported in the literature, and the efficacy of the suggested framework is demonstrated. The proposed framework may be utilized for multi-criteria decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming and climate change represent current threats for island states in the Pacific Ocean region. Next to global warming and the effects of Sea Level Rise, the resulting vulnerability of coastal offshore, shoreline, and oceanic ecosystems are additional factors that need to be considered urgently. As a coastal atoll area and part of the Pacific Small Island States, Tuvalu is now under threat with its cultural landscapes due to climate change impacts. The country and its landscapes surround an area of only 26 km2, where 11,810 people live in hostile climatic conditions. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change projected that Tuvalu would probably be the first country to sink underwater. The question arises about sustainable solutions for ongoing security and a habitable situation for people, culture, landscapes, and ecosystems. Unstable agricultural crop production, fishing, and coconuts cultivation are some of the challenges on the island. The exemplary derived polynomial curve of nine different islands and their islands' population displacement behavior shows up results of hostile conditions with six islands having lost their inhabitants, and only three islands' populations have increased. This study aims to analyze the overall situation of Tuvalu and find an alternative solution to safeguard Tuvaluan people, the island ecosystems and heritage, and cultural landscapes. Specific objectives of this study are the following: (1.) Understanding the theoretical concept of climate change impacts, sea-level rise impacts, the protection of Tuvaluan people, and the islands' unique biodiversity; (2.) Analyzing the socio-economic condition, livelihoods, culture, heritage, and environmental scenarios of Tuvalu; (3.) Giving potential recommendations for creating an international network, applied research, and training for the future development of ecosystems and cultural landscapes of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean. This paper analyzed the present affected situation of Tuvalu; it also highlighted socio-economic and livelihoods sustainability, future scenarios, and alternative suggestion to mitigate this hostile environment of Tuvalu. GIS applications for visualizing and analyzing environmental data were one of the appropriate tools for decision-makers to support long-term planning for Tuvalu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, the intended climate actions of the Paris Agreement signatories have been reported as nationally determined contributions (NDC). These climate actions are fully aligned with the 13th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which calls for urgent action to combat climate change. The same, however, cannot be said for their relation to the other 16 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, since climate action can either enhance or compromise the prospects for SDG implementation. In light of this challenge, this paper proposes a simple method for quantifying the synergies and trade-offs between national climate actions and the SDGs. The method, referred to as Q-SCAN, makes use of a seven-step scale and the SDG Climate Action Nexus tool. The effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated on a case study of North Macedonia, a non-Annex I, Western Balkan country with a coal-intensive energy system. Based on the experience in the preparation of the country's enhanced NDC, the paper elaborates how the method can be used to contribute to the alignment of the national climate actions with the SDGs and how it can be used to improve stakeholder engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to illustrate the crucial role of preserving, protecting and managing the environment by Indigenous Peoples in Japan and India. Traditional Knowledge has provided the ability to detect, understand and respond to environmental changes. However, modern science and applied technology often fall short of sustainable practices, acquired through 'centuries of local observation'. Our consumer-centric world has unravelled a sad situation that has contributed to an irretrievable climate crisis. Multilateral instruments, however, have come to the rescue. In this journey, Japan and India have shown the world some constructive initiatives with positive outcomes which could go a long way in achieving the UN-SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one emerging global environmental issue in the 21 century is the gap between science and policy (UNEP, 2012). While humans may comprehend some complicated sustainability problems at some degrees, we are far from properly addressing and governing these problems. This is specifically important for a global sustainability issue with a high scientific complexity, such as global climate change. Although the sustainability science research continues to grow, few studies contribute policy-relevant output for governing the problem and fewer studies focus on evaluating the operation of these researches. Hence, a sustainability research project that can link global to local, theory and practice, research and action, and science and policy can certainly share some experiences and insights. Therefore, this study aims to present a valuable case study that demonstrates how a domestic sustainability science research project transforms a highly scientifically-complicated global-scale problem to a more manageable local-scale problem and how multiple disciplines and agencies work accordantly toward a common research goal. Ultimately this paper hopes to contribute the field of sustainability science by providing valuable in-depth experiences in terms of the operation of a sustainability science research at domestic levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical inland capture fisheries are susceptible to a series of vulnerabilities such as habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, pollution, overfishing, invasive species and anthropogenic climate change. A comprehensive review of the impact of climatic uncertainties on Indian inland fisheries has not been adequately attempted yet. Recent approaches emphasizing ecosystem-based management in a regional context, specific to inland fisheries for combating climatic changes, have not been reported to date. The paper presents a critical bibliometric review of the climatic vulnerabilities faced by Indian inland fishery resources and various adaptive and mitigation strategies put forward by the country for the sustainability of the resources. In this communication, a systematic review of the impact of climate change and other stressors on various inland ecosystems of the subcontinent and the ecosystem-based management strategies adopted in India is presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, human activities are causing an important collapse in global biodiversity while also affecting the global climate considerably. Despite historical agreements on both biodiversity conservation and climate change, humanity keeps changing the face of the planet at an increasing rate. An undisputed factor in global change is the excessive and growing human consumption. On the other hand, it seems that linking humanity's environmental impact with population growth has been quite controversial in the international debate, as if, somehow, biodiversity loss and climate change were unconnected to it. To this purpose, this paper reviews (1) the impacts of continuing human population growth on global biodiversity and climate through the examples of food and energy production, (2) changing perceptions about population growth and (3) the potential solutions that could be used to address this issue. Despite not the only factor, the research reviewed in this paper highlights that continuing population growth plays a substantial global role in the destruction of biodiversity and in climate change, and this role urgently needs more attention in scientific, policy and public circles. Both unsustainable population levels and excessive consumption are part of the equation and must be addressed concurrently in developing and developed countries. Several non-coercive strategies are possible to address the population question, mostly through access to education and contraception, in order to empower women through the basic human right to have children by choice. In any case, although limiting population growth may not be the only solution required to fix current environmental problems, ignoring it is likely to hinder any ecologically sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to provide various maps of the evolution, current situation and future lines of sustainability indicators for tourism destinations research. The bibliographic analysis of 440 papers (after refinement) published from 1995 to 2021 reveal the existence of three stages over time and an enormous increase during the last eight years. The results suggest the multidisciplinary nature of the subject that has developed from environmental and social areas to scientific and technological areas, and the existence of seven clusters around the knowledge base. The key research topics have evolved from an essentially instrumental approach to the applicability of developments to management and specific perspectives. The seven following topics merit further research: (1) proposals for different types of destination, (2) indicators construction methodologies, (3) fulfilment of SDGs, (4) development of international frameworks, (5) role of host communities, (6) interactions between stakeholders and (7) focus to climate change effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) were introduced as integrated, multifunctional and multi-beneficial solutions to a wide array of socio-ecological challenges. Although principles for a common understanding and implementation of NBS were already developed on a landscape scale, specific principles are needed with regard to an application in urban areas. Urban areas come with particular challenges including (i) spatial conflicts with urban system nestedness, (ii) specific urban biodiversity, fragmentation and altered environments, (iii) value plurality, multi-actor interdependencies and environmental injustices, (iv) path-dependencies with cultural and planning legacies and (v) a potential misconception of cities as being artificial landscapes disconnected from nature. Given these challenges, in this perspective paper, we build upon and integrate knowledge from the most recent academic work on NBS in urban areas and introduce five distinct, integrated principles for urban NBS design, planning and implementation. Our five principles should help to transcend governance gaps and advance the scientific discourse of urban NBS towards a more effective and sustainable urban development. To contribute to resilient urban futures, the design, planning, policy and governance of NBS should (1) consider the need for a systemic understanding, (2) contribute to benefiting people and biodiversity, (3) contribute to inclusive solutions for the long-term, (4) consider context conditions and (5) foster communication and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BREEAM Communities (BC) is a neighbourhood sustainability assessment method that has been implemented across the world and has been widely recognised to be a successful tool in supporting the delivery of urban sustainability. The research presented here aimed to contribute to the current literature in sustainability and adaptation through identifying and evaluating the potential that BC has in supporting and promoting climate change adaptation in terms of theoretical and practical governance. Media City, Salford, UK, provided the context for this study having been identified as an exemplar case study and the site of practical implementation of a breadth of community sustainability strategies. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the relationship between established characteristics of adaptive governance (AG) in relation to relevant BC indicators; alongside an evaluation of the perceptions of key actors' as to the adaptive capacity promoted by the application of this tool in practice. This research was informed by interviews with key actors and wider stakeholders in the design, construction and management of the development as well as focus groups with occupants, workers and students in the case study location. Consequently, the need for enhancement of the tool's indicators was identified, and suggestions for their improvement were proposed. Accordingly, BC was found to be a significant tool that holds potential to positively influence community response to climate change adaptation needs. In conclusion, in order to enable effective neighbourhood scale adaptation to climate change, the following themes were identified for further enhancement in the tool: adaptive behaviour and learning, communication, community awareness, knowledge and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change can cause significant (un)foreseen changes in the fisheries sector. However, adaptation has the potential to moderate some of the impacts. This paper explores the challenges faced by both freshwater and marine fisheries sector in addressing climate change and teases out intervention measures from 21 African countries. The paper uses document analysis and draws selected analysis parameters from the grounded theory. The data are obtained from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change National Communication reports. Among the key adaptation measures emerging from the analysis are: fish breeding, integrated coastal management, putting in place appropriate policies, water and flood management as well as research and development. The study concludes that adaptation in the African fisheries sector should be prioritised, an aspect that could also apply elsewhere in the world to enhance food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenging tasks for governments is to curtail the production and consumption of single-use plastic bags. Despite multiple advantages of plastic and its ubiquity, the environmental damage of single-use plastic bags is irreversible. However, policy intervention by the governments is also a need of the time to reduce its production and consumption. This study provides a strategic analysis of government policy options regarding the ban on single-use plastic production in Pakistan. A game-theoretic model is developed to examine the behavior of plastic bag producers vis-à-vis the government's climate change policy. The study concludes that game theory is very effective in analyzing the efficient promulgation and productive implementation of environmental management policy regarding banning single-use plastic in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, air conditioning (AC) is the most effective means for the cooling of indoor space. However, its increased global use is problematic for various reasons. This paper explores the challenges linked to increased AC use and discusses more sustainable alternatives. A literature review was conducted applying a transdisciplinary approach. It was further complemented by examples from cities in hot climates. To analyse the findings, an analytical framework was developed which considers four societal levels—individual, community, city, and national. The main challenges identified from the literature review are as follows: environmental, organisational, socio-economical, biophysical and behavioural. The paper also identifies several measures that could be taken to reduce the fast growth of AC use. However, due to the complex nature of the problem, there is no single solution to provide sustainable cooling. Alternative solutions were categorised in three broad categories: climate-sensitive urban planning and building design, alternative cooling technologies, and climate-sensitive attitudes and behaviour. The main findings concern the problems arising from leaving the responsibility to come up with cooling solutions entirely to the individual, and how different societal levels can work towards more sustainable cooling options. It is concluded that there is a need for a more holistic view both when it comes to combining various solutions as well as involving various levels in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global inequality and climate change concerns increase, consumers and investors are looking for products and services that have been produced through sustainability processes, practices, and policies. Consequently, plenty of instruments for evaluation of corporate sustainability have been developed and applied worldwide. A research problem that emerges from this topic is how effective these instruments are? Usually indexes are used to assess sustainability, which are the given by the aggregation of various indicators. Various sustainable corporate indexes have been proposed and applied. A recent literature review on models for assessing corporate sustainability revealed us an increase in using multicriteria methods to assess sustainability. Various different type of multicriteria methods have been applied, but in only 7% of the cases, a non-compensatory method was applied. Compensation is a not desired effect when we are looking for sustainability—in practice, when compensation occurs, a disadvantage in some criteria can be compensated for by a large advantage in another criterion. The review also showed other critical issues related with dimensions of sustainability, which are considered in these models, and aspects related to the development of these instruments. These issues impact the quality of the evaluation and consequently can lead to misinterpretation. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to propose a model for evaluation of corporate sustainability, which allows to evaluate sustainability considering economic, social, and environmental perspectives as well as observing aspects of corporate governance. The model is based on the multicriteria method PROMETHEE II that is non-compensatory, avoiding trade-offs among dimensions. The model was applied to four Brazilian construction companies. The results showed us that the model is mathematically consistent and it requires low cognitive effort to be applied, that is, decision makers find it easy to understand the concepts and parameters inherent in the method. The model can be used to evaluate companies from different sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous knowledge about climate change that makes adaptability necessary by coping strategies leads to the sustainability of nomadic livelihoods. This paper proposed a new adaptability approach, an association coping strategy (ACS), which is established based on the association rulesʼ recommendations. The adaptability was empirically analyzed using 12 coping strategies used by Kashkooli nomads in Sepidan plain, Fars province, Iran. Required data were gathered both in the form of time series from November 1988 to February 2020 and cross section during June–July 2019. Household perceptions of climatic and environmental variables, supported by meteorological data, revealed that climate change was negatively impacting the Kashkooli nomadic livelihood in Sepidan plain. The findings also indicated that taking simultaneous coping strategies resulted in selling livestock surplus, saving water consumption, livestock insurance, rangeland regeneration schemes, and immigration to more suitable rangelands. Therefore, Kashkooli nomadic livelihood survived climate changes using ACSs. The association rules were useful for recommending anticipatory coping strategies that were adopted based on indigenous knowledge about climate change by nomads to establish appropriate adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing concern over the sustainability of the tourism industry, which is blamed for contributing to several environmental challenges, including carbon emissions that lead to global warming and ultimately climate change. The industry is further blamed for causing ocean plastic pollution and associated negative impacts on the marine environment including fish deaths. Consequently, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and other key role players have been calling for the tourism industry to embrace and localise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so as to address some of the concerns and in the process ensure buisness sustainability. However, since the Declaration of 2017 as the Year of Sustainable Tourism, very few studies have reviewed the role of tourism in the localisation of SDGs. Using primary, archival and secondary data, the paper presents an example of how a private nature reserve in the Cape Floral Kingdom (a World Heritage Site) has localised SDGs. The study shows that the Grootbos Foundation, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve has localised 16 SDGs through various initiatives targeting several aspects of business operations, including commerce, conservation, community, and culture. In addition, the study also highlights some critical challenges that are being faced by tourism companies in the localisation of SDGs which calls for greater scientific engagement and research so as to find innovative solutions. The study recommends the replication of the model by similar tourism businesses located near and in protected areas, to ensure tourism sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this special issue is to offer a room for interdisciplinary and engaged research in global environmental change (GEC), where gender plays a key role in building resilience and adaptation pathways. In this editorial paper, we explain the background setting, key questions and core approaches of gender and feminist research in vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to GEC. Highlighting the interlinkages between gender and GEC, we introduce the main contributions of the collection of 11 papers in this special issue. Nine empirical papers from around the globe allow to understand how gendered diversity in knowledge, institutions and everyday practices matters in producing barriers and options for achieving resilience and adaptive capacity in societies. Additionally, two papers contribute to the theoretical debate through a systematic review and an insight on the relevance of intersectional framings within GEC research and development programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana is endowed with surface and ground water resources. These resources prior to the colonial era were managed by traditional societies through various conventional methods embedded in their cosmovision. However during the colonial and postcolonial regimes, in response to climate change, economic globalization, and population pressure, there has been a conscious shift from customary water management systems towards paradigms cast in the contemporary mould (legislation, policies, and institutions). These modern approaches have been shown over the years to be insufficient in ensuring water sustainability. This insufficiency manifests itself in the increasing water scarcity through anthropogenic-induced water resources degradation and severe climatic variability. Using content analysis, this paper reviews this transition, first to fully understand the intricacies of the evolution and second to draw lessons for better water resources management in Ghana. This paper contends that although Ghana's water related institutions, laws, and policies are undergoing significant reforms, implementation and practice remains embedded in weak ecological modernization (EM). Institutionalizing a narrow conception of EM will only perpetuate 'organized irresponsibility' and permit the continued production of ecological problems, leaving open the question of whether modernization is compatible with ecological sustainability. Though customary water management approaches are not entirely devoid of limitations, simply branding them as obsolete may obviate an important vehicle for water sustainability. In the spirit paradigmatic complementarity, ecosystem-friendly indigenous approaches must be integrated with contemporary management systems for the long term goal of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the environmental impact of a grid-connected PV system in Kocaeli, Turkey, supported by East Marmara Development Agency to contribute local economic and environmental sustainability goals. For this purpose, energy payback time and greenhouse payback time analysis is carried out in terms of calculated total embodied data and measured annual operation data. The results indicate that the system spends approximately 12.68% of its lifetime to payback its total embodied energy and 10.67% to save its total embodied greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing attention on the role of rapidly growing developing countries in mitigating climate change, especially in curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases. Estimates show that in the year 2011, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from developing countries constituted about 63% of the world's total, compared with only 37% for developed countries. Thus, developing countries must be an integral part of global actions toward combating climate change. In Saudi Arabia, the energy use per capita of 6937.23 kg of oil equivalent in 2014 was 3.6 times the global average and the per capita CO2 emission of 19.53 metric tons was the seventh highest. With sensitive ecosystems, limited freshwater resources and substantial coastal developments, the country is vulnerable to climate change. As such, the country has recently initiated some sustainable urban planning strategies in its major urban centers as part of its climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. However, few studies have assessed the extent of the implementation of the strategies. Based on secondary data analysis, this article found that the implementation of the strategies is at infancy with urban greening, public transportation, and green building projects gradually gaining prominence. The paper recommends more focus on rising building and population density, mandating mixed land uses, as well as public enlightenment and engagement about climate change impacts and energy choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a theory-driven thematic analysis, the paper gauges how, since 1990, New Zealand (NZ) Governments have approached climate change ethics and provides insight into the importance of ethics in the broader context of sustainable development and global sustainability. Analysis of the policy-related data identified two main ethical themes labelled standard self-interest and advocacy. The data show that despite some advocacy consistent with urging the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the international arena, Governments from 1990 to 2008 have held back to an extent on climate change policy development having operated broadly under a 'standard self-interest' approach. Since 2008, the current Government has also held back on policy development and is operating under a particularly narrow, highly unethical and unjust form of self-interest. Strong criticism of the Government is therefore warranted. The paper has also highlighted the significant consensus around the broad overarching operational conclusions of sustainable development. The paper concludes, inter alia, that the NZ Government should advocate to the international community to achieve, and among their people to support, the objective of the UNFCCC, while advocating at the national and international levels for a science-informed global ethic on sustainable development. The same logic would apply to all other UNFCCC members, of which it appears many are also operating unethically and unjustly on this global transformational issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on findings from an analysis of data submitted through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). STARS has addressed the demand for standard metrics to measure sustainability progress at US and Canadian colleges and universities, with expanding access to institutions in other countries gained through the launch of an International Pilot and release of STARS 2.0. Since its release in 2009, STARS has emerged as a reputable source of data that can provide a broad overview of the state of campus sustainability. The release of STARS Version 2.0 in 2013 improved upon the original reporting framework and also expanded accessibility of STARS to all higher education institutions worldwide. The findings in this paper tell the story of a campus sustainability movement that is quite young. As STARS matures along with this movement, STARS data will hopefully show a trend of continuous improvement at participating institutions. By participating in STARS and learning from examples set by other institutions, colleges and universities from across the world can be on the leading edge of moving toward a more just and sustainable world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relatively stronger resiliency to climate change impacts in comparison to many other geo-political regions of the world. Overall, the projected climatic changes include increases in mean temperatures and in precipitation, although regional variations can be significant. The countries' robust institutions and economies give them a strong capacity to adapt to these changes. Still, the need for adaptation to the changing climate has been and still is substantial, and in most of the region, there has been progress on the issue. This paper explores the potential for Nordic cooperation on adaptation; specifically, for the development of a regional adaptation strategy. In particular, it addresses two questions (1) What is the current state of adaptation in the Nordic countries? and (2) What are the potential benefits and weaknesses of a Nordic strategy for adaptation? In order to answer these two questions, this paper examines reviews the current national adaptation policies of each Nordic country and discusses the challenges facing a Nordic strategy and finally assesses the potential for common Nordic adaptation policy and further cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of land use and transport decisions to achieve sustainable travel behavior has been considered an integral element for sustainable urban development. However, before the popularity of urban sustainability concept, land use and transport interaction had been scrutinized as strictly separate entities in the urban planning and development domains. Fortunately, today the concept of sustainability has been pushed to the forefront of policy-making and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the effects of the rapid urbanization and modern urban lifestyles. The paper therefore aims to highlight the importance of the interplay between transport, land use and the environment. This review paper provides evidence from the literature including the Transport, Land Use and the Environment Special Issue contributions and global best practice cases to showcase new empirical approaches and investigations from different parts of the world that contribute to the wealth of knowledge in exploring the interplay between transport, land use and the environment thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts between human demands for clean water and terrestrial ecosystems' needs for water are increasing. Such conflicts are stronger in the case of groundwater, as one of the cleanest forms of drinking water, and are expected to increase in frequency, in the context of population growth and climatic changes. This paper argues that behavioral approaches are essential not only toward understanding how socio-ecological conflicts emerge, but also how they could be overcome. A theoretical the framework is proposed, which suggests that the behaviors/actions of actors who sustain such conflicts can be understood by examining their 'boundary judgments' regarding natural resources and sustainability, in interaction with their powers/resources to implement the preferred behaviors. The concept of boundary judgements is rarely used in investigating sustainability conflicts. This concept is operationalized in relation to nature-society conflicts and applied empirically to illuminate the conflict in a case study from the Netherlands. Further, the theoretical framework suggests a parsimonious, yet comprehensive, typology of mechanisms that can be used to change/'converge' the behaviors and actions of the actors contributing to the problem, toward conflict closure. These are referred to as convergence mechanisms and can be persuasive, enabling or constraining. The paper concludes with reflections on the practical usefulness of the framework and concretes suggestions for further research, drawing on these convergence mechanisms and their interactions with boundary judgments on natural resources and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries are often most impacted by climate change. While the work of international environmental organizations has received considerable public and academic attention, local environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) also play a key role in assisting local populations adapt to the changing environment and develop in a sustainable manner. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with rural Malians, and using a local ENGO [the Mali-Folkecenter Nyetaa (MFC)] as a case study, this paper begins by describing how rural Malians perceive climate change is impacting their lives, and how the MFC attempts to address these impacts with their programs in the communities. The paper then illustrates the unique advantages of local ENGOs, both in their holistic approach and their integration in the communities, to working with the local population, relative to the approach taken by larger NGOs in this field. It concludes by proposing that a key new avenue for the international community to meet its developmental and environmental goals could be to support the work of local ENGOs through, for example, existing carbon markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, the global energy footprint, and strategies for sustainable development have become topics of considerable political and public interest. The public debate is informed by an exponentially growing amount of data and there are diverse partisan interest when it comes to interpretation. We therefore believe that data analysis methods are called for that provide results which are intuitively understandable even to non-experts. Moreover, such methods should be efficient so that non-experts users can perform their own analysis at low expense in order to understand the effects of different parameters and influential factors. In this paper, we discuss a new technique for factorizing data matrices that meets both these requirements. The basic idea is to represent a set of data by means of convex combinations of extreme data points. This often accommodates human cognition. In contrast to established factorization methods, the approach presented in this paper can also determine over-complete bases. At the same time, convex combinations allow for highly efficient matrix factorization. Based on techniques adopted from the field of distance geometry, we derive a linear time algorithm to determine suitable basis vectors for factorization. By means of the example of several environmental and developmental data sets we discuss the performance and characteristics of the proposed approach and validate that significant efficiency gains are obtainable without performance decreases compared to existing convexity constrained approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the issues of climate change continuously taking center stage, there is thus a pressing need for the pharmaceutical companies to assess the sustainability of their supply chains. However, the highly regulated nature of the industry has prompted various supply chain decisions such as material sourcing, siting of plants, and distribution network configuration to be locked into the registration of the new drug. This could consequently lead to inefficient supply chain operation during the drug commercial stage, yielding high greenhouse gas emissions per unit of drug product. Previously, we have proposed a systematic framework for design of a sustainable commercial-stage pharmaceutical supply chain network that can be driven from the early drug development stages. In this paper, we extend the framework by incorporating more functionalities. We also introduce a novel decision support system, called PharmaSC, which implements the framework. PharmaSC system has been developed by integrating two computer tools—an Excel-based analytic hierarchy process and LLamasoft's Supply Chain Guru—into one coherent framework for selecting the most suitable suppliers and manufacturers, mapping a supply chain superstructure network, and optimizing the network to identify and resolve trade-offs between economic and environmental factor. To illustrate the system, an industrially motivated case study involving a paclitaxel production is solved.Graphical abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, policy makers and scientists have become interested in the dynamic links between migration and environmental change (Döös in Global Environ Change 7(1):41-61, ; Adger et al. in Living with Environmental Change: Social vulnerability, adaptation and resilience in Vietnam, ; Gunderson and Holling in Panarchy-understanding transformations in systems of humans and nature, Island Press, Washington, DC, Gunderson and Holling ; Scoones et al. in Dynamic systems and the challenge of sustainability, ; Galaz et al. in Ecosystems under pressure. A policy brief for the International Commission on Climate Change and Development, ). Recently, scoping activities have emerged to produce empirical observations about the role of environmental change in decisions about human mobility, including a range of movements from voluntary to forced migration and displacement. One notable recent attempt to contribute to the base of knowledge about the links between environmental change and migration has been the European Commission co-sponsored the Environmental Change and Forced Scenarios (EACH-FOR) project. The EACH-FOR project was created to assess the impact of environmental change on migration at the local, national, regional and international level. This paper shares the methods and fieldwork experiences of a first-time, multicontinent survey of environmental change and migration from the research project supported by the European Commission: Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR, Contract Number 044468, ). This paper has three purposes. First, the authors explore issues related to how EACH-FOR designed its methodological approach for the first global survey of environmental change and migration. The paper then describes how the project attempted to create a method that would produce comparable results in a challenging context of multiple scientific challenges and trade-offs for research design. The second purpose of this paper is to examine how field researchers implemented and used this methodology in the EACH-FOR project. This paper takes a closer look at the fieldwork approach applied in investigating the 23 EACH-FOR project case studies. These case studies presented diverse local conditions and social contexts and different types of environmental changes. The paper discusses some of the practical considerations and shortcomings of the method in practice and illustrates how local researchers from selected case studies managed the challenges of their complex assignment. The third purpose of this paper is to explore lessons learned from the initial fieldwork experience and fruitful directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is a ‘sustainable nation’ and how can we identify and rank ‘sustainable nations?’ Are nations producing and consuming in a sustainable way? Although several aggregate indexes have been proposed to answer such questions, comprehensive and internationally comparable data are not available for most of these. This paper quantitatively compares three aggregate indexes of sustainability: the World Bank’s ‘Genuine Savings’ measure, the ‘Ecological Footprint,’ and the ‘Environmental Sustainability Index.’ These three indexes are available for a large number of countries and also seem to be the most influential among the aggregate indexes. This paper first discusses the main limitations and weaknesses of each of these indexes. Subsequently, it shows that rankings of sustainable nations and aggregate assessments of unsustainable world population and world GDP shares vary considerably among these indexes. This disagreement leads to suggestions for analysis and policy. One important insight is that climate change, arguable the most serious threat currently faced by humanity, is not or arbitrarily captured by the indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Nowadays, urban metabolism (UM) is believed to provide new insights for more sustainable resource management in cities and their hinterlands. UM studies, however, focalize chiefly on quantitative resource input and output (e.g. energy, materials) and tend to neglect the element of space and the qualitative characteristics of the urban landscape. This paper explores the use of UM as a basis for planning and design, focusing on the design process and on landscape configuration, in an attempt to bridge the gap between such an approach and the perceptions of urban inhabitants. Case description: Two case studies on the metropolitan scale based on UM quantification which aim to develop projects that can improve urban sustainability are analyzed: the International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam and the Amsterdam Urban Pulse project. Subsequently, De Ceuvel is explored, an experimental neighborhood in Amsterdam that deployed the UM approach to develop a participatory design and implementation process. Discussion and Evaluation: The method consists in a case study analysis centered on field work, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews with the designers involved, while the inhabitants' points of view are also polled on the neighborhood scale. Conclusions: The key results highlight how the UM approach can be integrated with spatial design in two different ways, according to the scales implicated. On the metropolitan scale, UM provides a means of identifying key locations and proposing interventions that can improve a city's global metabolism. On the scale of the neighborhood, however, the UM approach aims to close the energy and material cycles on the design plot, though without necessarily connecting the neighborhood to the city network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple factors including climate change, price uncertainties, and geopolitical instability have prompted many industries to investigate the feasibility of replacing traditional petroleum-based fuels with biofuel alternatives. However, to make this transition successful, these new biofuels must be environmentally sustainable and the necessary support infrastructure must be in place to make the production, distribution, and storage of these biofuels technologically feasible and cost effective. Developing a value chain, spanning from feedstock production to distribution to end users, requires garnering buy-in from multiple stakeholders by demonstrating environmental, economic, and social benefits and incentives. Two critical factors are the environmental benefits achieved from the use of the biofuel technology and the degree of resilience of the value chain to emergent conditions to ensure steady supply to consumers. Moreover, different biofuel pathways have different costs, benefits, and risks which must be compared. In this paper, we describe how environmental sustainability can be modeled using life cycle assessment (LCA) and how the resilience of value chain initiatives can be modeled using a scenario-based decision model. We then describe how sustainability and resilience assessments can be integrated in an iterative, anticipatory LCA framework. These assessments can be used as the basis for a business case for various investments, as well as a means for promoting responsible innovations, with the aviation industry used as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no certainty that adaptation to climate change is sustainable, and new approaches to assess current climate change adaptation trajectories are sorely needed. In this paper, we review the farmer-focused approaches (typical of vulnerability approaches) and agro-ecosystem-focused approaches (typical of resilience approaches). We propose that a combination of the two may be a better way to conceptualize sustainable adaptation to future climate change within an agro-ecological system. To test our hypothesis, we use the case study of Iran, a land that has shown both tremendous resilience and vulnerability in its agro-ecological system. We explore the changes that have occurred in the Iranian farming system and their implications for farmers' resilience to climate change through an integrated lens combining vulnerability approaches and resilience approaches. During the previous five decades, we describe how Iranian peasants have become small farmers, the land tenure system has changed from a traditional landlord-sharecropping system to family farms, and the quantity and quality of the agro-ecological resources have changed considerably. Our integrative approach provides important insights for both research and policy. We show that combining the two approaches can have far-reaching implications for farmers' adaptation to future climate change knowledge, policy, and practice since one approach aims to decrease farmers vulnerability and the other approach aims to build resilient agro-ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to climate change, the limited availability of fossil fuels and the risks associated with nuclear energy, Germany's energy transition aims to achieve a sustainable, environmentally sound supply of energy services. A monitoring process was established by the Federal Government to ensure that the targets defined for the transformation will be reached. The indicator system developed for that purpose mainly focuses on 'classical' environmental, economic and technological indicators for which statistical time series data and political targets are available. Important socio-technical aspects of the energy system and its transition, such as affordability, participation and acceptance, remain largely neglected. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on indicators needed for political decision-making to appropriately address sustainability aspects of the energy system and its transition, as well as to contribute to improving existing indicator systems. Therefore, the sustainability rules of the Integrative Concept of Sustainable Development were translated into indicators based on an in-depth literature review. The resulting abundance of possible indicators was then reduced using selection criteria such as comprehensiveness, possibility to determine targets and availability of data. Finally, the indicator system was adjusted based on feedback of experts from different disciplines and stakeholder interviews in the particular investigation area of southwest Thuringia. Besides classical indicators related to techno-economic and environmental aspects, the finally developed indicator system includes new sustainability indicators related to the socio-technical interface of the energy system. Thus, it is considered suitable for assessing the sustainability of the Germany energy system and its transition in an integrative and comprehensive way. The indicator system is helpful to systematically identify strengths and weaknesses of the energy system and interdependencies and conflicts of goals between different sustainability aspects. All in all, we believe that applying the indicator system appropriately can support the development of resilient political strategies for a successful energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We are experiencing a period of climate change the extent and impact of which is uncertain. In the cultural heritage sector the need for monitoring to inform our understanding is widely agreed, yet there is a lack of consensus over what constitutes 'monitoring for climate change'. This is due, at least in part, to the extended timescales involved. In this paper the design and implementation of one solution is described; a sustainable legacy indicator tool (LegIT) for the long term tracking of surface weathering effects on built heritage. Results: The assessment of climate change impacts requires 30-100 years of data collection, equal to the period referred to as the 'climate norm' by meteorologists. The LegIT is a sacrificial stone object that registers changes in the severity and/or magnitude of weathering patterns on built surfaces, providing a legacy data source for future decision makers. To ensure its sustainability, careful thought was given to the choice of materials, data retrieval and archiving. The tool aims to track surface changes caused by recession, salt crystallisation and microbiological growth. Conclusion: The development and installation of the LegIT is the first long-term exposure trial to be initiated at heritage sites in Ireland and is intended as a legacy for future researchers.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a flexibility mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, has contributed to poverty alleviation in countries that host CDM projects. We argue that the CDM should deliver pro-poor benefits to the communities in which projects are established, since poverty alleviation is integral to sustainable development, which is one of the main purposes of the CDM. After briefly discussing the background of the CDM, we discuss assessment difficulties to which research is prone when evaluating CDM projects for alleged sustainable development contributions. Section 4 brings together and analyses available empirical research on the pro-poor benefits the CDM purportedly delivers to host country communities, concluding that the CDM has failed to deliver poverty alleviation. Therefore, without attempting to be exhaustive, we suggest policy reforms that aim to redirect the CDM to those most in need of assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is a rapidly growing international sector and relies intrinsically on an amenable climate to attract visitors. Climate change is likely to influence the locations preferred by tourists and the time of year of peak travel. This study investigates the effect of climate change on the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) for Iran. The paper first calculates the monthly TCI for 40 cities across Iran for each year from 1961 to 2010. Changes in the TCI over the study period for each of the cities are then explored. Increases in TCI are observed for at least one station in each month, whilst for some months no decreases occurred. For October, the maximum of 45 % of stations demonstrated significant changes in TCI, whilst for December only 10 % of stations demonstrated change. The stations Kashan, Orumiyeh, Shahrekord, Tabriz, Torbat-e-Heidarieh and Zahedan experienced significant increases in TCI for over 6 months. The beginning of the change in TCI is calculated to have occurred from 1970 to 1980 for all stations. Given the economic dependence on oil exports, the development of sustainable tourism in Iran is of importance. This critically requires the identification of locations most suitable for tourism, now and in the future, to guide strategic investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, mitigation and adaptation measures are handled separately, due to differences in priorities for the measures and segregated planning and implementation policies at international and national levels. There is a growing argument that synergistic approaches to adaptation and mitigation could bring substantial benefits at multiple scales in the land use sector. Nonetheless, efforts to implement synergies between adaptation and mitigation measures are rare due to the weak conceptual framing of the approach and constraining policy issues. In this paper, we explore the attributes of synergy and the necessary enabling conditions and discuss, as an example, experience with the Ngitili system in Tanzania that serves both adaptation and mitigation functions. An in-depth look into the current practices suggests that more emphasis is laid on complementarity-i.e., mitigation projects providing adaptation co-benefits and vice versa rather than on synergy. Unlike complementarity, synergy should emphasize functionally sustainable landscape systems in which adaptation and mitigation are optimized as part of multiple functions. We argue that the current practice of seeking co-benefits (complementarity) is a necessary but insufficient step toward addressing synergy. Moving forward from complementarity will require a paradigm shift from current compartmentalization between mitigation and adaptation to systems thinking at landscape scale. However, enabling policy, institutional, and investment conditions need to be developed at global, national, and local levels to achieve synergistic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coupled processes of climate change and urbanization pose challenges for water resource management in cities worldwide. Comparing the vulnerabilities of water systems in Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon, this paper examines (1) exposures to these stressors, (2) sensitivities to the associated impacts, and (3) adaptive capacities for responding to realized or anticipated impacts. Based on a case study and survey-based approach, common points of vulnerability include: rising exposures to drier, warmer summers, and suburban growth; increasing sensitivities based on demand hardening; and limited capacities due to institutional and pro-growth pressures. Yet each region also exhibits unique vulnerabilities. Comparatively, Portland shows: amplified exposures to seasonal climatic extremes, heightened sensitivity based on less diversified municipal water sources and policies that favor more trees and other irrigated vegetation, and diminished adaptive capacities because of limited attention to demand management and climate planning for water resources. Phoenix exhibits elevated exposure from rapid growth, heightened sensitivities due to high water demands and widespread increases in residential and commercial uses, and limited adaptive capacities due to weak land use planning and 'smart growth' strategies. Unique points of vulnerability suggest pathways for adapting to urban-environmental change, whether through water management or land planning. Greater coordination between the land and water sectors would substantially reduce vulnerabilities in the study regions and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of natural resources and infrastructure systems for sustainability is complicated by uncertainties in the human and natural environment. Moreover, decisions are further complicated by contradictory views, values, and concerns that are rarely made explicit. Scenario analysis can play a major role in addressing the challenges of sustainability management, especially the core question of how to scan the future in a structured, integrated, participatory, and policy-relevant manner. In a context of systems engineering, scenario analysis can provide an integrated and timely understanding of emergent conditions and help to avoid regret and belated action. The purpose of this paper is to present several case studies in natural resources and infrastructure systems management where scenario analysis has been used to aide decision making under uncertainty. The case studies include several resource and infrastructure systems: (1) water resources (2) land-use corridors (3) energy infrastructure, and (4) coastal climate change adaptation. The case studies emphasize a participatory approach, where scenario analysis becomes a means of incorporating diverse stakeholder concerns and experience. This approach to scenario analysis provides insight into both high-performing and robust initiatives/policies, and, perhaps more importantly, influential scenarios. Identifying the scenarios that are most influential to policy making helps to direct further investigative analysis, modeling, and data-collection efforts to support the learning process that is emphasized in adaptive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how climate change affects multinational enterprises (MNEs), focusing on the challenges they face in overcoming liabilities and filling institutional voids related to the issue. Climate change is characterized by institutional failures, because there is neither an enforceable global agreement nor a market morality. Climate change is also a distinctive international business issue, as its institutional failures materialize differently in different countries. As governments are still highly involved, MNEs need to consider carefully their strategies to cope with non-market forces, including their embeddedness in multiple institutional settings. Using some illustrative examples of MNE responses to climate-related components in stimulus packages, we explore MNEs' balancing act concerning their institutional embeddedness (or lack thereof) in home, host and supranational contexts as input for further research on the dynamics of MNE activities in relation to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of temporal climate data is an active research area. Advanced data mining methods designed especially for these temporal data support the domain expert's pursuit to understand phenomena as the climate change, which is crucial for a sustainable world. Important solutions for mining temporal data are cluster tracing approaches, which are used to mine temporal evolutions of clusters. Generally, clusters represent groups of objects with similar values. In a temporal context like tracing, similar values correspond to similar behavior in one snapshot in time. Each cluster can be interpreted as a behavior type and cluster tracing corresponds to tracking similar behaviors over time. Existing tracing approaches are for datasets satisfying two specific conditions: The clusters appear in all attributes, i.e., fullspace clusters, and the data objects have unique identifiers. These identifiers are used for tracking clusters by measuring the number of objects two clusters have in common, i.e. clusters are traced based on similar object sets. These conditions, however, are strict: First, in complex data, clusters are often hidden in individual subsets of the dimensions. Second, mapping clusters based on similar objects sets does not reflect the idea of tracing similar behavior types over time, because similar behavior can even be represented by clusters having no objects in common. A tracing method based on similar object values is needed. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach that traces subspace clusters based on object value similarity. Neither subspace tracing nor tracing by object value similarity has been done before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we elaborate on the concept of ecological debt. Starting from the enriching environmental justice perspectives, this grass-roots concept has to offer to sustainability discourse, a broad conceptual discussion is presented resulting in a working definition for ecological debt. In elaborating on this definition, we try both to accommodate these enriching perspectives and to offer a more robust conceptualisation that is applicable in international sustainability discourse. Also, a scientifically sound methodology is presented which allows quantifying different aspects of ecological debt. Finally, both the conceptual analysis as well as the quantification method is applied to the case of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether and how an important environmental issue such as climate change can not only give multinational enterprises the opportunity to develop "green" firm-specific advantages (FSAs), but also help reconfigure key FSAs that are viewed as the main sources of firms' profitability, growth, and survival. We examine the nature and geography of such FSA development, and develop two organizing frameworks, which are subsequently applied to climate change, using information from Global 500 firms. Implications and future directions for international business research are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The hydropower industry in Colombia is developing in contexts of violence because of armed conflict. The companies that drive hydropower development are usually large and benefit today from lessons that have been learned around the world. However, there is little understanding of how these good management practices are addressed in contexts of violence. This paper contributes to the filling of a knowledge gap between the energy business practices and the local implications of the armed conflict. Large companies would have to incorporate a holistic view of the power generation business that connects financial performance with both environmental protection and social equity. The governance of business sustainability is analyzed within violence, drawing upon a case study from the hydropower industry to explore emergent issues, dominant players, and tools that may provide solutions.Methods: The case study method is based on the hermeneutical analysis of 16 in-depth interviews with employees from the energy sector, the public municipalities, and local leaders. The interviews were coded and occurrence rates were used as ranking criteria. Two co-occurrence matrices were constructed in order to estimate the ranking of the interests of the players and the tools of action they prefer.Results: The results exhibited conventional problems such as climate change, dwindling biodiversity, and the deteriorating condition of natural resources, in addition to the characteristic difficulties of armed conflicts, such as illegality, distrustfulness, and lack of opportunity for local populations. In view of both the weakness of the state and the scarcity of social capital, energy companies emerge as a central player in association with nongovernmental organizations. The tools used are more geared toward planning than they are toward joint action and evaluation.Conclusions: It was concluded that the management of hydropower stations in the contexts of violence requires companies to orient their actions toward results and evaluate the impact of its management. Such management must be based on transformational relationships aimed at reducing the existing asymmetry between players and distributing the costs and benefits of the hydropower station more equitably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]