Performance payments for carnivore conservation in Sweden

Solving carnivore-livestock conflicts is essential if goals to preserve biodiversity conservation are taken seriously and livelihoods especially of poor livestock owners are to be safeguarded. This paper presents an innovative performance payment approach for carnivore conservation, that has been successfully implemented in Sweden. Performance payments are made to reindeer herding Sami villages for certified carnivore offspring on the villages’ territories. First results support the assumption that this approach has the potential to solve many problems inherent to conventional compensation schemes. A well designed common pool regime is deemed necessary to direct the incentives set by the internal distribution of the performance payments toward collective action in carnivore conservation.Performance payments, Carnivore conservation, Sweden, Collective action, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q2, Q57,

"A syndrome so characteristic" Molecular and clinical studies of Fusobacterium necrophorum and Lemierre's syndrome

Lemierre’s syndrome is caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum and involves tonsillitis, jugular vein thrombophlebitis and septic pulmonary emboli. The first studies underlying this thesis focused on bacterial interaction with coagulation. The contact system initiates the intrinsic pathway of coagulation and the release of the pro-inflammatory peptide bradykinin. We found that the contact system was activated at the surface of F. necrophorum, which may contribute the pathogenesis of thrombosis in Lemierre’s syndrome. We also found that plasminogen of the fibrinolytic system may be recruited to and activated at the surface of F. necrophorum, which may be of importance for invasion and dissemination. To examine if host factors affecting coagulation and invasion could be important in Lemierre’s syndrome we conducted a retrospective study of 65 patients with Lemierre’s syndrome or other invasive infection with F. necrophorum. Patients with Lemierre’s syndrome were screened for underlying thrombophilia and concomitant Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and the clinical spectrum was described. On admittance, patients with Lemierre’s syndrome were severely ill, in a majority fulfilling the criteria for severe sepsis. Underlying thrombophilia was not over-represented in patients with Lemierre’s syndrome and concomitant EBV infection was uncommon. Finally, we found that the gene coding for leukotoxin, a well-known virulence factor for the animal subspecies, was present in human isolates and that there were three types of sequences, of which two were novel. Only a minority of the isolates had a leukotoxin gene of the previously described sequence type. This thesis provides new information about potential bacterial virulence factors, host factors and host-pathogen interactions that may be of importance for F. necrophorum infection and adds to the knowledge of the clinical spectrum of invasive infections with F. necrophorum

Modelling regional maize market and transport distances for biogas production in Germany

Our location model aims to simulate location decisions for biogas plants based on profit maximisation to generate regional demand functions for maize and corresponding plant size structure and transport distances. By linking it with an agricultural sector model we derived regional maize markets. Comparing results for the REA with a scenario applying uniform per unit subsidy and producing the same energy, we see higher subsidy costs with the REA but lower transportation distances.Biogas, environmental effects, transport costs, choice of location, Agricultural Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Trading schemes for greenhouse gas emissions from European agriculture: A comparative analysis based on different implementation options

A rational negotiation strategy for coming multilateral negotiations regarding climate change requires knowledge about possible social, economic and environmental effects of policy instruments for the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. With this purpose, an agricultural sector model is expanded to cover greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sources in Europe and policy instruments for their reduction. This modelling approach concentrates on the application of a permit trade scheme for emission abatement within the Kyoto Protocol ‘first commitment’ baseline. The effects derived of three alternative schemes are described in detail: the EU ‘burden sharing’ agreement option defined as regional emission standards, emission trading between regions inside each Member State, and finally, emission trading between all European regions. The analysis shows the importance of selecting an adequate combination of instruments of emission abatement for the design of efficient emission reduction policies.Kyoto Protocol, agricultural policy, economic modelling, tradable emission permits

Der Internationale Vertrag über pflanzengenetische Ressourcen für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft – ein Meilenstein zur Erleichterung der Pflanzenzüchtung?

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Towards a certification of biomass: Feasibility of a certifications scheme of sustainability standards for trade and production of bioethanol in Brazil

Bioenergy produced from biomass is increasingly used to substitute fossil energy sources. Trade of biomass is expected to increase in the following years due to disparities in production costs and potentials in countries and regions. In this paper the possibility of a certification scheme for minimizing negative socio-ecological impacts and for increasing a sustainable production of biomass is discussed, taking Brazilian bioethanol as an example. This case-study comes up with a first set of feasible sustainability standards for Brazilian bioethanol and discusses issues to be considered when developing sustainability standards. At the same time problematic aspects are identified. When incorporating opinions of different stakeholders, the setting of sustainability standards holds the inherent danger of being used as non-tariff trade barriers. This leads to the need for a regionalisation of sustainability standards and raises questions on structure and level of a certification scheme.certification, sustainability standards, bioethanol, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, F18, Q24,

Neue Entwicklungen in der Debatte um gentechnisch veränderte Pflanzen

Agricultural and Food Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,