Will Bio-Jet Fly? Towards a Carbon Neutral Aviation Sector. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/19 • October 2016

Aviation has transformed society over the past five decades, effectively shrinking the planet and bringing socio-economic benefits to an increasing number of people. Its unremitting growth does, however, come at a price. Direct emissions from civil aviation account for approximately 2% of global GHG emissions and for 3% of EU emissions. They amount to only a third of those in the road transport sector, but display a high per-passenger intensity and are increasing rapidly along with the relentless rise in demand for air transport. Global projected annual growth rates of 5% up to 2030 could lead to a more than six-fold increase in emissions by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels, which makes aviation the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the world. Industry stakeholders are becoming aware of their need to adopt measures to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint, if one is to end up anywhere near the ambitious 1.5°C objective set out at COP21

The United Kingdom and the (Digital) Single Market. Issue 2016/9• April 2016

By bundling the manifold policy expertise of the researchers of the Institute for European Studies (IES), this paper forms part of a series of analyses investigating the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario for different EU policies. All papers ask the same three questions: 1) What is the state of the EU policy in focus? 2) What is the UK’s role/interest in this policy field? 3) What are the potential implications of a ‘Brexit’ scenario at the policy-level? After Claire Dupont and Florian Trauner introduce the project, Richard Lewis sets the historical and cultural context and explains how the UK and the EU have come to such a low-point in their relations. Next, five policy fields are analysed: justice and home affairs; free movement policies; EU external representation; the (digital) single market; and environmental policy

Sustain, Filip Sedefov, Ólöf Söebech and Eleanor Mateo able aviation fuels: common ground for a take-off. IES Policy Brief Issue 2017/05 • November 2017

Aviation biofuels remain a controversial topic. An analysis of stakeholder views reveals, however, that there is considerable common ground on the two central issues in short to medium term: sustainability and commercialisation. Stakeholders generally agree that sustainability must be based on objective, transparent and clearly defined criteria that demonstrate the environmental advantages of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) over fossil fuels. The measurement of impacts should use verified life-cycle analyses (LCA) throughout the supply chain. Sustainability standards should be strict, yet they should not be so rigid as to prevent the commercialisation of SAF, and they need to be tightened as the market evolves. For the commercialisation of SAF, the stakeholders reckon that the infrastructure and marketing models already exist: the remaining hurdle is the price gap between conventional fossil fuels and SAF. Active policies that include commercial and regulatory incentives are required to make sustainable aviation fuels competitive, and for the market to take off

Sustainable Aviation Fuels: Common Ground for a Take-off, IES Policy Brief No. 5, November 2017

Aviation biofuels remain a controversial topic. An analysis of stakeholder views reveals, however, that there is considerable common ground on the two central issues in short to medium term: sustainability and commercialisation. Stakeholders generally agree that sustainability must be based on objective, transparent and clearly defined criteria that demonstrate the environmental advantages of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) over fossil fuels. The measurement of impacts should use verified life-cycle analyses (LCA) throughout the supply chain. Sustainability standards should be strict, yet they should not be so rigid as to prevent the commercialisation of SAF, and they need to be tightened as the market evolves. For the commercialisation of SAF, the stakeholders reckon that the infrastructure and marketing models already exist: the remaining hurdle is the price gap between conventional fossil fuels and SAF. Active policies that include commercial and regulatory incentives are required to make sustainable aviation fuels competitive, and for the market to take off

CADASIL and CARASIL

Peer reviewe

Clusterin/Apolipoprotein J immunoreactivity is associated with white matter damage in cerebral small vessel diseases

Aim: Brain clusterin is known to be associated with the amyloid‐β deposits in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We assessed the distribution of clusterin immunoreactivity in cerebrovascular disorders, particularly focusing on white matter changes in small vessel diseases. Methods: Post‐mortem brain tissues from the frontal or temporal lobes of a total of 70 subjects with various disorders including cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and AD were examined using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. We further used immunogold electron microscopy to study clusterin immunoreactivity in extracellular deposits in CADASIL. Results: Immunostaining with clusterin antibodies revealed strong localization in arterioles and capillaries, besides cortical neurones. We found that clusterin immunostaining was significantly increased in the frontal white matter of CADASIL and pontine autosomal dominant microangiopathy and leukoencephalopathy subjects. In addition, clusterin immunostaining correlated with white matter pathology severity scores. Immunostaining in axons ranged from fine punctate deposits in single axons to larger confluent areas with numerous swollen axon bulbs, similar to that observed with known axon damage markers such as non‐phosphorylated neurofilament H and the amyloid precursor protein. Immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy experiments showed that whereas clusterin immunoreactivity was closely associated with vascular amyloid‐β in CAA, it was lacking within the granular osmiophilic material immunolabelled by NOTCH3 extracelluar domain aggregates found in CADASIL. Conclusions: Our results suggest a wider role for clusterin associated with white matter damage in addition to its ability to chaperone proteins for clearance via the perivascular drainage pathways in several disease states

Sovereignty in the Era of Fragmentation – EU Trade Agreements and the Notion of Statehood in International Law

In this article, we explore the theme of sovereignty in the context of fragmented international law. We observe that the sovereignty of States may become relativized, not only by the political power of other States, but by its exposure to multiple, functionally separate fields of law. We analyze this theme by asking whether trade agreements as instruments of economic law offer a venue for discussing the sovereignty of sub-statal entities that lack standing on the more traditional international forums. Our analysis focuses first on a recent decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which concerned the status of Western Sahara in the framework of the EU-Morocco trade agreement. We then consider the implications of that case, if any, on the situation in the region of Abkhazia within Georgia in the context of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. We show how trade agreements in some cases may (EU-Morocco), and in other cases may not (EU-Georgia), affect the integrity of States in a novel way, depending on the intricacies of the facts and the strictures of the terms of the applicable Agreement. Reflecting the fragmentation of law, trade agreements thus have the potential to grant an avenue for sub-statal entities to establish standing before a regional court (in our case, the Court of Justice of the EU), or an international tribunal. That, in turn, may allow these entities to reinforce their claims for self-determination under international law. Beyond the possible theoretical implications on the (relativity of) sovereignty, the findings seem worth considering carefully in the context of concluding and formulating regional and international agreements in different fields of law