Bedömning av ekosystemtjänster och effekter av klimatförändringar : med en fallstudie i Arbogaån

Humans are dependent on a large variety of services that come from the eco-systems around us. Some of these ecosystem services are provided by rivers and lakes and include for example drinking water, water for irrigation and industry, flood control, climate regulation, and recreation. Ecosystem ser-vices are increasingly threatened by human activities, including hydropower, forestry, agriculture and fisheries. Another threat is climate change which will lead to for example intensified rainfall, more frequent flooding, and higher temperatures. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of what in-dicators and methods that can be used for assessing freshwater ecosystem services, and to evaluate and describe how flooding might affect the condition of them. This was done by conducting both a literature review of previous research and a case study of the river Arbogaån. During the literature review 344 indicators were found that could be used for assessment of freshwater ecosystem services status. Different methods for assessing ecosystem ser-vices were also examined, for example expert judgements, case studies, qual-itative vs quantitative methods, and citizen science. The review also gave an understanding of how climate change could affect freshwater ecosystem ser-vices, and the results showed that primarily drinking water and biological di-versity are threatened in Europe. In the case study of river Arbogaån, a new method was developed for assessing flooding impacts on ecosystems ser-vices. The method consisted of a GIS overlay analysis and an assessment of flooding impacts based on previous research. The method can be used as a starting point for future research, when assessing the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services. The method was tested on six ecosystem ser-vices that are assumed to be sensitive to climate change (flooding) in river Arbogaån. The assessment indicated that biological diversity, drinking water, and habitat will be affected negatively by flooding in river Arbogaån. No change in condition was found for flood control or water for irrigation and industry, and not enough data was available to estimate the effects on regula-tion of eutrophication. Without knowledge on how climate change influence ecosystem services and how to assess it, it will be impossible to know when, where and what actions that are necessary to protect them. The findings pre-sented in this master thesis provide a framework for future studies wanting to explore similar issues.Människor är beroende av en rad olika tjänster som kommer från ekosystemen som omger oss. Vissa av dessa ekosystemtjänster kommer från sjöar och vattendrag och inkluderar exempelvis dricksvatten, vatten för bevattning och industri, översvämningskontroll, klimatreglering, och rekreation. Ekosystemtjänster är allt mer hotade av mänskliga aktiviteter såsom vattenkraft, skogsbruk, jordbruk och fiske. Ett annat hot är klimatförändringar vilka kommer leda till mer intensiva skyfall, mer frekventa översvämningar, och högre temperaturer. Detta projekt syftar till att öka förståelsen för vilka indikatorer och metoder som kan användas för att utvärdera ekosystemtjänsters status, samt hur deras status påverkas av översvämningar. Detta gjordes dels genom en litteraturstudie av tidigare forskning samt genom en fallstudie av Arbogaån. Under litteraturstudien hittades 344 indikatorer som skulle kunna användas för att utvärdera ekosystemtjänsters status. Diverse metoder för utvärdering av ekosystemtjänster hittades också, till exempel expertbedömningar, fallstudier, kvalitativa vs kvantitativa metoder, och medborgarforskning. Studien gav också en förståelse för hur klimatförändringar kan komma att påverka ekosystemtjänster i sötvatten, och resultaten visade att främst dricksvatten och biologisk mångfald är hotade i Europa. Under fallstudien av Arbogaån utvecklades en ny metod för att bedöma översvämningars effekt på ekosystemtjänster. Metoden bestod av en GIS analys samt en bedömning av översvämningars påverkan baserat på föregående forskning. Metoden kan användas som en startpunkt för framtida studier som vill utvärdera klimatförändringars effekt på ekosystemtjänster. Metoden testades på sex ekosystemtjänster som antas vara känsliga mot klimatförändringar (översvämningar) i Arbogaån. Utvärderingen indikerade att biologisk mångfald, dricksvatten, och livsmiljö kommer påverkas negativt av översvämningar i Arbogaån. Ingen förändring av status hittades för skydd mot översvämningar eller vatten för bevattning industri, och otillräckliga data gjorde att tjänsten reglering av översvämning inte kunde bedömas. Utan kunskaper om hur klimatförändringar påverkar ekosystemtjänster så är det omöjligt att veta när, var och vilka åtgärder som är nödvändiga för att skydda dem. Resultaten som presenteras i detta masters projekt kan användas som ett ramverk för framtida studier som vill utforska liknande frågeställningar

Kultur, den viktigaste mottagaren: En kvalitativ studie om internationella företags kommunikationsanpassningar

Denna studie ämnar kartlägga faktorer som påverkar ett företag och deras internationella kommunikationsanpassning till olika kulturer. Studien har som utgångspunkt den anpassning de internationella företagen Barilla Group och Top-toy genomförde vid varsin kris på en nationell marknad. Studien är en kvalitativ textanalys med empiriskt material bestående av texter från både ett sändar- och mottagarperspektiv. Analysen utgår från ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv där tolkning är en avgörande faktor för hur krisen upplevs. I resultatet framgår det att Complexity theory är ett alternativ för företagens krisstrategier med syfte att förstå olika interaktionsmönster och kulturer. Studien resulterar i två faktorer som på-verkar företagens kommunikationsanpassning (1) rådande samhällsdebatter, (2) konsumentmakt. Kapitlet om samhällsdebatten utgår från dagordningsteorin och redogör för hur nyhetsvärde och gruppering har ett samband med hur företagen anpassar sin kommunikation. Därefter analyseras konsumentmaktens inverkan på företagens kommunikationsanpassning genom teorier kring efterfråga och bojkott. Slutligen redogör studien för hur företagens genomförda kommunikationsanpassningar påverkar organisationsidentiteten då de båda väljer att långsiktigt gå mot en internationellt enhetlig organisationsidentitet, utan hänsyn till olika marknaders efterfråga till anpassning. Arbetet kring detta examensarbete har till lika stora delar utförts av båda författarna.This study intends to highlight factors affecting the tension between corporate values and international communication adjustments among cultures. This case study has its base when Barilla Group and Top-toy were adjusting their communication while going through separate crises. We conducted this study through a qualitative text analysis with a hermeneutic viewpoint. Collecting empirical findings from both a sender- and receiver perspective due to the importance of the perceived interpretation of crises. As a result Complexity theory is presented as an alternative crisis strategy to understand different interaction patterns and cultures. Further, our results show two factors that influence corporate communication adjustments (1) current societal debates, (2) consumer power. The societal debate chapter is based on the agenda setting theory that describes how news value and formation correlate with how the companies adjust their communication. Second, consumer power impact is analyzed through demand and boycott. At last, the companies completed communications adjustments outline and show that they strive towards a unitary organization identity. The work conducted in this bachelor thesis is equally performed by the two authors

Role of removals in contributing to the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement

This report delves into the multifaceted dimensions of carbon dioxide removal methods. The report discusses the role of carbon dioxide removal methods in contributing to attaining the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement and investigates best practices in the implementation of the collaborative instruments under Article 6 for their incentivisation and scaling. The present climate policy and actual decision-making are still centred on achieving net-zero carbon emissions but the long-term challenge is the inevitable reversal of the overshoot, requiring carbon removal to outpace residual emissions, leading to net negative emissions globally. The report discusses the need to assign responsibility for climate overshoot reversal in order to guarantee the viability of a global net-negative GHG economy. The report analyses and proposes ways to address risks associated with carbon removal, including mitigation deterrence, that carbon removed from the atmosphere might be re-released, carbon-leakage effects, and challenges related to monitoring mitigation outcomes. It offers recommendations based on these deliberations

Managing Climate Risk

Stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at a safe level is a paradigm that the scientific and policy communities have widely adopted for addressing the problem of climate change. However, aiming to stabilize concentrations at a single target level might not be a robust strategy, given that the environment is extremely uncertain. The static stabilization paradigm is based primarily on two assumptions: (i), that a safe level of GHG concentrations exists and can be sustained, and (ii) that such a level can be determined ex ante. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calls for stabilization of GHGs at a safe level, and it also prescribes precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate their adverse effects...

Industrial decarbonisation of the pulp and paper sector: A UK perspective

The potential for reducing industrial energy demand and ‘greenhouse gas’ (GHG) emissions in the Pulp and Paper sector (hereinafter denoted as the paper industry) has been evaluated within a United Kingdom (UK) context, although the lessons learned are applicable across much of the industrialised world. This sector gives rise to about 6% of UK industrial GHG emissions resulting principally from fuel use (including that indirectly emitted because of electricity use). It can be characterised as being heterogeneous with a diverse range of product outputs (including banknotes, books, magazines, newspapers and packaging, such as corrugated paper and board), and sits roughly on the boundary between energy-intensive (EI) and non-energy-intensive (NEI) industrial sectors. This novel assessment was conducted in the context of the historical development of the paper sector, as well as its contemporary industrial structure. Some 70% of recovered or recycled fibre is employed to make paper products in the UK. Fuel use in combined heat and power (CHP) plant has been modelled in terms of so-called ‘auto-generation’. Special care was taken not to ‘double count’ auto-generation and grid decarbonisation; so that the relative contributions of each have been accounted for separately. Most of the electricity generated via steam boilers or CHP is used within the sector, with only a small amount exported. Currently-available technologies will lead to further, short-term energy and GHG emissions savings in paper mills, but the prospects for the commercial exploitation of innovative technologies by mid-21st century is speculative. The possible role of bioenergy as a fuel resource going forward has also been appraised. Finally, a set of low-carbon UK ‘technology roadmaps’ for the paper sector out to 2050 have been developed and evaluated, based on various alternative scenarios. These yield transition pathways that represent forward projections which match short-term and long-term (2050) targets with specific technological solutions to help meet the key energy saving and decarbonisation goals. The content of these roadmaps were built up on the basis of the improvement potentials associated with different processes employed in the paper industry. Under a Reasonable Action scenario, the total GHG emissions from the sector are likely to fall over the period 1990–2050 by almost exactly an 80%; coincidentally matching GHG reduction targets established for the UK economy as a whole. However, the findings of this study indicate that the attainment of a significant decline in GHG emissions over the long-term will depends critically on the adoption of a small number of key technologies [e.g., energy efficiency and heat recovery techniques, bioenergy (with and without CHP), and the electrification of heat], alongside a decarbonisation of the electricity supply. The present roadmaps help identify the steps needed to be undertaken by developers, policy makers and other stakeholders in order to ensure the decarbonisation of the UK paper sector