Making climate change negotiable: The development of the Global Warming Potential index

One important contribution from science to environmental negotiations is the provision of scientific models, methods and concepts that may serve as decision-making tools and that hence may assist policy-makers in developing adequate solutions to environmental problems. In the context of climate change, the Global Warming Potential index has served a significant role in the process of making climate change negotiable. The Global Warming Potential index, which is a methodology for comparing the climate effect of a set of greenhouse gases and for transforming their emissions into a common measure, currently constitutes the foundation for implementation mechanisms adopted in the Kyoto Protocol, such as emissions trading, joint implementation and the clean development mechanism. The topic of this trial lecture is the development of the Global Warming Potential index, the GWP index, and the political role of this methodology in the development of the climate regime. The history of the GWP index, the political context within which this methodology was first introduced and the political role this methodology has acquired is an interesting case of science–policy interaction which is illustrative of the mechanisms at work in such processes and the possible implications they may have both for the scientific and the political process. After an introductory note, in which I introduce you to some of the essential characteristics of the problem of a human induced climate change and the political conditions that led to a strong political demand for the GWP methodology, I will discuss the more general notion of solution design models in negotiations, and requirements to their adequacy. In the third part of the presentation I will discuss the GWP index in more detail, and focus particularly on some of the more problematic aspects and shortcomings associated with this methodology. In the fourth part of the lecture, I will return to the political process on climate change, and discuss some implications for the adequacy of the solution design model adopted in the climate regime. In the last and final part of the lecture, then, I will draw some conclusions from this discussion. The lecture is based on previous and current research at my own institute, CICERO, and secondary literature, in particular work by Simon Shackley and Brian Wynne as well as Steven Smith and Tom Wigley

Exploring the notion of political feasibility in environmental policy

This essay explores the notion of political feasibility in environmental policy with an aim to develop an analytical approach that incorporates key aspects from both economics and political science. It assesses some of the relevant literature on political feasibility with a main focus on which sets of factors may make it more difficult for policy to achieve the necessary support – that is, which factors may serve to constrain policymakers’ “freedom of choice” of policies and policy instruments. The discussion indicates that political feasibility may be seen as a function of three main categories of constraints: 1) the distribution of costs and benefits associated with environmental regulation among target groups; 2) the distribution of power among and between target groups and decision-makers; and 3) the institutional setting within which decision-making takes place

Nordic or North Atlantic alliance?: the postwar Scandinavian security debate

The decision to join the North Atlantic Pact in 1949 constituted a major breakaway from traditional security policies in Denmark and Norway. Even Sweden, which in the end decided to remain nonaligned, went through a period of considerable reevalution of established trends of thought. In this study Professor Magne Skodvin describes and analyzes some major phases in the series of events that caused Norway to become a charter member of the North Atlantic Alliance and directed Denmark to follow. Professor Skodvin has drawn heavily on material from archives in the Norwegian Foreign Office, the Public Record Office in London, and the National Archives in Washington D.C

Editorial to the Issue on Climate Governance and the Paris Agreement

"This thematic issue of Politics and Governance serves as a Festschrift in honor of Professor Dr. Philos. Arild Underdal on his 70th birthday. In this editorial, the guest editors summarize a few of Professor Underdal's many academic merits and achievements. They also provide a synopsis of each of the ten contributions to the Festschrift, which focuses on climate governance in general and the 2015 Paris Agreement in particular." (author's abstract

Protecting Future Generations Through Minilateralism: Climate Clubs and Normative Legitimacy

Despite three decades of global climate negotiations and high expectations for the 2015 Paris Agreement, global emissions continue to grow. To protect future generations from severe harm, scholars, environmentalists, and politicians alike explore potential supplements to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process. One potential supplement is climate clubs of a type where a small number of "enthusiastic" countries embark on ambitious mitigation efforts while encouraging other, more "reluctant" countries to join. Previous research has shown that this club type possesses a significant potential for expanding membership and eventually becoming highly effective in reducing global emissions. A common criticism of climate clubs, however, is that they lack legitimacy. Assessing this criticism, we argue that climate clubs of the type considered here can be normatively legitimate. The main challenge for normative legitimacy concerns climate clubs' use of incentives, particularly negative incentives, to attract members. However, we argue that even negative incentives for participation can be legitimate, assuming they meet a set of relevant legitimacy criteria - including that the club respects human rights, provides a comparative benefit, maintains institutional integrity, implements only proportional incentives, and fulfills a requisite set of epistemic criteria. We also argue that the normative legitimacy of climate clubs' use of incentives for compliance is less challenging than the normative legitimacy of their use of incentives for participation

Versatile compressive microscope for hyperspectral transmission and fluorescence lifetime imaging

Increasing demand for multimodal characterization and imaging of new materials entails the combination of various methods in a single microscopic setup. Hyperspectral imaging of transmission spectra or photoluminescence (PL) decay imaging count among the most used methods. Nevertheless, these methods require very different working conditions and instrumentation. Therefore, combining the methods into a single microscopic system is seldom implemented. Here we demonstrate a novel versatile microscope based on single-pixel imaging, where we use a simple optical configuration to measure the hyperspectral information, as well as fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). The maps are inherently spatially matched and can be taken with spectral resolution limited by the resolution of the used spectrometer (3 nm) or temporal resolution set by PL decay measurement (120 ps). We verify the system's performance by its comparison to the standard FLIM and non-imaging transmission spectroscopy. Our approach enabled us to switch between a broad field-of-view and micrometer resolution without changing the optical configuration. At the same time, the used design opens the possibility to add a variety of other characterization methods. This article demonstrates a simple, affordable way of complex material studies with huge versatility for the imaging parameters.publishedVersio

Eksportkontroll og kunnskapssektoren – to konstitusjonelle spørsmål

acceptedVersio

Moral judgement i rollespill om bærekraftig utvikling. En enkeltcase i naturfagdidaktikk med blikk på hvordan elever uttrykker moral judgement i rollespillet Klimatoppmøte i skolen

I denne enkeltcasen så jeg på rollespillet Klimatoppmøte i skolen. Det er et rollespill som simulerer internasjonale forhandlinger i FN. Hensikten med studien var å finne ut hvordan moral judgement uttrykkes av elevene gjennom rollespillet. Jeg gjennomførte studien i en 9. klasse med 14 elever. I innsamlingen av datamateriale benyttet jeg tre metoder; spørreskjema før og etter gjennomføring av rollespillet, lydopptak i to av timene og deltakende observasjon. Analyseprosessen gjennomførte jeg i to prosesser; den første var en tematisk analyse av lydopptakene, hvor feltnotatene ble brukt som supplement. Den andre delen var tematisk analyse av spørreskjemaet før undervisningen startet. Analysen av lydopptakene indikerer at 5 dimensjoner av moral judgement ble uttrykt av elevene: Bevisstheten av moralen i en spesifikk situasjon, bevisstheten rundt ens egen mening, argumentasjon, refleksjon rundt perspektiv og konsekvenser og vurdering. Dimensjonen det var mest av i lydopptakene, var refleksjon rundt perspektiv og konsekvenser, mens det var minst av vurdering. På tvers av dimensjonene fins tre hovedmønstre. Disse er bærekraftperspektiv, samarbeidsholdning og systemforståelse. Bærekraftperspektivet domineres av teknokratisk syn, hvor deler av elevenes moral judgement reflekterte tanker fra opplegget. Også økosentriske holdninger kom til uttrykk i lydopptakene, men ikke i like stor grad. Samarbeidsholdning var preget av empati eller manglende empati og uttrykk om enhet. Systemforståelse var i noen tilfeller preget av samfunnsfaglig forståelse og naturfaglig forståelse, i andre tilfeller av faglige mangler. Analysen av spørreskjema viser at bærekraftperspektivet var dominert av et økosentrisk syn (48%), og mindre teknokratisk syn (11%). I diskusjonsdelen drøfter jeg hvorfor det var overvekt av teknokratisk syn i timen, og om det kan ha gitt elevene en ufullstendig forståelse av klimautfordringer. Videre løfter jeg fram hvordan opplegget kan ha gitt større forståelse for andres holdninger, og om opplevelsen av å bli enige er en naiv forståelse av klimaforhandlinger eller gir håp til framtiden. Til sist drøfter jeg hvordan rollespillet kan ha gitt et godt oversiktsbilde av bærekraftig utvikling som emne, men at det på noen områder burde komplementeres med andre opplegg

Survey of European neurosurgeons’ management of unruptured intracranial aneurysms: inconsistent practice and organization

Background - The discovery of an unruptured intracranial aneurysm creates a dilemma between observation and treatment. Neurosurgeons’ routines for risk assessment and treatment decision-making are unknown. The position of evidence-based medicine in European neurosurgery is considered to be weak, high-grade guidelines do not exist and variations between institutions are probable. We aimed to explore European neurosurgeons’ management routines for newly discovered unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Methods - In cooperation with the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), we conducted an online, cross-sectional survey of 420 European neurosurgeons during Spring/Summer 2016 (1533 non-Norwegians invited through the EANS, and 16 Norwegians invited through heads of departments because of the need for additional information for a separate study). We asked about demographic variables, routines for management and risk assessment of newly discovered unruptured intracranial aneurysms and presented a case. We collected information about gross domestic product (GDP) per capita from the International Monetary Fund. Results - The respons rate to the invite from the EANS was 26%, with respondents from 47 countries. More than half of the respondents (n = 226 [54%]) reported that their department treated less than 25 unruptured aneurysms yearly. Forty percent said their department used aneurysm size cut-off to guide treatment decisions, with a mean size of 6 mm. Presented with a case, respondents from countries with a lower GDP per capita recommended intervention more often than respondents from higher-income countries. Vascular neurosurgeons more commonly recommended observation. Conclusion - The answers to this self-reported survey indicate that many centers have a treatment volume lower than recommended by international guidelines, and that there are socioeconomic differences in care. Better documentation of treatment and outcome, for example with clinical quality registries, is needed to drive improvements of care