Exploring Businesses’ Justifications for Sustaining and Developing Value through Climate Risk Adaptation and Mitigation - A Norwegian Savings Bank Case Study

Klimaendringer øker klimarisiko for næringslivet. Dette bærekraftsproblemet er en global samfunnsutfordring, da næringslivets klimatiltak er vesentlig for å utvikle og bevare verdi gjennom tilpasning og skadebegrensning av klimarisiko. I denne masteroppgaven brukes en norsk sparebank case studie til å forstå hovedstrategiene og instrumentene som næringslivet utvikler og bevarer (sosial, miljømessig, økonomisk) verdi i klimatilpasning og utslippsreduksjon, og utforske hvordan næringslivet rettferdiggjør deres respons til klimarisiko. Tidligere studier illustrerer at ulike rettferdiggjørelser kan bli brukt i sammenheng med bærekraftsutfordringer. Rettferdiggjøring fra markedets verdiorden dominerer, som fremhever behovet for ytterlige forskning på rettferdiggjørelser for bedrifters miljøvern. Denne praksisbaserte masteroppgaven tar en intensiv tilnærming som kombinerer deltakende observasjon, dokumentanalyse, og intervjuer for å studere Sparebanken Vest sitt arbeid med klimarisiko. Avhandlingen viser at store mål som netto nullutslipp og produkter som bærekraftslinkede lån er hovedstrategier og instrumenter. Analysen synliggjør et kompromiss mellom marked, industrielle og grønne verdier, men hovedsakelig på marked-verdiordenens betingelser. Dette indikerer at næringslivets klimatilpasning og utslippsreduksjon er avhengig av konkurransedyktighet og effektivitet, og at bærekraft argumentet ikke er tilstrekkelig i isolasjon.Climate change increases climate risks for businesses. This sustainability issue is a global societal challenge, as businesses’ response matters for developing and sustaining value through adaptation and mitigation of climate risk. In this master’s thesis, a Norwegian savings bank case study is utilized to explore the main strategies and instruments through which businesses develop and sustain (societal, environmental, and economic) value in climate risk adaptation and mitigation, and how businesses justify their response to climate risk. Previous research illustrates that different justifications can be applied to sustainability issues. However, market justifications dominate, highlighting the need for further research into the justifications for corporate environmentalism. This internship-based master’s thesis takes an intensive approach combining participatory observation, document analysis, and interviews to study Sparebanken Vest’s (SPV) work with climate risk. The research finds that large goals such as net zero and products like sustainability-linked loans can be considered main strategies and instruments. There appears to be a compromise between market, industrial, and green values, but mainly in terms of the market order. This indicates that businesses’ climate risk adaptation and mitigation measures are dependent on competitiveness and efficiency, and that the sustainability argument is not sufficient in isolation.Praksisbasert masteroppgaveSDG351MAHF-SD

A visitor that has come to stay? The case of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway

This thesis is dedicated to the case of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway. The pink salmon has a large native range and is indigenous to regions of the Pacific Ocean. It was deliberately introduced into rivers that drained into the White Sea by the Soviet Union. This was done through several attempts reaching from 1957 to 2001. These attempts resulted in secondary expansion to the Northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea. The pink salmon demonstrated a high ability to disperse but did not show signs of establishment. Low amount of pink salmon has been observed in the following decades after the attempts of introduction. This remained the case until a sudden and rapid change in 2017. In 2017, pink salmon were observed and caught in over 200 rivers in Norway. Several other countries in northern Europe also experienced an increase in the abundance of spawning pink salmon, but Norway had the highest increase. The pink salmon has distinct groups of odd year- and even year broodlines. The odd year broodline appears to be the strongest, which is further supported by the high amount of pink salmon in 2019. Alien species are considered as the second biggest threat to biological diversity by the Norwegian government (regjeringen.no). Alien species are to be managed in accordance with national legislation and international agreements. The thesis aim is to ascertain whether the pink salmon has come to Norway to stay based on the properties of the management system and the unique biological characteristics of the pink salmon. Challenges are identified and assessed by acquiring an overview of the management system and the pink salmon itself. This thesis has a multidisciplinary approach, because there are several aspects of the case that can determine the outcome. Keywords: Alien species, Alien invasive species, Norwegian management system, risk management, implementation theory, conservation biolog

Descriptive and Applied Military History – debating the utility of military history in Danish officer education

In the 1970s Danish debates on military history revealed a bifurcated understanding of military history between descriptive and applied military history. Descriptive military history was the study of military history done by academic historians, and applied military his- tory was done by and taught to officers. The divide between descriptive and applied was rooted in the professionalization of history and officer education; it was constructed in order to accommodate the criticism that military history used in officer education did not live up to aca- demic standards. By taking the Danish debates in the 1970s as a point of departure, this article introduces some fundamental challenges regard- ing the use of military history in officer education. Inspired by the Ger- man historian Reinhart Koselleck, the article argues that developments within academic history since the 1970s might have alleviated the con- flict between academic military history and the military history used in officer education. Certainly, these new developments have opened up new approaches to military history