A Legacy of Harm? Climate Change and the Carbon Cost of Procreation

Purpose A management accounting perspective that underscores a quest for reducing conventionally appraised costs, negative output costs as well as heightened eco-efficiency has been used in pursuit of the study’s two main study objectives. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the study seeks to further understanding of the relationship between product output volume, carbon costs, and CO2 emission volume in carbon-intensive firms. Second, it identifies factors affecting climate change abatement strategies pursued by these firms. Heightening appreciation of the climate change challenge, combined with minimal CO2 emission research undertaken from a cost management perspective, underscores the significance of the study. Design/methodology/approach A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data collected from Slovenian firms that operate in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme has been deployed. Findings CO2 polluting firms exhibit differing carbon cost structures that result from distinctive drivers of carbon consumption (product output vs capacity level). Climate change abatement strategies also differ across carbon-intensive sectors (energy, manufacturing firms transforming non-fossil carbon-based materials, and other manufacturing firms) but are relatively homogeneous within them. Practical implications From a managerial perspective, the study demonstrates that carbon efficiency improvements are generally not effective in triggering corporate CO2 emission reduction when firms pursue a growth strategy. Social implications Global warming signifies that CO2 emissions constitute a social problem. The study has the potential to raise societal awareness that the causality of the manufacturing sector’s CO2 emissions is complex. Further, the study highlights that while more efficient use of environmental resources is a prerequisite of enhanced ecological sustainability, in isolation it fails to signify improved ecological sustainability in manufacturing operations. Originality/value The paper has high originality as it reports one of the first management accounting studies to explore the distinction between combustion- and process-related CO2 emissions. In addition, it provides distinctive support for the view that eco-efficiency is more consistent with the economic than the environmental pillar of sustainability.

Download Full-text

Neglecting plant–microbe symbioses leads to underestimation of modeled climate impacts

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-16-457-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 457-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mingjie Shi ◽

Joshua B. Fisher ◽

Richard P. Phillips ◽

Edward R. Brzostek

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Primary Production ◽

Climate Model ◽

Net Primary Production ◽

Carbon Sink ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Nitrogen Acquisition ◽

Carbon Cost ◽

Precipitation Regimes ◽

Microbial Symbionts

Abstract. The extent to which terrestrial ecosystems slow climate change by sequestering carbon hinges in part on nutrient limitation. We used a coupled carbon–climate model that accounts for the carbon cost to plants of supporting nitrogen-acquiring microbial symbionts to explore how nitrogen limitation affects global climate. To do this, we first calculated the reduction in net primary production due to the carbon cost of nitrogen acquisition. We then used a climate model to estimate the impacts of the resulting increase in atmospheric CO2 on temperature and precipitation regimes. The carbon costs of supporting symbiotic nitrogen uptake reduced net primary production by 8.1 Pg C yr−1, with the largest absolute effects occurring in tropical forest biomes and the largest relative changes occurring in boreal and alpine biomes. Globally, our model predicted relatively small changes in climate due to the carbon cost of nitrogen acquisition with temperature increasing by 0.1 ∘C and precipitation decreasing by 6 mm yr−1. However, there were strong regional impacts, with the largest impact occurring in boreal and alpine ecosystems, where such costs were estimated to increase temperature by 1.0 ∘C and precipitation by 9 mm yr−1. As such, our results suggest that carbon expenditures to support nitrogen-acquiring microbial symbionts have critical consequences for Earth's climate, and that carbon–climate models that omit these processes will overpredict the land carbon sink and underpredict climate change.

Download Full-text

Aeromobilities in Transition, From quick and dirty to slow and sexy

Low Carbon Mobility Transitions ◽

10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3289 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Rob Bongaerts ◽

Jeroen Nawijn ◽

Eke Eijgelaar ◽

Paul Peeters

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Emission Reduction ◽

Air Travel ◽

Rail Transport ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Carbon Cost ◽

Regional Tourism ◽

Sharp Growth

In this chapter we discuss the current impacts of aviation on the environment and climate change. The sharp growth of this industry will lead to an even greater future impact. Therefore, we come with some suggestions to reduce the carbon emissions of the industry. We conclude that a combination of economical, behavioural and technological measures is the only way to go if a decrease of carbon in a growing industry is to be achieved. Price mechanisms like increasing taxes and introducing real carbon cost should lead to less demand for air travel. Furthermore, promoting regional tourism and de-marketing long haul destinations contributes to a sharp emission reduction. Short haul and regional travel should be combined with promoting low carbon travel modes, like rail transport. If decision makers can combine these measures and force their airlines to adopt the latest technological standards on aircraft, we believe that the industry can transform from a ‘quick and dirty’ way of transport to a ‘slow and sexy’ one.

Download Full-text

Averting robo-bees: why free-flying robotic bees are a bad idea

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20190063 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 723-729

Author(s):

Roslyn Gleadow ◽

Jim Hanan ◽

Alan Dorin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Computer Simulation ◽

Food Security ◽

European Countries ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Plant Insect Interactions ◽

Native Habitat ◽

Insect Pollinators ◽

Insect Interactions

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.

Download Full-text

Modelling ecosystem adaptation and dangerous rates of global warming

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20180113 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 221-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rebecca Millington ◽

Peter M. Cox ◽

Jonathan R. Moore ◽

Gabriel Yvon-Durocher

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Diffusion Rate ◽

Individual Species ◽

Genetic Evolution ◽

Rates Of Change ◽

Rapid Climate Change ◽

Warming Climate ◽

Intraspecies Competition ◽

High Trait

Abstract We are in a period of relatively rapid climate change. This poses challenges for individual species and threatens the ecosystem services that humanity relies upon. Temperature is a key stressor. In a warming climate, individual organisms may be able to shift their thermal optima through phenotypic plasticity. However, such plasticity is unlikely to be sufficient over the coming centuries. Resilience to warming will also depend on how fast the distribution of traits that define a species can adapt through other methods, in particular through redistribution of the abundance of variants within the population and through genetic evolution. In this paper, we use a simple theoretical ‘trait diffusion’ model to explore how the resilience of a given species to climate change depends on the initial trait diversity (biodiversity), the trait diffusion rate (mutation rate), and the lifetime of the organism. We estimate theoretical dangerous rates of continuous global warming that would exceed the ability of a species to adapt through trait diffusion, and therefore lead to a collapse in the overall productivity of the species. As the rate of adaptation through intraspecies competition and genetic evolution decreases with species lifetime, we find critical rates of change that also depend fundamentally on lifetime. Dangerous rates of warming vary from 1°C per lifetime (at low trait diffusion rate) to 8°C per lifetime (at high trait diffusion rate). We conclude that rapid climate change is liable to favour short-lived organisms (e.g. microbes) rather than longer-lived organisms (e.g. trees).

Download Full-text