scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 related regulations and restrictions on mobility and potential for sustained climate mitigation across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK: A data-based commentary.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Corker ◽  
Kaloyan Mitev ◽  
Astrid Nilsson ◽  
Milan Tamis ◽  
Thijs Bouman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Observed Behaviour ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Behaviour Changes ◽  
The Impact

Human behaviour change is necessary to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Restrictions and regulations put in place globally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 have had a substantial impact on everyday life, including many carbon-intensive behaviours such as transportation. Changes to transportation behaviour may reduce carbon emissions. Behaviour change theory can offer perspective on the drivers and influences of behaviour and shape recommendations for how policy-makers can capitalise on any observed behaviour changes that may mitigate climate change. For this commentary, we aimed to describe changes in data relating to transportation behavioursrelating to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. We display these identified changes in a concept map, suggesting links between the changes in behaviour and levels of carbon emissions. We consider these changes in relation to a comprehensive and easy to understand model of behaviour, the COM-B, to understand the capabilities, opportunities and behaviours related to the observed behaviour changes and potential policy to mitigate climate change. There is now an opportunity for policy-makers to increase the likelihood of maintaining pro-environmental behaviour changes by providing opportunities, improving capabilities and maintaining motivation for these behaviours.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 related regulations and restrictions on mobility and potential for sustained climate mitigation across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK: A data-based commentary.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Corker ◽  
Kaloyan Mitev ◽  
Astrid Nilsson ◽  
Milan Tamis ◽  
Thijs Bouman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Observed Behaviour ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Behaviour Changes ◽  
The Impact

Human behaviour change is necessary to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Restrictions and regulations put in place globally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 have had a substantial impact on everyday life, including many carbon-intensive behaviours such as transportation. Changes to transportation behaviour may reduce carbon emissions. Behaviour change theory can offer perspective on the drivers and influences of behaviour and shape recommendations for how policy-makers can capitalise on any observed behaviour changes that may mitigate climate change. For this commentary, we aimed to describe changes in data relating to transportation behavioursrelating to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. We display these identified changes in a concept map, suggesting links between the changes in behaviour and levels of carbon emissions. We consider these changes in relation to a comprehensive and easy to understand model of behaviour, the COM-B, to understand the capabilities, opportunities and behaviours related to the observed behaviour changes and potential policy to mitigate climate change. There is now an opportunity for policy-makers to increase the likelihood of maintaining pro-environmental behaviour changes by providing opportunities, improving capabilities and maintaining motivation for these behaviours.

scholarly journals Are citizen juries and assemblies on climate change driving democratic climate policymaking? An exploration of two case studies in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Wells ◽  
Candice Howarth ◽  
Lina I. Brand-Correa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Elected Representatives ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In light of increasing pressure to deliver climate action targets, and the growing role of citizens in raising the importance of the issue, deliberative democratic processes (e.g. Citizen Juries and Citizen Assemblies) on climate change are increasingly being used to provide a voice to citizens in climate change decision-making. Through a comparative case study of two processes that ran in the UK in 2019 (the Leeds Climate Change Citizens’ Jury and the Oxford Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change), this paper investigates how far Citizen Assemblies and Juries on climate change are increasing citizen engagement on climate change and creating more citizen-centred climate policy-making. Interviews were conducted with policy-makers, councillors, professional facilitators and others involved in running these processes to assess motivations for conducting these, their structure and the impact and influence they had. The findings suggest the impact of these processes is not uniform: they have an indirect impact on policymaking by creating momentum around climate action and supporting the introduction of pre-planned or pre-existing policies rather than a direct impact by being truly being citizen-centred policymaking processes or conducive to new climate policy. We conclude with reflections on how these processes give elected representatives a public mandate on climate change, that they help to identify more nuanced and in-depth public opinions in a fair and informed way, yet it can be challenging to embed citizen juries and assemblies in wider democratic processes.

scholarly journals European Youth Work Policy and Young People’s Experience of Open Access Youth Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
JON ORD ◽  
MARC CARLETTI ◽  
DANIELE MORCIANO ◽  
LASSE SIURALA ◽  
CHRISTOPHE DANSAC ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Young People ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Youth

Abstract This article examines young people’s experiences of open access youth work in settings in the UK, Finland, Estonia, Italy and France. It analyses 844 individual narratives from young people, which communicate the impact of youthwork on their lives. These accounts are then analysed in the light of the European youth work policy goals. It concludes that it is encouraging that what young people identify as the positive impact of youth work are broadly consistent with many of these goals. There are however some disparities which require attention. These include the importance young people place on the social context of youth work, such as friendship, which is largely absent in EU youth work policy; as well as the importance placed on experiential learning. The paper also highlights a tension between ‘top down’ policy formulation and the ‘youth centric’ practices of youth work. It concludes with a reminder to policy makers that for youth work to remain successful the spaces and places for young people must remain meaningful to them ‘on their terms’.

Static grid carbon factors – Can we do better?

2021 ◽  
pp. 014362442199196
Author(s):  
Jamie Risner ◽  
Anna Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
External Temperature ◽  
Building Regulations ◽  
Calculation Methodology ◽  
Alternative Methodology ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The average carbon intensity (gCO2e/kWh) of electricity provided by the UK National Grid is decreasing and becoming more time variable. This paper reviews the impact on energy calculations of using various levels of data resolution (half hourly, daily, monthly and annual) and of moving to region specific data. This analysis is in two parts, one focused on the potential impact on Part L assessments and the other on reported carbon emissions for existing buildings. Analysis demonstrated that an increase in calculated emissions of up to 12% is possible when using an emissions calculation methodology employing higher resolution grid carbon intensity data. Regional analysis indicated an even larger calculation discrepancy, with some regions annual emissions increasing by a factor of ten as compared to other regions. This paper proposes a path forward for the industry to improve the accuracy of analysis by using better data sources. The proposed change in calculation methodology is analogous to moving from using an annual average external temperature to using a CIBSE weather profile for a specific city or using a future weather file. Practical application: This paper aims to quantify the inaccuracy of a calculation methodology in common use in the industry and key to building regulations (specifically Building Regulations Part L – Conservation of Fuel and Power) – translating electricity consumption into carbon emissions. It proposes an alternative methodology which improves the accuracy of the calculation based on improved data inputs.

scholarly journals Adaptation to climate change in the insurance sector: examples from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Carina H. Keskitalo ◽  
Gregor Vulturius ◽  
Peter Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Insurance Sector ◽  
The Uk

Understanding Affordability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Meen ◽  
Christine Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
House Prices ◽  
Household Formation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Developed World ◽  
The Impact

Affordability is, perhaps, the greatest housing problem facing households today, both in the UK and internationally. Even though most households are now well housed, hardship is disproportionately concentrated among low-income and younger households. Our failure to deal with their problems is what makes housing so frustrating. But, to improve outcomes, we have to understand the complex economic and political forces which underlie their continued prevalence. There are no costless solutions, but there are new policy directions that can be explored in addition to those that have dominated in recent years. The first, analytic, part of the book considers the factors that determine house prices and rents, household formation and tenure, housing construction and the roles played by housing finance and taxation. The second part turns to examine the impact of past policy and the possibilities for improvement - discussing supply and the impact of planning regulation, supply subsidies, subsidies to low-income tenants and attempts to increase home ownership. Rather than advocating a particular set of policies, the aim is to consider the balance of policies; the constraints under which housing policy operates; what can realistically be achieved; the structural changes that would need to occur; and the significant sacrifices that would have to be made by some groups if there are to be improvements for others. Our emphasis is on the UK but throughout the book we also draw on international experience and our conclusions have relevance to analysts and policy makers across the developed world.

Garden Plants under Global Climate Change

2014 ◽  
Vol 937 ◽  
pp. 663-668
Author(s):  
Qiu Jing Li ◽  
Xiao Li Hou ◽  
Li Xue ◽  
Hong Yue Chen ◽  
Yun Ting Hao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Landscape Plant ◽  
Garden Plants ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Impact

Climate change refers to man-made changes in our climate, which is caused by changes in temperature, precipitation, and CO2. There is a lot of data coming from all over the world indicating that phenology of garden plants and biodiversity are being impacted by climate change. In the context of climate change, landscape plants can enhance carbon sink function, improve plant design, and mitigate climate change and so on. To determine the impact of these changes on garden plants, scientists would need to strengthen the study of garden plants under global climate change, including different garden type responses to climate change, invaliding species phenology study, extreme weather impacts on landscape plant phenology, the dominant factor of affecting garden plants in different regions, interactions of multiple environmental factors on influence mechanism of garden plants.

scholarly journals Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: Effects on Finance, Policy and Public Discourse

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noam Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Fiduciary Duty ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Finance Industry ◽  
Fossil Fuel Industry ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The fossil fuel divestment movement campaigns for removing investments from fossil fuel companies as a strategy to combat climate change. It is a bottom-up movement, largely based in university student groups, although it has rapidly spread to other institutions. Divestment has been criticised for its naiveté and hard-line stance and dismissed as having little impact on fossil fuel finance. I analyse the impact of divestment through reviewing academic and grey literature, complemented by interviews with activists and financial actors, using a theoretical framework that draws on social movement theory. While the direct impacts of divestment are small, the indirect impacts, in terms of public discourse shift, are significant. Divestment has put questions of finance and climate change on the agenda and played a part in changing discourse around the legitimacy, reputation and viability of the fossil fuel industry. This cultural impact contributed to changes in the finance industry through new demands by shareholders and investors and to changes in political discourse, such as rethinking the notion of ‘fiduciary duty.’ Finally, divestment had significant impact on its participants in terms of empowerment and played a part in the revitalisation of the environmental movement in the UK and elsewhere.

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on the Value of Growing Maize as a Biofuel

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Sally Olasogba ◽  
Les DUCKERS
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact

Abstract: Aim: According to COP23, Climate Change threatens the stability of the planet’s ecosystems, with a tipping point believed to be at only +2°C.  With the burning of fossil fuels, held responsible for the release of much of the greenhouse gases, a sensible world- wide strategy is to replace fossil fuel energy sources with renewable ones. The renewable resources such as wind, hydro, geothermal, wave and tidal energies are found in particular geographical locations whereas almost every country is potentially able to exploit PV and biomass. This paper examines the role that changing climate could have on the growing and processing of biomass. The primary concern is that future climates could adversely affect the yield of crops, and hence the potential contribution of biomass to the strategy to combat climate change. Maize, a C4 crop, was selected for the study because it can be processed into biogas or other biofuels. Four different Nigerian agricultural zones growing maize were chosen for the study. Long-term weather data was available for the four sites and this permitted the modelling of future climates. Design / Research methods: The results of this study come from modelling future climates and applying this to crop models. This unique work, which has integrated climate change and crop modelling to forecast yield and carbon emissions, reveals how maize responds to the predicted increased temperature, change in rainfall, and the variation in weather patterns. In order to fully assess a biomass crop, the full energy cycle and carbon emissions were estimated based on energy and materials inputs involved in farm management: fertilizer application, and tillage type. For maize to support the replacement strategy mentioned above it is essential that the ratio of energy output to energy input exceeds 1, but of course it should be as large as possible. Conclusions / findings: Results demonstrate that the influence of climate change is important and in many scenarios, acts to reduce yield, but that the negative effects can be partially mitigated by careful selection of farm management practices. Yield and carbon footprint is particularly sensitive to the application rate of fertilizer across all locations whilst climate change is the causal driver for the increase in net energy and carbon footprint at most locations. Nonetheless, in order to ensure a successful strategic move towards a low carbon future, and sustainable implementation of biofuel policies, this study provides valuable information for the Nigerian government and policy makers on potential AEZs to cultivate maize under climate change. Further research on the carbon footprint of alternative bioenergy feedstock to assess their environmental carbon footprint and net energy is strongly suggested. Originality / value of the article: This paper extends the review on the impact of climate change on maize production to include future impacts on net energy use and carbon footprint using a fully integrated assessment framework. Most studies focus only on current farm energy use and historical climate change impact on farm GHG emissions.   

scholarly journals Social Inclusion, Participation and Citizenship in Contexts of Neoliberalism: Examples of Adult Education Policy and Practice with Young People in the UK, The Netherlands and Ireland

2021 ◽  
pp. 57-78
Author(s):  
Nathalie Huegler ◽  
Natasha Kersh
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Economic Perspectives ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThis chapter focuses on contexts where public discourses regarding the education of young adults have been dominated by socio-economic perspectives, with a focus on the role of employment-related learning, skills and chances and with active participation in the labour market as a key concern for policy makers. A focus on ‘employability’ alone has been linked to narrow conceptualisations of participation, inclusion and citizenship, arising in the context of discourse shifts through neoliberalism which emphasise workfare over welfare and responsibilities over rights. A key critique of such contexts is that the focus moves from addressing barriers to participation to framing social inclusion predominantly as related to expectations of ‘activation’ and sometimes, assimilation. Key target groups for discourses of activation include young people not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’), while in- and exclusion of migrant and ethnic minority young people are often framed within the complex and contradictory interplay between discourses of assimilation and experiences of discrimination. These developments influence the field of adult education aimed at young people vulnerable to social exclusion. An alternative discourse to ‘activation’ is the promotion of young people’s skills and capabilities that enables them to engage in forms of citizenship activism, challenging structural barriers that lead to exclusion. Our chapter considers selected examples from EduMAP research in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland which indicate that as well as framing the participation of young people as discourses of ‘activation’, adult education can also enable and facilitate skills related to more activist forms of citizenship participation.

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