Carbon Materials Advancing Microorganisms in Driving Soil Organic Carbon Regulation

Carbon emission from soil is not only one of the major sources of greenhouse gases but also threatens biological diversity, agricultural productivity, and food security. Regulation and control of the soil carbon pool are political practices in many countries around the globe. Carbon pool management in engineering sense is much bigger and beyond laws and monitoring, as it has to contain proactive elements to restore active carbon. Biogeochemistry teaches us that soil microorganisms are crucial to manage the carbon content effectively. Adding carbon materials to soil is thereby not directly sequestration, as interaction of appropriately designed materials with the soil microbiome can result in both: metabolization and thereby nonsustainable use of the added carbon, or—more favorably—a biological amplification of human efforts and sequestration of extra CO2 by microbial growth. We review here potential approaches to govern soil carbon, with a special focus set on the emerging practice of adding manufactured carbon materials to control soil carbon and its biological dynamics. Notably, research on so-called “biochar” is already relatively mature, while the role of artificial humic substance (A-HS) in microbial carbon sequestration is still in the developing stage. However, it is shown that the preparation and application of A-HS are large biological levers, as they directly interact with the environment and community building of the biological soil system. We believe that A-HS can play a central role in stabilizing carbon pools in soil.

Key Trends in Esg-Agenda Development: Reviewing the Situation in Russia and the World

The article studies successive implementation of the concept of sustainable development on the international and Russian market starting with the official formulating the concept in the report ‘Our Common Future’, which was presented by the UN in 1987 and till the latest trends of national economy of the Russian Federation. The author provides the gist of key aspects and notions of ESG-approach to management, analyzes their rise and assesses the degree of their academic elaboration and practical use in Russia. On the basis of the current trend analysis a conclusion was drawn about the importance of introducing the concept of management from ESG-standpoint on all levels of economy. Scientific generalization of practical experience allowed the author to come to the conclusion that international trends of sustainable development will determine the general line in ESG-approach to management of social and economic development in Russia on all levels – from federal to corporate one. The article identifies key regulator trends in carbon regulation, the development of tools of green and responsible financing, commitments on ESG-information revealing and risk management. The latest initiatives of big state, public and finance companies in issuance of green bonds were described, as well as acute trends in the state regulator work in ESG- sphere.

ACHIEVING CARBON NEUTRALITY THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF TAXATION TOOLS

The ESG-agenda is becoming more significant, the authorities and large corporations are paying more attention to the greening of business. The issue of decarbonization of the economy has become acute at the international level after the entry into force of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016. The purpose of the work: to study the proposed initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality and to study the impact of carbon regulation mechanisms on the development of industry in Russia, in accordance with it, the following tasks are formed: to describe the mechanism of cross-border carbon regulation (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM), to give an economic assessment of the impact of industrial sectors in Russia, as well as to consider domestic initiatives to create carbon regulation.

Systematization and Classification of the European Union’s policy Instruments for the Implementation of the Green Dealсис

In 2019, the new European Commission (EC) presented its vision for climate and environmental transformation in Europe and beyond in its communication on the Green Deal. The Green Deal covers all sectors of the economy, elaborates a new concept for economic growth with climate goals at its centre, and implies a review of current EU climate and climate-related policies. An analysis of the instruments for the Green Deal’s implementation and internationalization and their classification and systematization shows a wider picture of the whole complex of available and suggested new policy tools. It also clarifies the role of each of the initiatives and assesses more precisely their importance and potential for influencing the global climate agenda and relations with the Russian Federation. The analysis further reveals the balance of costs and benefits for the sectors and actors involved. The purpose of this study is to systematize the complex of the Green Deal’s implementation instruments and assess the balance of various measures in the EU’s menu of policy options. The EU’s influence on the global agenda and the interests of other countries, including Russia, is not limited to the introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which was widely covered and analyzed as a never before applied trade and climate policy tool with potential to influence global competition. Upcoming new rules to enter the European market, including through sustainable product requirements, could affect the interests of other countries even more. This influence will also be amplified by the regulatory frameworks and rules on emerging markets, such as for climate-neutral technologies and energy sources. Analysis of the initiatives suggests that the measures may be quite burdensome, especially for citizens, while the system of redistribution and compensation is not yet sufficiently developed in terms of financing and administration. Some initiatives significantly increase the transaction and administrative costs for all market participants (exporters, importers, European companies, and consumers) with fairly limited emissions reductions on a global scale. Despite these drawbacks, the Green Deal remains the most comprehensive, elaborate, detailed and ambitious initiative aimed at reaching the net-zero target. Other actors have their own reasoning for tougher climate policy, but the influence and pressure of the Deal increases the ambition of their goals and encourages them to consider the implementation of various policy options, including strict carbon regulation. Therefore, the new EU policy could become a model to identify the best solutions and practices, as well as a catalyst for global climate transition.

Inflection Point of Green Total Factor Productivity by Low-Carbon Regulation from Chinese Economics Recovery

The sustainable growth path of emerging economies has transformed from the traditional extensive model to high-quality development. Due to the impulse force of low-carbon regulation, the measurement of input–output efficiency changed into green total factor productivity (GTFP) which considers environmental factors. Past research on GTFP focused on enterprise investments to promote green innovation for their resource allocation efficiency, but green investments are often limited from marketization that is interactively influenced by low-carbon regulation. Therefore, handing green investment to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions for green economics recovery is a big challenge. Then these hypotheses are tested by the main study of 170 cities in China. Results suggested that GTFP has an inverted S-shaped curve with three inflection points and four development stages under the influence of low-carbon regulation. It means that improving green productivity is costly toward making green investments without the driving of green innovation. However, the inflection point of the growth curve—when enterprise investment activities ignore the interaction between low-carbon regulation and green investment policy—will come slowly to a period of high-quality development. Moderating results suggested that the green productivity would be weakened and the inflection point would be delayed by the low-carbon marketization index if the low-carbon regulation intensity was neglected. Therefore, this research advanced an effectively co-ordinate growth curve to search for the inflection point of green economics recovery.

Carbon-Trade Price Influence on CarbonRegulation of Tobacco Supply Chain

Carbon emissions exist in all links of tobacco SC, among whichtobacco, acetic acid tow and cigarette production are important links of cigarette carbon emission. Under the background of green economic development, it is very significant to study the coordinated development of economy and environment from the angle of tobacco SC. Carbon-trade is aneffectivechannel to realize reducing carbon emissions by using market mechanism. Take into consideration grandfathering and the goal of carbon regulation, game models of SCwith carbon trading are established. We analyze the influence of three factors including carbon-trade price, decision-making mode, technology emission reduction investment on the degree of carbon regulation and SC profits, the conclusions are verified by numerical illustration. The research shows that: without investment of technology, the three different decision-making modescarbon regulation degreeare the same. In the investment of technology emission reduction, the degree of carbon regulation is the strictest under the centralized decision-making mode while the most relaxed under the retailer led decision-making mode. Different carbon-trade prices have different effects on the investment decisions of three different decision-making modes; technology investment in decentralized decision-making is always conducive to retailer and the total profits.

Drivers of Atmosphere-Ocean CO2 Flux in Northern Norwegian Fjords

High-latitude fjords and continental shelves are shown to be sinks for atmospheric CO2, yet large spatial-temporal variability and poor regional coverage of sea-air CO2 flux data, especially from fjord systems, makes it difficult to scale our knowledge on how they contribute to atmospheric carbon regulation. The magnitude and seasonal variability of atmosphere-sea CO2 flux was investigated in high-latitude northern Norwegian coastal areas over 2018 and 2019, including four fjords and one coastal bay. The aim was to assess the physical and biogeochemical factors controlling CO2 flux and partial pressure of CO2 in surface water via correlation to physical oceanographic and biological measurements. The results show that the study region acts as an overall atmospheric CO2 sink throughout the year, largely due to the strong undersaturation of CO2 relative to atmospheric concentrations. Wind speed exerted the strongest influence on the instantaneous rate of sea-air CO2 exchange, while exhibiting high variability. We concluded that the northernmost fjords (Altafjord and Porsangerfjord) showed stronger potential for instantaneous CO2 uptake due to higher wind speeds. We also found that fixation of CO2 was likely a significant factor controlling ΔpCO2 from April to June, which followed phenology of spring phytoplankton blooms at each location. Decreased ΔpCO2 and the resulting sea-air CO2 flux was observed in autumn due to a combined reduction of the mixed layer with entrain of high CO2 subsurface water, damped biological activity and higher surface water temperatures. This study provides the first measurements of atmospheric CO2 flux in these fjord systems and therefore an important new baseline for gaining a better understanding on how the northern Norwegian coast and characteristic fjord systems participate in atmosphere carbon regulation.

Traces of sunlight in the organic matter biogeochemistry of two shallow subarctic lakes

Global environmental change alters the production, terrestrial export, and photodegradation of organic carbon in northern lakes. Sedimentary biogeochemical records can provide a unique means to understand the nature of these changes over long time scales, where observational data fall short. We deployed in situ experiments on two shallow subarctic lakes with contrasting light regimes; a clear tundra lake and a dark woodland lake, to first investigate the photochemical transformation of carbon and nitrogen elemental (C/N ratio) and isotope (δ13C, δ15N) composition in lake water particulate organic matter (POM) for downcore inferences. We then explored elemental, isotopic, and spectral (inferred lake water total organic carbon [TOC] and sediment chlorophyll a [CHLa]) fingerprints in the lake sediments to trace changes in aquatic production, terrestrial inputs and photodegradation before and after profound human impacts on the global carbon cycle prompted by industrialization. POM pool in both lakes displayed tentative evidence of UV photoreactivity, reflected as increasing δ13C and decreasing C/N values. Through time, the tundra lake sediments traced subtle shifts in primary production, while the woodland lake carried signals of changing terrestrial contributions, indicating shifts in terrestrial carbon export but possibly also photodegradation rates. Under global human impact, both lakes irrespective of their distinct carbon regimes displayed evidence of increased productivity but no conspicuous signs of increased terrestrial influence. Overall, sediment biogeochemistry can integrate a wealth of information on carbon regulation in northern lakes, while our results also point to the importance of considering the entire spectrum of photobiogeochemical fingerprints in sedimentary studies.

Evaluating the greenhouse gas emissions of the Ontario craft beer industry: an assessment of challenges and benefits of greenhouse gas accounting

Ontario, Canada’s cap and trade program, a provincial tool for carbon regulation, came into effect January 1, 2017. While larger companies are targeted from this policy, both large and small companies have a responsibility to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Craft brewing in Ontario is growing, however industry GHGs have not been comprehensively studied. The purpose of this research is to measure the GHGs of an Ontario craft brewery, investigate the challenges and benefits to calculating GHGs, and evaluate Ontario craft brewers’ perceptions of carbon pricing policy. This research found that indirect sources account for the majority of GHGs, particularly from barley agriculture, malted barley transportation, and bottle production. Direct emissions account for the least GHGs. This research found that the main challenges in calculating Ontario brewery GHGs are secondary data availability, technical knowledge, and finances. The main benefits for breweries include sustainability marketing, and preserving the environment.