BUP Finland at Åbo Akademi

International

Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing

The final report from the: UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (chaired by president Tarja Halonen & president Jacob Zuma) is available via: http://www.un.org/gsp/.

The report is a major contribution to the RIO +20 Conference in June 2012.

Earnings, jobs and innovation: the role of recycling in a green economy
EEA Report No. 8/2011

Recycling has multiple benefits for many areas of the economy – providing raw materials, creating jobs and encouraging business opportunities and innovation. These economic benefits of recycling are examined in a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The report considers the recycling industry in the context of building a 'green economy', a major European policy objective. Recycling industry can boost the European economy

The report shows that recycling has numerous environmental benefits including diverting waste away from landfill, thereby avoiding pollutant emissions. It also helps meet the material demands of economic production, preventing the environmental impacts associated with extracting and refining virgin materials.

Europe's forests at a glance — a breath of fresh air in a changing climate

Forests do not only provide us food, fibre and medicine, they regulate our climate and improve our quality of life. Human activities and climate change exert increasing pressure on our forest resources and the services they provide. With increasing demand on forests services on the one side, and uncertainty and risks linked to climate change on the other, we need to ensure that forests can continue fulfilling their multifunctional role.

Download your own copy of this EEA report.

Climate Change is not the Problem
Annual Report 2010
Global Footprint Network

Nobel Laureates hand over recommendations to UN High Level Panel on global sustainability.

The Stockholm Memorandum concludes that the planet has entered a new geological age, the Anthropocene. It recommends a suite of urgent and far-reaching actions for decision makers and societies to become active stewards of the planet for future generations.

The verdict from the trial of humanity, which opened the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium, has been incorporated into the Stockholm Memorandum: Tipping the Scales towards Sustainability.

Drivers and Barriers to Implementing ESD with Focus on UNESCO's Action and Strategy Goals for the Second Half of the Decade
by D. Gross & S. Nakayama

Results of an international survey on UNESCO's goals have been published, performed by German-Japanese cooperation on ESD (NGO). The gained insights isolate those goals which will be most promising in being realized till the end of the Decade.

There are also critical comments on the German and Japanese governmental approaches for the Second Half.

Global Environmental Research, vol. 14, No. 2, 2010, AIRIES, Japan. Education for Sustainable Development: Promises and Challenges.

Appetite for Change

The global food system is under scrutiny for environmental impacts including habitat degradation, greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater use. Half the world’s farmers go hungry, while around a billion people are clinically obese. Demand for food is growing and yields are falling. Radical and rapid systemic change is required.

Learn more by  watching the video briefing in the SustainAbility Library.

Mapping hotspots of climate change and food insecurity in the global tropics.
by Ericksen P, Thornton P, Notenbaert A, Cramer L, Jones P, Herrero M. 2011. CCAFS Report no. 5. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Copenhagen, Denmark.

This study was coordinated by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) to identify areas that are food insecure and vulnerable to the impacts of future climate change, across the priority regions for the CGIAR centres. The research was undertaken by a team of scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The study relied on maps: first, of variables that indicate the different aspects of food security (availability, access and utilization), and second, of thresholds of climate change exposure important for agricultural systems. Vulnerability was assessed using a domain approach based upon the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework of vulnerability as a function of exposure, sensitivity and coping capacity. Nine domains were identified; for each domain areas of the tropics were classified by high or low exposure, high or low sensitivity, and high or low coping capacity.

Towards a Green Economy. Pathways to sustainable and poverty eradication.

UNEP's Green Economy Report, entitled Towards a Green Economy, aims to debunk several myths and misconceptions about the economics of "greening" the global economy, and provides timely and practical guidance to policy makers on what reforms they need to unlock the productive and employment potential of a green economy.

First Census of Marine Life 2010: Highlights of a Decade of Discovery

This is a 64-page report that describes some of the scientific highlights of ten years of exploration, research and analysis undertaken by Census of Marine Life scientists. Included is a description of the Census research projects and organizational structure.

See also the Census of Marine Life web site for more information.

The Living Planet Report 2010 is the World's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. The report is published by WWF.

Its key finding?

Humanity's demands exceed our planet's capacity to sustain us. That is, we ask for more than what we have.

See also the report's web site.

The Future of Food and Farming

The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures Final report and executive summary provide an overview of the evidence and discuss the challenges and choices for policy makers and others whose interests relate to all aspects of the global food system.

The report’s main findings are:

• Threat of hunger could increase.
• The global food system is living outside its means, consuming resources faster than are naturally replenished.
• There is no quick fix.

State of the World 2011
Innovations that Nourish the Planet
by Worldwatch Institute

Published annually in 28 languages, State of the World is long established as the most authoritative and accessible annual guide to our progress towards a sustainable future. It is relied upon by national governments, UN agencies, development workers and law-makers for its up-to-the-minute analysis and information.

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Council conclusions on education for sustainable development
3046th EDUCATION, YOUTH, CULTURE and SPORT Council meeting
Brussels, 18 and 19 November 2010

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

"THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, HAVING REGARD TO

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy, first adopted in Gothenburg in 20011 and subsequently reviewed in 2006 and 2009, which provides a framework for a long-term vision of sustainability in which economic growth, social cohesion and environmental protection go hand in hand, and which highlights the key role of education as a prerequisite for promoting the behavioural changes and providing all citizens with the key competences needed to achieve sustainable development.

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which seeks to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, and the 2009 UNESCO world conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Bonn, which - in its concluding Declaration - agreed that investment in such education is an investment in the future and indeed, in some cases, a life-saving measure.

The European Environment
State and Outlook 2010

The SOER 2010 Synthesis provides an overview of the European environment's state, trends and prospects, integrating the main findings of SOER 2010.

Europeans depend heavily on the stocks of natural capital and flows of ecosystem services that lie within and beyond Europe's borders. Two fundamental questions arise from this dependency. Are the stocks and flows today being used sustainably to supply essential benefits, such as food, water, energy, materials, as well as climate and flood regulation? Are today's environmental resources, i.e. air, water, soil, forests, biodiversity, secure enough to be able to sustain people and economies in good health in the future?

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

The EUSBSR was adopted by the Commission in June 2009 and endorsed by the European Council in October 2009. The overall roles and responsibilities of the multiple actors involved in the Strategy are described in the joint declaration signed by ministers from the eight EU Member States of the Baltic Sea Region in Stockholm in September 2009, and in the General Affairs Council Conclusions adopted on 27 October 2009.

The Declaration and Conclusions confirm the strong commitment by the Member States to the implementation of the Strategy. The Commission is invited to coordinate, to facilitate, to disseminate and to report on the actions undertaken by the Member States and the associated stakeholders, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle. The Strategy documents and more information about its preparation and the implementation process can be found on the EUSBSR website.

Biodiversity and Forest Ecosystems in Europe

Fifth in the series of '10 messages for 2010', the EEA's assessment on forest ecosystems finds that while their overall area remains stable, woodlands face a variety of threats. Besides unsustainable management practices, air borne pollution and climate change, forests are also threatened by fragmentation due to rapidly spreading urban areas and transport networks. Both the healthy functioning of forest ecosystems and the biodiversity they foster are at risk.

Forests protect soil from erosion, regulate water flows and capture carbon from the atmosphere. Around and within urban areas, they are essential for providing fresh air, reducing dust and noise. They also serve as microclimate buffers against urban heat.

The wellbeing of numerous plants and animals, including many species protected by European Union legislation, is directly linked to forest ecosystems. Moreover, forest patches also play a critical role in facilitating species' movements through their connectivity with other ecosystems.

The Joint Operating Environment 2010
by the US Joint Forces Command

This report is intended to inform joint concept development and experimentation throughout the Department of Defense. It provides a perspective on future trends, shocks, contexts, and implications for future joint force commanders and other leaders and professionals in the national security field. This document is speculative in nature and does not suppose to predict what will happen in the next twenty-five years.

EcoRegion Perspectives on Sustainable Tourism

The EcoRegion Perspectives' series is published as part of the EcoRegion project, funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.  It documents practices and concepts on how to support sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region. Each edition focuses on a specific sustainability topic, beginning with sustainable tourism in this first issue.

Signals 2010 - Biodiversity, Climate Change and You

The European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes Signals each year, providing snapshot stories on issues of interest to the environmental policy debate and the wider public in the coming year.

This year, Signals takes us on a journey, following the course of water from the glaciers of the Alps to the permafrost of the Arctic and the delta of the Ganges. Along the way, we discover how climate change is affecting the ancient water cycle in the mountains with repercussions for millions of people. We hear a mountain guide describe how the very make-up of the rock is changing as temperatures increase and the frozen core crumbles.

Europe's Demographic Future

Low fertility rates, ageing populations, and a growing number of migrants from other countries and world regions - these are the factors that are set to change the face of Europe in the course of the coming decades. The stage was set for this development decades ago, but the zenith of ageing in European societies will be reached only in 30 - 40 years. It is very unlikely that Europe's population will grow much further, and shrinkage, the inevitable consequence, could soon set in.

10 messages for 2010
Marine Ecosystems: LIfe in Seas Under Threat

Marine biodiversity: life in seas under threat Climate change, pollution, acidification, over-exploitation of fish stocks, invasive alien species all threaten life in our seas and consequently the services we obtain from them. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new short assessment of marine biodiversity takes a closer look at the ‘less known half’ of EU territory.

Distribution and Targeting of the CAP Budget from a Biodiversity Perspective
EEA Technical Report No 12/2009

The EU has highlighted the importance of using the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) to prevent the abandonment of high nature value farmland and its intensification as a key action to halt biodiversity decline. The present report sets out to assess whether the current distribution of CAP funds is likely to favour the maintenance of farmland with high nature value (HNV). And it explores the extent to which CAP funds are likely to support the long-term economic and ecological sustainability of these HNV farming systems.

Air Pollution by Ozone Across Europe During Summer 2009
EEA Technical Report No 2/2010

Ozone levels during summer 2009 were as low as during summer 2008 and according to several indicators were among the lowest since reporting of Europe-wide data commenced in 1997. In contrast to previous summers, in 2009 there were no pan-European multi-day episodes. Summer 2009 was characterised by ozone episodes of two to five days followed by spells with few exceedances. A typical episode usually contained approximately 7?13 % of the total number of exceedances of the information threshold experienced during the summer.

Growth Isn't Possible

Four years on from nef's Growth isn’t Working, this new report goes one step further and tests that thesis in detail in the context of climate change and energy. It argues that indefinite global economic growth is unsustainable. Just as the laws of thermodynamics constrain the maximum efficiency of a heat engine, economic growth is constrained by the finite nature of our planet’s natural resources (biocapacity).

For more information please see the NEF web site.

Sustainable Innovation and Technology Transfer Industrial Sector Studies
RECYCLING - FROM E-WASTE TO RESOURCES

The appropriate handling of e-waste can both prevent serious environmental damage and also recover valuable materials, especially for metals. The recycling chain for e-waste is classified into three main subsequent steps: (i) collection, (ii) sorting/dismantling and preprocessing (including sorting, dismantling and mechanical treatment) and (iii) endprocessing.

All three steps should operate and interact in a holistic manner to achieve the overall recycling objectives. The main objectives of e-waste recycling and basic considerations for innovation are:
· Treat the hazardous fractions in an environmentally sound manner,
· Recover valuable material maximally,
· Create eco-efficient and sustainable business,
· Consider social impact and local context.

Vision 2050

Under the Vision 2050 Project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), 29 WBCSD member companies developed a vision of a world well on the way to sustainability by 2050, and a pathway leading to that world – a pathway that will require fundamental changes in governance structures, economic frameworks, business and human behavior. It emerged that these changes are necessary, feasible and offer tremendous business opportunities for companies that turn sustainability into strategy.

Transport at a crossroads. TERM 2008: indicators tracking transport and environment in the European Union
EEA Report No 3/2009

The TERM 2008 report examines performance of the transport sector vis-a-vis environmental performance and concludes that there are plenty of options for synergies between different policy initiatives but also a risk of measures counteracting each other.

Progress Towards the European 2010 Biodiversity Target
EEA Report no.4/2009

As the first indicator-based assessment of progress towards the European target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010, this report serves two purposes. First, it takes stock of the state of biodiversity and its loss in Europe based on the most recent data available. Second, it functions as a bridge to a comprehensive assessment of the 2010 target to be done in 2010. As such, the indicators in this report do not only show what is currently known. They also show where information is missing and what more needs to be measured and examined to enable a comprehensive assessment in 2010.

Pharmaceuticals in the Environment — Result of an EEA workshop

A decade ago, the EEA and others first drew attention to the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals. Since then awareness has increased and research projects funded by the EU and others have expanded understanding of the use, exposure, fate, accumulation and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. To help assess and disseminate the research findings to date, the EEA organised an expert workshop in January 2009. The workshop's conclusions, set out in the present report, highlight the need for action to improve further our understanding and management of risks.

Review of Contexts and Structures for Education for Sustainable Development
Learning for a sustainable world
UNESCO 2009

UNESCO has just published this review by Arjen Wals about related contexts and structures for the development, promotion and evaluation of ESD initiatives, projects and frameworks worldwide.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Trends and Projections in Europe 2009

This report presents an assessment of the current and projected progress of EU Member States, EU candidate countries and other EEA member countries towards their respective targets under the Kyoto Protocol and of progress towards the EU target for 2020. This is based on their past greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2007, and the projected greenhouse gas emissions of these countries during the Kyoto commitment period 2008-2012 and for 2020, derived from data and related information they provided before 1 June 2009.

For further information please see the European Environment Agency web site.

World Energy Outlook 2009

The 2009 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO), was released on 10 November and it provides updated projections that take into account the implications of the global credit crisis, the economic slowdown and the recent slump in the prices of oil and other forms of energy. It also presents in-depth analysis of three special topics:

• Financing energy investment under a post-2012 climate framework
• Prospects for global natural gas markets
• Energy trends in Southeast Asia

For further information see the International Energy Agency.

United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
World Economic and Social Survey 2009
Promoting Development, Saving the Planet

The central message of the World Economic and Social Survey 2009 is that addressing the climate challenge cannot be met through ad hoc and incremental actions. In the first place, it requires much stronger efforts by advanced countries to cut their emissions. The fact that in this regard more than a decade has been lost since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change1 only adds urgency to those efforts. However, even if advanced countries begin to match their words with deeds, their efforts are, by themselves, unlikely to be sufficient to meet the climate challenge. The active participation of developing countries is now required and such participation can occur only if it allows economic growth and development to proceed in a rapid and sustainable manner.

Please see to the UN News Centre web site for more information.

International Energy Outlook 2009

This report presents an assessment by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the outlook for international energy markets through 2030. U.S. projections appearing in IEO2009 are consistent with those published in EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2009 (AEO2009), (March 2009). A revised, updated AEO2009 reference case projection was released on April 17, 2009. It reflects the impact of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA2009), enacted in mid-February 2009, on U.S. energy markets. The revised AEO2009 reference case includes updates for the U.S. macroeconomic outlook, which has been changing at an unusually rapid rate in recent months. Throughout IEO2009, significant changes to the U.S. outlook relative to the published AEO2009 reference case are noted for the reader’s reference.

European Community Emission Inventory Report 1990-2007 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)

The European Community's air pollutant emission inventory report released by the European Environment Agency finds that in 2007, sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions were down by 72 % from 1990 levels. The downward emission trend of three main pollutants which cause ground-level ozone continued in 2007: carbon monoxide (CO) fell by 57 %, non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) were down by 47 % and nitrogen oxides (NOx) have dropped 36 %. EU-27 emissions of all four pollutants were lower in 2007 than in 2006.

Emissions of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), a seriously health-damaging pollutant, have decreased by 2 % compared to the previous year and by about 12 % since the year 2000. However, reporting of PM emissions from Member States is less complete than for the other main pollutants.

In 2007 the top polluting sources in the EU-27 were fuel combustion in households, passenger cars, heavy duty vehicles, and in power plants.

Annual European Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2007 and Inventory Report 2009.

This report is the annual submission of the greenhouse gas inventory of the European Community to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. It presents greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2006 for EU-27, EU-15, individual Member States and economic sector.

Territorial cohesion
Analysis of environmental aspects of the EU Cohesion Policy in selected countries

Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are the European Union's main financial instruments to reduce the gap between poor and rich regions. In its new report, the European Environment Agency evaluates the effectiveness of these funds in achieving environmental goals by focusing on investments in wastewater treatment, biodiversity, and energy efficiency and renewable energy in three pilot countries: Austria, Italy and Spain.

Towards a Transatlantic Green New Deal

A new report written by the Worldwatch Institute for the Heinrich Böll Foundation examines ways in which the current economic downturn is an opportunity to fight climate change while creating quality jobs. Following the report's German launch in Berlin last month, the English version of "Towards a Transatlantic Green New Deal: Tackling the Climate and Economic Crises" was discussed at an event in Washington, D.C.

Diverting Waste from Landfill:
Effectiveness of Waste-Management Policies in the European Union
EEA Report No 7/2009

With landfill at the bottom of the European waste hierarchy, policies to divert waste from landfill play a very important role within European and national waste policies. This report analyses the effectiveness of implemented policies on the diversion of total municipal waste and biodegradable municipal waste from landfill in the context of the 1999 EU Landfill Directive and other relevant directives. The study is based on an in-depth evaluation of policies in five countries and one region of the EU, combined with an analysis of drivers of the generation, landfilling and incineration of municipal waste for 25 EU Member States.

Keke-Foorumi pidettiin 21.04.2009 Tampereessa lisää materiaalia tulossa.

Resource Use in European Countries
by Stephan Moll, Stefan Bringezu and Helmut Schütz
Wuppertal Institute

An estimate of materials and waste streams in the Community, including imports and exports using the instrument of material flow analysis.

The Gothenburg Recommendations for Education for Sustainable Development 

The recommendations were developed at a workshop organised by Chalmers and Gothenburg University, with support from the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO, the Swedish Ministry for Education and Research and SWEDESD, Some fifty experts on ESD and policy-makers from around the world participated. The recommendations is one of Sweden's inputs to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Bonn 31 March-2 April 2009. Read more about the Gothenburg initiative in the publication.

Peak energy: promise or peril?

Will we continue to use fossil fuels to the detriment of our planet and the human population? Or can we clean up our act in time to avoid calamitous change? That's the dilemma the world currently faces, yet in spite of efforts to transition to alterative energy sources, projections show that annual fossil fuel demand is likely to increase 45 per cent by 2030.

Read more: Nature Reports Climate Change

The True Cost of Coal
How people and the planet are paying the price for the world's dirtiest fuel.

Traditionally considered the cheapest fuel around, the market price for coal ignores its most significant impacts. These so-called "external costs" manifests themselves as damages such as respiratory diseases, mining accidents, acid rain, smog pollution, reduced agricultural yields and climate change. The harm caused by mining and burning coal is not reflected in its price per tonne or its costs for a kWh of electricity, but the world at large is nevertheless paying for it. This report by Greenpeace seeks to answer the question: Just how much are we paying?

The Living Planet Report

This report is WWF's periodic update on the state of the world's ecosystems. It describes the changing state of global biodiversity and the pressure on the biosphere arising from human consumption of natural resources. It is built around two indicators:

• the Living Planet Index, which reflects the health of the planet’s ecosystems; and
• the Ecological Footprint, which shows the extent of human demand on these ecosystems.

These measures are tracked over several decades to reveal past trends, then three scenarios explore what might lie ahead.