The complexity of climate change mechanisms] Greenhouse gas emissions are of major importance today and the climate issue is expected to remain a question of utmost significance during coming decades and centuries. Climate models indicate how emissions interfere with climate processes and which temperature rise different emission scenarios may lead to. Through a literature survey, it has been our intention to single out some of the findings on climate change mechanisms , such as the interaction between emissions of greenhouse gases and global radiative forcing, on how the carbon and nitrogen cycles interfere with concentrations in the atmosphere and in what ways cost-effective abatement measures of greenhouse gases could be made. The focus in this respect has been on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. The present basis for action is comprehensive and robust to its order of magnitude, even if there are large uncertainties involved in the overall understanding of the processes. In the strategies elaborated by different actors these large uncertainties in sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, the interconnections with the climate and available climate models, have to be considered in research projects and future action plans.

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Two significant trends are shaping the environmental agenda: Green procurement – more and more businesses, governments and even consumers are seeking ecoproducts; and, new product related guidelines, directives and regulations have already been developed. How should business respond? There are tools and approaches available. This book, “ECODESIGN – the competitive advantage”, was written specifically to provide guidance and will help managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as others interested in the management of business, in a range of ways, including: how to best deal with the European Union’s new Ecodesign directives; how to understand the concepts behind (and the process of calculating) the carbon footprint of products; how to prepare for future challenges related to, for example, climate change, resource depletion and shortages, increasing restrictions on the use of toxic substances, and energy management; and how to best position products which have been environmentally improved in a competitive marketplace. In order to deal with the myriad of challenges, the authors have included simple, but detailed checklists that can be used to evaluate a company’s operations and serve as a guide to finding solutions. These have been structured around the corporate, management, product and production levels typically found in any enterprise. Environmental expenditures should not be viewed as costs, but rather investments – with the expectation that prudent investment will yield competitive advantage.

More information about the book
Link to Read-online version

The need to put into perspective the ever-mounting body of new information, beyond the frames of disciplines, on environmental security of food and water issues in Asia provided the impetus for the development of this book. It combines presentations from symposia on food and water sustainability held recently in Macau, China.

This book represents the latest research findings in all the major aspects of food and water security issues in Asia. The first chapter portrays the strategies for water resources management in Asian countries. In this connection, the environmental challenges for sustainable development were discussed. Model application on spatial allocation of water resources viewed the tradeoff between economic goal and ecological goal. The hydrological changes related to the socio-economic development in china were also included in this chapter. The second chapter deals with sustainable water uses in domestic purposes for both urban and rural areas. The potential use of reclaimed wastewater was described in the context of different cities as reference for the urban water management in whole Asia. The traditional drinking water uses in rural communities and associated challenges towards sustainability were also discussed in this regard. The third chapter focuses on the security issues in aquatic products. The long-term strategy for the fisheries development in China was represented as lessons for other communities in Asia. The environmental impacts of aquaculture and the control measures were also included in this discussion. Chapter four of this book represents the sustainability aspect in food grains. The delicate balance between water resources and food grain production was addressed. Sustainable strategies for water use and food production were described in the context of several Asian countries. The impact of biofuel production on food security issues was raised in this discussion. Some other socio-economic factors related to this issue were also included in this chapter. The overarching importances of the food and water sustainability issues in climate changes have been shown in chapter five. Impacts of global warming on water resources and food production in Asian countries were described with examples and simulation. Mitigation measures were also sited with regional references in Korea, Thailand and other parts of Asia. Strategies aiming the security issues in food and water were addressed in chapter six. Scenarios of environmental managements in Asian countries related to allocation of water resources, water quality, remediation of hazardous wastes, and soil clean up were the major topics in this context. The organizational strategies were also assessed in this discussion.

More information at Springer website:
Information about the book
Read-online version at http://springerlink.com

Vision 2030: roadmap for a sustainable earth

From the book’s introduction:
“Can we humans continue to live and work as we have until now within the resource limits of the earth? And can we sustain the earth’s bountiful resources, including a clean and healthy environment, for generations to come? The goal of this book is to propose a concrete vision of a road to a sustainable future for humanity and the earth. This book shows how – by virtue of science and technology – we can create an infrastructure for conserving energy and recycling materials by the year 2050. Realizing this infrastructure will require that we establish a good relationship between society and technology. This relationship must be based on clear and honest communication between researchers in technology and stakeholders in society.”

“The book provides an easily accessible and lucid message unclouded by the hype that characterizes so much of the current debate on sustainability.”

Download the book chapters at Springer>>
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-4-431-09430-2

The performance of future or long-term energy investments at industrial sites can be evaluated using consistent scenarios. By using a number of different scenarios that outline possible cornerstones of the future energy market, robust investments can be identified and the climate benefit can be evaluated. Consistent scenarios can be achieved by using the Energy Price and Carbon Balance Scenarios tool (the ENPAC tool) which is presented in this report. The tool is also used to develop eight scenarios from 2010 to 2050 with energy prices and associated CO₂ emissions for marginal use of the energy carriers.

Download report in pdf:
Scenarios for assessing investments in industry

Terry Mc Gee from The Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia

Download reports:

Report of the AGS Annual Meeting 2009:
Urban Futures: the Challenge of Sustainability

Report of the 1^st International Workshop on Sustainable City Region, Bali, February 2009:
International Workshop on Sustainable City Regions 2009

Report of the AGS at ETH Urban Futures seminar, November 2008:
Understanding the Dimensions of Urban Futures Research – tackling complex reality

Link to ClimateSciNet: www.climatescinet.com

“Management of Health Risk from Environment and Food”, edited by Hajime Sato, describes a five-country comparison of the policy and politics of health risk management with a focus on asbestos and BSE.
More info: AGS book series volume 16

“Highway and Urban Environment – Proceedings of the 9th Highway and Urban Environment Symposium”. Editor Sébastien Rauch, Greg Morrison and André Monzón.
More info: AGS book series volume 17

AGS faculty are invited to publish resarch in the AGS book series, more information is available in the book series section

Discount offer is available on all Springer books for faculty at AGS Universities. Please contact Alexandra Priatna to get the discount token.

The AGS book series ‘Science and Technology: tools for sustainable development’ published by Springer, provides timely accounts based on AGS research into emerging barriers to sustainable development, and methodologies  and tools to help governments, industry and civil society overcome them. The level of presentation is for graduate students in natural, social and engineering sciences as well as policy and decision makers in government, industry and civil society.