A multi-level perspective on climate risks and drivers of entrepreneurial robustness – Findings from sectoral comparison in alpine Austria

Recent works on organizational adaptation to climate change have repeatedly stressed that – despite concerns about large-scale impacts of climate change on supply chain networks – studies on climate change adaptation in manufacturing industries are still surprisingly scarce. The following study develops a systemic analytical framework based on which climate risks for manufacturing industries are reviewed and drivers (defined as supportive factors) of entrepreneurial robustness are examined. The analysis builds upon a case study in the alpine Austrian state of Tyrol where an intense regional rise of average temperatures occurs, going along with increased risks of natural mountain hazards and exposed settlement structures. In this climate-sensitive setting the authors conducted a survey on risk perceptions among 102 managers from manufacturing firms. Based on a comparison of the sectors metal and engineering, timber products, and construction, the authors argue that drivers of entrepreneurial robustness can be subsumed under five major strategic principles: (a) the deployment of slack resources, (b) vertical supply chain integration, (c) manufacturing flexibility, (d) material efficiency, and (e) technological risk prevention. Departing from the empirical results, the authors argue that across these principles the development of drivers depends on an interplay of structural prerequisites and human decisions on the levels of the focal firm, the supply chain network, and the political, economic, and geographic environment. In this sense, the authors conceptualize different forms of contingencies – thus effects influencing the development of drivers – within an ontology which may support further system-oriented analysis of climate change adaptation in industry.     

100 global bright spots of green growth: Co-occurrence of nighttime light gain and forest gain, 1990–2015

Economic growth commonly occurs at the expense of environmental quality, but there are exceptions. Here we use satellite data to identify places where exceptional economic growth and exceptional environmental improvement co-occurred between 1990 and 2015. We term as “bright spots of green growth” those spatial clusters with the most cells above the 95th percentile within their world region in both economic growth (as proxied by increase in nighttime lights) and one aspect of environmental improvement (forest area). Because the locations of bright spots are sensitive to methodological choices, we applied two different approaches to identifying bright spots. The two approaches differed in their choice of nighttime lights data (DSMP-OLS in Approach A vs. DSMP-VIIRS composite in Approach B); choice of forest area data (forest cover vs. forest land-use); time period (2000–2010 vs. 1990–2015); and clustering technique (visual inspection vs. HDBSCAN algorithm). We identified the top five bright spots in each of ten world regions using each of two approaches, for a total of 100 global bright spots of green growth. We then tested the extent to which the attributes of bright spots were consistent with four non-mutually exclusive theories of green growth. Of the bright spots we identified, around two-thirds (65% using Approach A; 71% using Approach B) had significantly higher-than-regional-average growth in the share of labor employed in services, consistent with sectoral shift and “tertiarization.” Fewer than half (38%; 46%) had significantly higher growth in income, consistent with the “Environmental Kuznets Curve” theory. Some (54%; 29%) had significantly higher growth in timber plantation area, consistent with “eco-industry”-driven rural development. Few (0%; 10%) had significantly higher growth in protected area coverage, consistent with public policy-induced forest conservation. Our findings suggest sectoral shift toward services, rather than rising income per se, may be a promising pathway for other regions seeking to combine economic growth and environmental improvement.     

Editorial: Reflections from Ireland

Responses of governance systems to change in coastal and marine ecosystems vary from country to country around the globe. Lessons can be learned from country specific case studies, as national governments strive to adapt and respond to issues of concern. This short paper highlights the benefits of a country-specific, special edition of Marine Policy, with a focus on Ireland. Despite the uniqueness of socio-ecological setting, many of the issues faced by policy makers in Ireland, such as the reconciliation of economic development and conservation needs, are shared elsewhere. This special edition was produced at the end of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ in Ireland. As a result, it reflects an era when economic development was very much a priority. The same period represented an unparalleled investment in marine science since the foundation of the State in 1922. Despite this, the papers in the Special Edition point to varying degrees of progress in policy integration and implementation. Papers covering a range of sectors (fisheries, ocean energy, conservation and fisheries) and disciplines (economics, science and management) will be of interest to academics, policy makers, students and practitioners of marine policy.     

EU–Mauritania fisheries partnership in need of more transparency

The new protocol signed in July 2012 by the European Union and Mauritania under the existing Fisheries Partnership Agreement did not produce the expected results. The main component of this protocol consisted of the access rights for 300,000 t/yr of small pelagics. During the first five months after the signature of the protocol, no EU pelagic trawlers used the opportunities created by the protocol. Only after the formal approval of the protocol by the European Council in December 2013, some eastern EU member states started sending their pelagic trawlers back to Mauritania. This resulted in a utilisation of the protocol of 54% for the whole of 2013. Although the EU repeatedly stated that the €70 million/yr paid under the protocol provided good value for money, this assertion was hard to maintain considering the limited utilisation of the agreement. The paper analyses why the EU concluded an agreement with Mauritania that was not wanted by their industry and that was therefore only partially used in the end. It describes the decision making process inside the EU; the different parties involved and their different objectives. It is concluded that the EU decision making process suffers from a lack of transparency and that the combination of a business agreement with development aid resulted in an agreement which did not attain either of the stated objectives. It is proposed that in future the two aspects are clearly separated, and that the development component is extended to other countries in West Africa, including those that have no fish to sell to the EU.     

Long-term climate policy: international legal aspects of sector-based approaches

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the international legal implications of a sector-based approach to long-term climate policy. Sector-based approaches have emerged as a possible way of engaging all the major emitters of greenhouse gases into the system. The article divides sectoral approaches into two main categories based on their legal relevance. Substantive sectoral models focus on ways of defining emission levels for global industry sectors. From the point of view of international law, substantive sectoral models could be integrated into the existing climate change regime if the Parties so agree. Procedural sectoral models focus on actors. Some procedural sectoral models envisage treaty regimes involving non-State actors, such as organizations representing global industry sectors undertaking to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The main focus of the article is on these models.