40 years of global environmental assessments: A retrospective analysis

Jabbour, Jason; Flachsland, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2017.05.001

Cited by 57 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The bottom-up approaches do have some limitations, such as their limited ability to be extended to larger scales, and their limited sustainability over time. They nonetheless offer significant potential considering the rapidly increasing needs for information for decision makers at local and subnational levels, and the desire to engage stakeholders actively in the knowledge-development process (Jabbour and Flachsland 2017;Kowarsch et al 2017).…”

Section: A New Framework For Combining Topdown and Bottom-up Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

2019

295

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Global assessments have to shift the focus from what is happening and what could be done, to how trends and trajectories in development can be changed (well established). The use of top-down and bottom-up methods in Part C of GEO-6-Outlooks and Pathways to a Healthy Planet for Healthy People is intended to provide science-based information for this purpose. The combined quantitative scenarios and participatory approaches also offer great potential to be more responsive to meeting the sector-and region-specific information required by decision makers. Therefore, the GEO-6 outlook analysis/assessment use: (1) model-based scenario analysis (generally referred to as the top-down approach); (2) information and knowledge from past and present initiatives, opportunities and trends (i.e. seeds of change); and (3) information resulting from integrative decision-making and participatory activities that are usually conducted at the local to regional levels (generally referred to as bottomup approaches). This will ensure greater engagement of stakeholders in knowledge development and dissemination, and implementation of resulting policies and practices in a timely manner for greater success {19.2, 19.3}. For environmental assessments to be useful to decision makers, they should account for the interactions, interdependencies and co-evolutionary pathways of human-Earth systems in proposed policy options and scientific and technological solutions-including the direct effects and the co-benefits and/or trade-offs. (established, but incomplete). Global Environmental Assessments generally rely on modelbased quantitative scenarios. While these models capture many important linkages, the social dimension is not very well represented. Moreover, it is difficult in global assessments to capture important details that are pertinent for local-level decision-making. A systemic and integrated approach is needed in scientifically based environmental assessments and future outlooks, in support of policy and investment decisions, to account for the highly complex, interdependent and continuously changing factors in assessing the human-Earth system changes {19.1}. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core at www.cambridge.org/core "The sixth Global Environment Outlook is an essential checkup for our planet. Like any good medical examination, there is a clear prognosis of what will happen if we continue with business as usual and a set of recommended actions to put things right. GEO-6 details both the perils of delaying action and the opportunities that exist to make sustainable development a reality."-António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

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Section: A New Framework For Combining Topdown and Bottom-up Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

2019

295

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“…(Kowarsch et al 2017;Minx et al 2017). Decisionmakers, scholars and practitioners are demanding a deeper and more explicit focus on response options and policy analysis (Jabbour and Flachsland 2017). This shift in intention and direction is especially relevant in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where nations have set the ambition to achieve a broad range of globally accepted and integrated social, economic and environmental targets for 2030.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Global environmental assessments distil, synthesize and interpret existing information in ways that are relevant to decision makers and can help governments to achieve consensus when negotiating complex international accords and agreements (e.g. the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) (Jabbour and Flachsland 2017). However, while global environmental assessments often rely on global-scale quantitative scenarios to assess potential futures and to navigate uncertainty (van Vuuren et al 2012), they struggle to integrate dynamics that can bridge local, regional and global scales (Bennett et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bottom-up Initiatives and Participatory Approaches for Outlooks

2019

Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

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The challenge of sustainable development offers the opportunity for more effective integration of global and local scenario approaches in environmental assessments and outlooks to support decision-making for all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at all levels (i.e. local, national, regional and global) (established, but incomplete). A bottom-up perspective on the future, which is based on local scenarios and practices offers potential benefits for exploring alternative futures that are grounded in local realities and start with existing practical action that can be appropriately scaled. Linking top-down and bottom-up approaches to multilevel scenario development provides an opportunity for global processes to inform local actions and for taking account of local actions in global agreements. Co-developing approaches with diverse stakeholders will help to overcome the current limitations in scaling innovations up, out and deep, and in transferring valuable lessons and results from local to both regional and global levels, and vice versa {23.1}. The bottom-up approach engages a broad range of scientific and action-oriented knowledge, perspectives and opinions about a desirable world in the future and the ways to get there, including pathways to achieve long-term sustainability goals (e.g. the SDGs) (established, but incomplete). Since there is no single answer to achieving sustainability, having multiple perspectives is essential for defining different desirable futures. Through a combination of crowdsourcing platforms, participatory workshops in different regions of the world, analyses of existing sustainability solutions and an assessment of regional outlooks, novel methods for linking the generic results of global models with complementary information and insight from the local level can be undertaken. The outcome from the implementation of such an innovative framework provides useful and relevant information and knowledge for policymakers and practitioners to make more informed decisions about how to achieve a sustainable future {23.4, 23.6}. A groundswell of bottom-up efforts to realize the SDGs and other multilateral environmental agreements is currently under way, as are efforts to support and facilitate collaboration among them (established, but incomplete). Reviewing platforms of bottom-up initiatives provides a preliminary understanding of the breadth and depth of ideas, actions and programmes that seek to help achieve sustainable development objectives. The clear majority of the platforms have a global level of coverage, drawing on examples and encouraging connections from all over the world. Most of the platforms facilitate knowledge-sharing and the identification of solutions in two ways. First, this is through the collection of examples, solutions and best practices (e.g. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] Momentum for Change Lighthouse Initiative, PANORAMA Solutions for a Healthy Planet; WOCAT; see Annex 23-1), and, second, by creating forums for sharing technical or ...

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“…A deep and comprehensive overview of the works devoted to the global environmental assessments practises and approaches as well as challenges of the modernity has been rea lised by J. Jabbour and Ch. Flachsland (2017) [7].…”

Section: Brief Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic assessment of the alternative energy sources implementation for port enterprises

Yarovа¹,

Vorkunova²,

Khoteyeva³

2017

EA-XXI

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Abstract. The purpose of this article is to explore specific features of the implementation of alternative energy sources used to ensure activities of Ukrainian port companies. A considerable development of the alternative energy industry in Ukraine is connected to a relatively loyal legislation, state support and tax benefits for companies which employ it. Diversification of energy sources contributes primarily to decreasing risks, however, from the economic point, the choice of concrete sources appears to be more efficient for port companies. Thus, it is suggested to install solar collectors and wind stations to facilitate port activities. According to our calculations, the implementation of the innovative investment project regarding solar panels is justified. The economic effect of installation of solar collectors and wind stations is estimated at UAH 3,107,667.00 (USD 194,230.00) and UAH 1,022,093.00 (USD 63,880.00), respectively. The use of both options is economically feasible in the modern conditions. However, the economic benefit from the wind stations is significantly less. It can be explained by the fact that equipment for wind stations is much more expensive, and its installation and maintenance are more sophisticated and costly. A much bigger quantity of solar panels is needed to provide electricity for the whole port, yet the cost of their installation and maintenance is considerably lower.

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40 years of global environmental assessments: A retrospective analysis

Cited by 57 publications

References 48 publications

Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

Bottom-up Initiatives and Participatory Approaches for Outlooks

Economic assessment of the alternative energy sources implementation for port enterprises

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