In the South-Indian city of Chennai (formerly called Madras), disastrous tropical monsoon linked with excessive precipitation frequently lead to wide-flat floods in the coastal plains. Caused by rapid urbanisation, the population in urban and periurban areas is more and more affected by these events. Besides the marginalised population living in disfavoured areas, increasingly also the more wealthy population that settles in flood prone areas is affected. Interdisciplinary assessments are needed to explain the complex causes of floods. The project analysed environmental aspects of risk exposure as well as socioeconomic aspects of risk perceptions and response strategies. By combining natural-scientific with socio-scientific approaches, a holistic perspective of the complex reasons and impacts of flooding could be covered. The project consisted of the following steps: 1. Analysis of flood risk exposure: Physio-geographic, hydrological and meteorological realities in risk areas were assessed using remote sensing (RS) data and geographical information systems (GIS). 2. Analysis of risk perception and management: Affected marginalised poor segments of the population, affected middle class groups as well as local planning authorities were interviewed to analyse local perceptions of floods and dominant management strategies. 3. Development of a flood risk map: The results of the risk assessment were integrated in an interactive flood risk map. The map - using several different layers - functions as a flood risk management tool including often neglected socioeconomic and socio-cultural parameters which reflect local vulnerability. 4. Holding of two workshops: A policy workshop with different stakeholders involved in flood management and affected by floods was held in Chennai in August 2007. This workshop was to foster communication and dialogue between different stakeholders and to create awareness on the current situation and problems in the area. A roundtable with the partners from India and organisations dealing with flood management and flood relief measures took place in October 2007 in Freiburg in order to present and discuss the findings and to strengthen future co-operation, communication and networks.
This report analyses the taxation of energy use in 41 countries, covering 80% of global energy use. It appears at a juncture when many countries struggle to sustain orreconnect with economic growth and face formidable fiscal consolidation challenges. At the same time, concerns over the very highhuman costs of air pollution are mounting and the urgency of acting to limit greenhouse gases isnow abundantly clear.Energy use is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions and of air pollution. It also is acritical input into production and consumption in modern economies. If deployed effectively, taxes onenergy use are a powerful tool to balance the benefits and costs of energy use. Energy use taxes canalso play a useful role in fiscal consolidation. What this report tells us, however, is that with currentpolicies energy taxes fail to live up to their potential.Taxes on energy use influence the price and use of energy. Ideally, end-user energy prices wouldreflect their environmental impacts to ensure that resources are used most productively and that thenegative side-effects of energy use are contained. Taxes can help to achieve this, while also providingincentives to seek alternative, cleaner technologies.To employ energy taxes more effectively, it is necessary to understand the signals they providein respect of energy use. This report systematically analyses the structure and level of energy taxesacross 41 countries: the OECD countries and seven selected partner economies (Argentina, Brazil,China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa). Effective tax rates, expressed per unit of carbonand per unit of energy, are situated within the energy market structures and other pricing policies ineach country, allowing the price signals they send to be better understood.Our analysis highlights vastly different levels of energy use and taxation among these41 countries, but also some common patterns. Transport energy is typically taxed at higher ratesthan other forms of energy use whereas fuels for heating and process use or electricity generationare more likely to be untaxed or taxed at lower rates. Fuels used for similar purposes are often taxeddifferently, with low rates applying to some of the fuels most harmful for human health and theenvironment. Tax rates on coal are particularly low.The picture is not, however, entirely bleak. The awareness about the need to curb negative sideeffectsof energy use is rising on governments political agendas, with many, including the selectedpartner economies, reconsidering price signals and taxes on harmful forms of energy use andinvesting in renewable sources of energy. This report can serve as a reference for policy makers andanalysts to identify reform options to ensure that energy taxes are best adapted to their economic,social and environmental goals - that is, to develop better tax policies for better lives.
The BECA (Balanced European Conservation Approach - ICT services for resource saving in social housing) project addresses the need to reduce energy consumption in European social housing by a very significant amount to meet overall emission reduction targets. To substantially reduce peak and overall demand for energy and water across EU social housing, BECA will develop a full set of innovative services for resource use awareness and resource management. Balance is achieved by addressing not only energy but water, by including all key energy forms - electricity, gas and heating - and by including strong activities in Eastern Europe as well as in the North, South and West of the EU. Social housing organisations in 7 European countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Serbia) and their partners are cooperating in the project to provide ICT-based energy management and energy awareness services directly to social housing tenants and service operators. Services will be piloted by approx. 5,000 social housing tenants across 7 sites in 7 European countries. Sustained reductions in resource use are to be achieved through usable ICT-based services directly to tenants, as well as by effective monitoring and control of local power generation and, for district heating, the full heat delivery chain. Intensive work will be addressed to optimising services for tenants and maximising impact on resource use behaviour. Service requirements will be investigated with tenants and staff and service prototypes based on initial use cases will be subject to user testing within the first year of the project. Results are used to finalise service design in a second iteration of use case definition and service specification lasting some 8 months, cumulating in implementation of operational services at all the 7 pilot sites. Pilots at sites will operate for at least 14 months; lead sites will be identified to being operation early and provide example solutions to others. The consortium, led by social housing providers and public authorities includes global ICT and service providers and distribution network operators working with local consultants and specialist advisors to carry out all steps in service implementation.
Objective: The EU has invested considerable resources over the last decade to support the development of water technologies. As it often is the case with innovative technologies, there are currently few resources to pursue this process in the needed scale, and the uptake potential of water technologies and other environmental technologies resulting from EU-funded research seems limited due to insufficient awareness of their developments and the opportunities they offer. Raising awareness among researchers, policy makers, businessmen and industries, as well as the large public, young people in particular is paramount to the full exploitation of these technologies which are able to boost economic growth and social welfare. The STREAM project intends to tackle this issue by bringing water technologies to the interest of potential uptakers through a diversified series of dissemination and communication actions tailored to the needs of the different categories of stakeholders. These include Policy Seminars to be held in 3 different countries and also streamed online, a Final Symposium at the European Parliament in Brussels, 2 Summer Schools, e-learning courses, audiovisual materials, including videos and interviews, webinars for research events and participation in sectorial events. A web platform will be set up from the very start of the project serving as a repository for all its activities and for the updated documentation material on latest research and policy progress in the field of water. A group of highly qualified actors need to be involved in such an ambitious proposal to perform all variety of activities foreseen: STREAM consortium gathers partners with specific capabilities and backgrounds and established relations in the field, like specialists in water issues, experts in communicating science and carrying out innovative dissemination activities to transfer the knowledge gathered to the target audiences.
Objective: The BRITA proposal on Eco-buildings aims to increase the market penetration of innovative and effective retrofit solutions to improve energy and implement renewables, with moderate additional costs. In the first place, this will be realised by the exemplary retrofit of 9 demonstration public buildings in the four participating European region (North, Central, South, East). By choosing public buildings of different types such as colleges, cultural centres, nursery homes, student houses, churches etc. for implementing the measures it will awareness and sensitise society on energy conservation. Secondly, the research work packages will include the socio-economic research such as the identification of real project-planning needs and financing strategies, the assessment of design guidelines, the development of an internet-based knowledge tool on retrofit measures and case studies and a quality control-tool box to secure a good long-term performance of the building and the systems.