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Estimating gross employment effects of environmental protection

In der Öffentlichkeit und bei politischen Entscheidungsträgern besteht ein großes Interesse am Thema Umweltschutzbeschäftigung. Die Debatte wird jedoch dadurch erschwert, dass es eine Vielzahl von unterschiedlichen Definitionen und damit von Schätzungen von Umweltschutzbeschäftigung gibt. Aus diesem Grund ist es von großer Bedeutung, für jede Schätzung der Umweltschutzbeschäftigung die verwendeten Abgrenzungen und Methoden sorgfältig zu dokumentieren. Diese Veröffentlichung dokumentiert einen kombinierten angebots- und nachfrageorientierten Schätzansatz für die Bruttoumweltschutzbeschäftigung, also für die Anzahl von Personen, die eine Beschäftigung auf Grund von durchgeführten Umweltschutzaktivitäten haben. Dieser Ansatz wurde in einer Reihe von Untersuchungen für Deutschland angewandt, die vom DIW Berlin durchgeführt wurden.<BR>Diese Veröffentlichung erläutert zuerst die in diesen Studien gewählte Abgrenzung der Umwelt-schutzbeschäftigung vor dem Hintergrund der von Eurostat entwickelten Klassifikationen CEPA und CReMA. Danach beschreibt sie die verwendeten Schätzansätze für Umweltschutzbeschäftigung. Umweltschutzbeschäftigung, die aus der Produktion von Umweltschutzgütern resultiert, wird mit einem nachfrageorientierten Ansatz geschätzt, der unter Nutzung der Input-Output-Analyse von den Ausgaben für Umweltschutz ausgeht. Umweltschutzbeschäftigung, die auf der Bereitstellung von Dienstleistungen beruht, wird mit einem angebotsorientierten Ansatz quantifiziert, der auf einer Vielzahl von Datenquellen über Beschäftigung in Wirtschaftseinheiten beruht, die für die Umwelt vorteilhafte Dienstleistungen anbieten. Es wird anschließend erläutert, welche Dimensionen der Umweltschutzbeschäftigung in den angesprochenen Studien dargestellt werden. Zum Abschluss werden Überlegungen angestellt, welche zusätzlichen Dimensionen in zukünftigen Studien von Interesse sein könnten.<BR>Quelle:Forschungsbericht

Employing trend analysis in environmental research and policy

Dieses Methodenpapier skizziert für die Umweltpolitik, wie das Instrument der "Trendanalyse" für die Untersuchung von umweltrelevanten Entwicklungen nutzbar gemacht werden kann. Durch Trendanalysen können die verschiedenen Facetten eines Trends beschrieben werden und diese systematisch hinsichtlich ihrer Wirkungen auf die Umwelt analysiert werden. Trendanalysen können so dazu beitragen, die Umweltpolitik im Sinne einer antizipativen Politikgestaltung handlungsfähig zu machen. Quelle: Forschungsbericht

COST Action 42 'Growing Valuable Broadleaved Tree Species ValBro' an der 26 Nationen beteiligt sind - Innovative Methoden der Direktsaat von Kirschen und Eichen - im Rahmen der COST Action 42 'Growing Valuable Broadleaved Tree Species ValBro' an der 26 Nationen beteiligt sind

Das Projekt "COST Action 42 'Growing Valuable Broadleaved Tree Species ValBro' an der 26 Nationen beteiligt sind - Innovative Methoden der Direktsaat von Kirschen und Eichen - im Rahmen der COST Action 42 'Growing Valuable Broadleaved Tree Species ValBro' an der 26 Nationen beteiligt sind" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Berner Fachhochschule, Hochschule für Agrar-, Forst- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften durchgeführt. Kirsche ist eines der wertvollsten Hölzer Europas, deren Pflanzung erfordert aber hohe Investitionen. Die von der SHL entwickelte und getestete Direktsaat-Methode bietet eine rationale Art der Kirschbaumregeneration innerhalb einer sehr kurzen Zeit. Um hohe Investitionskosten in Maschinen zu vermeiden, werden bestehende Geräte für die Direktsaat im Wald umgebaut oder ungenutzt. Die Methode wird dann verfeinert und an Eichen, welche schwieriger zu handhaben sind, getestet. Ziel: Entwicklung von mechanisierten Aussaatmethoden, die eine Vorbereitung des Terrains überflüssig machen. Positive Nebeneffekte sind verminderte Wildschäden, bessere Wurzelbildung und bessere Auswahl an qualitativ guten Hölzern. Ergebnisse: Die ersten Versuche konnten effizient und erfolgreich realisiert werden. Es wird nun eine Saat mit keimfähigen Kirschen durchgeführt und eine neue Versuchsreihe mit Eicheln vorbereitet und durchgeführt. Ausblick: Wenn die Versuche erfolgreich abgeschlossen sind, werden Empfehlungen für die forstwirtschaftliche Praxis erarbeitet und mittels Publikationen und Veranstaltungen anhand von Demonstrationsobjekten breit kommuniziert.

SP 2.3 Decision support systems for weed management in North China Plain production systems

Das Projekt "SP 2.3 Decision support systems for weed management in North China Plain production systems" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut) (490), Fachgebiet Agrarökologie der Tropen und Substropen (490f) durchgeführt. Wide applications in Europe show that weed management strategies can be considerably improved when computerized expert systems, decision models and population-dynamic models are applied. If these management systems are transferred and adapted to the specific production systems of the North China Plain, herbicide use can be significantly reduced and the evolution of persistent weed populations in the major arable crops can be avoided. The main objective of this subproject will be to create efficacy-based models analyzing herbicide performance in major crops and to create population-based models for herbicide use analyzing the yield losses caused by weed competition. For these models it is necessary to determine the sensitivity of major weed species to herbicides and to explore the potential of reduced dose rates for herbicide use. Furthermore it is necessary to investigate weed management practices combining preventive (timing of seeding, crop rotation and tillage) and direct methods (chemical and physical methods) of weed control. For population dynamic models it is necessary to determine long-term economic weed threshold estimating the changes in the soil seed bank. Finally both models will be combined in a decision support system for weed control in North China Plain Production Systems. The applicability of this decision support system will be tested in field experiments.

Entwicklung eines statistischen Designs für die zweite Bodenzustandserhebung Wald (BZE 2)

Das Projekt "Entwicklung eines statistischen Designs für die zweite Bodenzustandserhebung Wald (BZE 2)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Arbeitsbereich für Weltforstwirtschaft und Institut für Weltforstwirtschaft des Friedrich-Löffler-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit durchgeführt. Project objectives: Some fundamental statistical questions are existing in the end of implementation phase for the second soil condition survey (BZE 2) in Germany. These are described in a memorandum from the Referat 533 of BMVEL (533-7673-1/4) from 30.07.2004. This project is to be supposed to develop and implement a mathematical-statistical way for evaluation of the second soil condition survey. In a first Step possibilities and the potential for stratification to reduce the sampling error will be show. Existing Follow-up Inventory Concepts will be discussed under the special context of BZE. Soil parameters vary on a very small spatial scale. To estimate the error arising from the kind of sampling design on a sampling plot samples on a scale from 0 to 20 meters will be collected and completed by data sets suited for such questions. These data are the base for geo-statistical analysis. The error due to the sampling design can be quantified by various simulations. In the preface of BZE a set of soil samples are analysed from different laboratories and by different laboratory methods. The Varity of these results could be seen as a scope of bias. All these errors lead to an overall error budget, which shows the proportion between the individual error sources and the source for future research. Project results: This project is to be supposed to develop and implement a mathematical-statistical way for evaluation of the second soil condition survey under the scope, given by the memorandum from the Referat 533 of BMVEL (533-7673-1/4) from 30.07.2004. With the end of the project an objective scale for evaluating different versions for taking soil samples is available. First times, the relation of used resources and the realized sampling error for soil inventories can be evaluated. So there is the chance for a better estimation of error scope and for the decrease of costs in future inventories. Contribution of University of Hamburg: - developing and suggesting a mathematical statistical way for the evaluation of the second soil condition survey; - analyzing the potential of stratification to reduce the sampling error; - compiling an overall error budget estimated from errors of sampling design, local variability of soil parameters and different means of analyzing soil parameters in the laboratory.

The Influence of Corporate Responsibility on the Cost of Capital

Das Projekt "The Influence of Corporate Responsibility on the Cost of Capital" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Schlange & Co. GmbH durchgeführt. Corporate responsibility (CR) issues have gained importance within the financial community due to the exponential growth of specialized institutes, expansion of academic and research departments, increased launching of mutual funds allocated according to sustainability criteria, proliferation of online resources and other publications, and specialized corporate responsibility reports. A closer look at the literature concerning the relationship between CR issues and financial measures indicated three major fields for improvement in this area: (1) the development of a common understanding of CR issues; (2) the measurement of CR performance; and (3) the question of how CR issues affect the risk profile of a company. Since a common understanding of CR cannot be constructed theoretically, we based our research on the frequently used triple bottom line approach, in which CR incorporates economic, ecological and social responsibility issues. When it comes to the field of measuring CR performance, there are already plenty of methods and frameworks. In this research we developed a unique CR rating scheme based on existing frameworks and using weighting factors from analysts and investors. The question of how CR affects the risk profile of a company led to the projects objective: to analyze the impact of CR on capital market financing with a specific focus on electric utilities, assuming that the lower the company risk, the lower the cost of capital. We hypothesized that there is a relationship between CR and financial performance (H1) and that good CR performance reduces the risk to a company (H2). A clear relationship between CR and financial performance was not found, but CR and financial performance were indirectly linked throughout company risk. This research delivers evidence that CR performance is strongly linked to financial risk measures. There is also support for the assumption that CR issues are likely to be regulation-driven. Regulation seems to be a driver for CR engagement in the utility industry. It seems that a complete lack of CR engagement exposes a company to unnecessary high risk.

Networking Forest Plantations in a crowded world - optimising ecosystem services through improved planning and management strategies (NETFOP)

Das Projekt "Networking Forest Plantations in a crowded world - optimising ecosystem services through improved planning and management strategies (NETFOP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Freiburg, Waldbau-Institut durchgeführt. The natural forests of the world are under intense pressure as their area decreases from year to year. The loss of natural forest and its biodiversity goes along with a declining number of goods and services provided by these ecosystems. The establishment of forest plantations could provide one possible solution to influence this trend. However, these plantations cannot always compensate for the natural diversity and often do not meet the expected supply of goods and services. This project is cooperation between the Forest Research Institute Dehra Dun (India), Alterra Wageningen (the Netherlands) and the Silviculture Institute in Freiburg. It aims to develop suitable methodologies for the assessment of ecosystem goods and services provided by planted forests in selected study areas in India and Germany. The study areas in both countries cover different vegetation zones in the mountain areas (Forests of Himalayan Range in the State of Uttaranchal in India and in the Black Forest in Germany). These areas comprise of 20 km long and 30 km wide strips. Within the study area the requirements of local stakeholders as well as provision of actual ecosystem goods and services from different landscape units will be studied. In the former case, participatory appraisal methods will be applied to evaluate uses of ecosystem goods and services according to local perceptions. In India, this work will be mainly based on research at village level, while in Germany focus group discussions with representatives of different stakeholders will be organised. The actual ecosystem goods and services will be assessed through an inventory of each landscape unit (especially forests and plantations) within the action range of the villages. The collected data will be processed in a landscape model to assess the importance of forest plantations in providing goods and services, compared to other landscape units. On the basis of these results, management options will be identified to adjust plantation management according to the local demands of ecosystem goods and services. Furthermore, the results will promote general awareness about the importance of biodiversity in providing ecosystem goods and services.

Dynamic Sensing of Chemical Pollution Disasters and Predictive Modelling of their Spread and Ecological Impact (ECODIS)

Das Projekt "Dynamic Sensing of Chemical Pollution Disasters and Predictive Modelling of their Spread and Ecological Impact (ECODIS)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Max-Planck-Institut für marine Mikrobiologie durchgeführt. ECODIS will develop sensor technologies for monitoring the physicochemical reactivity and biological impact of inorganic and organic pollutant species in aquatic systems. ECODIS will also apply these technologies to the study of the short and long term chemical and biological status of aquatic ecosystems following a pollution disaster. Exposure conditions experienced by organisms are defined by the temporal profiles of concentration and speciation of pollutants. These profiles will be quantitatively linked to biological effects via an innovative dynamic approach based on the flux of pollutant species as a key parameter in effective ecosystem quality. The dynamic features of pollutant species distributions over biotic and abiotic components will be a basic component of a new generic dynamic approach for any macroscopic aquatic ecosystem impacted by a pollution disaster event. This will involve the integration of the dynamic features of pollutants with their macroscale transport resulting from diffusion and flows in the water body. One of the major goals of ECODIS is to arrive at a model that includes predicted pollutant species distributions, and ensuing biological risks, in all compartments of the aquatic ecosystem as a function of time and space. Especially in disaster situations, the pollutant sink/source functioning of ecosystems under extreme load will be a key factor in the rate of spread of the disaster impact. ECODIS will couple the sink/source function with the transport modelling and derive the ensuing immediate and long term impact of a given pollution disaster. ECODIS will also open the way for developing sophisticated strategies for dynamic risk assessment and disaster management policies. One of the ultimate goals in ECODIS's action plan is the formulation of a set of guidelines for monitoring, data management, and interpretation of pollution disasters. Prime Contractor: Wageningen Universiteit; Wageningen; Netherland.

The effect of synoptic-scale wave breaking on cross tropopause transport and trace gas distribution

Das Projekt "The effect of synoptic-scale wave breaking on cross tropopause transport and trace gas distribution" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre durchgeführt. The tropopause and the so-called tropopause inversion layer (TIL), which is a layer of high static stability act as a partly permeable barrier to trace gas exchange between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The tropopause region is of particular importance for climate. The processes which lead to the formation of the TIL and their role for stratosphere-troposphere-exchange (STE) and the chemical composition of the tropopause region are incompletely understood. Experiments with idealized models show that synoptic scale wave breaking in baroclinic life cycles leads to TIL formation. The dynamical conditions during such an event are favorable for STE and an irreversible constituent exchange across the tropopause. This project will constitute a novel approach to identify the effect of synoptic-scale wave breaking and TIL formation on STE combining idealized models and observations with statistical methods. For this purpose we will apply: (i) the same analysis methods for idealized models containing artificial tracers and trace gas observations (ii) aquaplanet simulations with a full chemical scheme and the physics of a global model, to identify the global effect of baroclinic life cycles on TIL formation and the related trace gas distribution.

Biotic and abiotic factors that dive the function of microbial communities at biogeochemical interfaces in different soils (BAMISO)

Das Projekt "Biotic and abiotic factors that dive the function of microbial communities at biogeochemical interfaces in different soils (BAMISO)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Abteilung für Umweltgenomik durchgeführt. Biogeochemical interfaces shape microbial community function in soil. On the other hand microbial communities influence the properties of biogeochemical interfaces. Despite the importance of this interplay, basic understanding of the role of biogeochemical interfaces for microbial performance is still missing. We postulate that biogeochemical interfaces in soil are important for the formation of functional consortia of microorganisms, which are able to shape their own microenvironment and therefore influence the properties of interfaces in soil. Furthermore biogeochemical interfaces act as genetic memory of soils, as they can store DNA from dead microbes and protect it from degradation. We propose that for the formation of functional biogeochemical interfaces microbial dispersal (e.g. along fungal networks) in response to quality and quantity of bioavailable carbon and/or water availability plays a major role, as the development of functional guilds of microbes requires energy and depends on the redox state of the habitat.To address these questions, hexadecane degradation will be studied in differently developed artificial and natural soils. To answer the question on the role of carbon quantity and quality, experiments will be performed with and without litter material at different water contents of the soil. Experiments will be performed with intact soil columns as well as soil samples where the developed interface structure has been artificially destroyed. Molecular analysis of hexadecane degrading microbial communties will be done in vitro as well as in situ. The corresponding toolbox has been successfully developed in the first phase of the priority program including methods for genome, transcriptome and proteome analysis.

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