Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of funding agencies. Here we show how a global community is responding to the challenges of tropical ecosystem research with diverse teams measuring forests tree-by-tree in thousands of long-term plots. We review the major scientific discoveries of this work and show how this process is changing tropical forest science. Our core approach involves linking long-term grassroots initiatives with standardized protocols and data management to generate robust scaled-up results. By connecting tropical researchers and elevating their status, our Social Research Network model recognises the key role of the data originator in scientific discovery. Conceived in 1999 with RAINFOR (South America), our permanent plot networks have been adapted to Africa (AfriTRON) and Southeast Asia (T-FORCES) and widely emulated worldwide. Now these multiple initiatives are integrated via ForestPlots.net cyber-infrastructure, linking colleagues from 54 countries across 24 plot networks. Collectively these are transforming understanding of tropical forests and their biospheric role. Together we have discovered how, where and why forest carbon and biodiversity are responding to climate change, and how they feedback on it. This long-term pan-tropical collaboration has revealed a large long-term carbon sink and its trends, as well as making clear which drivers are most important, which forest processes are affected, where they are changing, what the lags are, and the likely future responses of tropical forests as the climate continues to change. By leveraging a remarkably old technology, plot networks are sparking a very modern revolution in tropical forest science. In the future, humanity can benefit greatly by nurturing the grassroots communities now collectively capable of generating unique, long-term understanding of Earth's most precious forests.

International survey of the ECHOES project is a large survey dataset than contains responses from 31 countries: EU-28 (2018) + 3 countries. The dataset contains raw data in four different formats: dta, rdata, sav and xlsx. Codebook and survey questionnaire are included.

The viability of using microalgae for energy production depends on the overall sustainability (environmental, economic, social). The project FUEL4ME applies a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) providing scientific indicators for economic (e. g. operational costs, investment cost, trade effects, effects on employment), environmental (global warming potential, cumulated primary energy demand, land use) and social aspects (e.g. regional cooperations, product responsibility, labour practices) of an algae-based biorefinery (production of biofuels and PUFAs). Climate change impacts usually focus only on the bio/chemical contribution (i.e. greenhouse gases) but within FUEL4ME biophysical climate impacts due to albedo change were included in the assessment of the global warming potential. A comparison using the LCSA results of a modelled full scale commercial FUEL4ME process was made to analyse the gap between the current TRL and guiding values for TRL 9. Due to actual demonstrated state of technology (current TRL) further technology development is needed

A key to reaching the 1.5 degrees C target in the year 2100, as set out in the Paris Agreement, is to alter our lifestyles significantly. Growing consumer-groups have become increasingly aware of the climate impact connected to their choices over the past years and new climate oriented lifestyles are developing. We study the spread and development of this emerging "Low Carbon Orientation" in consumption which stimulates growing demand for low carbon products and services, for which sustainable integrated biomass use for food, feed, material, chemical and energy plays a crucial role. "Low-Carbon Lifestyles" are characterized by having significantly (>80%) lower greenhouse gas emissions than most of the current lifestyles in industrialized countries. The, Paris Lifestyle" is an innovative and satisfying, Low Carbon Lifestyle" characterized by having very low greenhouse gas emissions contributing to the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees C. The Paris Lifestyle creates new economic opportunities and challenges by stimulating an increasing demand for low Carbon products and services. A model - "LIFESTYLE 1.0" - is developed to calculate the consumption based greenhouse gas emissions (2000 - 2014) of the 8 Mio Austrian inhabitants in comparison to the national GHG inventory. Based on the statistics the consumption and demand of annual products and services with a detailed focus on biomass use for the various needs e.g. food, mobility, information are quantified. The results demonstrate that the consumption based GHG emissions in Austria are significantly higher (45 - 55%) than the national inventory show. The GHG emissions abroad for electricity, food and consumption are higher than the GHG emissions in Austria. The GHG emissions and area demand in agriculture and forestry of different lifestyles are strongly determined by the sustainable and integrated use of biomass. The results confirm that future sustainable, modern and comfortable lifestyles with very low GHG emissions ("low carbon lifestyles") are possible. A first set of main influences on the GHG emissions of different lifestyles are identified and its consequences on the future sustainable use of biomass, e.g. vegetarian diet, innovative mobility, annual income. The following conclusions are made: 1) The research on low carbon lifestyles focuses on four questions: "How much?", "Of What?", "Who?" and "Why?" 2) In most of the analyzed cases the question, How much?" is more relevant for the life cycle based GHG emissions than the question "Of what?". 3) Low GHG emissions for heat and electricity can be realized much quicker, easier and cheaper than for mobility, consumption and food. 4) The GHG emissions can be reduced by energy efficiency and renewable energy technically relatively easy compared to the land demand in agriculture and forestry. 5) Biomass as renewable material and energy source in innovative sustainable value chains plays a crucial role to provide a broad range of services and products in the Low Carbon Bioeconomy. 6) A future comfortable, innovative and sustainable lifestyle is possible e.g. "Low Carbon Lifestyle". 7) Already today there are many excellent and tracked examples and approaches that might become megatrends for "Low Carbon Lifestyles" to reduce GHG emission significantly. And 9) This sustainable Low Carbon Lifestyle is called "Paris Lifestyle (c) ", which is characterized by very low GHG emissions and which contributes to the climate targets of the Paris agreement to limit global warming (<2 degrees C) by 2100.

Contiene: 1. Introduction -- 2. Study methodology -- 3. Policy analysis -- 4. Institutional analysis -- 5. Macroeconomic context and public finance management -- 6. Expenditure review -- 7. Sub-national analysis -- 8. Conclusions

Contiene: 1. Introduction -- 2. Study methodology -- 3. Policy analysis -- 4. Institutional analysis -- 5. Macroeconomic context and public financial management -- 6. Expenditure review -- 7. Sub-national analysis -- 8. Conclusions

One of the achievements of the UNFCCC negotiations in Cancun was the decision to establish a Green Climate Fund (GCF). The details of this initiative were described in the outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA). Many are looking to the establishment of this fund as the solution to adequately and appropriately address climate finance, with statements like ‘Green Fund to dominate global climate finance’ (Murray, 2010) and ‘$100 Billion Green Climate Fund Agreed Upon’ (Redbaiter, 2010). Others caution that ambitious steps need to be taken to avoid the ‘Green Fund’ turning out to be an ‘Empty Fund’ whose function is limited to attaining the buy-in of developing countries into a binding international climate policy regime. Having been mentioned first in the Copenhagen Accord of December 2009, the intent is now to secure the design of the fund over the period March to November 2011. Approval to start up the fund is then expected at the seventeenth session of the UNFCCC in Durban, South Africa.

This policy brief reviews general trends in African climate finance. It considers the key actors in the region and their evolving role in negotiations over the global architecture for climate finance, and finds that funding that is currently delivered is far from fulfilling the demonstrated needs of SSA. There is a particular need to increase finance for adaptation. There are serious challenges associated with directing finance to the sectors and people most vulnerable to climate change. The brief reviews how institutions are positioning themselves to channel future scaled-up climate finance, and concludes by highlighting issues that require policy attention to improve the effective and equitable distribution of climate finance in the region.

The Copenhagen Accord calls for a collective commitment by developed countries to provide ‘new and additional resources...approaching USD 30 billion for the period 20102012 with balanced allocation between adaptation and mitigation... [and] in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, developed countries commit to a goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.’ Rapid and successful deployment of this international public finance is a critical first step in allowing developing countries to adapt to climate change and pursue actions that will allow them to move onto a low carbon development pathway. However, it remains unclear (1) how additionality is defined in the Copenhagen Accord when it promises ‘new and additional resources’; and (2) how such large sums of money are going to be raised. These considerations remain elusive in the Accord, but are fundamental to ensuring that financial commitments are met and secured in such a way that international public funds are not diverted away from long-term commitments to support development in poor countries. Therefore, further reflection is needed around how ‘new and additional’ is being defined and what this implies for developing countries.

In April 2009, the European Union agreed on a Renewable Energy Directive (EU-RED). This directive establishes an overall EU target for 2020 of 20% renewable energy and targets of 10% renewable energy in the transport sector of each Member State (EU 2009). According to estimates used by the EU’s Directorate of Transportation and Energy,1 195 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) of biomass will be needed to meet these targets (Ragwitz et al. 2009), a doubling of the current use of biomass. Some 173 Mtoe of the needed biomass is expected to come from EU sources, with the remaining 22 Mtoe supplied by imports.