Bioeconomy has become fundamental for a post-fossil-resources society, in line with climate change mitigation ambitions. Although it does not have a single, consensual definition, the bioeconomy encompasses various bio-based value chains and economic activities relying on biodiversity. How these burgeoning developments may affect biodiversity, however, still needs further examination. This article explores the bioeconomy–biodiversity nexus through the lens of nature’s contributions to people (NCPs). Drawing from the bioeconomy literature and Amazonian experiences, we argue that the bioeconomy may: (i) help conserve or restore habitats, (ii) improve knowledge on biodiversity, (iii) valorize livelihoods and increase social participation, and (iv) aid in moving beyond the commodification of nature. However, none of these achievements can be taken for granted. To date, the bioeconomy has focused mainly on extracting goods from nature (e.g., food, energy, or biochemicals), often at the expense of NCPs that require integral ecosystems and are decisive for a sustainable society in the longer run. Moreover, we assert that it is critical to discern the beneficiaries of various contributions, as “people”, in reality, are composed of distinct groups that relate differently to nature and have different preferences regarding trade-offs. The NCPs framework can help broaden synergies in the bioeconomy–biodiversity nexus, but inclusive governance remains critical.

Fler arter an nagonsin i mansklighetens historia hotas av utrotning och den biologiska mangfalden lokalt har forandrats kraftigt i en stor del av varldens ekosystem. Grundlaggande forandringar behovs bade i samhallet och for individer, for att bromsa den negativa trenden, skriver en rad debattorer.

Impacts of bioeconomy on climate have been much discussed, but less attention has been given to biodiversity deterioration. One approach to assess biodiversity impacts is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Finland is a forested country with intensive forest industries, but only coarse biodiversity LCA methods are available. The aim of this study was to further develop and apply approaches to assess the biodiversity impacts of wood use in Finland. With the species richness approach (all taxons included), biodiversity impacts were higher in Southern than in Northern Finland but impacts in Southern and Northern Finland were lower when mammals, birds and molluscs were included. With the ecosystem indicators approach, if the reference situation were forest in its natural state, biodiversity impacts were higher than in the case where the initial state of forest before final felling was used to derive biodiversity loss. In both cases, the biodiversity impacts were higher in Northern Finland. These results were not coherent as the model applying species richness data assesses biodiversity loss based on all species, whereas the ecosystem indicators approach considers vulnerable species. One limitation of the species richness approach was that there were no reliable datasets available. In the ecosystem indicators approach, it was noticed that the biodiversity of managed Finnish forests is substantially lower than in natural forests. Biodiversity LCA approaches are highly sensitive to reference states, applied model and data. It is essential to develop approaches capable of comparing biodiversity impacts of forest management practices, or when looking at multiple environmental impacts simultaneously with the LCA framework.

Purpose In life cycle assessment (LCA) literature addressing land use impacts on biodiversity, several potential reference situations are proposed. However, the lack of guidance on how to apply the proposed reference situations fosters confusion within the topic and raises questions about implications of different reference conceptions. The purpose of this article is to contribute to an improved methodology for assessing biodiversity impacts in LCA through developing the use of reference situations in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models of land use. Methods We analyze how reference situations are currently used when assessing the impacts from land use on biodiversity, as well as how such are defined and used outside LCA, specifically in biodiversity conservation. Based on this review, we provide recommendations to the LCIA research community on how to modify its use of reference situations to enable more relevant assessments of impacts on biodiversity. Results and discussion It is shown how, in the LCA framework, the use of so-called baseline references dominates, and what shortcomings this implies, including unclear definitions of what “naturalness” and “pristine nature” represent, as well as the lack of reliable data. By contrast, biodiversity conservation, typically aiming at ensuring a favorable conservation status for biodiversity, normally uses limit and target references. These reference situations have the advantage of reflecting, often at an aggregated level, society’s preferences, and values related to biodiversity. Because of this, they also include biodiversity that is dependent on a certain level of management, as in, e.g., semi-natural pastures. This is an important aspect as much of the biodiversity highly valued today belong to this category. Conclusions We recommend that reference situations for biodiversity in LCIA models should be developed based on biodiversity targets aligned with society’s conservation frameworks. Only measurements of deviation away from or closer to a desired reference situation make it possible for decision makers to distinguish the varying biodiversity-related costs and benefits that are associated with different production systems.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has the goal of providing decision makers with an indication of the likely environmental consequences of planned actions risking environmental changes and, when necessary, allowing revision of these actions to mitigate adverse impacts. Here we provide an overview of the efficiency of EIA with emphasis on Brazilian Amazonia and discuss the problems and challenges with this type of assessment in highly diverse ecosystems. We concentrate on the methodology and performance of EIAs for three of the most recent and largest infrastructure projects in Amazonia: the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, the BR-319 Highway, and the Juruti bauxite mine. We conclude that all of these EIAs fall short of properly assessing the expected impact of infrastructure development in situ, and that their results had little or no effect on policy decisions. To improve the reliability and usefulness of EIAs in biologically diverse ecosystems, we suggest three relatively fast and cost-effective complementary approaches for assessing biodiversity: remote sensing, reflectance spectroscopy, and DNA meta-barcoding. We discuss how these emerging cutting-edge techniques can help in identifying environmental threats and the consequences of different activities in Amazonia. The ability to monitor the state of the environment and the likely impacts of human activities on natural resources is fundamental to evidence-based decisions on development choices, to the design of appropriate management strategies, and to mitigate biological and ecological consequences.

Purpose Lately, there has been a growing interest in how to include biodiversity in life cycle assessment (LCA). The aim of this study was to compare two impact assessment methods, with regard to their applicability on a regional level and their feasibility in terms of data availability, through applying them to a case study.MethodsThe methods tested were those developed by de Baan et al. (2013a), based on species richness, and Lindner et al. (2014), based on ecosystem indicators. These were applied to commercially managed spruce forest in the south of Sweden. For the species-based method, characterization factors (CFs) were based on species richness of vascular plants in the region, calculated for two different stages in the production cycle, before and after felling, and using two different types of semi-natural reference situations. The key feature in the ecosystem approach was a set of indicators of prerequisites for biodiversity, based on expert knowledge, and the reference situation applied was the hypothetic maximum biodiversity quality in the region.Results and discussionThe results showed that both methods were applicable for biodiversity assessment at regional level. All methodological requirements, such as species data and expert opinion, were available. To obtain enough data for the species richness method, data on vascular plants from two administrative regions was needed. When biodiversity was assessed before felling and using the spruce reference situation, the conventional spruce forestry studied was shown to have positive impact on biodiversity. All other results showed negative impacts on biodiversity. The positive impact indicated by the species richness method was probably due to the small difference in species richness between the mature spruce forest assessed and the available spruce forest reference situation.ConclusionsThe study shows that the two methods are applicable on a regional level, although data availability was a constraint in the species richness method by de Baan et al. (2013a). The choice of reference situation, and when in the production cycle assessment was made, led to considerable differences in the characterization factors generated.

Diversification of phosphorus sources can bring substantial synergy effects within all the sustainable development domains: environmental, economic and social, and such an opportunity should not be overlooked. Urban sinks accumulate phosphorus and other elements and may serve as sources of secondary raw materials. This paper evaluates phosphorus sources based on their total material requirement (TMR). Resource requirements and emissions of the conventional phosphorus production from mining through the acid route processing have been quantified and have been used as a yardstick against which to measure the performance of two recycling options: spreading of sewage sludge and phosphorus recovery from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWA). The sludge spreading had the lowest TMR. Phosphorus extracted from the MSWAhad four-fold higher TMR than the conventional production. However, method modifications were suggested and are currently being tested, which reduce the methods TMR well below the TMR of the phosphorus production from the ore. The entire impact of the Swedish mineral fertilizer demand can be avoided by recycling urban sinks of phosphorus. Sweden can become self-sufficient in mineral fertilizer because the phosphorus quantities imported in food and later found in the urban sinks such as food waste, sewage sludge and MSW incineration residues cover the entire necessary quantity.

Urban sinks accumulate phosphorus and other elements and may serve as sources of secondary raw materials. This paper evaluates phosphorus sources based on their environmental impact. In a life cycle assessment (LCA) the conventional production was used as a yardstick against which to measure the performance of two recycling options: spreading of sewage sludge and phosphorus recovery from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWA). When compared as three gate-to-gate processes, the sludge spreading had the lowest potential environmental impact, except in the impact categories ecoand human toxicity. In the future, the sludge spreading could potentially outperform the conventional process also with regard to toxicity, provided its Hg and Cu content can be reduced. Phosphorus extracted from the MSWA had the highest impact, except in relation to eutrophication. The benefits of avoiding the conventional production were greater than the sludge recycling impacts for all categories except toxicity. When conventional production is substituted by the MSWA recycling, the eutrophication and land-use impacts are avoided, while the impacts in other categories are considerable. The development needs identified for this method include substitution of HCl, reduced water consumption, and reduction of the product’s metal content. Solutions to all of these challenges have been proposed and are currently being tested.

Rapporten fokuserar pa skotselmetoder inom skogsoch jordbruk och vilka effekter de far for vaxthusgaser, biologisk mangfald och vattenkvalitet/kvantitet. Skogen spelar en allt storre roll i klimata ...

Land management meeting several environmental objectives : minimizing impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and water : knowledge compilation and s...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on methods developed, within a three‐year Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) project at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, to achieve a higher degree of embedding of ESD in engineering programmes. The major emphasis is on methods used, results achieved and lessons learned from the work.Design/methodology/approachThe basic idea that methods and activities were built on was that the only way to achieve long‐term changes is to increase the motivation and capacity of lecturers and program directors to perform the required changes.FindingsActivities that were developed and tested focused on coaching discussions and on workshops for teachers, gathering teachers from one programme at a time. These activities aimed at starting learning processes in individuals. Special care was taken into keeping the feeling of responsibility and initiative in the faculty members within the programmes. A special “resource group” of experienced ESD teachers was available as support for programme directors and lecturers.Originality/valueThe methods reported on are further developments of a method that has been used in Delft University of Technology (the Individual Interaction Method) in the Netherlands. The experiences from Chalmers are discussed in such a way that they provide useful insights for others aiming at similar changes at university.

Under senare ar har ett antal nya produkter innehallande silver lanserats, till exempel sarvardsprodukter, tvattmaskiner och textilier. Inte minst har mangden nanosilverpartiklar okat kraftigt. Nar detta silver nar avloppsreningsverken kan det dels paverka processerna i verken, men framfor allt paverkas kvaliten pa det slam som produceras. Syftet med detta projekt var, i korthet, att undersoka de viktiga produktkedjor som avslutas med att silver hamnar i svenska avloppsreningsverk och att darmed bidra till en battre forstaelse for problemet. Arbetet utfordes som ett examensarbete under 2011 av Derek Diener under handledning av Ulrika Palme pa avdelningen for miljosystemanalys pa Chalmers tekniska hogskola i Goteborg. Studien stottades med finansiering av Svenskt Vatten Utveckling, och med radgivning fran en referensgrupp bestaende av representanter for Boras VA, Gryaab och Hammargards ARV, vilka vi harmed vill tacka for det ekonomiska saval som det kunskapsmassiga stod vi fatt. Vi vill aven tacka alla de personer som bidragit med sin tid och sina kunskaper, tankar och asikter i intervjuer, moten och enkater. Denna rapport ar en oversatt och for Svenskt Vatten Utveckling anpassad version av Derek Dieners rapport ”Silver in the product stream: From consumer goods to sludge and water ecosystems with a focus on stakeholder positions”.

Which mitigation options in land-use management do meet the goals for green house gas emissions, biodiversity and water security? This report makes a systems analysis of land-use and its implications for green house gas emissions, biodiversity and water. The main conclusions are that: • Most land management strategies can meet the goals for biodiversity and water in an adequate way, except intensive forestry, although trade-offs between different environmental values will be necessary. • It is important that there is an understanding of how the prerequisite for impacts of land-use changes in a changing climate.