Posts Tagged 'policy'

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Does the European Union achieve comprehensive blue growth? Progress of EU coastal states in the Baltic and North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean against sustainable development goal 14

Published 21 May 2019 Science Closed
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Highlights

• European Union Blue Growth is assessed by set of 18 indicators for 15 EU coastal states.

• The results put into question that the EU has achieved comprehensive blue growth.

• Unsustainable development is in particular driven by increasing fishing mortality.

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goal for the oceans and coasts (SDG 14) as part of the 2030 Agenda can be considered as an important step towards achieving comprehensive blue growth. Here, we selected a set of 18 indicators to measure progress against SDG 14 for 15 EU coastal countries in the Baltic and the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean since 2012. In our assessment we distinguish between a concept of weak and strong sustainability, assuming high and low substitution possibilities, respectively. Our results indicate that there are countries which managed to achieve sustainable development under both concepts of sustainability (most notably Estonia, achieving the strongest improvement), but that there are also countries which failed to achieve sustainable development under both concepts (most notably Ireland and Belgium, experiencing the strongest decline). Unsustainable development is in particular driven by increasing fishing mortality and reduced willingness to set total allowable catch in accordance with scientific advice.

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Ecological and socioeconomic strategies to sustain Caribbean coral reefs in a high-CO2 world

Published 20 May 2019 Science Closed
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The Caribbean and Western Atlantic region hosts one of the world’s most diverse geopolitical regions and a unique marine biota distinct from tropical seas in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. While this region varies in human population density, GDP and wealth, coral reefs, and their associated ecosystem services, are central to people’s livelihoods. Unfortunately, the region’s reefs have experienced extensive degradation over the last several decades. This degradation has been attributed to a combination of disease, overfishing, and multiple pressures from other human activities. Furthermore, the Caribbean region has experienced rapid ocean warming and acidification as a result of climate change that will continue and accelerate throughout the 21st century. It is evident that these changes will pose increasing threats to Caribbean reefs unless imminent actions are taken at the local, regional and global scale. Active management is required to sustain Caribbean reefs and increase their resilience to recover from acute stress events. Here, we propose local and regional solutions to halt and reverse Caribbean coral reef degradation under ongoing ocean warming and acidification. Because the Caribbean has already experienced high coral reef degradation, we suggest that this region may be suitable for more aggressive interventions than might be suitable for other regions. Solutions with direct ecological benefits highlighted here build on existing knowledge of factors that can contribute to reef restoration and increased resilience in the Caribbean: (1) management of water quality, (2) reduction of unsustainable fishing practices, (3) application of ecological engineering, and (4) implementing marine spatial planning. Complementary socioeconomic and governance solutions include: (1) increasing communication and leveraging resources through the establishment of a regional reef secretariat, (2) incorporating reef health and sustainability goals into the blue economy plans for the region, and (3) initiating a reef labelling program to incentivize corporate partnerships for reef restoration and protection to sustain overall reef health in the region.

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Arctic ocean acidification assessment 2018: summary for policy-makers

Published 8 May 2019 Science Closed
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Some of the fastest rates of acidification are occurring in the Arctic, due mainly to the higher capacity of colder water to absorb CO2, but also due to dilution by river run-off and ice melt, and the inflow of naturally low pH waters from the Pacific. Changes are already evident in the Arctic Ocean’s marine carbonate system – which, among other things, has been shown to influence growth, reproduction and ultimately survival in some organisms. These changes may cause significant ecological shifts in the coming decades. These shifts could, in turn, have significant socioeconomic consequences, not only for Arctic communities, but more widely. These concerns were referenced in the Fairbanks Declaration of 11 May 2017, when ministers representing the eight Arctic states, and representatives of the six Permanent Participant organizations, noted “with concern the vulnerability of Arctic marine ecosystems to the impacts of ocean acidification”, and called for continuing study and awareness raising regarding those impacts and their consequences.

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Who cares about ocean acidification in the Plasticene?

Published 23 April 2019 Science Closed
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Highlights

• Ocean Acidification is not lifted to the top of the global agenda despite the gravity of the implications should it worsen.

• Marine plastics has risen rapidly and fast on the public agenda and gathers great media attention.

• Ocean Acidification should be considered separate from climate change.

• Important that the issue reaches the consciousness of the public and the global governance elite.

Abstract
Plastics is all the rage, and mitigating marine litter is topping the agenda for nations pushing issues such as ocean acidification, or even climate change, away from the public consciousness. We are personally directly affected by plastics and charismatic megafauna is dying from it, and it is something that appears to be doable. So, who cares about the issue of ocean acidification anymore? We all should. The challenge is dual in the fact that is both invisible to the naked eye and therefore not felt like a pressing issue to the public, thereby not reaching the top of the agenda of policy makers; but also that it is framed in the climate change narrative of fear – whereby it instills in a fight-or-flight response in the public, resulting in their avoidance of the issue because they feel they are unable to take action that have results. In this article, we argue that the effective global environmental governance of ocean acidification, though critical to address, mitigate against and adapt to, is hindered by the both this lack of perception of urgency in the general public, fueled by a lack of media coverage, as well as a fight-or-flight response resulting from fear. We compare this to the more media friendly and plastics problem that is tangible and manageable. We report on a media plots of plastics and ocean acidification coverage over time and argue that the issue needs to be detangled from climate change and framed as its own issue to reach the agenda at a global level, making it manageable to assess and even care about for policy makers and the public alike?

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Ocean acidification: dealing with uncharted waters

Published 28 March 2019 Science Closed
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There are ancient air bubbles trapped in ice that have allowed NASA to observe what Earth’s atmosphere was like in the past 400,000 years. Through research, NASA discovered the carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere are higher than they have ever been. Since the industrial revolution, it is no secret humans have contributed immensely to the significant increase of CO2. In fact, the Earth’s oceans absorb an astonishing amount of CO2 emissions. Today, the Earth’s oceans absorb twenty-two million tons of CO2 every day. To make things more troublesome, researchers are predicting CO2 levels will continue to rise in the coming years, resulting in unprecedented effects to Earth. When the Earth’s ocean absorbs an increase of CO2, there is a corresponding increase in the acidity levels of the ocean’s chemical makeup. The astoundingly high levels of CO2 have resulted in Earth’s oceans becoming thirty percent more acidic than in recorded history. This underappreciated issue is called ocean acidification, and its effects create profound consequences. Ocean acidification is threatening the ocean’s chemical makeup, ecosystems, marine organisms, and biodiversity. “Absent immediate action, ‘irreversible, catastrophic changes to marine ecosystems’ are anticipated to occur[,]” even endangering human life. Although these facts are troubling, humans have the resources and ability to mitigate our ocean’s chemical makeup and change its terrifying future.

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Socio-economic tools to mitigate the impacts of ocean acidification on economies and communities reliant on coral reefs–a framework for prioritization

Published 19 March 2019 Science Closed
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Coral reef preservation is a challenge for the whole of humanity, not just for the estimated three billion people that directly depend upon coral reefs for their livelihoods and food security. Ocean acidification combined with rising sea surface temperatures, and an array of other anthropogenic influences such as pollution, sedimentation, over fishing, and coral mining represent the key threats currently facing coral reef survival. Here we summarise a list of agreements, policies, and socio-economic tools and instruments that can be used by global, national and local decision-makers to address ocean acidification and associated threats, as identified during an expert workshop in October 2017. We then discuss these tools and instruments at a global level and identify the key tasks for raising decision makers’ awareness. Finally, we suggest ways of prioritizing between different actions or tools for mitigation and adaptation.

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A framework for agenda-setting ocean acidification through boundary work

Published 26 February 2019 Science Closed
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Highlights
• For ocean acidification to be seen as a salient and legitimate issue, awareness raising, learning and capacity building are required.

• Workshops and outreach activities can facilitate learning, awareness-raising and co-production of knowledge about coastal ocean acidification.

• Stakeholders agreed that coastal ocean acidification could be treated as a water-quality issue and managed under the Water Framework Directive.

• Coastal zone managers face challenges in addressing ocean acidification, and wants national government to take responsibility for actions in response to OA.

Abstract
Ocean acidification (OA) is already impacting marine organisms and may fundamentally alter marine ecosystems in the coming decades, with major implications for ocean services, such as food provision. Though OA is an emerging concern in coastal zone management, current actions are limited to monitoring and knowledge production. This article presents a framework for addressing coastal zone OA in local-level policy agendas through workshops, and lessons learned and outcome from the implementation of this framework in two cases in southern and northern Norway. The framework includes four components: 1) facilitating knowledge exchange and identify challenges and opportunities relating to OA; 2) ensuring legitimacy of new knowledges; 3) building capacity through learning and skill development; and 4) raise awareness about OA among local decisionmakers. The case studies include local and regional coastal zone management stakeholders and, using OA measurements and modelling, illustrate co-production of new knowledge of coastal ocean acidification and its potential local impacts. Through two rounds of workshops, we demonstrate that the level of OA awareness markedly increases among stakeholders. This awareness manifests in vocal interest for looming projected impacts and their necessary mitigative measures. This concern is compounded by stakeholders who recognize that OA should be treated as a component of water-quality, implying that OA is gaining salience as a local policy issue. However, it is evident that local management faces challenges in addressing such an issue, combined with expectations that higher levels of government take responsibility for mitigative and adaptive actions in response to OA.

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A governing framework for international ocean acidification policy

Published 19 February 2019 Science Closed
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Highlights

• Ocean acidification (OA) poses a threat to marine systems and the goods and services they provide.

• A framework is needed to guide the international response to minimize and address OA.

• International policy should have three objectives: mitigation, adaptation and the redress of harm.

• These three objectives can be pursued by a number of multilateral agreements.

• Such an approach may fill the governance gap created by the lack of OA treaty.

Abstract

Ocean acidification (OA) is a major emergent stressor of marine ecosystems with global implications for biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and economic prosperity. International action is imperative for addressing it. This paper builds a science-based governing framework, identifying three overarching policy objectives and six areas for action that should be pursued so as to minimise this global problem. No unifying OA treaty or legal instrument with the explicit task of addressing OA currently exists and it looks highly unlikely that any will eventuate. A more pragmatic approach is to use existing multilateral agreements. However, taking on OA as a unified problem seems to be beyond the scope of existing agreements, due to structural limitations and the willingness of Parties. Given this, it is more likely that OA will be addressed by a network of agreements, each responding to discrete elements of the problem of OA within their capabilities. However, it is unclear how existing MEA capabilities extend to addressing OA. This paper therefore offers an analytical framework through existing governance structures can be explored for their capabilities to respond to OA.

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Environmental framing on Twitter: impact of Trump’s Paris Agreement withdrawal on climate change and ocean acidification dialogue

Published 7 February 2019 Science Closed
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The role of social media in communicating emerging environmental issues has received little attention. One such issue is ocean acidification (OA), the process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) acidifies oceans. Although scientists consider OA to be as dangerous as climate change (CC) and both problems are caused by excess CO2 emissions, public awareness of OA is low. We investigated public discussions about CC and OA on Twitter, identifying frames and tweeter characteristics. Tweeting patterns before and after President Trump’s 1 June 2017 announcement of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the international Paris Climate Agreement were compared because of the potential for diverse framing of this globally communicated event. For CC tweets, Political/Ideological Struggle (PIS) and Disaster (DS) frames were prevalent, with PIS frames increasing threefold after Trump’s announcement. DS, Settled Science (SS), and Promotional frames were prevalent among OA tweets, with SS decreasing and PIS increasing after the announcement. Our findings suggest that Trump’s decision sparked discourse on CC and facilitated expressions of politicized opinions on Twitter. We conclude that with a careful understanding of issue familiarity among its publics, social media can be effective for disseminating information and opinion of established and emerging environmental issues, complementing traditional media outlets.

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Regional action plan on ocean acidification for Latin America and the Caribbean

Published 7 February 2019 Science Closed
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Representatives of 14 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean attended the first regional meeting of the Ocean Acidification international Reference User Group (OAiRUG), hosted by Invemar in Santa Marta, Colombia, held on 19th – 21st March 2018. Funded by the Prince Albert II Foundation as part of a long-term strategy of His Serene Highness, with additional support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and held in collaboration IUCN and the Latin American Ocean Acidification Network (LAOCA), the purpose of the meeting was to bring together leading international and regional scientists, experts from affected maritime industries, leaders in environmental protection and management, and representatives from civil society to create a step-change in how the region can respond to this modern-day ocean-impact challenge. Attended by over 50 invited delegates, for the first time the OAiRUG proceedings were also streamed live by Invemar to Facebook and the Colombia National Parks channel attracting an online audience of over 8000 people across the three days.

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Coral reefs of the Red Sea — challenges and potential solutions

Published 14 January 2019 Science Closed
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The Red Sea is a unique body of water, hosting some of the most productive and diverse coral reefs. Human populations along coasts of the Red Sea were initially sparse due to the hot and arid climate surrounding it, but this is changing with improved desalination techniques, accessible energy, and increased economic interest in coastal areas. In addition to increasing pressure on reefs from coastal development, global drivers, primarily ocean acidification and seawater warming, are threatening coral reefs of the region. While reefs in southern sections of the Red Sea live near or above their maximum temperature tolerance and have experienced bleaching events in the recent past, coral reefs in northern sections are considered a coral reef refugia from global warming and acidification, at least for the coming decades. Such differential sensitivities along the latitudinal gradient of the Red Sea require differential solutions and management. In an effort to identify the appropriate solutions to conserve and maintain resilience of these reefs along a latitudinal gradient, we used a SWOT analysis (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) to frame the present situation and to propose policy solutions as useful planning procedures. We highlight the need for immediate action to secure the northern sections of the Red Sea as a coral reef climate change refuge by management and removal of local stressors. There is a need to strengthen the scientific knowledge base for proper management and to encourage regional collaboration on environmental issues. Based on scientific data, solutions such as marine protected areas, fishing regulation, and reef restoration approaches were ranked for five distinct latitudinal sections in the Red Sea and levels of interventions are recommended.

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Legal practices and challenges in addressing climate change and its impact on the oceans—a Chinese perspective

Published 28 November 2018 Science Closed
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Highlights

• International legal and policy instruments contain certain measures to tackle the effects of climate change on the oceans.
• China has also committed to addressing the effects of climate change on the oceans.
• The overlapping of different systems has, however, created some difficulties in practice and further coordination is urgently required.
• The ultimate solution in avoiding the worsening effects of climate change on the oceans would be to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases worldwide and China wishes to take a leading role in such efforts.

Abstract

Two key drivers, ocean warming and ocean acidification, affect the oceans and adds to the climate change adversely. International legal and policy instruments contain certain measures to tackle these growing effects. China is also committed to addressing the effects of climate change on the oceans. The overlapping of different systems has, however, created some difficulties in practice and further coordination is urgently required. This paper uses qualitative methods to investigate China’s legal practices in addressing the effects of climate change and their impact on the oceans. The study considers newly introduced policies and recent actions launched by the Chinese Government to chart a clearer picture of the current practices. To this end, it is concluded that the ultimate solution in avoiding the worsening effects of climate change on the oceans would be to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases worldwide, and China aims to take advantage of playing leading role in such efforts.

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Conceptual advances on global scale assessments of vulnerability: Informing investments for coastal populations at risk of climate change

Published 27 November 2018 Science Closed
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Since the 1990s, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has used global assessments of vulnerability to inform investment and action against the effects of climate change. Beyond the IPCC, others have undertaken global assessments to understand the vulnerability of coastal areas to climate change. Eight global vulnerability assessments are compared to understand similarities and differences in their results and the metrics used to construct a vulnerability index. Variations in objectives, conceptualizations of vulnerability, operationalization of the concepts, scope and depth of data drawn upon lead to contradictory rankings of priority areas for climate action between assessments. The increased complexity and scope of indicators make it difficult to untangle the root causes of such differences in rankings. It is also difficult to identify the degree to which climate change influences vulnerability rankings compared to other factors such as local environmental conditions and the capacity of populations to deal with environmental change. The way to undertake global assessments needs to be reshaped to better inform planning of international development along different objectives. Global level assessments need to be simplified and harmonized to better isolate the impact of climate change specific drivers. Decision-makers would make better use of such global assessments as scoping studies rather than expect comprehensive and robust priorities for investment. Such scoping studies can help target locations where supplementary, in-depth local analyses need to be conducted. At the local level, the possibility to collect context-specific information, particularly on adaptive capacity, allows the robust assessment of vulnerability.

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Societal causes of, and responses to, ocean acidification

Published 22 November 2018 Science Closed
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Major climate and ecological changes affect the world’s oceans leading to a number of responses including increasing water temperatures, changing weather patterns, shrinking ice-sheets, temperature-driven shifts in marine species ranges, biodiversity loss and bleaching of coral reefs. In addition, ocean pH is falling, a process known as ocean acidification (OA). The root cause of OA lies in human policies and behaviours driving society’s dependence on fossil fuels, resulting in elevated CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. In this review, we detail the state of knowledge of the causes of, and potential responses to, OA with particular focus on Swedish coastal seas. We also discuss present knowledge gaps and implementation needs.

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Climate change, ocean acidification and the marine environment: challenges for the international legal regime

Published 22 August 2018 Science Closed
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The protection and conservation of the ocean warrant increased attention from the global community. Several disturbing issues pose a threat to  the marine environment and its well-being (Von Heland & Olsson, 2014, pp. 4470-4496), among them are marine environmental pollution and the degradation of marine biodiversity – two well-known challenges that must be overcome. Combined, they are striking challenges to the marine environment. Moreover, most troubling is that they are caused by an overwhelming level of human activities (Von Heland, Clifton &Olsson, 2014), which are sometimes transboundary, and whose consequences will become more severe and complicated if not properly curbed. hus, it is common knowledge that these activities require comprehensive policies, laws and principles to manage them effectively. Linked to these solutions is the need for responsibilities, cooperation and commitments at local, national, regional and international levels. Altogether, the actions required for the protection of the ocean from human activities in responsible ways has become a necessity rather than an option. However, despite the challenges becoming more acute, and the use of the ocean less sustainable and more harmful, a durable solution to reverse these impacts is unlikely. Considering these issues, this chapter lays the foundation for subsequent chapters by describing why and how ocean-related issues should be addressed responsibly, immediately and systematically, and how and why ocean pollution and threats to marine biodiversity are challenges to overcome. The exploration in this chapter guides the discussion in the subsequent chapters, which critically examine the current legal and institutional frameworks governing different issues of marine environmental protection and conservation.

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Acidification in Nordic waters: status, trends and implications for marine species

Published 20 August 2018 Newsletters and reports Closed
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Recent studies on marine life show that the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration can have negative impacts on growth and survival of groups of marine life such as corals and other calcifying organisms.

Increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, and hence in the oceans, lead to decreasing pH or increasing acidification, a process known as ocean acidification (OA). During the last century, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has risen from around 280 ppm to 400 ppm; this has led to a pH decrease in the oceans of 0.1. OA currently takes place at a rate corresponding to approximately -0.02 pH unit per decade and an increase in CO2 at around 2 ppm per year. The projections for atmospheric CO2 concentration is an increase to around 1000 ppm at the end of the century, which will lower pH in the oceans by 0.3-0.4. Although this may appear relatively small, a decrease in pH of 0.1 corresponds to an increase in acidity (“free” protons) of 25%, and 0.3-0.4 corresponds to an increase of 200-250%.

Coastal systems experience changes in pH over time exceeding those of the ocean by several orders of magnitude,
but the field is poorly studied, and the spatial variation is large. The Baltic Sea is no exception to this. pH changes in the Baltic Sea are tightly coupled to nutrient input, alkalinity (AT) of freshwater sources in addition to increased CO2 levels and warming. Acidification trends vary substantially among coastal systems and time of year, but have been reported up to 10 times faster than OA.

The TRIACID project has mapped acidification trends in the Baltic Sea during the past 40 years, in different regions, and identified areas with a general lack of data. The project has described spatial variation and trends in pH status, and the main drivers of changing pH have been identified. Given the spatial variation, the data gaps, and all the different drivers a detailed projection of the development is complicated but since we expect increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, rising temperatures and decreasing nutrient input, the acidification trend will continue or accelerate in most of the region.

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Learning to play well with others: a proposed international solution to mitigate ocean acidification

Published 6 July 2018 Science Closed
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While ocean acidification is a major crisis affecting the shellfish industry and local economies in the United States, it is an international issue and should be handled as such. Countries throughout the world are attempting to face the impacts of ocean acidification independently. For example, rising acidity levels are causing the exterior of shellfish to deteriorate in the Pacific Northwest and coral composition to weaken in Australia. Although the cause of these various, widespread issues is the ocean’s altering composition, the methods to mitigate the negative results are not treated in a comprehensive manner. Rather, these international ocean acidification implications are approached from an individualistic perspective.

This article will be broken up into four sections. First, this article will explain the background issue of ocean acidification and its potential negative environmental, economic, and social impacts. Second, current legislative and judicial developments in the United States addressing ocean acidification will be discussed. Third, an international section will address solutions employed in other countries facing effects from ocean acidification, as well as potential international solutions attempted or proposed. Finally, this article will conclude with suggestions for future change and potential solutions to face this international crisis, including legislative and scientific reform to mitigate or adapt to impacts of ocean acidification.

Ultimately, this article argues that a comprehensive international approach to ocean acidification is not only encouraged, but necessary, as this is an inherently international environmental crisis. As a specific proposal, this article posits the formation of an international panel of five countries, potentially including those with booming economies, high rates of pollution, dependence on aquaculture, and environmentalist tendencies. This proposal will be further discussed at the conclusion of this article

 

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Communicating ocean deoxygenation: developing recommendations for communicating ocean deoxygenation to California policy makers

Published 4 July 2018 Science Closed
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A problem associated with anthropogenic climate change that is often overlooked by policy makers is the loss of oxygen within the ocean, referred to as ocean deoxygenation. This problem has the potential to cause immense harm to the oceans, the organisms found within, and the resources and ecosystem services
the oceans provide for humans. Despite the threats to our ecosystem and well-
being, ocean deoxygenation is relatively unknown to policy makers and the
public. Although studies have documented the loss of oxygen in the oceans over the last 50 years, it was only within the last 10 years that the term “ocean deoxygenation” was even created, cementing the connection between oxygen loss and anthropogenic climate change. Few efforts have been made to communicate this issue outside the scientific community, but an effort to address ocean deoxygenation must be made soon if we want to reverse or mitigate its effects.
California has experienced large percentages of oxygen loss over the past few decades: Monterey Bay lost 39.9% of its oxygen between 1998 and 2014 at 250-
400 meters depth, and the Southern California Bight lost 21% of its oxygen at 300 meters depth between 1984 and 2006 (Levin et al., 2018). This paper reviews ocean deoxygenation awareness, the successful campaign to communicate ocean acidification, and outlines communication recommendations to raise awareness of this issue among California legislators and policy makers in hopes of influencing mitigation policy and practices. These recommendations were created based on successful communication methods used in communicating the similar climate change-related issue of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is a comparable example of an ocean health issue that continues to be communicated to policy members at the state and federal level. Ocean acidification and ocean deoxygenation are related to climate change;both exhibit complex mechanisms that can be simplified into succinct messages, and both became established in the literature with in the past two decades. The communication model used for ocean acidification will serve as a good base from which to develop recommendations for communication about ocean deoxygenation. This communication recommendation framework is meant to help establish a California-based case study of how to approach communicating ocean deoxygenation that can be used to guide future communication methods at the federal level.

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National environmental limits and footprints based on the Planetary Boundaries framework: the case of Switzerland

Published 21 June 2018 Science Closed
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Highlights

• Planetary Boundaries: going from bio-physical to related socio-economic indicators.
• Setting limits at country level considering the role of countries and people needs.
• Limits and footprints are computed for the world and for a case study: Switzerland.
• Global priorities: Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Biodiversity, Nitrogen Loss.

Abstract

The Planetary Boundaries concept is a recent scientific framework, which identifies a set of nine bio-physical limits of the Earth system that should be respected in order to maintain conditions favourable to further human development. Crossing the suggested limits would lead to drastic changes in human society by disrupting some of the ecological bases that underlie the current socio-economic system. As a contribution to the international discussion, and using the case of Switzerland, this study proposes a methodology to apply the Planetary Boundaries concept on the national level. Taking such an approach allows to assess the environmental sustainability of the socio-economic activities (e.g. consumption) by the inhabitants of a country in a long-term global perspective, assuming that past, current and future populations on Earth have similar “rights” to natural resources. The performance of countries is evaluated by comparing the country limits with their environmental footprints according to a consumption-based perspective. An approach was developed to: i) better characterise the Planetary Boundaries and understand which limits can effectively be currently quantified; ii) identify related socio-economic indicators for which both country limits and footprints can be computed; iii) compute values for limits, footprints and performances (at global and country level); and iv) suggest priorities for action based on the assessment of global and national performances. It was found that Switzerland should, as a priority, act on its footprints related to Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Biodiversity Loss and Nitrogen Loss. The methodology developed herein can be applied to the analysis of other countries or territories, as well as extended to analyse specific economic sectors.

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Bioeconomics of ocean acidification

Published 25 April 2018 Science Closed
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Ocean acidification is an additional stressor to many fisheries of today, mostly those targeting calcifier species. Responsible assessment and management of these fisheries should then account for the effect on growth and mortality rates of marine species most sensible to changes in pH conditions. This new environmental stressor could have management implications when determining appropriate rates of exploitation aiming at fisheries biological and economic reference points.

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