European Union Sustainability Research Articles

An Overview on European Union Sustainable Competitiveness

The last few years have emphasized a continuing concern of many institutions, nations, companies for sustainable development. The recent literature brings into attention the concept of sustainable competitiveness beyond sustainable development. The main idea of sustainable competitiveness is reflected by the searching of a model that could balance economic prosperity, environmental issues and social sustainability. In this context, is shaping the sustainability-adjusted global competitiveness index that take into consideration two new dimensions – environmental and social. Practically, the triple bottom line concept will be extrapolated from the microeconomic level to the macroeconomic level. This paper tries to identify the most important factors/forces that will impact sustainable competitiveness, on one hand, and to analyze the sustainable competitiveness of European Union countries, on the other hand.

Greenhouse gas emissions of forest bioenergy supply and utilization in Finland

The paper assesses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of forest bioenergy supply and utilization in Finland. Each step in the supply chains of harvesting residues (HR), small-diameter energy wood (EW) and stumps (ST) is assessed separately, with geography-related differences between Northern and Southern Finland (NF and SF) taken into consideration. Furthermore, the GHG performance of five distinct bioenergy options—(1) combined heat and power production, (2) condensing power production, (3) torrefied pellets, (4) gasification, and (5) pyrolysis oil production—is assessed and compared with that of current reference systems in Finland and also the European Union (EU) sustainability criteria. If soil carbon stock (SCS) changes and possible storage emissions are omitted, the GHG emissions deriving from the supply chain of comminuted forest biomass to plants are 2.4, 3.0, and 2.6 gCO2eq MJ−1 for HR, EW, and ST in SF, respectively. In NF, the corresponding values are 2.9, 3.6, and 3.2 gCO2eq MJ−1, respectively. If SCS changes and possible emissions from storage are accounted for, the emissions for HR, EW, and ST are in the ranges 9.2–49.2, 24.4–64.4, and 33.1–73.1 gCO2eq MJ−1 in SF and 12.7–52.7, 29.4–69.4, and 39.5–79.5 gCO2eq MJ−1 in NF. Most supply-chain GHG emissions arise from SCS changes and possible emissions from storage of comminuted biomass, both of which may involve significant uncertainty factors. In comparison to local reference systems, significant GHG savings can be achieved through energy utilization of forest biomass, but if SCS changes and, in particular, storage emissions are taken into account, fulfillment of the EU sustainability criteria is not guaranteed.

A review of social sustainability considerations among EU-approved voluntary schemes for biofuels, with implications for rural livelihoods

The rapid expansion of biofuel production and consumption has raised concerns over the social and environmental sustainability of biofuel feedstock production, processing and trade. The European Union (EU) has thus balanced its commitment to biofuels as one option for meeting its renewable energy targets with sustainability criteria for economic operators supplying biofuels to member states. Seven voluntary “EU sustainability schemes” were approved in July, 2011 as a means to verify compliance. While mandated sustainability criteria have a strong environmental focus, a number of these voluntary schemes have social sustainability as a significant component of the requirements put forward for achieving certification. As several of these voluntary schemes are incipient, thereby limiting evidence on their effectiveness in practice, this analysis is based on a comparative analysis of the substantive content or ‘scope’ of these schemes and the likely procedural effectiveness of the same. Findings show that while some schemes have considerable coverage of social sustainability concerns, poor coverage of some critical issues, the presence of schemes lacking any social sustainability requirements, and gaps in procedural rules are likely to undermine the likelihood that social sustainability is achieved through these schemes or the EU sustainability policies lending credibility to them.

GHG emission performance of various liquid transportation biofuels in Finland in accordance with the EU sustainability criteria

The European Union (EU) has set a binding greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target for transportation biofuels and other bioliquids. In this study, the GHG emissions of various biofuel chains considered as relevant in large-scale production in Finland were calculated in accordance with the EU sustainability criteria. Special attention was paid to uncertainties and the sensitivities of certain parameters. According to the results, it is impossible in many cases to unambiguously conclude whether or not a biofuel chain passes the emission-saving limit provided by the EU. This may reduce the willingness to invest in biofuel production. Major sources of uncertainties and sensitivities are nitrous oxide emissions from soil and nitrogen fertilisation, emissions of process heat production and soil carbon stock changes in biomass production. Several propositions are made in order to reduce the uncertainty of the results and to make the EU sustainability criteria for biofuels more harmonised and accurate.

Biofuels, Sustainability, and Trade-Related Regulatory Chill

Recent European Union sustainability criteria for biofuels provide an opportunity to understand more precisely the relationship between national sustainable development policies and World Trade Organization (WTO) law. A desire to avoid WTO conflict was one reason for the omission of stronger criteria addressing negative social and environmental impacts of increased biofuels production. Thus, despite declarations of sustainable development’s central importance in WTO legal texts and statements by the Secretariat, national sustainability regulations risked trade law conflict. This article documents potential reasons for a WTO regulatory chill effect on the sustainability criteria. It then outlines challenges that the regulatory concept poses to trade law, which result primarily from its breadth and complexity, as well as the lack of targeted international standards, and its emphasis on production processes which intrude heavily, in an extraterritorial sense, on importers. It is important to identify these limitations to the mutual supportiveness between trade liberalization and national policies to achieve sustainability goals. However, despite these limitations, the case study also suggests that, with regard to sustainability criteria, sustainable development’s soft power as a WTO legal principle is an important source of influence.

How to ensure greenhouse gas emission reductions by increasing the use of biofuels? – Suitability of the European Union sustainability criteria

Abstract Biofuels are promoted in many parts of the world. However, concern of environmental and social problems have grown due to increased production of biofuels. Therefore, many initiatives for sustainability criteria have been announced. As a part of the European Union (EU) renewable energy promotion directive (RED), the EU has introduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-saving requirements for biofuels along with the first-ever mandate methodology to calculate the GHG emission reduction. As explored in this paper, the RED methodology, based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach, excludes many critical issues. These include indirect impacts due to competition for land, biomass and other auxiliary inputs. Also, timing issues, allocation problems, and uncertainty of individual parameters are not yet considered adequately. Moreover, the default values provided in the RED for the GHG balances of biofuels may significantly underestimate their actual impacts. We conclude that the RED methodology cannot ensure the intended GHG emission reductions of biofuels. Instead, a more comprehensive approach is required along with additional data and indicators. Even if it may be very difficult to verify the GHG emission reductions of biofuels in practice, it is necessary to consider the uncertainties more closely, in order to mitigate climate change effectively.

The Sustainability of Biofuels: Limits of the Meta-Standard Approach

This paper examines the European Union (EU) biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme. It argues that the ‘meta-standard’ approach adopted in the EU sustainability scheme is an innovative addition to the EU’s environmental governance toolkit. From a global governance perspective, the EU meta-standard will aid the process of streamlining the proliferation of certification schemes and harmonizing global standards. This will reduce transaction costs for biofuels producers and promote the growth of a sustainable biofuels industry. However, given the close resemblance between the heavy reliance on auditors in the sustainability scheme and that placed on designated operational entities (DOEs) in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), this paper argues that the same problems that threaten the integrity of the CDM verification process are likely to emerge in the EU sustainability scheme. It is therefore necessary to reevaluate the wisdom of extensive reliance on voluntary schemes to perform environmental monitoring functions.

Can Rape Seed Biodiesel Meet the European Union Sustainability Criteria for Biofuels?

The European Union (EU) Renewable Energy Directive stipulates that only biofuel systems that achieve greenhouse gas emission savings of 60% will be eligible to be considered for the 2020 target of 10% renewable energy in transport. Rape seed biodiesel is a very popular indigenous European biofuel; however, this 60% target is very challenging for the biofuel produced. Tropical biofuels such as palm oil biodiesel tend to be sustainable, due to use of residues and byproduct to satisfy parasitic energy demands. This paper explores, through life cycle assessment methodologies, the whole rape seed system and the potential to improve sustainability. Allocation by energy content attributes almost half the greenhouse gas emissions to rape cake (a coproduct). Indeed rape cake as animal feed displaces imported soybean from Latin America and potential destruction to rain forests. Together with use of glycerol as a source of heat, greenhouse gas savings of 75% maybe attained, indicating a sustainable system. Furthermore use of rape straw pellets in lieu of the environmentally unsound practice of using peat produced from Irish Bogs as a source of domestic heating can lead to a 135% savings on diesel. Interestingly, rape cake as a source of biomethane greatly improves the energy balance of the system but is of little benefit to emissions.

EU energy security, sustainability and globalisation: What role for Qatari LNG amid calls for greater energy diversification?

This paper explores recent developments in the trade-offs between energy security, sustainability and globalisation, focusing on the European Union (EU) energy market. The EU's desire to secure long-term supplies of lower-carbon energy is a key driver for the diversification of sources of natural gas, as is a desire to diversify and maximise intra-EU sources of primary energy, including renewable and nuclear sources. However, any development of domestic energy sources within the EU faces resource limitations and appears to push against trends towards globalisation. This paper develops a risk-based analysis to explore some of these issues by comparing two long-term natural gas supply options for the EU. Firstly the supply of Russian natural gas (currently around 45% of total imports), delivered via pipelines crossing national borders, and an alternative of LNG supplied by Qatar's fast-growing export capacity.

Corporate social responsibility and gender equality: women as stakeholders and the European Union sustainability strategy

This paper examines how progress on gender equality in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) might contribute to broader EU gender and sustainability objectives. It focuses on corporations and citizenship, and on company stakeholder relations (SR) in particular. While the literature on SR has previously engaged with scholarship on feminist ethics, and in particular the ‘ethics of care’, this paper draws upon the feminist citizenship and feminist ethics literature, and upon gender mainstreaming strategy to suggest a more comprehensive approach to gender equality within SR. The aim is to extend our understanding of CSR as a potential policy instrument to advance gender equality.

The European Commission's sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy action plan

The promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns is enshrined as a key objective in the renewed European Union Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS). Sustainable consumption and production is arguably the most challenging aspect of the EU SDS. It requires changes to the way products and services are designed, produced, used and disposed of, taking into account producer and consumer behaviours. This paper reviews the European Commission's Communication on the sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy action plan, introduced on July 16, 2008. The paper examines the priority areas identified for action, the means adopted to improve energy and environmental performance of products as well as uptake by consumers. The paper concludes that the absence of mandatory quantifiable targets and deadlines and a reliance on both cross-sectoral and multi-level relationships are likely to weaken the ability of the action plan's fundamental objective of decoupling economic growth from resource use.

PROBLEMS OF INVOLVEMENT OF DISABLED PERSONS IN E. GOVERNMENT / DALYVAVIMO ELEKTRONINĖJE VALDŽIOJE PROBLEMOS

The European Union Sustainable Development Strategy stated that sustainable development was a long‐term European Union's strategy safeguarding clean and healthy environment and better quality of life for the present and future generations. People with disabilities are perhaps the single segment of society with the most to gain from the new technologies of the electronic age. Yet they are among the lowest rates of use of these technologies. As a result, the potential benefits of computers and the Internet to the disability community are a long way from being realized. Computer technology and the Internet have a tremendous potential to broaden the lives and increase the independence of people with disabilities. Those who have difficulty leaving their homes can now log in and order groceries, shop for appliances, research health questions, participate in online discussions, catch up with friends, or make new ones. Development of information society is one of main three Lithuanian state priorities stated in State long‐term strategy. It fits aims of the European Union. Lithuanian information society development's aims are coordinated with norms of Lisbon strategy and initiative “e‐Europe – information society for all”. It is quite important that disabled persons could use IT opportunities. Research presents analysis of the main state Internet sites with purpose to establish how these sites are fitted to demands of disabled persons. Santrauka Europos Sąjungos darnaus vystymosi strategijos pagrindą sudaro aplinkosauga, ekonominis ir socialinis vystymasis, siekiant sukurti sveiką aplinką ir geresnę gyvenimo kokybę dabartinėms ir ateinančioms kartoms. Pereinant prie informacinės visuomenės, gausi informacia tampa prieinama naujais, įvairiais formatais ir gali būti pateiktas nepriklausomai nuo vietos ir laiko bei pritaikoma pagal atskirų asmenų poreikius ir reikalavimus. Informacinės visuomenės kūrimas yra pirmasis iš trijų Lietuvos valstybės prioritetų, įtvirtintų Valstybės ilgalaikės raidos strategijoje, tai atitinka Europos Sąjungos siekius. Lietuvos informacinės visuomenės plėtros tikslai yra suderinti su Lisabonos strategija bei iniciatyvos „e-Europe – informacinė visuomenė visiems“ nuostatomis bei reikalavimais. Tobulinant e. valdžią, svarbu skatinti paslaugų teikimą elektroniniais būdais, užtikrinti gyventojams galimybę naudotis šiomis paslaugomis. Sprendžiant šį uždavinį, svarbu užtikrinti prieigą prie šiuolaikinių technologijų visiems norintiesiems. Lygių galimybių principo įgyvendinimas socialinės atskirties gyventojų grupėms turi užtikrinti galimybę rinktis ir paveikti svarbiausius gyvenimo sprendimus. Žmonės, kurie negali naudotis informacinėmis technologijomis, praranda galimybę gauti tam tikrą informaciją ir viešąsias paslaugas. Neįgalusis dėl nepritaikytos fizinės aplinkos dažnai neturi galimybių pasinaudoti sveikajai visuomenės daliai prieinama informacija ir pasiekti informacijos šaltinį. Viena iš svarbių prielaidų neįgaliųjų atskirčiai mažinti yra interneto informacinės aplinkos pritaikymas žmonėms, turintiems negalią. Straipsnyje pateikiama svarbiausių Lietuvos valstybinio valdymo institucijų interneto svetainių analizė siekiant nustatyti, kaipšios svetainės yra pritaikytos neįgaliesiems.