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This paper explores to what extent moving towards the 30% GHG emission reductions by 2020 with respect to 1990 in the EU can be considered a transformative target. To do so, we first define the concept of transformative targets from a complex systems perspective and show a novel approach and original results using an extended application of the GEM-E3 model. Traditional macroeconomic models cannot easily handle key synergetic system effects derived from green growth and sustainability policies, and thus require additional features. We analyse the role of semi-endogenous growth driven by learning-by-doing and low-carbon investment expectations following a long-term transformative trajectory.

More and more attention is being paid to renewable technologies because they are seen as a great opportunity to disengage our society from its dependence on fossil fuels. Such flow-based energy resources that rely on solar energy are supposed to lead us toward a sustainable energy future. However, because of their high capital intensity, renewable technologies require large amounts of matter, including both common and rare metals. These metals require energy for their production, and more specifically for their extraction. The energy cost associated with metal extraction is linked to mineral ore grade, meaning that as depletion progresses, energy cost increases. In addition, renewable energy resources deliver less net energy to society compared to fossil fuels, because of their diffuse nature. It is therefore easy to see that a close relationship exists between energy and metal sectors. In this article, we describe more precisely this relationship by investigating how the energy requirement associated with metal extraction could impact the energy-return-on-investment (EROI) of different renewable and nuclear technologies. More precisely, we present a methodology that can be used to calculate the sensitivity of the EROI of a given technology to a specific or to multiple metal ore grade degradation. We found that if considered separately, the qualitative depletion of a given metal has no significant impact on the EROI of renewable and nuclear technologies, unless its concentration approaches very low grade. However, if all metals are considered together, the EROI of these same technologies could be importantly diminished, especially if they tend to very low concentrations.

Energy efficiency and decarbonization are important elements of climate change mitigation. We draw on European mitigation scenarios from the EMF28 modeling exercise to decompose economy-wide and sectoral emissions into their main components. We utilize the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to gain insights into five effects: affluence, energy intensity, carbon intensity, conversion efficiency, and structural change. Economy-wide analysis suggests that energy efficiency improvements (including end-use efficiency of production and structural change of the economy) determine emission reductions short to medium term while decarbonization becomes more important in the long term. Sectoral analysis suggests that electricity generation holds the largest potential for decarbonization. Mitigation in the transport and energy-intensive sectors is limited by technology availability, forcing output and energy inputs to decline to meet the given mitigation pathways. We conclude that energy efficiency improvements could bridge the time until carbon-free technologies mature, while their quick development remains essential.

Despite the modest regional consumption of organic products, Sicily is one of the most important European regions in surface area per number of companies active in organic farming. The University of Palermo, as early as 2000, to promote the development and success in this industry, the Faculty of Agriculture, introduced two major degree programs in "Organic Farming". The objective of these courses is to train graduates who are technically capable of supporting the organic farmers market, to promote and facilitate the expansion of the consumption of organic products, and to create employment opportunities for young graduates. At the end of 2009, in the area of these activities, a training and research program involved numerous students in the creation of an "joint consumption" association whose purpose is the expansion of the consumption of organic products through the enhancement of a direct relationship with small organic farms who would be unlikely to penetrate large markets, or have relationships with large distribution networks. The project aims to assess the ability of the students of the Faculty to transmit the knowledge acquired in the program, and to investigate the relative issues regarding the new phenomenon emerging in recent years in Italy, represented by the spread of various forms of ethically-conscious consumption groups called “Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale (GAS)” or Solidarity Purchase Groups.

Universal access to modern energy services, in terms of access to electricity and to modern cooking facilities, has been recognized as fundamental challenge for development and is likely to be included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Despite a strong praise for action and several programs at both national and international level, very few impact evaluation studies try to shed light on the causal relationship between access to energy and development, by also allowing decision makers to rigorously assess cost-effectiveness and efficiency of policies and programs. This work attempts to review the literature on existing impact evaluation of access to electricity and modern cooking facilities. For access to electricity we consider as outcomes labour markets, time allocation, household welfare (consumption, income, schooling and health) and business. For access to improved cookstoves, we assess impacts on household welfare. The reviewed literature highlights a significant causal impact of electricity access on important metrics of wellbeing, but more mixed evidence regarding clean cookstove. Finally, we also review the barriers and drivers of access to modern energy services identified by most recent impact evaluation studies.

This work illustrates the preliminary findings of a participatory research process aimed at identifying responses for sustainable water management in a climate change perspective, in two river basins in Europe and Asia. The paper describes the methodology implemented through local workshops, aimed at eliciting and evaluating possible responses to flood risk. Participatory workshops allowed for the identification of four categories of possible responses and a set of nine evaluation criteria, three for each of the three pillars of sustainable development. The main outcome of such activities consists in the ranking of broad response categories instrumental to the objective of the Brahmatwinn research project, i.e. the identification of Integrated Water Resource Management Strategies (IWRMS) based upon the issues and preferences elicited from local experts. The mDSS tool was used to facilitate transparent and robust management of the information collected through Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and communication of the outputs.