• Energy Research

Personal and political action on climate change is traditionally thought to be motivated by people accepting its reality and importance. However, convincing the public that climate change is real faces powerful ideological obstacles(1-4), and climate change is slipping in public importance in many countries(.)(5,6) Here we investigate a different approach, identifying whether potential co-benefits of addressing climate change(7) could motivate pro-environmental behaviour around the world for both those convinced and unconvinced that climate change is real. We describe an integrated framework for assessing beliefs about co-benefits(8), distinguishing social conditions (for example, economic development, reduced pollution or disease) and community character (for example, benevolence, competence). Data from all inhabited continents (24 countries; 6,196 participants) showed that two co-benefit types, Development (economic and scientific advancement) and Benevolence (a more moral and caring community), motivated public, private and financial actions to address climate change to a similar degree as believing climate change is important. Critically, relationships were similar for both convinced and unconvinced participants, showing that co-benefits can motivate action across ideological divides. These relationships were also independent of perceived climate change importance, and could not be explained by political ideology, age, or gender. Communicating co-benefits could motivate action on climate change where traditional approaches have stalled.

Salmon is the most consumed farmed seafood in the EU and there is no indication that demand will abate. Yet salmon aquaculture’s environmental impacts are significant, and its future is likely to be shaped by demands of increased but at the same time more sustainable production. This study developed an integrated theoretical framework based on the multi-level perspective (MLP) and a global value chain (GVC) governance framework and applied it to the global farmed salmon value chain. The objective was to provide insights on the most likely transition pathway towards sustainability based on industry and expert perspectives. The perceptions on challenges and drivers of change, were gathered through focus groups and in-depth interviews, and fitted to the integrated framework to facilitate the transition pathway analysis. Viewing the qualitative findings in the context of the MLP framework provided information about the current workings of the system, the drivers of change in the socio-technical landscape and niche-innovations and their potential to challenge or enhance the current system and thus indicated possible system transitions. To emphasize the role of industry actors in shaping the future of the salmon value chain, the analysis was strengthened using the GVC model which added information about power relations, signaling the ability of system actors to motivate or resist change. The findings indicate that, due to resistance in the regime and the fact that niche-innovations are not yet sufficiently developed, the farmed salmon value chain will continue to be predominated by traditional sea-based aquaculture but that there will be a gradual shift towards more diversity in terms of production methods in response to landscape pressures. The discussion addresses sustainability challenges and policy implications for the farmed salmon value chain and highlights the need for a food system perspective.

The functioning of food value chains entails a complex organisation from farm to fork which is characterised by various governance forms and externalities which have shaped the overall food system. VALUMICS food value chain case studies: wheat to bread, dairy cows to milk, beef cattle to steak, farmed salmon to fillets and tomato to processed tomato were selected to enable explorative and empirical analysis to better understand the functioning of the food system and, to identify the main challenges that need to be addressed to improve sustainability, integrity, resilience, and fairness of European food chains. The VALUMICS system analysis was executed through four operational phases starting with Groundwork & analysis including mapping specific attributes and impacts of food value chains and their externalities. This was followed by Case study baseline analysis, which provided input to the third phase on Modelling and exploration of future scenarios and finally Policy and synthesis of the overall work. This report is an overall synthesis of the VALUMICS results as follows: • Key findings from the VALUMICS project on the functioning of European food value chains and their impacts on more sustainable, resilient, fairer, and transparent food system are summarised through a compilation of 25 Research Findings and Policy Briefs. • By highlighting the major contributions from the research activities throughout the four phases of the VALUMICS project, this report delivers an assessment of various factors influencing sustainability, resilience, efficiency and fairness and effective chain relationships of different food value chains, and their determinants. • The synthesis of the outcome allows the identification of opportunities and challenges characterising the functioning of food supply chains, and thus, the prospects and potentials for strengthening the EU food sector. Citation: Olafsdottir, G., Bogason, S., Aubert, P.M., Barling, D., Thakur, M., Duric, I., Nicolau, M., McGarraghy, S., Sigurdardottir; H., Samoggia, A., Holden N.M., Čechura, L., Jaghdani, T.J., Svanidze, M., Esposito., G., Monticone, F., Fedato, C., Xhelili, A., Huber, E., Hargaden, V., Saviolidis, N M., Gorton, M., Hubbard, C., Kahiluoto, H., Hoang, V.(2021). Scenario analysis report with policy recommendations: An assessment of sustainability, resilience, efficiency and fairness and effective chain relationships in VALUMICS case studies. The VALUMICS project funded by EU Horizon 2020 G.A. No 727243. Deliverable: D8.4, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, 130 pages DOI:10.5281/zenodo.6534011

The development of major economic sectors can provide the bedrock on which long-lasting national economic prosperity is formed. Iceland’s tourism sector is an example of a rapidly expanded industry in recent years, to the extent that it has become the largest sectoral contributor to the nation’s economy. The growth of the sector has led to a number of sustainability impacts, thus presenting opportunities and challenges in terms of meeting the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Using the case study of Iceland, this paper aims to advance conceptual understanding of the synergies and trade-offs between a nation’s tourism sector and performance across the 169 targets of the SDGs. Empirical results were derived from four theme-based focus groups, comprised of expert participants, who were tasked with completing scoresheets concerning their perception of the extent of synergies and trade-offs for each target. The majority (126 in number) of the mean scoresheet outcomes for the SDG targets revealed neither synergies nor trade-offs. However, 32 synergies and 11 trade-offs were identified. Many of the target synergies related to new economic opportunities, such as jobs, employment and training for young people. Target trade-offs tended to be environmental and social. In particular, concern was voiced about the greenhouse gas emissions of the Icelandic tourism sector, which derives from international aviation, cruise ships and rental car usage. The outcomes of this study are of particular relevance to tourism companies, policy-makers and governance institutes, all of whom are increasingly endeavouring to link their activities with the fulfilment of the SDGs, maximising synergies, mitigating the extent of any potential trade-offs, and potentially transforming trade-offs into synergies. Furthermore, the results are likely of interest to academics focused on researching the broad sustainability impacts of economic sectors and their contribution to meeting the visionary goals of the SDGs.

Most of the harvested demersal fish from Norway and Iceland is from sustainable, but fully exploited fish stocks. Increasing the harvest is therefore not considered a feasible option to meet the future global demand of seafood. Simultaneously, there are significant amounts of under-utilized​ rest raw materials (RRM) during harvesting, such as heads, skins, viscera, as well as prevalent food loss and waste (FLW) in the demersal fish supply chains. In this work we reviewed literature and conducted interviews with industry representatives to identify drivers and causes for FLW, as well as information on data capturing and current regulations in Norway and Iceland governing demersal fisheries. Based on these findings we have created a conceptual model of the demersal fish supply chain based on material and information flows modelling technique (MIFMT). The findings of our review indicates that losses during harvest and retail are the highest while the processing stage has the least volume of losses. However, there is currently no national level data generated on a regular basis which is identified as an important knowledge gap in mapping amounts of FLW. Our findings show that regulatory interventions during catch and improved RRM traceability could enhance the utilization of RRM in demersal fish supply chains. Information sharing and collaboration between the fishing fleet, seafood processors and the marine ingredient sector would allow improved resource utilization through better management of supply and demand. Furthermore, development of technology for on-board processing and storage is identified as a potential area of improvement. Currently, Iceland has a higher rate of utilization in the demersal fish sector than Norway due to certain regulatory, economic, and institutional aspects.

Transitioning agri-food systems towards increased sustainability and resilience requires that attention be paid to sustainable food consumption policies. Policy-making processes often require the engagement and acceptance of key stakeholders. This study analyses stakeholders’ solutions for creating sustainable agri-food systems, through interviews with a broad range of stakeholders including food value chain actors, non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions, research institutions and academic experts. The study draws on 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in four European countries: France, Iceland, Italy and the UK, as well as three interviews with high-level EU experts. The interviewees’ solutions were analysed according to a five-category typology of policy tools, encompassing direct activity regulations, and market-based, knowledge-based, governance and strategic policy tools. Most of the identified solutions were located in the strategic tools category, reflecting shared recognition of the need to integrate food policy to achieve long-term goals. Emerging solutions—those which were most commonly identified among the different national contexts—were then used to derive empirically-grounded and more universally applicable recommendations for the advancement of sustainable food consumption policies.