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Fossil-fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions have risen dramatically since 1800. We identify the long-run drivers of CO2 emissions for a sample of twelve developed economies using an extended Kaya decomposition. By considering biomass and carbon-free energy sources along with fossil fuels we are able to shed light on the effects of past and present energy transitions on CO2 emissions. We find that at low levels of income per capita, fuel switching from biomass to fossil fuels is the main contributing factor to emission growth. Scale effects, especially income effects, become the most important emission drivers at higher levels of income and also dominate the overall long-run change. Technological change is the main offsetting factor. Particularly in the last decades, technological change and fuel switching have become important contributors to the decrease in emissions in Europe. Our results also individualize the different CO2 historical paths across parts of Europe, North America and Japan.

The growing recognition of the importance of indoor environments as ‘active political–ecological spaces’ has rarely been followed up by a systematic empirical engagement with the constituent dynamics and conceptual issues associated with infrastructural deprivation in this domain, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, we investigate the relationship between self-reported perceptions of thermal comfort in the home, on the one hand, and a range of sociodemographic, housing, and health-related variables, on the other, via a quantitative analysis of a large-scale survey undertaken in the Eastern Ukrainian town of Stakhanov. Using the perceived level of thermal comfort as a starting point for its empirical explorations, we estimate the number and type of households who feel that they are receiving inadequate energy services in the home. Special attention is paid to the role of buildings in shaping the perceptions of thermal comfort.

AbstractThis paper examines the relations between financing institutions and more local ownership structures for energy provision. This research defines municipal and civil society structures involved in energy provision as the ‘Civic Energy Sector’. It argues that the financial institutions of nations are key enabling institutions for this sector to contribute to a low carbon energy transition. The path of development of these financial institutions helps to shape the ownership structures and technology choices of energy systems and futures in different nations. This paper presents findings from case analysis comparing the United Kingdom’s latent civic energy sector, with the expansion of this sector in Germany. Using an institutional economics framing, the paper demonstrates the importance of the German local banking sector in facilitating civic ownership structures in that country. In contrast, the neo-liberal, market-led financial institutions in the UK, reinforce energy pathways less reliant on civic ownership models. Hence, the forms of low carbon energy transition being pursued in these countries are constrained by path dependence of institutions both within and beyond the energy sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented disruption of food systems worldwide, with most governments taking severe containment measures to curb the spread. This resulted in unpredicted negative impacts of the agri-food supply chains coupled with food price inflations. Ultimately, this affected the food security and urban livelihoods for most households, who are dependent on urban markets for food supply. This study examined the implications of the pandemic on food prices and commodities supplies to urban markets conducted through structured interviews. A review of the secondary data was also conducted to show the trends of commodity prices over the last 5 years. The high inflation of commodity prices with a decline in sales volumes was reported by most traders (97%) with decreases in supply quantities. Changes in the consumption behaviour in households was reported by consumers (75%), with 65% experiencing reduced food diversity at home. Households adopted varied coping mechanisms, including reduced food portions (52%), reduced food varieties (44%) and skipping meals (32%). Market prices increased by an average margin of 13.8% for grains and pulses with price decline observed for cabbages (−30.8%) and Irish potatoes (−19.4%). The findings may inform policymakers of additional future shock and pandemic control protocols, whose actions would assure food protection of urban livelihoods.

Abstract Project scale is often critical in LDC hydro substitution. Large hydro schemes have low costs and wide development options but they are difficult to implement because they depend on external capital and markets. Although small hydro schemes are more easily implemented their costs are closer to the margin. Sustained high inflation eroded the potential benefits that the 1973–1974 oil shock gave to large hydro. The 1979 shock restored the competitive potential of larger hydro, but the subsequent recession narrowed its prospective market and made smaller hydro schemes more prudent. Large-scale hydro's marketing problem can be reduced through regional cooperation, but presents formidable political problems. Guianese experience suggests that in such difficult circumstances, multi-stage large hydro projects have advantages over single-stage ones.

This article considers impacts from innovation, defined in terms of research and development expenditure, on carbon emissions. We relate our study to scholarship about the Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, situating this analysis within literature about the compatibility of broadly capitalist systems and combating climate change. We thus incorporate scholarship surrounding themes such as climate capitalism and ecological modernization. There are three main research questions. First, what is the impact of increasing levels of innovation on emissions? Second, how does the level of economic development affect impacts from greater innovation on emissions? Third, does this analysis generate evidence to support the Pollution Haven Hypothesis? To test these questions, and three parallel hypotheses, we initially deployed a panel data model, based on World Bank data, incorporating control variables covering economic, spatial and environmental factors. We then split the country sample into two GDP-based cohorts to test for variations in effects related to economic development. Subsequently, a multi-input regional-output model was deployed to incorporate analysis of a pollution haven effect. Our analysis suggests that whilst greater innovation diminished carbon dioxide emissions for high-income countries, this effect could not be identified elsewhere. Furthermore, the multi-input regional-output model implied that explanations for these contrasting results might lie in a pollution haven effect. Overall, this study implied some acutely limited support for climate capitalism and ecological modernization, constructed on data from high-income countries alone.

The global economy will face significant challenges over the next few decades. On the one hand, it must meet the needs of 7 billion consumers (growing to 9 billion by 2050), including the currently unmet basic needs of large numbers in developing countries in areas such as food, energy, housing and health. On the other hand, it must achieve this growth without exceeding the resources available on the planet or causing environmental devastation. This paper argues that such change is possible through a systemic shift to a frugal economy that involves radical, frugal innovation across sectors. Such a transformation will involve the participation of large and small firms, consumers and governments alike. The paper introduces the notion of frugal innovation—the creation of faster, better and cheaper solutions for more people that employ minimal resources—and discusses strategies and examples of such change already taking place in core sectors like manufacturing, food, automotive and energy in developing and developed economies. It also outlines the role of the interaction between large and small firms as well as between firms and consumers in making change possible, as well as the role of governments in driving change where market mechanisms alone will not suffice.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’.

The recent discourse on food sovereignty places much emphasis on democracy in determining localized food systems, and whether the food is culturally appropriate while leaning heavily on sustainable agricultural practices such as organic agriculture, ecological intensification, agroecology, nature-based solutions, and regenerative agriculture. Sustainable agricultural practices are intended to ensure that the land is managed without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, while going further by focusing on improvements on soil and land health. However, what are the practicalities of food activism and relying entirely on nature while yields are still very low in much of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)? We attempt to answer this question in four main sections: (a) we start by defining the concept of food sovereignty and the associated practices, (b) we highlight some of the main socio-ecological conditions that are common in SSA, and (c) we present evidence of some of the limitations of food sovereignty due to the diversity in ecological, political, cultural, and socio-economic contexts that characterize SSA; finally, (d) we focus on food preferences, marketing and certification aspects. We conclude that agroecology alone cannot solve the multiple objectives of increasing crop productivity and replenishing soil nutrients especially on small farms and relying on natural rainfall. There is an urgent need to combine superior crop varieties and judicious use of external inputs in tandem with the manipulation of the agroecological processes to increase the efficiency of input use and achieve higher food productivity, resilience to climate change, and preservation of the natural resource base in specific locations.