Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemCrisis as opportunity: food crisis by oil scarcity, lessons from Cuba's Special Period( 2014)Globally, food insecurity is a key societal problem, with food security already weakening as a result of a "triple crisis", understood as the combined effects of three processes: climate change, the depletion of key resources for the food system (such as fertile soil, water or phosphorus), and peak oil (Lerch 2008; Quinn 2007; Piercy, Granger & Goodier 2010). A cut in global food production would be certainly a crisis situation for many countries, and sink into a major crisis to many more others (De Schutter 2009; HLPE 2012). However, history also shows that there are countries in which crises have served as an opportunity for change towards more sustainable lifestyles. They have managed to cope with the impacts of the crisis, adapt and still function, or in other words, be resilient (Walker & Salt 2006). The Victory Gardens of Europe and North America during World War I and II are a good example of strategies to cope with food crises via developing urban agriculture. Another similar good example is the case of Cuba (Wright 2009; Rosset et al. 2011). Consequently, this paper reviewed the case of Cuba during its Special Period in order to understand preparedness and responding to food crises driven by oil scarcity. Additionally, the research explored queries over Cuba as a valid case to study a food crisis caused by oil scarcity. In response to its main research question, this literature review highlights as key lessons that the process of change of a crisis into a more sustainable and organic food system was possible more by political, cultural and social factors rather than specific agricultural practices. Even when 'the agricultural practices and the scientific development was crucial, these could not have been implemented and conducted in a good way if it was not for the political will to make a profound changes, levels of education and the willingness of people to change their lifestyles and engage in agricultural activity. In relation with peak oil, was presented that its complexity goes beyond issues of access to oil. As the Cuban case presents, an oil crisis is highly complex because it compromises not only the different parts of the food system, but also compromises the economic growth and stability of any particular economy. Peak oil is more about an impediment to sustaining growth-based economies, and oil dependent large scale agricultural systems. Thus, the sooner the preparation and changing process starts, the lesser the impact of peak oil will be on our food systems and subsequently in the health and lives of most of the population. Doing so requires a multi-sectorial and interdisciplinary approach to the problem. It is not enough to implement an ecological agricultural system, change is also needed in other societal systems and a transformation of several structures that enables, guides and sustains the various processes of change a crisis into an opportunity.
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ItemThe US climate litigation assemblage: examining a provisional governance form( 2014)Climate litigation has emerged as a strategy to pressure federal agencies of the United States of America to act on climate change (Osofsky and Peel 2013). Indeed, an 'administrative' approach to reducing national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions led by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act of 1963- a regulatory pathway revealed through the practice of litigation - is currently being pursued by President Barack Obama in lieu of federal climate legislation (MacNeil 2013). Adapting Tanya Murray Li's (2007) analytic of assemblage, this thesis examines the practice of litigation and the sequence of regulatory events it has incited, using the key Supreme Court cases of Massachusetts v. EPA [2007] and Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) v. EPA [2014] to bound discussion. It terms these practices and events the 'climate litigation assemblage', and investigates its emergence since 1999. It considers how CO2 has been legally 'framed and acted upon' (McGuirk 2011: 339), and the (selective) arrangement of actors, institutions, objects, laws, objectives and modes of authority that constitute a provisional governance form. Reading for the relational interaction of distributed and heterogeneous, human and non-human agencies reveals the internal contradictions and provisionality of governance-in-practice. This is not to suggest governance assemblages - through ongoing labour to maintain relationships - cannot endure to produce social and material effects. Realistically, the climate litigation assemblage has produced modest direct emission reductions; however its immaterial effects - which include exposing climate issues through highly publicised Supreme Court cases, mounting legal and social pressure on decision making institutions and the relationships forged between similarly minded and widely distributed actors - have made a significant imprint on the larger US climate governance space. In explicating the material and immaterial effects of the assemblage, a 'deliberately open', non-essentialist approach to the composition of governance forms is adopted; one that doesn't presuppose the 'durability, the types of relations and the human and non-human elements involved' (Anderson and McFarlane 2011: 124). Finally, future directions of the assemblage - including the potential productivity of disassembly - are considered. This consideration is focused by the prospect of the Environmental Protection Agency's pursuit of a national CO2 reductions program being eroded under 'the weight of its own contradictions' (Murray Li 2007: 287) by the case UARG v. EPA that is currently being heard by the Supreme Court.
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ItemThe stirring giant?: Local government and greenhouse mitigation in Victoria( 2014)Local government in Australia is acknowledged as having the potential to influence over fifty per cent of Australia's greenhouse emissions, through transport, infrastructure development, waste management, land use change and the community's energy use. However few studies have sought to examine the effectiveness of this sector's mitigation efforts and activities. This thesis examines the Victorian local government sector's shared and individual efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions and considers the effectiveness of that sector's policies and activities. It uses survey and interview data, as well as an extensive literature review to explore the potential for mitigation measures by Local government in Victoria, and assess current practice against this potential. This thesis finds that the greatest potential capabilities for mitigation by Local government in Victoria exist in three domains for action - planning control, technological implementation, and behavioural education. Those potential mitigation capabilities have been realised in practice through acting on their own corporate emissions, implemented large-scale mitigation technologies in partnership, and responding to charges imposed upon them by State and Commonwealth government policies and regulations. In some cases advocacy has been necessary from the bottom up internally, in other sectors as with advocacy for the consideration of environmental sustainability at the planning stage rather than the building stage, it has culminated in a united effort across many councils to strategically influence the State government. Individual Victorian councils have benefited from the snowball effects of mitigation activity at this level of government, including emissions target setting, programs such as the bulk buy networks, streetlighting changeovers, environmentally sustainable design, energy foundations and recycling, and high participation in alliances and partnerships. Thus Victorian Local government mitigation action is far from "a stiff smile to be painted on the wreckage of grander visions..." (Victor, House & Joy 2005, p. 1820). However the research finds that this mitigation action is uneven across Victorian Local government. There are a few cases of reflexive innovation and action to implement mitigation policy to full capability, but in many areas councils display a general ambivalence toward action despite solutions and multiple benefits being within their reach. Mitigation efforts in the majority of Victorian councils remain focused inward - seeking organisational and economic benefits for councils themselves - rather than outwardly oriented to their communities. Victorian Local government is not resourcing innovative integrated approaches across the full range of its potential capabilities. Its mitigation endeavours are also poorly aligned with the deeper social dimensions of consumption, emissions and climate change, with weak enthusiasm for innovative long-term householder emissions mitigation projects leading to some 60% of councils relying entirely on their corporate web sites to communicate the value and means of greenhouse mitigation. Local government in Victoria is yet to fully engage with the digital environment and the use of contemporary, participatory tactics to reach local communities similar to those succeeding internationally. Given the capability of Victorian Local government to shape and implement greenhouse mitigation policy, there remain significant opportunities for this sector to enhance emissions mitigation by combining online digital assets and its authority and resources to assist local communities to access and build climate change mitigation knowledge and action.
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ItemResponse of stomatal sensitivity to an elevated carbon dioxide atmosphere( 2013)Earth is undergoing anthropogenic induced climate change yet it is unclear what the reaction of plants will be to an increase in carbon in the atmosphere, an element that is vital to their growth. As the interface between the atmosphere and plant stomata's long term acclimation to elevated carbon dioxide levels is important for predictions to changes in water, nutrient and carbon cycles of the future. While a reduction in stomata) conductance is well documented there is a lack of knowledge regarding the alteration in stomatal sensitivity to environmental conditions. The Ball et al (1987) model of stomata) sensitivity relates stomata) conductance (g5 ) to the photosynthetic assimilation rate (A), relative humidity (h) and [CO2] at the leaf's surface in a linear model, where m is the slope and go the baseline stomata) conductance (y-axis intercept) given as: g5=go+m (A.h/[CO2]). This model is often upscaled and used in modelling to relate transpiration rates, soilwater cycles and potential climate change scenarios. In a glasshouse experiment at the University of Melbourne Creswick campus Nipponbare rice, Eucalyptus tricarpa, Eucalyptus grandis, Acacia aneura and Acacia melanoxylon were subjected to ambient [CO2] (400 ?mol mol-1) and elevated [CO2] (700 ?mol mol-1) treatments. The plants stomata) sensitivity was measured using an Infra-Red Gas Analyser (LiCor6400) altering the chamber conditions of light, relative humidity and [CO2]. Linear regression was then conducted on the data to calculate Ball et al (1987) models. It was found that the two Acacia species reduced their sensitivity under elevated [CO2]; with m reducing by 97% for A. aneura and 91% for A. Melanoxylon, while E. tricarpa significantly increased its slope, by 315%. These species Ball et al (1987) models may have to be reparametised under elevated [CO2] conditions, particularly when predicting future water and carbon cycles. E. grandis and the Nipponbare rice did not significantly alter their stomatal sensitivity. Nipponbare rice was the only species to significantly alter its baseline stomatal conductance.
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ItemClimate change mitigation in Singapore: challenges and opportunities( 2013)As greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase world-wide, the possibility of the occurrence of catastrophic climatic changes increases, and the need for countries to implement mitigation measures becomes increasingly important. When it comes to implementing measures to tackle these rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions, each country is faced with their own set of challenges and constrains. As a densely populated city-state with a lack of natural resources, high economic activity and limited land area, Singapore is faced with a range of challenges with regards to climate change mitigation. Despite these limitations, there are also opportunities and capabilities that the country can tap on, such as the technological expertise and a skilled workforce, and these can potentially help Singapore to overcome the challenges. As the economy continues to expand and the population continues to grow, Singapore has to consider environmental policy options that will not just reduce the emission intensity but will also result in a progressive decrease in the annual carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper will propose possible environmental policy options that has the potential to reduce emissions and is suitable to be implemented in Singapore to help her achieve her national reduction targets. This research will take on a qualitative-based approach to assess five selected environmental policy options - Renewable Energy Target, Feed-in Tariffs, Carbon Tax, Electricity Vending System and Energy Labelling Schemes. It will firstly demonstrate how the liberalisation of the electricity market, despite being an economically-driven political decision, has indirectly led to positive environmental changes, such as the increased contribution of natural gas in the country's fuel mix, which has reduced the annual increase in domestic emissions. Most importantly, this restructuring has provided a platform, which is able to promote the interaction with environmental policies that may impact on electricity prices and potentially influence changes to bring about emission reduction in the country. As Australia has a similar wholesale market and since some of the policy options that will be studied, interacts with this functioning market, similar policies in Australia will be used as a guideline in the discussion of this paper. Each environmental policy option will be analysed and evaluated based on their potential effectiveness to encourage emission reduction in the country. It is observed that with advantages in being a financial and clean technology hub, as well as having a skilled workforce, the promotion of investments in renewable energy has the potential to bring about emission reduction in the country. Furthermore, developing feedback mechanisms have been discerned to be important factors that have the capabilities to influence environmentally-conscious behaviours and potentially contribute to the efforts to reduce emissions in Singapore. Therefore, these suggest that a combination of the Renewable Energy Target, Electricity Vending System and Energy Labelling schemes is most likely to potentially achieve large-scale emission reduction for Singapore.
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ItemThe Australian approach to climate finance( 2013)Developed countries have committed to providing US$100 billion in climate finance by 2020. Australia has already contributed a significant amount of climate finance through its aid budget, with one third of this going to neighbouring Small Island States, and largely with a focus on adaptation to climate change. This thesis has investigated the reasons for and implications of the approach Australia has taken to this financing of adaptation in the Pacific Islands. It is informed by a review of the relevant academic literature, analysis of government data and publications, and key informant interviews. It demonstrates that Australia's approach to climate finance is motivated by self-interest and geographical proximity more than the needs of vulnerable countries and people, and although there are signs of improvement there are still many concerns surrounding the Australian approach to climate finance. The concerns differ: Pacific Islanders working on implementing projects seek improvements in donor co-ordination and an increased focus on capacity building, whereas people whose focus is on the international politics of climate change are concerned about the extent to which Australia's climate finance meets key principles, such as those relating to scale, transparency and additionally. This showed that the issues that are important at the international level are different from those that are administering climate finance on the ground.
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ItemAn assessment of farmers' perceptions of and adaption to climate change risk: a case of canola farmers in the Shepparton Region, Victoria, Australia( 2013)This research on the assessment of farmer's perceptions and adaption to climate change was conducted in the Shepparton district of Victoria, Australia. The main objective of this constructivist research is to examine canola farmer's perceptions of climate change, and their strategies to adapt to the risks that may be involved because of this. The study considers two specific objectives: to identify the canola famers' perceptions and adaptation to climate change risks and impacts; and to identify factors influencing their perceptions and adaptation to these risks. This qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews with key participants and phenomenological methodology. One face-to-face and five phone interviews were conducted with canola farmers of the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG). Data was thematically analyzed and manually coded. The study highlights divisions of canola farmers about the existence and cause of climate change, an understanding of the need for action and a high willingness to adapt, as well as large disparities in usage of climate change terminology. Factors such as experience and farm size were negatively correlated to farmer's perception and adaptation to climate change. It also shows that a decrease in moisture is the foremost driver in variations in canola crop production, availability of water resources was a factor in choices for adaptation, and changing to drought-resistant canola varieties and strategic sowing were considered as future and current adaptation measures respectively. Furthermore, some farmers have considered leaving the canola growing industry due to loss of moisture. The study recommends four basic measures to be undertaken. Firstly, there is a need for decision makers and scientist to design programs to break the terminology boundaries of climate change risk and weather variability, and remove the uncertainty among small farming group such as canola farmers through effective communication on climate change to eliminate the skepticism related to the idea of climate change risk. Secondly, there is a need to reshape the framework of climate change communication to flow down to local life of individual farmers such as daily life practices and traditional beliefs that define small group of farmers in Shepparton. Thirdly, Scientist and decision makers in Shepparton has to increase the means of how they could better communicate climate change matters to agriculture community such as small group of canola farmers. Lastly, more research both social and scientific on climate change and agriculture on areas of perception and better adaptation in canola cropping within Shepparton are needed to assist decision makers to come up with tangible solution to solve the problems of climate change in Shepparton rather than depending on literatures or related study in another location.
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ItemSocial carbon budgeting: voluntary targets for achieving a low-emissions lifestyle( 2013)It is now widely accepted that anthropogenic climate change is likely to reach dangerous levels in the absence of national and international policies that would see the dramatic reduction in human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. The likely outcome of this lack of policy is of a world that is not only significantly warmer that it is today but also significantly different in the make-up of the terrestrial biosphere. Current scientific analysis suggests that any changes to the global climate exceeding 2-degrees of warming poses potentially irrevocable changes to the global environment. Although it has been suggested that 2-degrees of warming may not actually constitute 'safe' levels of global warming, the international consensus appears to have settled on the goal of no more than a 2-degree world. Of all the developed countries in the world, the adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change will affect Australia the greatest. Two issues that currently exist within Australian climate policy that is focused on addressing these issues are a) the insufficient abatement of emissions through the current national policy framework (Clean Energy Legislation) and b) disengagement with the general population on both the realities of anthropogenic climate change and the positive role the public can play in the mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The policy tool that is suggested for addressing these problems is Social Carbon Budgeting, a voluntary-participation model utilizing the existing ideas of Personal Carbon Budgeting and Personal Carbon Trading. Social Carbon Budgeting (or SCB) encourages individuals to monitor and assess their daily greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions from their consumption of goods and services and reduce these emissions in-line with daily targets that reflect a 'safe' emissions level. The daily target is based on an Equal per Capita approach for the entire globe, updated yearly in accordance with changes in global population. The conclusion is that Social Carbon Budgeting provides an opportunity to address the deficiencies that currently exist in the national climate policy framework and for engaging with individuals on the need to respond to anthropogenic climate change, and for the significant role individuals can play in reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
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ItemDirectors' duties in the anthropocene: liability for corporate harm due to inaction on climate change( 2013)The science relating to anthropogenic climate change is no longer in credible dispute. With its physical and economic impacts increasingly observed, the attention of legal commentators has begun to broaden from responsibility for emissions mitigation to liability for climate change-induced harms. At the same time, Courts are demanding higher standards of proactivity and engagement from corporate boards in order to satisfy their statutory directors' duties. This paper combines, and extends, those two areas of scholarship by examining whether common corporate governance approaches to climate change may contravene directors' primary duties under Chapter 2D of the Corporations Act. It concludes that, even where directors' subjective bona fides are not in question, passivity, reactivity or inactivity on climate change governance is increasingly likely to contravene the duty of care and diligence under section 180(1) of the Corporations Act, and increasingly unlikely to satisfy the 'business judgement rule' defence under section 180(2). This includes governance strategies that emanate from climate change denial, a failure to consider its impacts due to ignorance or unreflective assumption, paralysis caused by the inherent uncertainty of its magnitude and timing, or a default to a base set by regulators or industry peers. In addition, even considered decisions to prevail with 'business as usual' are increasingly unlikely to satisfy the duty (or the business judgement rule defence) - particularly if they are the product of a conventional methodology that fails to recognise the unprecedented challenges presented by an erratically changing climate. In addition, whilst unorthodox, it is reasonably arguable that a failure to actively consider the impacts of climate change may also breach the duty to act in good faith in the best interests of the corporation under section 181. Accordingly, directors who do not proactively respond to the commercial risks and opportunities of climate change, now, may be held to account under the Corporations Act if corporate value becomes impaired into the future.
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ItemManaging the Australian Alps in a changing climate: lessons from international conservation practice( 2013)The flora of the Australian Alps are facing increasing threats from predicted climate change. Responding to this threat, however, is challenging, as managers must account for both uncertainty in the extent of climate change, as well as the uncertain responses of alpine species to these changes. T us, whilst a large body of knowledge has been created in these fields, a lack of integration between scientific knowledge and management policy can be observed. Predictions of climate change, though not precise, have been the subject of much research, and are relatively well understood. In the Australian Alps, the effects of climate change have already been observed, with warming of 0.74C between 1950 and 2007. Over the next 15-20 years, the alpine climate is predicted to warm by 1-1.2C. Beyond 2030, climate trends become more uncertain, as they will be dependent upon our success in rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Notwithstanding, this warming will not be linear, and managing for erratic changes in climate remains a significant challenge. In Australia, and indeed world-wide, the responses of alpine plants to predicted warming have been studied, through both empirical observations and experimental warming. As a result, broad trends in the responses of alpine communities can be articulated. Individual responses consist of phenotypic plasticity, genetic adaptations and migration. As these responses occur differentially between species, warming trends will see changes in the structure, composition and distribution of alpine plant communities. Though significant uncertainty still exists, anticipatory management responses are nonetheless critical to the protection of the Australian Alps. Without such measures in place, the impacts on some alpine species will be irreversible. This literature review therefore seeks to integrate scientific knowledge into policy. Literature from the three distinct fields of climate research, plant science and management are considered, with a view to informing a policy for the ongoing management of the Australian Alps.