Governance für Umwelt und Gesellschaft Der Bereich Governance für Umwelt und Gesellschaft konzentriert sich auf Transformationsprozesse, die sich aus Umweltherausforderungen und den damit verbundenen gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen ergeben AdobeStock/ Rawpixel.com

Headline: Governance for the environment and society

The research area Governance for the Environment and Society focuses on transformation processes arising in connection with environmental challenges and associated societal changes, in particular in relation to air quality, climate change, mobility, oceans and the Arctic Region. What policy measures and shifts in behaviour contribute to more sustainable outcomes? How can science support these processes, in particular through co-creative research? Research in this area is performed in cooperation with partners at the local, regional, and international levels from civil society, government, and the private sector. The research groups within this area employ a transdisciplinary and transformative approach in which the research questions are developed in cooperation with partners from science, policy-making, and civil society. The researchers support and cooperate with these partners within the framework of policy development and governance processes, reflect critically on this transdisciplinary practice and, in doing so, contribute to transformative research. Working closely with decision-makers and societal actors, the research group on Ocean Governance explores and develops new approaches to improve marine conservation and the sustainable use of the oceans. The Arctic Governance research group cooperates with stakeholders to gain a better understanding of and shape the societal, legal, and economic changes affecting the Arctic Region. In the group Climate Change and Air Pollution, researchers study the links and interactions between climate protection, air quality, and mobility in urban spaces. The Network for Investigating Clean Air Solutions - Himalaya aims to develop effective measures to improve air quality in Nepal. The research group The Transport Transition as a Socio‐Ecological Real‐World Experiment uses an integrated approach to investigate the factors that facilitate social-ecological mobility transitions in metropolitan areas.

Research Groups

Dossiers

Dogsled in Svalbard, Norway.
Contributing to the Sustainable Development of Arctic Regions

Sustainable Arctic Futures: A Regional and Global Challenge Dossier

Temperatures in the Arctic are currently rising twice as fast as in most other regions on the planet, a phenomenon most strikingly evidenced by the decreasing extent and volume of Arctic sea ice over the last decades. At the end of summer 2012, the extent of Arctic sea ice was the lowest since satellite measurements began: a mere 3.41 million km2, which is 49% below the 1979 to 2000 average. Since then, summertime sea ice in the Arctic has remained at a historically very low level. The processes currently under way in the Arctic are embedded in climate, economic, legal and social systems and processes that reach far beyond the Arctic Circle.

Zugang zu bezahlbarer, verlässlicher, nachhaltiger und zeitgemäßer Energie für alle ist eines der UN-Nachhaltigkeitsziele.
IASS Research on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Dossier

An important crossroads: at the end of September the UN member states voted on a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in order to initiate a global transformation towards sustainability. The Sustainable Development Goals are more extensive than their precursor, the eight Millennium Development Goals, which have often been criticised for not giving enough attention to the ecological dimensions of sustainability, or for considering it only in isolation. The primary goal remains the eradication of poverty.

News

Energiewende Solar und Windrad - Fotograf: Pedro Salaverria
Interview

Energy Transition: Populism is the Path to the Worst Case Scenario

The transition to a net-zero-emission economy will create new rivalries, winners and losers. What scenarios are possible? As part of the Geopolitics and Energy Transformation 2030 (GET 2030) project at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), a team of international experts has looked into the developments that are conceivable in the international energy transition and their geopolitical implications. A team led by Professor Andreas Goldthau has commented on the results of this investigation in the journal “Nature”. In an interview with the IASS, Goldthau outlined the different possible scenarios.

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Climate negotiations

Most Affected, Least Heard

It seems reasonable to expect that the people who suffer most from the impacts of climate change are represented in the international climate negotiations. Patrick Toussaint, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), has analysed the status quo from the perspective of international law. He concludes that those who currently bear the brunt of climate change – or will do so in the foreseeable future – have little or no influence on the negotiations.

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Climate change and overexploitation threaten the world’s oceans.

Effective Agreements and Greater Cooperation: Recommendations for Marine Conservation in South America and Africa

The United Nations wish to adopt a new global agreement for the protection of the high seas in the coming year. The negotiations among the UN member states offer an opportunity to strengthen marine conservation and extend protections to ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. IASS researchers have developed a number of recommendations to strengthen relevant legal frameworks and bolster institutional cooperation in West Africa and South America.

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Blog Posts

The ocean we need for the future we want

A healthy ocean is critical to the survival of every life on earth. However, given that the marine environment, including its currents and species that inhabit its waters, are transboundary, national action alone cannot ensure its conservation. Each one of us must resolve the pressing issues facing the ocean, from marine pollution and overfishing to securing vulnerable coastal communities.

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The geopolitics of renewables. A new but messy energy world

Exhibiting the fastest growth among all fuels in the electricity sector, renewables are about to fundamentally change the energy system. This change is hoped to bring about important social and economic co-benefits, including sustainable and affordable energy for all, green job opportunities, and increased human health and wellbeing. But there may also be some fundamentally political implications of the low carbon shift. This is what a high level group of global leaders was tasked to look into, the result of which was published in their recent report titled A New World The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation, published by IRENA, the international renewable energy agency.

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Nature with a Price Tag: How Payments for Ecosystem Services Work

“Economists are sounding the alarm […] bee death is wiping out up to 300 billion euro” (Die Welt, 2013). Cries of despair like this, which illustrate the interdependency of humans and nature, are commonplace nowadays. In recognition of the vital contribution they make to our lives, scientists refer to all of these functions as ecosystem services. In this line of thinking, nature provides a service that is worth paying for.

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