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Weighting of impacts is frequently applied to enable the prioritization of life cycle assessment (LCA) results for the support of decision making. Most Distance-to-Target (DtT) weighting approaches consider policy targets, whereas potential is seen in the weighting of environmental impacts on a more scientific basis. This study aims at the comparison of science-based (SB) to policy-based (PoB) DtT weighting approaches as well as the application in a comparative case study for the domestic footprint of the European Union. The developed approaches integrated SB targets from ten environmental impact categories into the DtT weighting method of the Ecological Scarcity Method in an effort to derive SB eco-factors. In addition to SB eco-factors based on existing weighting factors for Europe from the literature, weighting factors for the European Union were developed. The application of the eco-factors in the case study showed that the SB approach led to three times higher absolute weighting results in contrast to PoB results. SB weighting was dominated by the impact category climate change with the strictest weighting factors in all approaches considered and a share of 87–92%. For the remaining impact categories, common PoB weighting factors were generally stricter. PoB results showed a more balanced distribution, with shares of 64% for climate change, 10% for photochemical ozone formation, 7% for acidification, and 7% for terrestrial eutrophication. Science-based targets can not replace conventional PoB weighting approaches but should be integrated into the weighting step to provide a more comprehensive view of the environmental performance of product systems. SB weighting results are an additional source of information on environmental sustainability regarding environmental carrying capacity that can broaden the basis for decision making. • Comparison of targets based on science and policy via distance-to-target weighting. • Development of weighting sets for comparative application to EU domestic footprint. • Science-based results are dominated by the impact category climate change. • Lower results in policy-based weighting due to less strict climate policy targets. • Analysis of EU policy regarding effectiveness to stay within carrying capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union has pioneered the adoption of binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and measures to address the climate change challenge for more than a decade. Amongst them, the European Union Emissions Trading System plays a central role. This article addresses the evolution of European climate policies, from the first emission reduction targets that were assumed under the Kyoto Protocol to the recent adoption of the 2030 climate an energy framework. Due to its importance, special attention is paid to the European Union emissions trading system, an essential tool to meet these targets at regional level and a cornerstone of European climate policies, now working for more than ten years. In this context, the European Union emissions have significantly decreased, although the effort ahead is, without any doubt, still remarkable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to give an overview and systematic characterization of different national approaches to developing strategies of climate change adaptation from a spatial planning or regional development perspective, respectively. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made for the implementation of the Territorial Agenda of the European Union. The central research hypotheses addressed in this article are: (1) climate change impacts in Europe are distributed differently in European regions which influence the design of national adaptation strategies (NASs) in Europe as well as the planning-related fields of action; (2) the legal framework and the political-administrative system significantly determine how national adaptation responses are designed and by which institutions they are implemented and (3) spatial planning has the potential to play an important role in climate change adaptation due to its integrative, cross-sectoral character. In order to discuss the hypotheses, a meta-evaluation of already existing assessments of climate adaptation strategies was carried out, as well as nine in-depth country studies (Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK). The results show that spatial planning is only given minor attention in the assessed analyses and national strategies and that it is rather a matter of political willingness and capacity building than particular instruments or a high climate change vulnerability if spatial planning, however, plays an important role in an NAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the European Union's (EU) White Paper "Adapting To Climate Change: Towards a European Framework for Action." It says that the paper outlines the EU's approach to mitigating European vulnerability to climate change and sets out its commitment to resolving climate change. It also states that the paper is designed as a first step for mainstreaming climate change adaptation throughout EU policy sectors.

The article examines Great Britain's policy toward Europe as of September 2008 and how it may develop in the period to 2020. It examines policy possibilities and proposals including conditional Europeanism and a commitment to the European Union (EU), a stalemate position that could lead to possible crisis, and the development of a more committed pro-Europeanism. The authors discuss the possible scenarios and how they might impact British and EU defense policy and foreign policy, as well as the EU climate change agenda and the Euro currency. The article discusses how European integration might influence European policy development in Great Britain.