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IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising over 130 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, IPBES provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as options and actions to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets. The IPBES Methodological Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature was initiated following a decision from the IPBES Plenary at its sixth session (IPBES 6, Medellin, 2018), and considered by the IPBES Plenary at its ninth session (IPBES-9, Bonn, 2022). It is composed of a summary for policymakers which was approved at IPBES-9, and six chapters, which were accepted at IPBES 9., Suggested citation: IPBES (2022): IPBES (2022). Summary for Policymakers of the Methodological Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Pascual, U., Balvanera, P., Christie, M., Baptiste, B., González-Jiménez, D., Anderson, C.B., Athayde, S., Barton, D.N., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Jacobs, S., Kelemen, E., Kumar, R., Lazos, E., Martin, A., Mwampamba, T.H., Nakangu, B., O'Farrell, P., Raymond, C.M., Subramanian, S.M., Termansen, M., Van Noordwijk, M., and Vatn, A. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6522392

Individual efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses could have a significant impact on climate change if enough people choose to act together. When it comes to traveling however, people seem to find excuses to travel by plane disregarding their concern for the climate. This thesis aims to understand the underlying principles of Norwegians’ climate concerns when traveling by plane, and if the Covid-19 pandemic is a catalyst for changing these concerns. A mixed-methods approach involving in-depth interviews including a quantitative assessment of core values of 22 Norwegians, is used to explore the following two research questions: In what way do individual climate concerns of flight travel vary based on the perceived role they inhabit? and Has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted individuals' motivations and climate concerns of traveling by plane? Three main purposes of travel were identified as leisure, visits, and business, all of which encompass different roles. Roles exist in social settings with expectations and responsibilities connected to them. When not fulfilling these requirements, sanctions are used to steer behavior. Acting according to social norms may contradict individuals' own values and create a gap between their attitudes and behavior. In order to examine the function of roles’ impact on climate concern when traveling, an archetype analysis was conducted following the interviews based on their level of climate concern and actual behavior. Participants were categorized into five groups: the Climate Activist, the Optimist, the Average Joe, the Free rider, and the Climate Denier. The groups differed when arguing which purpose is justifiable for flying, and the requirements attached to roles were found as a frequent excuse. The Climate Activists found all non-essential travel to be illegitimate reasons to travel by plane. The Optimists were more open to travel for leisure, however, aspired to travel in more climate-friendly ways. On the other hand, the Average Joes were more willing to sacrifice work-related trips and valued leisure as a necessity. Furthermore, the Free riders did not feel the need to give excuses for their trips and would rather compensate for the climate in other ways. Lastly, the Climate Deniers did not express any climate concerns regardless of the purpose of the trip. These trends aligned with the quantitative results from the values questionnaire from the ACT project. Using the pandemic as a catalyst for institutional change, in the form of norm emergence, could indicate a potential for lasting change in climate concern. There has been a significant change in travel patterns, both with more domestic destinations for leisure and in the business sector where new habits and norms have already emerged. Nevertheless, leisure travel and visitations are predicted to rebound when the pandemic is over. Thus, the positive climate impact of reduced flights was an unintentional advantage of the pandemic, rather than caused by increased awareness of climate change. M-IES

This thesis explores the issue of non-participation among young Norwegians in collective actions with a climate cause. The aim is to investigate whether there are any common features between the non-participants in terms of individual and social characteristics as well as the reasons they give for not taking part in collective actions. With this objective in mind, two research questions were formulated: 1.) Are there any common individual characteristics and social contexts that the non-participatory youth share that may explain their lack of participation? 2.) How do young people who do not engage in climate activism reflect on their non-participation in collective actions against climate change? A qualitative research strategy was used, and individual in-depth interviews were set as the main data collection method. The sample consisted of 19 young people between the ages of 18-29 who study at the two largest universities in Oslo, UiO and OsloMet. This thesis applies a modified social-psychological framework, with contributions from sociology and social movement theory, that could help explain the process of non-participation. Using this, it finds that the environmental values among non-participants play a key role in how they relate to climate change and their feelings of responsibility within it. Furthermore, this influences their behavior in terms of participation in other climate related activities than collective actions. While the non-participation of respondents with lower environmental orientation could be justified by their value set, this thesis raises the question of why respondents with high environmental values chose not to participate in collective actions. It finds that these respondents either question their own personal suitability or the political implications of participation in collective actions. Key words: non-participation, young people, collective actions, climate change, social-psychology, powerless hypothesis, delegation hypothesis. M-DS

In acknowledgement of the dire need for comprehensive global action and societal transformation, states have come together in formulation of several International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) outlining goals and commitments to tackle climate change and ecological collapse. Achieving these goals often entail prematurely downscaling industries and sectors with large ecological footprint, such as the fossil fuel sector. It is however important to recognize that a variety of foreign investments are protected in a majority of today’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs), through provisions granting access to the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism. ISDS allows foreign investors to sue states based on policies conflicting with their investments and seek high monetary compensation for potential economic losses. Thus, ISDS is increasingly seen as hindrance to states’ efforts of environmental policymaking, and it is suggested that it may have a chilling effect discouraging states from adopting environmental policies, due to the risk of having to pay investors millions in compensation. States are already being sued for adopting phase-out policies necessary for achieving IEAs, and similar cases are likely to increase in numbers as stronger environmental policies are paramount. With this backdrop, this thesis examines six ISDS cases with varying status (settled, decided, pending and threat of arbitration), by analyzing what the experiences from these cases may tell us with regards to countries’ efforts to form national environmental policies, and address the possible impacts ISDS may have on states achieving IEAs. The Environmental Governance Systems (EGS) framework (Vatn, 2015) is applied as to investigate the governance structure of ISDS and used to structure the analysis of power dynamics between the actors and institutions involved. Findings show that through access to ISDS, IIAs contributes to strengthen foreign investor’s relative power over states, and that ISDS may have a chilling effect on states environmental policymaking which also may shrink their regulatory capacities. Furthermore, states may experience a conflict of interests with regards to addressing strong civil society demands, their commitments to provide a healthy environment, and their obligations in the IIAs. Thus, the study suggests that states will continue to introduce environmental policies in the future, but these are likely to be challenged by investors seeking to recoup their financial losses. The risk is reduced effectiveness of such policies and the prospects of achieving IEAs in time will be significantly reduced as long as foreign investors have the right challenge legitimate environmental policies. It may therefore be hypothesized whether the ISDS system is creating structural barriers for the realization of environmental justice. M-IES

Food systems are pressing the environment in multiple ways. Moreover, some of these pressures are due to inefficient resource use. It is estimated that as much as one third of all food being produced globally is lost or wasted. One of the most wasted food categories globally is fresh fruit and vegetables. In order to avoid the crossing of planetary boundaries, scientific and political communities have signaled the urgent need to change current practices in the global food system. As a response to this, the concept of circular economy is increasingly being recognized as a possible approach to create more sustainable food systems. However, there is a need for more knowledge on barriers and drivers to a circular economy transition, in order to move from theory to practice. With the aim of contributing to such knowledge, this study investigates the barriers and drivers to a transition to a circular economy for vegetables in the Norwegian food system. Through a qualitative case study, perspectives from leaders in businesses working in the various components of the value chain for vegetables have been collected and analyzed. The study takes on a systems perspective and holds the ambition of gaining a greater understanding of how the barriers and drivers are relevant and manifested across the value chain, as well as how these factors are connected to other actors, institutions, and spheres in the greater system. The findings of this study indicate that central barriers are: hindering regulations; lack of political incentives and economic risk; the size and standardization of economic processes; consumer preferences; the conflict between vegetables and supporting resources; knowledge gaps and lack of awareness; lack of holistic thinking and collaboration; lack of willingness to change; and power structures in the value chain. Furthermore, the identified drivers are: increased knowledge and awareness; circular approaches are becoming profitable; political responsibility, incentives, and guidelines; collaboration and holistic thinking; new technologies; and strategic division of power. Thus, the drivers are both direct responses to the perceived barriers, or separate factors seen to enable circular initiatives. Moreover, this study finds that many of the identified factors affecting a transition to a circular economy for vegetables are interlinked, overlapping and dependent on each other. This should be taken into consideration when creating measures aimed at facilitating a transition to a circular economy for vegetables in the Norwegian food system. M-IES

This thesis explores the motivation behind involvement in collective action to tackle climate change. By focusing on the #FFF movement and the climate activist’s reflection on own engagement, this study tries to grasp how climate engagement emerges and what the driving factors for engagement in collective action are. To help shed light on these issues, three research questions were asked: 1.) What makes young Norwegians join the climate movement and what makes them stay? 2.) How do young Norwegians understand their role as activist? 3.) How does Norwegian climate activist understand the role and impact of the #FFF movement? The theoretical framework deployed in this thesis draws on concepts such as emotions and collective efficacy, and tries to bridge the gap between theories of social psychology like the VBN- theory presented by Stern et al., (1999) and institutional theory and the role of social rationality presented by Vatn (2015). The thesis deploys a qualitative research strategy and data is collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 climate activists, representatives from the organisations that are behind the climate school strikes in Norway. The results indicates that motivation for involvement in collective action on climate change is many-faceted, but that altruistic values and a utilisation of a social rationality helps the activist cut across the problems posed by free-riding. The data further reveals that the activist have a strong belief in the possible political impacts of the strikes. A belief that is derived from trust in both the political system as well as the organisations behind the strikes, but also is credited their understanding of an emerging new norm to care about the environment that has already started to take hold amongst the younger generations. M-IES

The present ecological crises call for fundamental transformations of capitalist society. However, these calls seem to not include the transformation of labour as a social structure, only its technical aspects. To rectify this lack, this thesis contributes to developing a critique of labour and its mechanisms as a social relation from an ecological standpoint. This thesis investigates this question along three lines: first, the question of which aspects of labour drive ecological impact, and what drives aspects. Second, it considers the limits of policy approaches that do not change qualitatively labour itself. Third, it discusses the political implications from the preceding analysis. The approach is theoretical and uses existing literature to develop its arguments. To build an understanding of labour and its impacts, I primarily use the one extant publication on this topic, that of Maja Hoffmann and Roland Paulsen, and give a revised version of their four factors of labour’s ecological impact – the time, scale, income and work-induced infrastructure and mobility factors. To better explain why these factors happen and propagate, I introduce Moishe Postone’s Marxist understanding of labour and value to show that as labour constitutes value, the dominant form of wealth, labour is driven by the a-ecological logic of value, and results in and drives the aforementioned factors. The discussion of two current policy approaches, work time reduction and universal basic income, finds that as long as they only change labour’s quantities, such as the length of the working day, as opposed to its qualities, they can only temporarily lessen the impacts of labour. These approaches do not remove the dynamics of value and the aforementioned factors from labour. Regarding political implications, the overall conclusion is that the abolition of labour is a necessary condition for sustainability, and that human productive activities should be organised in a different manner. The why and how production must change – the metabolism of humans and nature must be actively regulated, and production must happen for specific goals and not value. Production should conform to ecological rhythms, not uniform and abstract time norms. Productivity improvements should not be to the detriment of ecological integrity. Productive activity should not be subject to the wages system or something like it, wherein participation in production is necessary to gain the means of subsistence. These qualitative social changes must happen with and not instead of changes in technical aspects and the quantitative level of production. M-IES

Over the last years Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) have gained attention as a solution to lower CO2 emissions from aviation, a sector difficult to electrify that contributes to a large extent to global CO2 emissions, and is expected to grow in the future years. A new European consortium based in Norway, Norsk e-Fuel, presented its project on sustainable fuels. The project aims to industrialize a hydrogen based e-fuel, generated from CO2 and water, using Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), electrolysis, and Norwegian renewable energy. CCU, as well as many new technological solutions, comes with challenges and uncertainties that hinder their deployment and governance, constantly pushing for institutional changes. This thesis uses Norsk e-Fuel as a case study, and Institutional economics theory to analyze the environmental governance system framework around the implementation of CCU and e-fuels in Norway. Additionally, it looks to identify the uncertainties and challenges for their development and how these and actors from the governance structure push the dynamics of institutional change and influence their implementation. Results showed Norway has a robust environmental governance structure that, together with an international framework, has a lot of influence on the implementation of e-fuels and the CCU value chain. The research identified several challenges and uncertainties for their development and implementation. These challenges have been actively discussed by the main actors involved. The discussions have shown a dynamic action within the national and international governance structure to have clearer policy instruments to implement or refute CCU and e-fuels. Today, a new regulatory framework from the EU that contains relevant instruments for implementing CCU and e-fuels is about to be adopted. However, the results identified some limitations in Norway to adopt new EU regulations, like slow processes and apprehensiveness from the institutions setting the rules to implement new regulations. Regardless of these limitations, institutional change is constantly happening within the actors in the governance structure, and the findings show that the influence they have to implement new solutions has a lot of weight. M-IES

Conservation protects species by regulating human use of areas. As humans are regulated, conflicts occur over the balance between sustainable use and conservation. In 2015, the Norwegian government announced a new branding strategy to improve conserved areas’ abilities to provide income for locals while protecting the nature. The managers of conserved areas should create their own visitation strategy. Rondane and Forollhogna national parks have their own visitation strategies, but these visitation strategies are different, as Rondanes visitation strategy focuses on activities within the national park, while Forollhognas visitation strategy focuses on activities in the border area. This thesis aimed to understand why these visitation strategies are different and how well these visitation strategies facilitate cooperation between actors. The actors examined were reindeer, local communities, tourist businesses, and farmers. I used discourse and legitimacy theories to systematize and understand the local interests and the creation processes of the visitation strategies. Furthermore, I used these theories to examine how well these visitation strategies facilitate cooperation between actors. After reading documents from both national parks, and interviewing 32 people, results show that local communities and farmers had similar interests across both national parks. However, while the tourist business in Rondane had interests within the national park, Forollhogna’s tourist businesses had interests in the border area. Since Rondane has a larger number of tourists within the national park, their reindeer situation is more pressing than in Forollhogna. Furthermore, the creation processes were different, where Rondane included a small group of actors, while Forollhogna’s national park board included locals in shaping the visitation strategy. The studies shows both interests and decision-making processes affected visitation strategies. But furthermore, the national parks characteristics shaped the reindeer situation and tourist businesses. Actors used to cooperate in Rondane, but not today. Forollhogna facilitates cooperation between actors by embracing locals as managers of their conserved area, they also draw tourism to the border area. I conclude Rondane national park board should re-establish cooperation as they once had, and/or strive for cooperation like in Forollhogna. Cooperation can both improve the national park’s ability to protect conservation values, while mitigating the negative consequences conserved areas can have on locals. M-IES

While global warming is accelerating, we are still far from a solution to climate change. The media plays a key role in engaging the public in order to motivate a transformation towards a future low emission society. This study aims to support CICERO Center for International Climate Research and their research project ACT in understanding how the meaning-making of climate change go about. It touches upon how young people acquire and engage with information about climate change, both in terms of their choice of sources and platforms. In addition, it goes more in-depth into human motivation. The thesis investigates whether climate change journalism can motivate altruistic or pro-environmental behavior among young people. More specifically, what type of reactions, reflections and rationalities that are evoked by a set of articles. The research has a mixed methods approach, where semi-structured in-depth interviews was the main method of data collection. 18 respondents, with an equal representation of gender, participated. These were between 18-29 years old. The analytical framework of the thesis consists of social representation theory, norm activation theory and institutional theory. A total of six journalistic texts were chosen for the quasi-experimental study, which all represented various social representation mechanisms such as emotional anchoring and objectification through personification. The findings suggests that certain mechanisms such as emotional anchoring and anchoring through metaphors have the potential to evoke altruistic reflections among young people. This is so as the articles are able to both increase the awareness of consequences and lead to ascription of responsibility. The same goes for the articles that were linked to habits, which indicates that young people prefer information about everyday action and behavior related to climate change. The remaining articles seem to only increase awareness, but are not able to evoke an ascription of responsibility. Because the materials of the experiment interacts with the participants existing knowledge, norms, and so on, it is useful to think of their reflections as emergent properties. It means that the sum consists of several parts, where each of these affects each other. Therefore, each article provide different results. M-IES

Over the past decade, biochar has been proposed as a solution to climate change in the agricultural sector because of its potential to sequester carbon. Although there is evidently interest from both farmers and the Norwegian government, there is to date no implemented biochar policy in Norway that grants farmers payment for carbon storage. This thesis utilises John W. Kingdon's (2014) theory of Multiple Streams Framework to analyse what is required to adopt and implement the biochar policy proposal as a climate measure in Norwegian agriculture. The thesis argue that in an ongoing policy process to implement new climate measures in the agricultural sector a window of opportunity is opening to adopt a biochar policy proposal from 2021, when the agricultural sector will reduce emissions towards their emission reduction target in 2030. The chances for adopting a biochar policy may increase if a number of identified challenges are managed and transformed into a feasible policy design that is ready for implementation. However, results from this study indicate an overall complexity that constrains the ability of involved actors to manage the challenges and coordinate the biochar policy proposal towards implementation. Moreover, the presence of leadership that could steer the policy process may enhance the success of the biochar policy proposal. M-IES

The clothing industry today is described as one of the most environmental pollution industries, and concern regards mass-consumption is rising on the global agenda. In the last years, second-hand clothes and products have been receiving more attention and demands, and in line with this demand, ethical and sustainable consumption has also increased. The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of consumers motivation and rationalization towards second-hand clothing and the clothing industry. This study is using a qualitative research method to explore these motivations among second-hand consumers in Oslo, Norway. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with consumers of second-hand clothes as well as workers within second-hand markets. Both theories within the economic discipline, social science and social phycology were used to interoperate the findings and to understand drivers behind human consumption. There are various drivers of motivation for second-hand consumption. Empirical findings from this study show that reuse of products in consideration of environmental and social aspects where the highest drive for purchasing second-hand clothes. Also, economic motivations of making a “good deal” and motivation in regards to the personal style were finding from this study. M-IES

Climate change is the greatest environmental problem of our time, which is exponential in rate and globally significant in magnitude. There is scientific consensus that the current and abrupt changes in the climate are extremely likely to be driven by greenhouse gas emitting activities and human behaviors. Reduction of greenhouse gases demands therefore large attitudinal and behavioral changes among individuals across the whole globe. Furthermore, this study takes place in a Norwegian context and will discuss rural people’s attitudinal and behavioral responses to climate change. Today, there is not much research about this topic in a rural context, but there are indications that rural people may be less concerned about climate change and less willing to contribute to reduce their emissions, which I will investigate further. Moreover, this thesis aims to answer the questions: 1. What are the major differences between rural and urban communities in Norway, in terms of climate-related attitudes and actions? 2. How do the locals in Ål municipality perceive and act regarding climate change? 3. What role does people’s identity play for how they think and act considering climate change? By exploring these questions, my research strategy is to conduct a case study of a rural community in Hallingdal, where I use mixed methods to collect and analyze the data. I use quantitative research in terms of statistical analysis of primary data of CICERO’s survey to answer RQ1 and qualitative research in terms of in-depth interviews to investigate the climate-related perceptions, attitudes and actions among the locals in Ål, in order to answer RQs 2 and 3. I recognize that the findings cannot be generalized to other cases or populations, but it can provide a better understanding of how rural people think and act considering climate change. The results show that rural people are less concerned about climate change compared to urban people. However, the majority of the respondents in Ål believe in anthropogenic climate change and endorse biospheric values, but this study shows a tendency to a more climate-negative youth (18-29 years) compared to people between 45-59 years. Besides, the locals are dependent on the car and lack access to public transportation, which is the same tendency at a national level. Holiday trips have a big importance to the majority, but many also feel a discomfort when they travel with plane. Several of them do not eat meat or have reduced their meat consumption, but in general, meat is an integral part of the village’s food culture and social culture. In addition, their identities seem to play an influencing role in several ways, such as how person identity influences what decisions they make regarding electric car purchases or flight travels, or how social and role identities affect how they view meat production and plantbased products. M-IES

New forms of consumption may be required due to increasing environmental degradation. One of the suggested solutions is to challenge individual ownership by participating in the relatively new sharing economy. The objective of this study has been to explore motivations among consumers in Norway who share physical assets with other consumers on a temporary basis through sharing schemes. This objective was specified into the following research questions: What motivates sharing behavior? What characterizes the values and personal capabilities among consumers who share physical assets in sharing schemes? How do consumers who share physical assets in sharing schemes experience the role of contextual factors? To answer the research questions, a qualitative research method was employed. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews among 18 respondents who either had rented or rented out physical assets through the sharing scheme Leieting in Norway. The results showed that motivations to share are not a uniform phenomenon. They vary in content, number, type of rationality, between transactional roles and may change over time. A key finding is that motivations of consumers who rent assets are largely based on individual rationality, whereas motivations of consumers who rent out assets frequently include both social and individual rationality. Furthermore, the values among consumers who share physical assets seem to be largely characterized by ‘self-transcendence’ and ‘openness to change’, whilst their socio-economic characteristics vary. Their personal capabilities in the form of technical and social skills required for participation can for the most part be characterized as sufficient. In general, consumers seem to experience the role of contextual factors in the form of technological design and safety as respectively satisfying and important. Regarding the physical difficulty of sharing, the results indicated that consumers who rent physical assets experience reduced time and effort required as a facilitating aspect, whereas regarding consumers who rented out, it was indicated that experience of rental administration were associated to specific types of motivation. The results did furthermore lead to the suggestion that social proof may be of importance for individuals to start renting out physical assets, and that norms within established groups may transcend out of the groups towards sharing schemes. Finally, tax did not seem to be experienced as important for the participation of the respondents who rented out assets. M-IES

As a means to e.g. reduce GHG emissions, air pollution, and noise, The City Council of Oslo, in line with national-level climate goals, has introduced restrictive car policies through their Climate and Energy Strategy. Those reviewed here are the car-free city center and environmentally- and time differentiated tolls. The aim is to understand attitudes towards these restrictive policies (with an emphasis on tolls); more specifically to explore factors considered to influence attitudes. Tolls have received much attention in the national media, with a particular focus on families with children as being those who would suffer greatly. Given this, the paper is foremost aimed at understanding attitudes amongst residents of Oslo who have (young) children. Secondly, considering the climate and environmental rationales behind the policies, there is a focus on related institutions (conventions and norms). Being a part of the research project ACT at CICERO Center for International Climate Research, an adapted theoretical framework from this project is employed. This framework is built mainly on theories from social psychology and institutional theory. Through 24 semi-structured interviews, this framework is used to identify themes of analysis, while seeking to maintain openness to interviewees’ perspectives. Findings suggest that several factors may have an influence on attitudes and that the picture is complex. However, some key areas arose: the place of residence, commuting behavior and affectedness of tolls, concern about outcome equity and climate change, environmental norms (or lack thereof), and attitudes in social circle regarding tolls and climate change. Further, those who are positive have younger and more children than do those negative and do not recognize themselves as victims, unlike what one would expect from media coverage on the topic. Overall, the field of action embedding everyday travel behavior does not appear to be institutionalized regarding its environmental impact. This suggests that clear communication concerning the environmental implications of fossil-fueled vehicles is necessary and that norms involving this type of behavior must be further developed in order to achieve emission reduction goals. The influence of lifestyles and cultures revolving these, and the distributional effects of the policies are recognized as important areas of further research and dissemination. M-IES

In this study I have explored to value-behaviour gap of young people (18-29 years) living in Oslo and Akershus (Norway). The intend was to understand the whether those who perform more climate-friendly behaviour have different values from those who do perform less such actions. I also wanted to discover the barriers of climate-friendly behaviour and how the norms and actions of friends and family influence one’s personal actions. This was done through a quantitative research where I interviewed twenty participants. The framework used to analyse barriers was based on barriers identified by Blake (1999). The study has also elements of quantitative research. Values were quantified through Schwartz’ value orientations (2007). The participants were divided into three categories based the actions they performed to reduce their carbon footprint. I found that participants who perform the least amount (classification I) have the least values within the self-transcendence orientation. They also have less friends and family that perform environmentally friendly behaviour. The biggest barrier identified was, however also the influence of friends and family, especially in regard to meat consumption and air flights.

This thesis is a comparative study that examines how the policy of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) was implemented in three pilot sites located in Kilosa and Kondoa districts in Tanzania and the RDS Rio Negro in Amazonas, Brazil. Applying classical institutional theory, the thesis analyses ‘what it takes’ to establish local governance structures for trading carbon under REDD+. The analyses cover REDD+ implementation from ‘start to finish’. The aim has been to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the establishment of REDD+, which included the processes of implementation, what it costed to establish and apply the relevant governance structures and what the outcomes have been regarding both livelihoods and deforestation/carbon storage. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and has produced altogether four scientific papers. NORAD, Research Council of Norway, Schlumberger Foundation

This thesis will estimate the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for water infrastructure in the city of Huaraz - Peru. Huaraz is one of Peru’s most vulnerable city to Climate Change. The city lies under the largest concentration of tropical glaciers in Peru: The Cordillera Blanca. Melt water from the glaciers has contributed to an even water supply, and corresponding urban development. However, Climate Change is posed to reduce water supply. Once glacial melt water stops flowing, water infrastructure such as reservoirs and water tanks will have to compensate for the losses. A Choice Experiment helped to gauge Huaraz residents’ interest on these two alternatives. These results were controlled for Climate Change perception and agency. The results show that people have a strong predilection for reservoirs, being reservoirs the most familiar option in the past. In other words, urban planers need to invest in large infrastructure to adapt to Climate Change. In addition, interviews with water committees show that water fees are too low, and might be insufficient to fund infrastructure expansion. M-IES

Household consumption behaviours in the UK are contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis. Policies in the UK implement climate change mitigation efforts; however, these instruments are often unable to influence a behaviour change. This project aims to investigate the use of information as a policy instrument to encourage climate relevant behaviour on an individual level in the UK. The research will investigate barriers, impact and normative information disclosure, and communication within a group as potential influencing aspects for adopting climate relevant behaviour. The institutional theory, the norm activation theory, the functional theory, and the deliberative democratic theory will be used to understand the influence of these aspects. Focus groups were the main data collection method, along with a commitment strategy for participants to decide to adopt climate relevant behaviours. Four of the focus groups presented impact information and two of the focus groups presented both impact and normative information. Follow-up focus groups and questionnaires were used to assess participant experiences. In total, 25 participants took part in this investigation. All 25 participants committed to adopt climate relevant behaviours. The barriers identified and the perceptions of the information seem to be influenced by individual preferences, moral obligations to act promoted by personal norms, and preferences of other individuals. The majority of participants experienced barriers, the most significant being the social (family) barriers. Perceptions of the impact and normative information were mixed among participants. However, normative information was not perceived as confusing and seemed to be more engaging than the format of impact information. Communication within the group and the group setting itself seemed to have the most significant influence because of discussion and pressure within the group stimulating moral obligations and motivations to act. It is suggested that combining group communication with relatable normative information could form an appropriate policy instrument to encourage climate relevant behaviour on an individual level in the UK. M-IES

Women across the globe are limited by barrier-restricting opportunities for their self-development, the right over her body, control over her integrity, and access to her human rights. Addressing and undertaking women empowerment fosters their capabilities, enables development and social justice. The Barefoot College (BC), situated in Tilonia, Rajasthan, India, aims to empower women by training them as Solar-Panel Engineers (Barefoot Solar Engineers (BSE)) in the college’s International Solar Training (IST) Program. This thesis analyzes how the IST affects the BSEs’ empowerment in Jordan and in Tonga. In addition, it examines how the BSEs’ agency, and the structures and relations surrounding the BSEs are facilitating or limiting the BSEs’ empowerment process in Jordan and in Tonga. This qualitative research is based on six in-depth interviews; including two Jordanian BSEs, two Tongan BSE, one Jordanian Ground Partner, and one Tongan Ground Partner; five Jordanian interviews and four Tongan interviews with people involved with the IST program; and two Jordanian and nine Tongan key informants. These interviews permitted a broader analysis of the structures and relations that surround the BSEs; the BSEs’ agency; a base to examine how the IST Program was facilitated and carried out in Tonga and in Jordan; and an insight into how the respective IST Program affect the Jordanian and Tongan BSEs’ empowerment processes. The semi-structured interviews were carried out through an ethnographic approach and a conceptual approach. The Ethnographic approach provides space for program-based, communities’ and BSEs’ Perspectives and objectives. The conceptual framework that was used to analyze the results is based on CARE’s Women’s Empowerment Framework. The three Perspectives (i.e. program-based, community and women/BSEs’) and the two sites (i.e. Jordan and Tonga) of the study highlight the contextual importance of woman empowerment. This study found that the IST program had limited effects on women empowerment regarding economic independence and sustainability. However, the respective IST programs facilitated increased opportunities for income-work, mobility, skills attainment and augmented self-esteem, which have been of great importance to the BSEs’ empowerment process. M-DS

During the past decades, science has proven the effect of human made climate emissions on climate change. Human’s emissions of greenhouse gases cause a warmer and wilder climate worldwide. Thus, there is a broad, global consensus to reduce emissions to prevent further climate change. Several intergovernmental agreements have been made which aim for emission reduction, the latest is the 2015 Paris Agreement. In addition, a development of national climate acts is seen. The UK was a pioneer in this work and enacted their Climate Change Act in 2008. The Nordic countries followed suit, and Norway enacted their Climate Act in June 2017. Both national and international policies on climate have, however, suffered from the time-inconsistency problem, where long-term policies – which are needed to solve the climate issue – are neglected in favour of short-term policies, which can be conducted and give results within a shorter time. Thus, the climate policies need measures to avoid time-inconsistency and prioritise long-term policies and measures. My motivation for this thesis has been to understand why this time-inconsistency occurs and what can be done to avoid it. This thesis analyses the policy-making process of the Norwegian Climate Act. This includes an analysis of the actors involved and why the act was enacted at a specific time. The thesis also attempts to analyse whether the act is a good instrument for long-term planning and reduction of time-inconsistencies. The sources used are essentially official documents from the process of making the act, and interviews with persons involved in the process. The main findings are that the policy-making process involved actors from all sectors. Most actors supported an act, while especially the economic actors were less supportive and feared an act would reduce their competitiveness. Many of the politicians, including the Government, focused on a need for cost-effective measures, while the actors who supported the act wanted it to be more stringent. They argued to include measures to prevent time-inconsistency, such as climate budgets, an advisory committee on climate change and annual reports. The only measure included in the act is annual reports, and an aim to cooperate with the EU to achieve the goals for emission reduction. Thus, this reporting, and the political opposition, ENGOs and the medias ability to give it attention and focus – in addition to a need for an establishment of a norm on emission reduction – will be crucial for the goal achievement of the act. M-IES

This case study explored how the culture of the political actors of the Union of Cooperatives Tosepan Titataniske (Tosepan) in the region of the Northeastern Mountains of Puebla, Mexico, influence their social and environmental governance. Besides, it also assessed the strengths and the limits of such cultural influence to support the sustainability of the organization. This study applied a qualitative research approach in order to answer the research questions based on the analysis of the collected data from the political ecology and environmental theoretical approaches. The findings of this research indicated that there is a clear influence from 4 cultural features on Tosepan governance: 1. Identity, 2. Cooperation in community based interaction, 3. Indigenous political systems and 3. Their particular vision of nature. Moreover, the influence from these features has several impacts on the sustainability of the organization. The political actors’ identity with the indigenous movement defines Tosepan goals and explains the permanence of the organization. However, there was not enough data to state its limits on sustainability. Cooperation in community based interaction influence diverse social, political, economic and environmental actions of Tosepan governance in a positive way, and it is the most useful cultural resource to support sustainability. Nevertheless, it encounters fundamental limits in the wider political and economic contexts, which determines the preferences of most of the organization’s economic actors (the producers), and this hinders the outcomes of the most important agricultural management programs of Tosepan. Further, the traditional indigenous political system is formally incorporated into Tosepan governance at all levels, it is efficient and democratic, but at the local level of 9 municipalities. It has a limit to growth or expansion with the same level of efficiency into the entire region of 28 municipalities. Finally, the vision of nature of the political actors comes from diverse influences that they have incorporated into a perspective that strengthens biodiversity and conservation. Nevertheless, the dominant economic visions of nature from the local to the global level hinders the intensification of a sustainable agriculture in all producers. Moreover, it represents an uneven force that is currently threatening not only Tosepan’s sustainability, but also the entire population and the environment of this Mexican region. M-IES

The last decade, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has become mandatory in many European countries, but implementation on farm level is lagging and evidence for the barriers and driving forces is lacking. The goal of this thesis was to expand the understanding of how to improve the implementation of IPM by investigating Norwegian grain farmers’ pest management practices and decision processes. A survey of 617 Norwegian grain farmers was conducted in addition to in-depth interviews of 24 of the respondents. An IPM index was developed to categorise the respondents according to their use of IPM practices. Having an environmental mindset, being concerned with crop quality, having frequent contact with peers, and a high level of education was found to correlate positively with increased use of IPM, whereas decreased use coincided with having a low farming income and being concerned with entirely eradicating pests. The effect of the local conventions and norms regarding pest management appeared to affect the decision processes of the farmers in ways that presented both barriers to and drivers for increased implementation of IPM. Supporting the integration of the concepts of IPM into what is good farming practices in local farming communities is paramount for increased adoption of IPM. NIBIO M-AE

Rouge National Urban Park has been described as "the first of its kind" in Canada. Its proximity to the largest urban centre in the country, and the challenges represented by this, makes it an interesting case study in environmental governance. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the institutional change represented by the transition in the status and management of the Rouge from a local park to a national park. This thesis aims to answer the questions: 1. What were the main characteristics of the decision-making process that resulted in the establishment of Rouge National Urban Park? 2. How did the regime change after the transition to Parks Canada? 3. What are the effects of the new regime on the actions of economic and civil society actors? 4. What are the expected impacts of the new regime on the resources in the park and how they will be used in the future? To analyze the institutional change in resource management exemplified by the establishment of Rouge National Urban Park, this thesis will use the Environmental Governance Framework proposed by Vatn (2015). Under this framework, it will examine the different actors involved in the transition to the new national park regime, as well as their preferences, interests, and interactions. National parks are seen as an institution, which has some basis on internationally- accepted definitions of protected areas under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category II. To analyze the results of the new regime, Underdal (2002)’s framework on Regime Effectiveness will be used. The change in the park’s legislation and operations are seen as the output of the decision-making process, while its effect on economic and civil society actors’ behaviour is seen as its outcome. Finally, the long-term effect of the decision-making process and its output on the resource being governed is seen as the impact. Per date, it has only been possible to indicate what is expected, Rouge National Urban Park is relatively new. This particular case study is examined from different actors’ perspectives. To do so, qualitative research methods such as interviews and literature reviews have been used. An array of primary and secondary sources, such as government documents, public documents, and news articles, have also been chosen to provide a balanced and diverse overview of the issue. It is worth noting that, as exemplified in this case, politics has as much to do with conservation as does governance. This is due to the fact that decision-making is a political process, and the resulting legislation frames the way resources are managed. While it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of these decisions will be on the natural and cultural resources in the park, this thesis contends that the park lands will be better administered under federal management. Not only will the Rouge be protected in perpetuity, but once the land transfers have been finalized, an important natural ecological corridor will be formalized and preserved. Having these lands unified and maintained by an agency with the mandate and the means to do so will be beneficial, especially due to the park’s location within developed areas. At the same time, it will be vital to continue partnerships with important stakeholders such as farming communities, First Nations groups, and local conservationists. Maintaining the balance between nature and culture in an urban setting means that the Rouge represents a new model of park management in Canada. Lessons learned from its experience could be applied in similar cases around the world. M-IES

Within the scope of the study, the current situation and management practices regarding healthcare waste such as waste generation, segregation, on-site and off side collection and transportation, storage, and disposal were examined. Moreover, this study analysed the implementation status of hospital waste management (HWM) rules 2005 in both public and private hospitals also discussed the overall causes of malpractices of waste management as well as factors contributing to better healthcare waste management particularly in the private hospitals of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Qualitative research method was used for this study. In total, forty-four interviews were conducted in selected public and private hospitals equally, of which thirty-seven were semi-structured interviews and remaining seven were informal interviews. The study found the improper applications, inconsistencies, and deficiencies in the whole system of the waste management. The limited knowledge of hospital waste management rules 2005 particularly among nurses, paramedics, waste handling staff and administration in public hospitals was a serious concern. Lack of proper and simple monitoring and supervision system has further exacerbated the situation. Similarly, the limited scope and complicated nature of the regulations in hospital waste management rules 2005 makes the compliance challenging. Based on the evaluation of hospital waste management (HWM) rules 2005 and comparison of the current practices in both public and private sectors, changes and amendments in the healthcare waste management legislation and the reasons for the gaps between the public and private sectors were identified. These include the revision of legislation section No.4 to section No.14 and similarly section No.23 and section No.24 to make the rules practically implementable in both public and private sectors. The findings should be a good basis for making improvements in the management of healthcare waste in Peshawar as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. M-IES

During the 80s and 90s, many post-communist countries underwent structural transition processes advocated by neoliberal institutions. Rapid transitions from one structure to another resulted in chaos as the implementation of sound institutions to manage new property rights regimes were insufficient. The emphasis of the transition period to open borders and integrate societies into the free market side-lined other concerns such as environmental conservation and protection. The IMF facilitated this move in Albania through structural adjustment programmes and stringent conditionality in its financial lending. The Albanian society was in deep socio-economic crisis emerging from an autocratic communist rule and the natural environment had suffered through industrial pollution and deforestation. Neoliberal restructuring failed to recognise the need for environmental rehabilitation and protection due to its ideological nature, and the pressing socio-economic situation in Albania made funds allocations difficult, resulting in further absence of environmental regulations. This research scrutinises communism and neoliberalism applied in Albania in the late 80s and 90s as insufficient systems for environmental protection. Through an analysis using urban air pollution, industrial pollution and deforestation as measurements of environmental impact of IMF policies and national policies - economic and environmental - the study calls for an alternative system to aid sustainable environmental governance. Accentuating the need for holistic approaches to structural change, with significant participation from the population on local, regional and national levels, for creating new systems which reduce negative environmental consequences as well as socio-economic problems. M-IES

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the academic and political debate on climate-related disclosures as a policy response to climate changes. Specifically, the study provides empirical evidence from a qualitative case study exploring the French climate-related transparency regime for institutional investors (FCTR) anchored in Article 173-VI of the French Energy Transition Law. This case is of particular interest because it represents the first attempt at mandating climate-related disclosures for institutional investors. While this case has received a great deal of attention in political and financial circles globally, it remains largely undiscovered in academic terms. The purpose of the thesis is operationalised through four research questions. Firstly, the study seeks to investigate what the FCTR is, and how it can be understood as political phenomenon. Next, it asks what kind of institutional structures the transparency regime represent, and how these impact investors. Drawing on this insight, the third question sets out to identify impacts and limitations with the current configuration of the FCTR. Finally, the fourth question aims to propose a set of recommendations for the future development of climate-related disclosures for institutional investors. The study applies a stakeholder approach to the selection of informants, aiming to illuminate the case from several relevant angles. In total, 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from six stakeholder groups: asset owners, asset managers, financial intermediaries, NGOs/interest organisations, public authority, and researchers. The study finds that the FCTR, and the institutional foundation it builds on, has strengthened the development of ‘climate conscious’ norms amongst institutional investors. The role of ‘norm entrepreneurs’ from interest organisations, and to some degree the Government and the finance industry, has been identified as an important factor in the norm building; so has the momentum created by the French presidency of COP21. However, the climate conscious norms seem to be at a pre-internalised stage as of now, and their implications for investor choices appear to be limited. Another key finding is that the FCTR has sped up the research and development efforts into metrics and indicators usable to measure climate-related risks, opportunities, and impact. The final institutional aspect of the FCTR, formal rules, appears rather weak as the FCTR is constructed on a comply or explain fundament and does not currently have any formal monitoring body or sanction structures. Nonetheless, it appears from the findings that investors feel obliged to comply with the law for reputational reasons. In sum, the FCTR is a greenfield policy project that deserves some patience while the mechanisms are tested. Still, it is worth exploring its preliminary impacts and shortcomings, as other states have signalled that they will not be far behind France in mandating investor climate disclosure. M-IES

For societies to create mitigation policies that achieve sufficient support for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a better understanding of people’s positions on climate change and climate policies is necessary. This thesis concentrates on two parts of this broader topic. Its two objectives are 1) to increase knowledge about the relationships between individuals’ political value orientation, climate concern and attitudes toward climate policies, and 2) to provide insights into how institutional context may influence the relationships between political value orientation and attitudes toward climate policies. For å nå målet om å skape et lavutslippssamfunn og begrense klimaendringene trengs en bedre forståelse av folks syn på klimaendringer og klimapolitikk. Denne avhandlingen fokuserer på to sider av dette emnet. Avhandlingens to mål er 1) å øke kunnskapen om forholdet mellom politisk verdiorientering, holdninger til klimaendringer og holdninger til klimapolitikk, og 2) bidra til innsikt i hvordan institusjonell kontekst kan påvirke forholdet mellom politisk verdiorientering og holdninger til klimapolitikk.

I en verden der naturressursene forbrukes i et stadig raskere tempo og forringelsene av miljøet øker, er det stadig viktigere å fremme og legge til rette for adferd som er miljømessig bærekraftig. Ulike typer politikk er innført for å løse disse utfordringene, og bruken av økonomiske insentiver har blitt populært for å forsøke å oppnå miljømessig bærekraft. Derimot har forskning i de siste tiårene rapportert at å bruke et økonomisk insentiv ikke er like enkelt som man kanskje skulle tro. I noen tilfeller kan det til og med gi det motsatte resultatet av det som var ment da en innførte det økonomiske insentivet. Derfor krever det gjennomtenkte vurderinger, med tanke på hva som karakteriserer individers motivasjon og adferd, for å kunne fremme eller legge til rette for miljømessig bærekraftig adferd gjennom bruk av økonomiske insentiver. Samfunnsvitenskapene tilbyr ulike teoretiske perspektiver og tilnærminger om dette emnet, og som resulterer i ulike politiske råd. En måte å skille mellom samfunnsvitenskapelige teorier er å forstå hvordan de forklarer sosiale fenomener, det vil si om de forklarer sosiale fenomener ved å fokusere på individet eller på sosiale strukturer. In a world where natural resources are consumed at an ever-faster pace and environmental degradation escalates, it has become increasingly important to promote and facilitate for environmentally sustainable behavior. Different kinds of policies are implemented to address these challenges and the use of economic incentives has become popular to try to obtain environmental sustainability. However, research over the last decades report that to use economic incentive is not as straightforward as one might think. In some cases, to implement an economic incentive can even give the opposite result of what was intended. Hence, to promote or facilitate for environmentally sustainable behavior through the use of economic incentives calls for a thoughtful engagement with what characterizes individuals' motivation and behavior. Social sciences offer different perspectives and approaches when theorizing about this topic resulting in different kinds of policy advice. One way to distinguish between theories in social sciences is to understand how they explain social phenomena, that is, whether they explain social phenomena through focusing at the individual or at social structures.

This thesis focuses on forest governance and the establishment of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) pilot projects in the Équateur province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The province is considered to host 28 per cent of the total forest area in the DRC and has been selected for the national REDD+ integrated programme supported by the Central Africa Forest Initiative. The programme is launched in a context in which the use and management of forests do not meet the needs and aspirations of forest-dependent communities. Increased poverty is actually observed, a trend that seems to be caused by weak institutions and enforcement, conflicting claims over forests and exclusion of forest dwellers and marginalised groups (Batwa Pygmies) with regards to decision-making about forest resources and access to benefits. Denne avhandlingen omhandler skogbruksforvaltning og etableringen av pilotprosjekter rettet mot reduksjon av klimautslipp fra avskoging (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD+) i Équateur-provinsen i Den demokratiske republikken Kongo (DRC). Det anslås at denne provinsen har 28 prosent av skogen i DRC, og den har blitt valgt ut til å delta i det nasjonale REDD+ programmet støttet av Central Africa Forest Initiative. REDD+ lanseres i et område der skogbruket ikke evner å møte behovene til befolkningen. Fattigdommen blant den skogavhengige befolkingen er økende. Dette er en trend som ser ut til å skyldes svake institusjoner med svak håndheving, motstridende krav vedrørende adgang til skogressursene, utestengelse av lokalbefolkningen – ikke minst særlig marginaliserte grupper (Batwa-pygmeer) – fra arenaer der viktige beslutninger om bruk av skogressurser og fordeling av avkastning tas.

The threat of underwater noise pollution was recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which adopted the voluntary guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise from commercial shipping to address adverse impacts on marine life in 2014. Underwater noise pollution is a transboundary pollutant caused by cavitation of ship propellers which disturbs the behavior of marine mammals. This thesis investigates international and United States national regulations and their demands regarding actions to reduce underwater noise pollution. Additionally, the thesis examines the process of establishing the voluntary guidelines at the IMO and the ways in which political, economic, and civil society actors evaluate the voluntary guidelines. Finally, this research explores the expected outcomes of the voluntary guidelines as evaluated by economic actors and the motivations of economic actors to implement the guidelines. This thesis draws upon Vatn’s environmental governance system framework which aids in understanding the interactions between institutions, actors, and policies. Theories on resource regimes, voluntarism, precautionary principle, and policy entrepreneurship are further used to understand the empirical data on which this thesis is based. Qualitative data from documents and interviews with political, economic, and civil society actors in the United States provides the empirical basis for evaluating the voluntary guidelines. The results from this thesis show that because of the transboundary nature of sound, international agreements provide a useful basis for addressing the effects of noise pollution. The United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) define pollution as energy and substance respectively. Therefore, UNCLOS covers noise pollution implicitly. However, neither UNCLOS nor MARPOL 73/78 address noise pollution explicitly. M-IES