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Clastic-biogenic varves are widely used for reconstructing past climate: in boreal environments, the accumulation of minerogenic clasts on the lake floor is generally considered a proxy for past variations in spring floods reflecting previous winter conditions. However, the physical mechanisms behind this winter climate sensitivity and the influence of catchment type on the varve formation are not fully investigated. Here, we present a winter climate record inferred from the clastic laminae of three lakes located on the region of fine-grained tills in Eastern Finland spanning from AD 1890 to 1990. The minerogenic varve data are compared with instrumental meteorological and hydrological time series in order to investigate the physical link between winter and spring climate and minerogenic matter accumulation. Our analyses reveal that the climate-catchment mechanisms operating in the region of fine-grained tills differ crucially from previously described climate catchment interactions on sand morain...

Graphical abstract, Highlights • A simple quantitative method for choosing ecological indicators and target ranges is proposed. • Sustainable use of ecosystems requires freedom of usage choice for each generation. • Sustainability so limits any state indicator to the range from which timely recovery is feasible. • Relevant state indicators are those that anthropogenic pressure might drive out of this range. • The method extends to pressure- and auxiliary indicators, and suites of indicators., Wide-ranging, indicator-based assessments of large, complex ecosystems are playing an increasing role in guiding environmental policy and management. An example is the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which requires Member States to take measures to reach “good environmental status” (GES) in European marine waters. However, formulation of indicator targets consistent with the Directive’s high-level policy goal of sustainable use has proven challenging. We develop a specific, quantitative interpretation of the concepts of GES and sustainable use in terms of indicators and associated targets, by sharply distinguishing between current uses to satisfy current societal needs and preferences, and unknown future uses. We argue that consistent targets to safeguard future uses derive from a requirement that any environmental state indicator should recover within a defined time (e.g. 30 years) to its pressure-free range of variation when all pressures are hypothetically removed. Within these constraints, specific targets for current uses should be set. Routes to implementation of this proposal for indicators of fish-community size structure, population size of selected species, eutrophication, impacts of non-indigenous species, and genetic diversity are discussed. Important policy implications are that (a) indicator target ranges, which may be wider than natural ranges, systematically and rationally derive from our proposal; (b) because relevant state indicators tend to respond slowly, corresponding pressures should also be monitored and assessed; (c) support of current uses and safeguarding of future uses are distinct management goals, they require different types of targets, decision processes, and management philosophies.

As modern societies are moving to the bio-economy era the energy solutions of enterprises are becoming increasingly important. In this paper we study the energy futures of farms up to 2030. A two-rounded mixed Delphi study combining qualitative and quantitative data was carried out to gather the views of experts within agriculture, as well as climate and energy issues. In the first round the experts answered a questionnaire and were interviewed and on the second round a feed-back report from the first round and an online questionnaire was used. The experts were asked to estimate probable and evaluate preferred futures of eleven energy sources in farm-level energy usage. Images of the future were constructed by performing a cluster analysis of the quantitative data. The quantitative clusters were complemented with qualitative material providing, arguments, meanings and rationale of and paths to the images of the future. Six scenarios were formed this way: 1) Boiler and Pump, 2) Incremental Change, 3) Energy Boost Plus, 4) Energy Boost Minus, 5) Renewable Prosperity and 6) Energy Save. The six scenarios differ in how much they envision traditional energy forms (bulk electricity, oil, natural gas) will be used and what is the emphasis of combustion of biofuels (wood, liquid biofuels, biogas, other biomass) and the use of other renewables (wind, solar energy, heat pumps and hydropower). All scenarios need consistent policies in order to become realised in the future – it is time to decide.

Energy planning and management in the built environment should not limit their scope to reaching zero-energy or nearly zero-energy balances: they should aim for cost optimality as well. Only then can environmental and economic sustainability be attained. In this study, a set of energy systems that include exchange with electrical and heating grids are proposed for an existing single-family house in Finland. The simulated energy and exergy balances are quantified, as well as the levelized cost of electricity and levelized cost of heat, the simple payback period and the internal rate of return of the investment. By driving a heat pump to convert surplus electricity into heat and exporting it, an annual energy surplus of 36 kWh/m2/a is achievable, whereas by importing heat from a heating grid leads to an annual exergy surplus of 8 kWh/m2/a. However, the economic indicators are unattractive: the lowest levelized cost of electricity and simple payback period are 41 cent/kWh and 46 years respectively, while the highest internal rate of return is 3.2%. Thus, the results indicate that reaching zero-energy balances in a cost-effective manner in single-family house under the current conditions in Finland is an arduous endeavour.

Circular economy and resource efficiency have recently gained enormous attention as solutions to global resource scarcity. Among other actors, cities are in a central position in putting these concepts into action. In Finland, the network of Finnish Sustainable Communities (FISU) encourages its member cities to adopt the principles of resource wisdom: zero climate emissions, zero waste and living within the Earth’s carrying capacity. These targets of the cities are monitored through three indicators: greenhouse gas emissions, material loss and ecological footprint. In this study, we tested the applicability of these indicators for the city-level sustainability measurements. The results show that for greenhouse gas emissions, the accuracy of emission inventory varies in different sectors. However, greenhouse gas emissions are applicable for the periodical city-level follow-up towards climate neutrality. Concerning material loss, industrial waste as well as mining waste and excess soil dominate the results. Allocation of waste flows to different municipalities poses a challenge to interpretation of the results. Ecological footprint is a simple and understandable indicator for pointing out overconsumption, and it easily indicates the need for action. Nevertheless, the availability of local data for the calculations is limited. The indicator set can be used as background information for setting long-term visions and targets for a resource-wise city. The conclusions from indicator calculations should be translated into practical actions by setting a local action plan towards sustainability. The annual follow-up of these kinds of action plans requires supporting indicators in addition to the three indicators tested in this study. Several different city-level sustainability indicator frameworks from the literature should be utilized in defining the relevant additional indicators.

The drive towards collaborative governance has raised critical questions about the hidden forms of power practised in consensual planning processes. In the field of water governance, the issue has been analysed in terms that treat power as an intrinsic property of actors or planning settings. Alternatively power is located in the discursive means mobilized by the human participants. Drawing from actor-network theory, this paper calls attention to the material arrangements constitutive for the practicing of power in target-driven, consensus-seeking planning. It sets focus on the obligatory passage points and factual closures through which a planning task links, for example, to ecosystems, policy principles and trajectories of governance. In the meantime, some other entities and issues may lose their planning-steering potentiality. As shown by the analysis of a river-basin planning process, the arrangements that end up steering consensus-seeking cannot be treated as merely discursive outputs operati...

Energy is not solely a techno-economic question, but has implications for the whole of society – its culture, values, lifestyles, and power structures. Changes in energy systems affect societies over decades, and long-term social and cultural processes in turn affect energy systems. Thus, energy systems should be studied from socio-cultural and futures-oriented perspectives. The purpose of this article is to describe the relationship between energy transitions and social change, and to offer one plausible socio-cultural vision of the era of renewable energy. The article addresses one of the emerging topical areas of energy research – that of rhetoric and sociotechnical imaginaries of energy transitions − surrounding emerging energy systems. Through a literature review, the article first deals with how energy transitions and societal change are related, and then maps out connections between energy and communication technology transitions. It proposes a decentralised peer-to-peer society as an emancipatory and transformative socio-cultural vision of the era of renewable energy systems. Opening up energy futures allows possible and desirable societal futures to be pursued. However, future visions need not be utopian. In order to deal with the possible contradictions of a peer-to-peer future, a critical stance is taken by using the concept of postnormality.

In order to identify the kinds of impacts that Japanese regulatory reforms in the electric power industry have had on the efficiency levels of the electrical distribution sector, the present study assembles a dataset which spans both pre- and post-regulation periods. Further, to make the estimated efficiency scores from the two sub-periods comparable, the study applies metafrontier frameworks proposed by O’Donnell et al. (2008) and Huang et al. (2014) to the cost function in the longitudinal setting. Estimates from both methods show that the average efficiency score of the electrical distribution sector during the whole sample period is relatively low. Further, findings also demonstrate that the efficiency levels after the regulatory reforms are lower than those before the regulatory reforms. To this surprising and unexpected phenomenon, we argue that cross-subsidization may be one reason for this kind of changing pattern in efficiency levels. In order to deal with the relatively low efficiency problem, we also suggest that Japanese regulators should introduce more incentive-based regulatory tools to replace the current rate-of-return regulation.

The economic feasibility of retrofitting an amine based post-combustion CO2 capture process to an existing Kraft pulp mill and an existing integrated pulp and board mill has been assessed. This study builds on the technical assessment of the energy performance of the mills when retrofitting a post-combustion CO2 capture process by Onarheim et al. (2017). Between 75 to 100% of the CO2 emissions from the pulp and paper industry originate from the combustion of biomass. If the raw material is sourced sustainably, these emissions are categorized as carbon neutral. Applying sustainably managed biomass in the pulp and paper processes and capturing the resulting CO2 for permanent storage enables the industry to go carbon negative. In this study, the economic impact of retrofitting CO2 capture from the flue gases of the recovery boiler, the multi-fuel boiler and the lime kiln were assessed. The levelized cost of pulp and the cost of CO2 avoided were evaluated based on six different scenarios varying the CO2 tax, incentives for renewable electricity production, with and without recognizing biogenic CO2 emissions as neutral (exempting CO2 emissions from tax or not), and rewarding captured and permanently stored CO2 with negative emissions credit. Results show that the pulp and paper industry has a potential for realizing feasible implementation of large-scale industrial Bio-CCS. For cases where 60-90% of total site CO2 emissions are captured, the cost of avoided CO2 amounts to 52-66/t for the Kraft pulp mill and 71-89/t for the integrated pulp and board mill. The cost of avoided CO2, and thus the realization of Bio-CCS in the pulp and paper industry, is strongly dependent on prevailing policy frameworks such as the EU ETS. In order to reach a levelized cost of pulp similar to the reference mill without CO2 capture, a negative CO2 emission credit of 60-70/t CO2 for the Kraft pulp mill and 70-80/t CO2 for the integrated pulp and board mill will be required. As long as biogenic CO2 emissions that are captured and permanently stored are not recognized as negative and rewarded accordingly there is no economic incentive for the owners of pulp and paper mills to implement CCS. The only way to get the pulp and paper industry to implement and deploy Bio-CCS will need the support of the decision-makers in promoting the right policy framework and regulations to encourage the investment such as strong incentives for negative emissions which are bankable during the long term operation of the mills.

Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) have been suggested to harmonize biodiversity monitoring worldwide. Their aim is to provide a small but comprehensive set of monitoring variables that would give a balanced picture of the development of biodiversity and the reaching of international and national biodiversity targets. Globally, GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network) has suggested 22 candidate EBVs to be monitored. In this article we regard EBVs as a conceptual tool that may help in making national scale biodiversity monitoring more robust by pointing out where to focus further development resources. We look at one country –Finland –with a relatively advanced biodiversity monitoring scheme and study how well Finland’s current biodiversity state indicators correspond with EBVs. In particular, we look at how national biodiversity monitoring could be improved by using available remote sensing (RS) applications. Rapidly emerging new technologies from drones to airborne laser scanning and new satellite sensors providing imagery with very high resolution (VHR) open a whole new world of opportunities for monitoring the state of biodiversity and ecosystems at low cost. In Finland, several RS applications already exist that could be expanded into national indicators. These include the monitoring of shore habitats and water quality parameters, among others. We hope that our analysis and examples help other countries with similar challenges. Along with RS opportunities, our analysis revealed also some needs to develop the EBV framework itself.

Globally human pressure on the biosphere is increasing, in spite of increases in land use efficiency. The pressure consists of land use and potential degradation. Human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) is emerging as an indicator, which combines the dual aspects of biomass use and land degradation. Recently HANPP has been used to map the increasing dependence of European countries on biomass imports and the conflicting processes of increased yields and increased consumption. However large overview studies could be complemented with indepth analysis into the causes of changes in individual countries and economic sectors. This allows the analysis of the macroeconomic drivers of change and the responses in sectors to these drivers. In this study we decomposed the HANPP of Finland including imports for the years 2000–2010 using IPAT and applied input-output analysis to look at sectoral land use efficiency in that time period. Finland is a country with intensive biomass trade, and with a very high per capita HANPP. During the study period the sum of domestic and embodied in imports HANPP of the Finnish economy decreased from 76 Mt C/a to 62 Mt C/a (−1% annually on average), while the HANPP related to imports increased from 12 Mt C/a to 14 Mt C/a. The overall trend was that of declining exports and increasing domestic consumption. Of the economic sectors wood harvesting and processing dominated HANPP results, followed by residential construction, animal production and energy supply. In terms of HANPP, most of these decreased, but housing and energy production increased considerably from 2002 to 2010. At the macroeconomic level domestic biomass use per unit of value added decreased (−2.2%/a) as did the amount of HANPP per unit of biomass (−1.1%/a) reflecting increased economic efficiency in land use. In contrast, GDP/capita (+1.3%/a), population (+0.4%) and the share of outsourced HANPP (+0.6%) resulted in increased consumption-based HANPP (from 21 Mt C in 2002 to 27 Mt C in 2010). Our results underline the importance of including international trade and consumption in interpreting overall change in regional HANPP.

To successfully combat eutrophication caused by agricultural P loads, we need to understand how various forms of P respond to mitigation measures and thus how they contribute to algal growth. Failure to balance mitigation measures targeting dissolved inorganic P (DIP) and P in eroded soil (PP) may lead to economically inefficient measures at best, and to aggravated eutrophication at worst. We model dynamically optimal eutrophication management in a P-limited and SO4-containing water body by taking into account the O2 available and the coupling between the C, Fe, S and P cycles. We show that optimal management would put more weight on mitigating DIP than PP, and that the emphasis on DIP should be particularly strong in eutrophic water bodies. To foster influential and cost-efficient policies, we urge defining water body-specific multipliers to commensurate the main P forms into eutrophying phosphorus, much as greenhouse gases are converted to their CO2 equivalents.

Air travel plays a vital role in today's life because it makes remote destinations accessible and short getaways possible. Despite its benefits, air transportation contributes heavily to climate change. Behavioral change is seen as a key driver in mitigating the environmental impacts of air travel. One way to encourage behavioral change is to use eco-labels. This study explores how an eco-label could be developed for the airline industry to function as a potential driver for behavioral change. 12 interviews with airline industry experts were conducted and thematically analyzed. Empirical results were then combined with prior research and the following five criteria essential for the development of an airline eco-label were identified: credibility, comparability, clarity, transparency and participation. Out of these five criteria, participation seemed to be the most challenging to realize. Based on these criteria, this paper could be understood as a first step towards the introduction of an industry-wide eco-labelling scheme for the airline industry that could help reduce the environmental impacts of aviation through behavioral change.

Urbanization is an important ecological factor that modifies the living conditions of species at multiple levels. Urbanization is also influenced by human-animal relationships. We studied the effects of human-related factors on nest site selection of the Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) by using both historical and contemporary data on the nest sites of the Magpie both at landscape and micro-habitat levels in Finland. The nest site data on the Magpie were collected by searching old nest site data as well as by collecting data from current nest sites in two Finnish towns. Our results indicate that the population densities of the Magpie have increased in both study areas during 1950–2010, and that the actual adjustment to urban conditions began around 1980. The relative nest height of Magpies has decreased in urban, but no in rural habitats. The Magpie preferred breeding sites with great green area cover and less built-up areas. Moreover, Magpies preferred ever-green coniferous trees over deciduous tree species as their nest sites. The Magpie made its nest in the upper parts of the tree canopies, regardless of the tree species. Our results support the idea that urbanization by the Magpie is related both to changes in human disturbance, and to species-specific habitat needs. Planting coniferous trees may promote the breeding of the Magpie in urban environments in northern areas. We suggest that, the Magpie, as a common and well-known species, may be a good candidate to monitor the state of the urban environment.