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The EU food system faces a number of fundamental challenges that require system-wide change. Environmental, health and socio-economic issues are interconnected and do not exist in separate silos. Strong leadership is required to integrate actors across all parts of the food system, highlighting the need for better-coordinated governance. Coordination and adaptability are vital, including support and guidance for bottom-up activities, necessitating polycentric and adaptive governance.Accepting collective responsibility is paramount, as it is unlikely that any single actor can achieve even modest steps towards sustainability, while local policy action has the power to provide potential seeds of transformative change.Providing information is unlikely to create change unless combined with ‘harder’ measures such as taxation and legislation.Agricultural contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and food waste are fundamental concerns that need to be addressed; animal products, particularly red meat, use unsustainable levels of input at the current level of production. Excessive meat consumption is also having a negative impact on public health. Alignment of environmental (food, energy and water) and health goals is therefore required across all sectors.Meeting the global demand for food in 2050 will require significant dietary change as well as large reductions in food waste, as technology or yield increases are unlikely to meet demand alone. Evidence of ‘what works’ requires strengthening, including further research on the public understanding of science and consumer acceptance of new technologies.

Source at https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2673499. Climate change and declining sea-ice in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) has brought concerns that fish stocks may expand into the high Arctic. While the sub-Arctic seas of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic have abundant fish resources subject to major commercial fisheries for generations, the CAO has little or none. Concerns that fish stocks could expand into the CAO provided the impetus for negotiating the 2018 Agreement to Prevent Unregulated Fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean. This policy brief discusses efforts to address challenges associated with climate change and fish in the Arctic, and makes recommendations for policy action.

In the paper we spell out recommendations that we consider realistic, effective, and consistent with the priorities of the Japanese presidency of the G20. As a gathering of coastal states, under Japan’s presidency the G20 will specifically work to reduce marine plastic pollution and support marine biodiversity. This policy paper highlights how oceans are governed spaces and points to the key role of the oceans in realizing the SDGs. We argue that the G20 can and should play an important role in addressing major governance gaps in ensuring the sustainable management of oceans.

"Harvest control rules have become an important tool in modern fisheries management, and are increasingly adopted to provide continuity in management practices, to deal with uncertainty and ecosystem considerations, and to relieve management decisions from short-term political pressure. We provide the conceptual and institutional background for harvest control rules, a discussion of the structure of fisheries management, and brief introductions to harvest control rules in a selection of present day cases. The cases demonstrate that harvest control rules take different forms in different settings, yet cover only a subset of the full policy space. We conclude with views on harvest control rules in future fisheries management, both in terms of ideal and realistic developments. One major challenge for future fisheries management is closing the gap between ideas and practice."

Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on natural resources, and thus on the primary industries (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) in the Nordic countries. Climate change induces risks but also creates possibilities for new production systems on land and in the ocean. Climatic changes also represent great challenges for policy-making and management regimes. The current knowledge base on natural resources in the Nordic region needs to be expanded to fully address the impacts of climate change. In particular it is important to address the need for improved policies and new policy instruments. The research programme Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation in Nordic Primary Industries is a coordinated set of thematic research networks with the objective to create a Nordic knowledge base on climate change interactions with primary industries in the Nordic region.

Since the adoption of a government white paper on ocean governance in 2001, Norway has worked on the development and implementation of marine spatial planning in the format of regional management plans. Management plans for the Barents Sea and the oceans off northern Norway and the Norwegian Sea were adopted in 2006 and 2009, respectively, and a management plan for the North Sea is planned for 2013. A key aspect of the plans is integrated assessment of the cumulative impacts on marine ecosystem from human activities (fisheries, petroleum, marine transportation, etc) on the one hand, and external sources (climate change, long range pollution) on the other. Another important feature is the identification of valuable and vulnerable areas requiring special management measures. These valuable areas have been used as input to define the spatial measures in the plans which includes routing systems for international ship traffic and zoning plans for petroleum activities. Fishing activities is also partially regulated used spatial measures such as MPAs and temporary closed areas. A monitoring system is set up with indicators and reference levels. The plan has been implemented through the regular governance structure without the establishment of new, formal institutions or new jurisdiction. An inter-- ]ministerial committee oversees the work, guided by three working groups. A revised version of the Barents Sea plan will be adopted late in 2010, taking marine spatial planning in Norway into its second generation. Key words: Marine spatial planning, Norway, Barents Sea, ecosystem approach

Rapporten er et forprosjekt I et globalt perspektiv ligger noen av de største utfordringene og mulighetene vi står overfor i dag i polarområdene. Virkningene av klimaendringene vil slå sterkt ut i polarområdene, med mindre sjøis, havnivåstigning og endringer i dyre- og planteliv som viktige konsekvenser. Noen av de rikeste og minst utnyttede marine naturressursene ligger i Arktis og Antarktis. Norge er det eneste land i verden med territorielle interesser og forvalteransvar både i Arktis og i Antarktis. Utøvelsen av forvalteransvaret, og realiseringen av de økonomiske gevinstene som følger av det, er sterkt kunnskapsbetinget. Det er bare gjennom et solid kunnskapsgrunnlag om naturressurser, økosystemer og ytre påvirkninger på disse at en kan forvalte disse områdene på en bærekraftig måte. I Tromsø har vi en tung konsentrasjon av forskningsinstitusjoner med polar og/eller polar-relevant forskningskompetanse. Universitetet i Tromsø (UiT), Havforskningsinstituttet (HI) og Norsk polarinstitutt (NP), er betydelige nasjonale og internasjonale aktører på sine områder og driver polarforskning i verdensklasse. Totalt sett regner vi med at det er rundt 500 forskere i Tromsø som er involvert i polarforskning i en eller annen form, tilhørende 10-talls forskningsinstitusjoner. Aktiviteten er i noen grad konsentrert i klynger. De viktigste av dem pr. i dag er innen bioteknologi (Bioklynge nord), innen rom-jord-relatert aktivitet og innen arktisk marinøkologi (ARCTOS). Det er et betydelig potensial for videre utvikling av samarbeid mellom institusjonene. Større, institusjonsforankrede prosjekt for å ta ut synergieffekter i samarbeid mellom institusjoner kan utvikles. Mer ressurser kan brukes på felles synliggjøring og profilering av det samlede forskningsmiljøet. I forhold til det omkringliggende næringsliv og profilorganisasjoner (museer mv) er det et potensial for samarbeid som i dag er lite utnyttet. Det også rom for ytterligere samfunnsmessig tilrettelegging for polarforskningen i Tromsø. Prosjektet har sett spesielt på forholdet mellom forskning og næringsliv og hvordan dette kan utvikles videre. Utviklingen på området rom-jord og marin bioteknologi viser at et tettere samarbeid mellom forskning, næringsliv og forvaltning kan bidra til å styrke næringslivet i hele landsdelen. Med utgangspunkt i grunnlagsmaterialet for denne rapporten er det mulig å peke på flere potensielle nye nettverk. Tre særlig aktuelle kandidater finner vi innen (1) politikk og samfunn, (2) polarklima og polarmiljø og (3) helseforskning. På disse tre områdene eksisterer det i dag solide (om enn noe fragmenterte) fagmiljø. Sammen med gode naturgitte og samfunnsmessige forutsetninger ligger alt til rette for at for at slik forskning og avledet næringsvirksomhet skal kunne få et betydelig omfang med utgangspunkt i Tromsø. In a global perspective, some of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing us today are in the Polar Regions. The effects of the climate change will be more pronounced in the here, with a reduction in sea ice cover, a rise in the sea level, and changes in flora and fauna being but some of the consequences. At the same time, some of the richest and least exploited marine natural resources are in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Norway is alone in having territorial interests and steward responsibilities both in the Arctic and the Antarctic. In order to manage the responsibility and make sustainable use of the natural resources we rely heavily on scientific knowledge. Only through a deep understanding of the natural resource potential, ecosystems in the region, and external factors (e.g. pollution) can we manage the region in a sustainable manner. Tromsø is host to a number of research institutions with specific Polar or Polarrelated research competence. The University of Tromsø, the Norwegian Polar Institute, and the Institute of Marine Research are leading national and international players in their respective areas, and are carrying out world class Polar research. In total, approximately 500 researchers at some 10 institutions are engaged in Polar research in Tromsø. The activity covers a very broad spectrum, but it is to a certain extent concentrated in clusters. The three largest ones are within biotechnology, within space related activities, and within marine ecology (the ARCTOS network). Based on the background material provided in this report, it is possible to point at several potential new networks. Three particularly strong candidates are within the fields of (1) political and societal science, (2) Polar climate and environment, and (3) Health research. In all of these three areas there are strong (albeit somewhat fragmented) research groups in Tromsø. Both geography and available infrastructure are favourable for the development of strong research clusters and derived businesses within these areas in, and around Tromsø.