June 22, 2017

Press Release (2017-06-22) “Sustainability whack-a-mole”

"Sustainability whack-a-mole"Placed-based sustainability efforts often fail to recognise the risk of turning up the environmental pressure elsewhereIn the world of arcades, the whack-a-mole is a classic. The game, in which players use a mallet to hit randomly appearing toy moles back into their holes, is an innocent reminder that fixing a problem in one place may only cause others to pop up elsewhere. But within sustainability, such problem solving come with more serious consequences. Coined environmental leakage, it refers to how interventions aimed at reducing environmental pressures at one site may be locally successful, but increase pressures elsewhere. On example is how the recovery of fish stocks in Europe has led to increased fishing pressure in West African waters. Another is how improved regulations of Chinese and European forests have led to deforestation in the tropics due to increased Chinese and European biomass imports. This not only has global environmental consequences but social ones as well, since people’s livelihoods in those distant places are often negatively impacted.An approach of “out of sight, out of mind” can mean big problems when dealing with complex social-ecological challenges and can put into question well-intended place based sustainability practices.
June 22, 2017

BC3 researcher Mikel González-Eguino in the Tele7 TV session “El Cambio Climático”

BC3 researcher Mikel González-Eguino in the Tele7 TV session "El Cambio Climático" on the 22nd of June 2017
June 21, 2017

“Forest accounting rules put EU’s climate credibility at risk” open letter signed by Maria Jose Sanz, Scientific Director of BC3, with other environmental scientists listed at the bottom of the article

"Forest mitigation should be measured using a scientifically-objective approach, not allowing countries to hide the impacts of policies that increase net emissions", writes a group of environmental scientists led by Dr Joanna I House.Dr Joanna I House is a reader in environmental science and policy at the Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, UK. She co-signed this open letter with other environmental scientists listed at the bottom of the article.
June 21, 2017

BC3 Journal Article “Off-stage ecosystem service burdens: A blind spot for global sustainability”

The connected nature of social-ecological systems has never been more apparent than in today's globalized world. The ecosystem service framework and associated ecosystem assessments aim to better inform the science–policy response to sustainability challenges. Such assessments, however, often overlook distant, diffuse and delayed impacts that are critical for global sustainability.
June 16, 2017

BC3 Journal Article “Conceptualizing Dimensions and Characteristics of Urban Resilience: Insights from a Co-design Process”

Resilience is a multi-faceted concept frequently used across a wide range of disciplines, practices, and sectors. There is a growing recognition of the utility of resilience as a bridging concept that can facilitate inter-and transdisciplinary approaches to tackle complexities inherent in decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

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Raising awareness of Climate Change at Basque Country Scale

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