Description: A policy framework for sustainable resource management (SRM) is required both to guarantee the materials and energy supply of the EU economy and safeguard the natural resource basis in the future. Goals and strategies for sustaining the metabolism of the economy are described. Data are presented on the material throughput and physical growth of the EU's economy, on total material requirements (TMR), its composition, the decoupling from economic growth, and the increased shift to other regions. A first future target Material Flow Balance (t- MFB) of the EU is outlined. Detailed data reveal the "top ten" resource flows. Policy design for SRM should aim at an integrated and balanced approach along the material flow, comprising resource extraction, the product cycle and final waste disposal. Strategies and potential instruments to manage fossil fuels, metals and industrial minerals, construction minerals and excavation are discussed. Possible priorities and examples are given for target setting, focusing on limited expansion of built-up area, reduced use of non-renewables, increased resource productivity, and shift to sustainable cultivation of biomass.

Description: Vom 10. bis zum 14. September diesen Jahres verhandelt die Ministerkonferenz der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) über eine weitere Liberalisierung des Welthandels. Dabei steht für die Umwelt eine Menge auf dem Spiel. Zwar wurden mit der Doha Deklaration in der gegenwärtigen Verhandlungsrunde einige Verhandlungen mit Umweltbezug vereinbart. Dies täuscht aber darüber hinweg, dass die WTO noch weit entfernt davon ist, ökologische Aspekte in ihrer Politik angemessen zu berücksichtigen. Vorliegendes Papier analysiert zunächst die Diskussion über Umweltthemen in der WTO, welche seit über zehn Jahren vor allem im Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) der WTO geführt wird. Die Analyse zeigt auf, dass zahlreiche Umwelteffekte von Handelsliberalisierungen gar nicht diskutiert wurden, Interessengegensätze zwischen Mitgliedsstaaten der WTO eine tief gehende Diskussion vereiteln und Ansätze einer ökologischen Reform der WTO bislang keine Chance hatten. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Analyse wird sodann eine doppelte Strategie entwickelt. Erstens wird dargelegt, warum die WTO aufgrund ihrer umweltpolitischen Defizite denjenigen Institutionen ihren Handlungsspielraum lassen sollte, die sich aktiv mit Umweltpolitik beschäftigen. Hierzu wird das Konfliktverhältnis multilateraler Umweltabkommen und der WTO untersucht. Zunächst erfolgt eine Klassifizierung in unbedenkliche und potentiell kritische Konfliktfälle. Dann wird aufgezeigt, wie einerseits eine Begrenzung der Zuständigkeiten des Streitschlichtungsorgans der WTO sowie andererseits kooperative, politisch-rechtliche Prozesse zur Lösung der Konflikte zwischen den betroffenen Institutionen eine Lösung bieten und zu einer größeren institutionellen Gleichheit in der globalen politischen Arena führen könnten. Zweitens wird erörtert, wie ökologische Aspekte Schritt für Schritt in die WTO integriert werden könnten. Hierzu werden Instrumente der strategischen Folgenabschätzung untersucht. Nach einer eingehenden Analyse der Potenziale und Grenzen von strategischen Folgenabschätzungen werden Empfehlungen zu ihrer Weiterentwicklung formuliert. Anschließend werden Möglichkeiten dargestellt, wie strategische Folgenabschätzung in die institutionellen Strukturen der WTO integriert werden könnten, um ökologische Aspekte systematisch in die politischen Entscheidungsprozesse einfließen zu lassen und eine verbesserte Partizipation der Öffentlichkeit an der Politik der WTO zu gewährleisten. Dabei wird einerseits eine Integration strategischer Folgenabschätzungen in den Trade Policy Review Mechanism der WTO und andererseits die Einrichtung eines neuen Strategic Impact Assessment Body innerhalb der WTO diskutiert.

Description: In diesem Wuppertal Paper unternehmen Claudia von Braunmühl und Uta von Winterfeld eine begriffliche Erkundung im Spannungsfeld von Nachhaltigkeit, Globalisierung und Demokratie. Sie beziehen sich vorrangig auf die Arbeiten der Enquete-Kommission des Deutschen Bundestages "Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft" (2002) und stellen das dort verhandelte Konzept von Global Governance vor sowie seine demokratietheoretische Schwächen. Des weiteren geht es um zwei Denkrichtungen, die den Autorinnen geeignet erscheinen, der politischen Dimension und Problematik von Globalisierungsprozessen gerecht zu werden. In einem Abschnitt über "Nachhaltiges Regieren?" skizzieren sie, entlang welcher Rationalitätsmuster die Demokratiedefizite in Verbindung mit Globalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit verlaufen und verknüpfen diese Überlegungen mit der Debatte, die derzeit zum Themenkomplex "globale öffentliche Güter" geführt wird.

Description: Transnational corporations' (TNCs) economic operations cover numerous countries and can be diverted between several continents. These units have reached a level of significance, having not only economic, but also social and environmental implications. This justifies that they shall be treated separately as a social phenomenon, when considering strategies for the development towards sustainability. This paper presents the concept of Responsible Corporate Governance (RCG), as a strategy to "govern" TNCs. RCG is suggested as a stakeholder based policy instrument, which aims at allocating responsibilities to societal actors aiming at corporate accountability. RCG recognises that the process of societal change is strongly based on what can be called as bottom up-processes. Learning processes take place through the interaction of the different societal members, which eventually leads to macro changes. Therefore, governing TNCs towards sustainability improvements is considered to be a collective process including all stakeholders. Firstly, the paper places the concept of RCG in the ongoing debate of political modernization based on the fact that society develops overtime and the political system must correspondingly modernize. In this context, political overload developed as a consequence of increased resource interdependencies is explained and as a resolution, network approach is discussed. Secondly, demands on the orientation of the TNCs in terms of accountability and innovative action are brought forward. Here, the paper also lists down corporate elements (stakeholder empowered corporate governance, management and performance evaluation systems, transparency enhancement and accountability verification), which need to be in place to attain an accountable orientation in the society. Following, using an analytical framework, the orientation and capabilities of each societal actor (environmental non-governmental organisations, financial institutions, intergovernmental organisations) to affect improvements in the corporate responsibility elements are investigated and recommendations for their effective orientation are listed.

Description: Studies of hexachlorocyclohexane-isomers (HCHs) and selected triazine herbicides in solution and suspension were carried out in the Pomeranian Bight in 1995. The concentrations of HCHs and triazines were determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GC) or by GC in connection with quadrupole mass spectrometry(GC/MS). Particulate and dissolved material were separated by means of an in-situ filtration/extraction system. The seasonal variability and regional distribution of the various components were investigated in January, April, July and September 1995. Their distribution in the western Pomeranian Bight is described. The concentrations of individual hexachlorocyclohexane-isomers were in the range of 100–1 000 pg l–1 in solution and 20 to 60 pg l–1 in suspension. The levels of the triazines in solution showed pronounced differences between the individual components (atrazine (2–20 ng l–1), simazine (5–30 ng l–1), terbuthylazine (〈 5 ng l–1)), but they were one order of magnitude higher compared with the hexachlorocyclohexane-isomers. The concentration of triazines in suspension was low, often below the limit of detection (25 pg l–1).

Description: The Clyde Sea Nephrops fishery produces large amounts of invertebrate discards. Of these, up to 80% (by numbers) are echinoderms, including the starfishAsterias rubens and the brittlestar Ophiura ophiura. The short- and longer-term mortality of these species was determined after trawling in order to gain reliableestimates of trawl-induced mortality. Short-term mortality was assessed after trawling and periods of aerial exposure on deck, and ranged from 0-31%, with A.rubens showing lower mortality. Mortality of haphazardly collected echinoderms of various sizes and degrees of damage was monitored over one month todetermine longer-term mortality. The effects of injury on starfish survival were also examined, as were the effects of trawling and aerial exposure on O. ophiurasurvival and A. rubens righting time. Injured A. rubens had a significantly higher long-term mortality (22-96%) than controls (4%). Trawling and aerial exposuresignificantly increased righting times of A. rubens, implying susceptibility to stress and an increased risk of predation. Moribund A. rubens developed white lesionscontaining bacteria (Vibrio metschnikovii and Acinetobacter sp.) and mortality rates only stabilised in the third week after trawling. In contrast, all trawled O. ophiuradied within 14d. Immediate re-immersion in sea water resulted in lower, but nevertheless high, mortality (91%). Our results suggest that post-trawling mortality ofdiscarded echinoderms has been underestimated in the past.

Description: The main aims of this work are to determine the reproductive patterns of benthic invertebrates in the Kara Sea and to analyse possible adaptations of reproduction strategies to polar conditions. The Kara Sea is a shallow shelf sea located in the Russian Arctic. Hydrography and ecosystems are strongly affected by the immense freshwater input of the two adjacent rivers Ob and Yenisei. Their outflows create a pronounced bilayered pelagic habitat with a confined pycnocline.During the investigation period 44 larval and 54 juvenile species were identified in plankton net and multicorer samples. For 23 of the larval species adults were present in benthos samples. For the remaining 21, adults were reported from the adjacent Barents and Petchora Sea, indicating a strong larval input from the neighbouring seas. Most larvae were found in all water levels, although highest abundances were present in the upper low salinity layer, revealing a high acclimatisation potential of most larvae to low salinities. The pycnocline seemed to act as a physical barrier for most larvae. Meroplankton densities of individual species were generally less than 1 ind. m-3, but brittle star larvae reached densities of 200 ind. m-3. The importance of retention in the study area varied strongly between species.Most benthic species show an Arctic zoogeographic distribution, but considerable numbers of boreal species were also found. The river run-off may not only foster the survival of euryhaline species but through its thermal input may also create favourable conditions for boreal species. Most invertebrate species seem to reproduce directly (without pelagic larvae), which can be explained partly by the high share of peracarid crustaceans. Contrary to other taxa, which display a huge spectrum of reproduction modes within species and geographic regions, peracarids show a direct reproduction trait all over the world. Their elimination from the dataset reveals a larger share of indirect reproducing species. It is assumed that due to the Kara Seas high environmental variability unfavourable conditions for benthic species often occur. Species with pelagic larvae or highly mobile peracarid crustaceans may have an advantage in reoccupying devastated habitats.The numerous larval types found indicate that planktonic development is important in the Kara Sea ecosystem.

Description: The use of assimilation tools for satellite validation requires true estimates of the accuracy of the reference data. Since its inception, the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) has provided systematic lidar measurements of ozone and temperature at several places around the world that are well adapted for satellite validations. Regular exercises have been organised to ensure the data quality at each individual site. These exercises can be separated into three categories: large scale intercomparisons using multiple instruments, including a mobile lidar; using satellite observations as a geographic transfer standards to compare measurements at different sites; and comparative investigations of the analysis software. NDSC is a research network, so each system has its own history, design, and analysis, and has participated differently in validation campaigns. There are still some technological differences that may explain different accuracies. However, the comparison campaigns performed over the last decade have always proved to be very helpful in improving the measurements. To date, more efforts have been devoted to characterising ozone measurements than to temperature observations. The synthesis of the published works shows that the network can potentially be considered as homogeneous within +/-2% between 20-35 km for ozone and +/-1 K between 35-60 km for temperature. Outside this altitude range, larger biases are reported and more efforts are required. In the lower stratosphere, Raman channels seem to improve comparisons but such capabilities were not systematically compared. At the top of the profiles, more investigations on analysis methodologies are still probably needed. SAGE II and GOMOS appear to be excellent tools for future ozone lidar validations but need to be better coordinated and take more advantage of assimilation tools. Also, temperature validations face major difficulties caused by atmospheric tides and therefore require intercomparisons with the mobile systems, at all sites.

Description: For answering questions concerning anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest developmentthe individual-oriented and process-based forest growth model Formind2.0 wasdeveloped. It simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of uneven-aged mixed forest standsin areas of one hectare to several km^2. The model describes forest dynamics as a mosaicof interacting forest patches of 20 m^2×20 m^2 in size. Within these patches trees are notspatial-explicitly distributed, and thus all compete for light and space following the gapmodel approach. Tree species diversity is aggregated into 5-20 plant functional types(PFT) on the basis of species maximum tree height and successional status. The carbonbalance of each individual tree including photosynthesis and respiration is modelled explicitly.Thus, we can match measured diameter increment for different PFT, size and light conditionsaccurately. Allometric relationships connect above-ground biomass, stem diameter,tree height and crown dimensions. Beside increasing mortality through self-thinning indense plots one of the main processes of mortality is gap creation by falling of large trees.This process as well as seed dispersal from mature trees interlinks neighbouring plots witheach other.The model was parametrised for three different sites in South-East Asia and South-America:Sabah (Malaysia), Venezuela, and French Guiana. Model accuracy is testedwith growth data from permanent sampling plots in Sabah. Sensitivity of various resultvariables on variation of most parameter values is tested and give important insights intogeneral model behaviour.Two examples of anthropogeneous impacts on tropical forest dynamics are managementpractise and fragmentation, both of major concern. Following applications are performed:Growth and yield of Venezuelan rain forest under various logging methods, intensitiesand cycles are analysed for their ustainability.Effects of logging (method and cycles), fragmentation and recruitment assumptionson forest dynamics in Sabah are discussed.Finally, fragmentation impacts on mortality and recruitment are simulated and theireffects on forest dynamic and biomass loss are evaluated for a forest site in French Guiana.