Mainstreaming decarbonization in decision-making: a study of political mechanisms and system changes in Oslo’s climate budget
Guilherme Baggio
Dr. Laura Tozer
Since 2016, the City of Oslo has been implementing an annual city-wide climate budget. This decarbonization experiment was proposed to support the city’s goals of reducing municipal greenhouse gas emissions by establishing annual emissions limits, streamlining actions to mitigate climate change across different sectors, and delegating responsibility among municipal entities for these actions to ensure accountability. Yet, the implementation of climate budgets is incipient worldwide, and few studies have attempted to assess their potential for decarbonization. Thus, this study draws on discussions on climate policy experimentation and the politics of decarbonization to provide an empirical basis for the political mechanisms and system changes unveiled by the City of Oslo’s climate budget. Ultimately, this study posits that the climate budget is fostering significant conditions for decarbonization, primarily pushed by building coalitions with the private sector; changing norms through legislation, regulations, and (dis)incentives; and building financial and institutional capacity. At the same time, the climate budget is mainstreaming decarbonization into decision-making processes across municipal entities. This combination of political mechanisms and new forms of decision-making for decarbonization may lead to multiple opportunities for decarbonization under the climate budget. However, this study also recognizes that the efficacy of the City of Oslo’s climate budget hinges on the cooperation of the private sector, defied by the cultural, economic, political, and technological systems that sustain the use of fossil fuels. Thus, by considering that decisions under the climate budget are made in the context of disputed power dynamics, municipal entities may exert their authority to include specific priorities to the detriment of others.
Assessing levels of oxidative stress biomarkers in pregnant women exposed to unconventional oil and gas sites in Northeastern BC
Matthew Day
Dr. Elyse Caron-Beaudoin
Background: Northeastern British Columbia is a hotspot for unconventional natural gas (UNG) exploitation by hydraulic fracturing. UNG sites have been shown to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other environmental toxins. Individuals exposed to VOCs have been shown to have elevated oxidative stress which can lead to adverse health outcomes. The Nrf2 pathway is a major antioxidant pathway in the human body which regulates oxidative stress and therefore antioxidant activity biomarkers were measured to investigate how antioxidant activity changes in response to UNG exposure in pregnant women living in the Peace River Valley.
Objectives: We aimed to 1) measure biomarkers of antioxidant activity; 2) analyze the associations between biomarker levels and exposure metrics including density and proximity of UNG sites as well as VOCs in the indoor air of participants’ residences.
Methods: Eighty-five pregnant women were recruited and provided urine samples. Assay kits were used to measure concentrations of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (melatonin sulfate). Correlations between these biomarker concentrations and select exposure metrics were analyzed through Pearson correlation analysis. Biomarker levels were compared between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants.
Results: It was found that CAT increases in response to elevated density and proximity of UNG sites. The opposite was found for SOD, TAC, and melatonin sulfate. TAC levels were found to be positively correlated with airborne decanal and BTEX levels. SOD levels had negative correlations to airborne decanal and chloroform levels. CAT was the only biomarker to show statistically significant correlations with exposure metrics.
Conclusion: Our results suggest exposure to UNG sites could impair the protective Nrf2 oxidative stress pathway. Trends observed in this analysis generally align with the scientific consensus, but more research will be needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these changes in antioxidant activity.
Visualizing Heat Vulnerability in Toronto
Shuchen Bu
Dr. Karen Smith
Background: The frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves are expected to increase in Toronto due to both climate change and UHI (urban heat island), which will result in enhanced heat vulnerability.
Objectives: Therefore, designing appropriate heat management plans requires information about how heat vulnerability is distributed across the city.
Methods: To fill the knowledge gap, two distinct methods are examined in this study to quantitively measure the heat vulnerability at the dissemination area level. The first method uses principal component analysis to derive a heat vulnerability index (HVI), and the second method assigns equal weight to each input feature to derive a HVI.
Results: Both HVIs consist of three primary dimensions, exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, that are aggregated from remotely sensed land surface temperature and socio-economic features collected from census data. Both established HVIs are visualized in ArcGIS, and a similar U-shape pattern of high heat vulnerability across Toronto is revealed, while the low heat vulnerability areas are primarily located along the Lake Ontario shoreline and ravines. Further cluster analysis reinforces this spatial pattern.
Conclusion: In summary, this study offers a possible procedure to measure, analyze and visualize the heat vulnerability at the dissemination area level and provides assistance to heat management planning and implementation in Toronto.
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