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The rapidly developed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products have made great contributions in various application areas. However, the related problems in the consumption of household ICT appliances are crucial to economy, environment and society. As concluded from literature review of practice, assessment and legislation, there is obvious lack of information and understanding of the household consumption pattern of the ICT appliance in a more systematic “life-cycle thinking” approach – from purchase, usage to end-of-life, in environmental-social- economic three dimensional perspective. This deficiency could lead to ineffective policy programmes and implementation.
This exploratory study tentatively develops a measurement and benchmarking method, named as Sustainable Consumption Index (SCIndex) model, aiming at improving knowledge and holistic understanding of consumption patterns of household ICT appliances along the value chain in global or regional consumers’ households. This dissertation accomplishes the preliminary design of the SCIndex model and its pilot application with a global Internet survey on consumer behavior for detailed analysis, such as, cross-cultural comparison, three stages analysis (purchase, usage and end-of- life), and total SCIndex score benchmarking and analysis.
This study identified that overall consumption patterns of household ICT appliances in the developed countries are not necessarily more sustainable than in the developing countries, if all the stages of consumption are overviewed. The findings contribute to the gaps in knowledge of underlying behavioral factors that influence sustainable consumption of household ICT appliances entirely or in any stage; furthermore, they sketch out the national profiles and improvable aspects on the path of more sustainable consumption. The SCIndex model and pilot application stress the importance and provide empirical evidence to support concrete modelling with a multifaceted approach in measurement and benchmarking of household ICT appliances’ life-cycle consumption for “going beyond GDP”. The model is suggested to be optimized in sampling, design and structure, data analysis methods and the implementation.
To efficiently promote sustainable consumption of the household ICT appliances, the pilot application provides further recommendations to the engaged stakeholders that include: i) sufficiency in purchase; ii) efficient usage; iii) responsible disposal; iv) smooth channels for reuse; v) further in-depth researches and projects.
Ziel der Arbeit war es, die Perspektiven für Erneuerbare-Energien-Anlagen kleiner Akteure wie Prosumenten unter dem neuen Rechtsrahmen zur Förderung erneuerbarer Energien zu untersuchen und einen Ausblick zu geben, wie die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen im deutschen Fördersystem, konkret mit dem EEG, umgesetzt werden können.
Das erste Kapitel befasst sich mit den wichtigsten EU-Rechtsvorschriften im Bereich der erneuerbaren Energien. Massnahmen sowohl auf der Primar- als auch auf der Sekundarstufe waren in diesem Zusammenhang wichtig. Auf der Primärebene, d. Oh Dokumenth. auf der Ebene des EU-Vertrags, spielt der Energieartikel des Artikels 194 AEUV eine zentrale Rolle. Der sekundäre Rechtsrahmen für die Förderung von Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen besteht im Wesentlichen aus der Richtlinie 2009/28/EG und der Richtlinie zur Förderung von Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen, die am 21. Dezember 2018 in Kraft getreten sind. In diesem Kapitel erfolgt eine Untersuchung der
Unterschiede zwischen den wichtigsten Richtlinien aus dem Jahr 2009 und der Neufassung der Richtlinie aus dem Jahr 2018. Dazu gehörten insb. die Bereiche Eigenversorgung und erneuerbare Energiegemeinschaften. Im weiteren Verlauf der Arbeiten wurden die europäischen Vorgaben zur Eigenversorgung von Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien sowie die Bestimmungen für Erneuerbare-Energien-Gemeinden mit den deutschen Vorgaben des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes in der Fassung 2021 verglichen. Der Vergleich zeigte, dass die deutschen Anforderungen weitgehend den europäischen entsprechen, dass es aber noch einige Unterschiede gibt, die vom deutschen Gesetzgeber noch umgesetzt werden müssen, damit die kleinen Akteure das vom europäischen Gesetzgeber eingeräumte Potenzial voll ausschöpfen können.
Zusätzlich zu diesen Kernpunkten wurden folgende Fragen angesprochen. Wie sollte Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen gefördert werden? Wird die Einspeisungspriorität weiterhin bestehen, und wenn ja, unter welchen Bedingungen? Wie werden Erneuerbare-Energien-Anlagen zukünftig im Engpassmanagement behandelt und wie werden die Verwaltungsverfahren für die Genehmigung von Erneuerbare-Energien-Projekten gestaltet? Auch diese Fragestellungen wurden durch einen Vergleich mit den aktuellen Anforderungen des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes vertieft und kamen zu dem Ergebnis, dass die deutschen Anforderungen des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes den europäischen Anforderungen entsprechen.
Die Arbeit endete mit einer Exkursion. Der rechtliche Hintergrund des EU-weit verbindlichen Ziels für den Anteil erneuerbarer Energien am Bruttoendenergieverbrauch von 32 Umschalttaste % bis 2030 wurde näher untersucht.
Cameroon’s forest is one of the richest ecosystems in the Congo Basin and in Africa as a whole in terms of its biodiversity. These forest types are currently subjected to multiple categories of threats. By enacting a new forestry law in 1994, the government of Cameroon intended to intensify efforts toward the protection and conservation of this rich biodiversity. This study aimed to compare two forest management systems, a state management system (the case of Takamanda National Park) and a community-based management system (the case of Bimbia- Bonadikombo Community Forest), to determine which management system better conserves and protects the forest against biodiversity loss. The study applied a methodological framework that made use of selected indicators and criteria to evaluate the extent of sustainability of the two forest management systems and challenges faced in implementing them. Both quantitative and qualitative results were realized through the administration of questionnaires, semi-structure interview and in-depth contents analysis of Law No.94-1 of 20th January 1994 that lays down forestry, wildlife and fisheries regulations and the 1996 Environmental Management Law that directs Cameroon’s compliance to the international standard of protecting the environment.Results indicated that community-based system of forest management is a much more sustainable approach of forest management than a state management system. Based on the criterion of cultural values attributed to natural resources in the community-based management zone (Bimbia- Bonadikombo Community Forest), 78.2% of the local communities were more willing to protect biodiversity as opposed to 48.3% from state management zone (Takamanda National Park). This study found that the level of participation in the community-based management system was much more inclusive and transparent. On the other hand, in the state management system, a high level of corruption, lack of transparency, delayed and irregular salaries of forest guards and minimal participation of local communities in forest management decision-making was noted and likely responsible for the ineffectiveness and unsustainable management efforts in this system. The study recommends the adoption and implementation of a more inclusive, transparent and accountable management in the state managed system (Takamada national park), particularly the full involvement of respected Elites, Chiefs and Traditional Councils.
Malawi is a Least Developed Country located in Southern Africa to the East of Zambia. Malawi has a low electrification rate of 9%. Furthermore, unreliable and inadequate power supply are estimated to reduce Malawi’s GDP by 7%-9%. These energy sector challenges diminish the country’s prospects for sustained growth, poverty reduction, and improved delivery of health and education services. Various studies have been undertaken to determine how Malawi can improve it's energy sector through the deployment of renewable energy. However, these studies have not specifically examined how climate change related financing mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) could be utilised to mobilise financing and capacity development for renewable energy deployment in the country. This is despite the assertion that developed countries are committed to jointly mobilising US$100 billion per year by 2020 to support climate change mitigation and adaptation activities such as renewable energy deployment in developing countries. Through the use of questionnaires, case study analyses, policy reviews, academic literature reviews and interviews, this research sought to determine Malawi’s regulatory and institutional challenges and prospects for enhancing renewable energy deployment through climate finance instruments.
Among some of the research findings was that Malawi has relied on external support in order to develop capacity in the field of climate finance, hence in the absence of external assistance there are limited opportunities to incentivise various stakeholders to implement projects and to enhance awareness about climate finance. The study also discovered that Malawi’s climate finance determinants resemble a non-market seeking Foreign Direct Investment profile, hence the presence of opportunities for cheap and abundant emission reductions could improve climate finance investment patterns rather than the opportunities for emission reductions and co-products such as electricity through renewable energy technologies. The study therefore recommended that Malawi should create a renewable energy and climate finance promotion agency to assist with soliciting funding for renewable energy projects from concessional and non-concessional sources and drafting and implementing renewable energy policies. Another recommendation was that the country must create a Renewable Energy Fund to reduce the funding constraints that the media, project implementers and financiers have in undertaking various roles related to enhancing renewable energy deployment. Lastly, the study concluded that Malawi’s prospects for accessing various forms of climate finance and deploying climate finance projects can be improved through improvements in Malawi’s renewable energy and climate change institutional framework, and the modifications of climate finance instruments and methodologies to encourage flexibility and reduce institutional constraints.
Possible synergy between FLEGT-VPA & REDD+ towards improving forest governance framework in Cameroon
(2023)
Illegal logging is seen as a serious impediment to achieving sustainable management of forests in the tropics. In addition, deforestation contributes in increasing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, resulting to biodiversity loss and climate change. Illegal logging and deforestation have affected Cameroon’s forest ecosystem negatively since the mid-1980s as a result of the economic crises, which intensified the exploitation of forest resources for multiple purposes. In response, some policy initiatives came up such as FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ to fight against the threats. It is due to the above background that this study was designed to examine the possible synergy between FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ towards improving the forest governance framework in Cameroon. The first part of the study assesses FLEGT-VPA in Cameroon with the application of interviews of key informants who were involved in the negotiation process of the EU-Cameroon Voluntary Partnership Agreement. The second part of the study assesses the management of Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (BBCF), as one of the REDD+ pilot project sites around Mount Cameroon in the South West Region of Cameroon. The use of surveys, content analysis, and observations seeks to assess these two initiatives in their role in improving forest governance in Cameroon. The first part of the research reveals that since Cameroon ratified the FLEGT-VPA in 2011, there has been progressed concerning stakeholder participation in forest-related issues. Again, the study also reveals challenges faced with the setting up of a system to verify timber from legal origin as recommended by the European Union. The research further reveals a lack of commitment by the government in revising the current forest policies and re-organizing the domestic market for timber trade as part of the commitment made by the government during the ratification of the FLEGT-VPA. The second part of the study finds that the management of BBCF is not governed by the provision of the Cameroon community forestry manual or by its bylaws posing doubts if community forestry can halt emissions of greenhouse gases caused by deforestation, thus helping REDD+ achieve its objectives. The study recommends the need for rapid policy reform and a cross-sectoral transformation to enable FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ to synergize for a better policy outcome on issues concerning forestry and climate change.
This research comprises an analysis concerning the conflict between the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention and UNESCO in the case of the Dresden Elbe Valley. Through a historical and legal analysis, this research aims to ascertain the reasons for this conflict, as well as the impossibility of finding a compromise. First, the conflict in the core of the Dresden Elbe Valley World Heritage Site caused by the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke, which is the object of study in this research, is anchored in its context of the City of Dresden. Thus, the object of the conflict, the Waldschlößchenbrücke, is presented in its historical and geo-spatial context in order to shed light on the elements that triggered the conflict. Secondly, the conflict is anchored within the German legal context through the analysis of the legal procedures concerning the binding effects of the World Heritage Convention for the Federal Republic of Germany and the environmental concerns rendered by the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke. Based on legal commentaries of the courts’ decisions, a discussion on the non-transposition of the World Heritage concepts in the Federal Republic of Germany is implemented. Thirdly, the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention and UNESCO are confronted. A review of the concept of cultural landscape in the context of the World Heritage Convention, adapted to the case of the Dresden Elbe Valley, is first implemented. Subsequently, a commentary on the legally binding effects for the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention is elaborated upon, as well as a deconstruction of the step-by-step decisions from the inscription to the delisting of the Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List. Fourthly, an evaluation is developed concerning the concept of Historic Urban Landscape as an action plan capable of solving the conflict between urban development and heritage protection, and adapted to the German context. Finally, as a conclusion to this research, recommendations are drawn based on the conflict opposing UNESCO and the State Party Germany to the World Heritage Convention towards the Dresden Elbe Valley. These recommendations are addressed to the City of Dresden, the Free State of Saxony, the Federal Republic of Germany and UNESCO.
Die Statistik zu Cybercrime-Straftaten zeigt auch nach der Covid-19-Pandemie keine Abnahme. Die fortwährende Präsenz von IT-bezogenen Delikten im Bundeslagebild Cybercrime des Bundeskriminalamtes unterstreicht die anhaltende Bedeutung der Verfolgung von Cyber-Straftaten für die allgemeine Kriminalitätsbekämpfung. Die Verfolgung von Cybercrime ist entscheidend für die Sicherheit von Bürgern, Unternehmen und Institutionen in Deutschland. Die steigende Anzahl von Cybercrime-Delikten steht im Kontrast zu einer stagnierenden Aufklärungsquote. Dies erfordert neue Herangehensweisen bei der Bearbeitung dieser Delikte. Daher wurde in dieser Arbeit eine grundlegende Methode entwickelt, die den spezifischen Anforderungen von Cybercrime-Delikten gerecht wird. Um eine geeignete Methode für die Bearbeitung von Cybercrime-Delikten zu entwickeln, wurden nicht-behördliche Methoden zur Bewältigung von Sicherheitsvorfällen analysiert. Dazu gehören computerforensische Ablaufmodelle, Bedrohungsmodelle und Frameworks für IT-Ermittlungen. Gleichzeitig wurden kriminalistische Prozesse betrachtet, die in der Bewältigung kriminalpolizeilicher Lagen Anwendung finden. Dies umfasst Methoden der kriminalistischen Fallanalyse, Versions- und Hypothesenerstellung sowie Untersuchungsplanung, unterstützt durch Kriterienkataloge. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit stellt die Entwicklung einer geeigneten Methode für die kriminalpolizeiliche Untersuchung von Cybercrime-Delikten durch die Verschmelzung von Methoden der Sicherheitsvorfallbehandlung und der kriminalpolizeilichen Lagebewältigung dar. Das entstandene KFA-Prozessmodell ermöglicht die Bewertung und Analyse von Sachverhaltsinformationen anhand eines eigenen Kriterienkatalogs, bildet die Grundlage für Synthese und Untersuchungsplanung und wurde an realen Fallakten evaluiert. Zusätzlich wurde eine eigene Beschreibungssprache in Form der KFA-Taxonomie entwickelt, die die Einordnung, Beschreibung und Vergleichbarkeit von Cybercrime-Delikten ermöglicht. Abschließend befasst sich diese Arbeit mit der Umsetzung der theoretischen Grundlagen in Form von Lehrinhalten für die breite Nutzung in Ausbildungen im Bereich Cybercrime. Dazu wurden verschiedene Szenarien entwickelt, die die Anwendung des KFA-Prozessmodells, seines Kriterienkatalogs sowie die Umsetzung der KFA-Taxonomie anhand verschiedener Cybercrime-Delikte in praktischen Übungen demonstrieren. Das KFA-Prozessmodell richtet sich an Ermittler der Cybercrime-Kommissariate und -Dezernate der Kriminalpolizei. Es bietet eine strukturierte Methode für die kriminalpolizeiliche Arbeit, erläutert den kriminalistischen Hintergrund von Delikten und ist auch ohne Vorkenntnisse im Bereich der Kriminalistik anwendbar. Diese Arbeit ermöglicht zudem Unternehmensermittlern die Integration kriminalistischer Methoden in die Sicherheitsvorfallbehandlung und verbessert die Untersuchung von Cybercrime in Unternehmensbereichen.
Between 2000 and 2015, the services sector grew by 23% in OECD countries, with around two-thirds of the working population employed in this sector. In the European Union, 72.1% of the labor force worked in the services sector in 2018. With a growing global population, the demand for services is also increasing, making increasing service productivity an important research goal.
Public and private service companies are subject to different incentive structures that influence their approach to productivity. Public service enterprises, especially in the social, health, and education sectors, play a critical role in society. Improving public service productivity is therefore essential.
Two research questions are addressed: What factors have the greatest impact on the performance of service workers? How can performance improvement be expressed by managing the influencing factors of frontline employees? By focusing on frontline employees, this dissertation recognizes their essential role in increasing service productivity. The goal of the thesis is to gain insight into the factors that influence their productivity in public service.
The dissertation reviews service productivity models in detail. Differences and connections between the various models and schools of models are discussed. Grönroos and Ojasalo's model of service productivity is selected as the theoretical framework for the empirical study to examine the factors influencing frontline employees. The systematic selection of influencing factors as well as the evaluation of previous research on these factors, reveals research gaps, which are translated into hypotheses. The majority of the data for the empirical part comes from public service companies. The designed questionnaire serves as a starting point for the development of a scale for empirical validation for one part, a component of the Grönroos-Ojasalo model. The research results offer a basis for action for practitioners who want to achieve productivity improvements.
Modern law and local tradition in forest heritage conservation in Cameroon : the case of Korup
(2012)
Cameroon’s forests are exceptionally rich in biodiversity but are among the most threatened forests in the Congo Basin. To safeguard the country’s forest heritage, the government resorted to the creation of protected areas such as the Korup National Park (KNP) but ignored the local traditional system of natural resource management and relied merely on modern law for its protection. But the protection of the park only through modern law has not yielded satisfactory results since it still faces numerous problems which exacerbate biodiversity loss. With many problems facing the park, there is growing concern with regards to government strategy to maintain its values and integrity merely through modern law. This dissertation aims at assessing the potentials of modern law and local traditional system of natural resource management as instruments for effective protection of the KNP in particular and other Cameroonian national parks in general. It further aims at exploring ways of adapting national law and policy to suit local reality. To realise the objectives of this study, legal science analytical method, instruments of both quantitative approach (questionnaire) and qualitative approach (semi-structured interviews) were used. An in-depth assessment of the degree of effectiveness of modern law application in Korup reveals that it is to a lesser extent effective and this impedes Cameroon’s adequate compliance with its biodiversity conservation obligations under international environmental agreements. The study finds that the park’s protection unit plays a commendable role in fighting against illegal activities but inadequate financial resources and logistics render the institution weak. Other institutions play a laudable role in enforcing the law but major weaknesses identified include bail abuses, leniency in punishing offenders and corruption. It was discovered that the Korup inhabitants are against resettlement and often reluctantly cooperate in enforcing modern law. The research reveals that cultural beliefs and traditional practices associated with totems, taboos and sacred forests exist in the Korup villages and contributed in protecting Korup forest heritage. It shows that the putting into practice of some aspects of the traditional cultural practices was often without conservation intention but paradoxically, this contributed to forest biodiversity conservation. The study finds that each village has customary laws and local bylaws which are binding on its inhabitants and contribute to rational use of forest resources. The chieftaincy, village council and the Ekpe society are revealed as traditional institutions that govern the Korup people and manage forest resources through the traditional system ignored by the state. The research shows that statutory law recognises only the chieftaincy institution but reduces traditional rulers to mere auxiliaries of the government thereby weakening traditional institutions that ought to contribute in protecting Korup forest heritage. It recommends that in addition to fighting corruption and building the capacity of law enforcement institutions, the government should adequately integrate traditional rulers and institutions into the modern governance structure. It should legally recognise the role of traditional authorities in safeguarding Korup forest heritage through the traditional system. The study concludes that a management and conservation strategy that involves the people of Korup through their traditional institutions and system of natural resource management, will lead to effective protection and sustainability of the KNP and thus, contribute in enhancing Cameroon’s compliance with biodiversity-related international environmental agreements.
The Nigerian government has commenced the development of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) as part of measures to achieve the energy and emissions savings target established in Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. It is expected that the implementation of MEPS will also help to address the challenges of unreliability of electricity supply and facilitate the desired energy-efficient appliance market transformation. The MEPS currently covers the three most energy-consuming electrical products in households (lighting, refrigerators, and air conditioners). This research relied on data collected from the survey of 384 households in the case study area of Enugu to study the policy impacts of the current MEPS and identify the potential for its improvement. The research also, empirically, investigated policy and institutional barriers against appliance energy efficiency improvement in the country. Three different policy scenarios were conceptualized to model the policy impacts of current MEPS: a scenario assuming no MEPS or a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, a policy scenario (PS) that considers the current MEPS, and an aggressive policy scenario (APS) that assumes the scaling up of the current MEPS to more stringent levels. The policy analysis modeling system (PAMS) was adopted to study the impacts of MEPS considering a policy implementation period of 2019 through 2030. The United Nations’ integrated policy framework was also adopted as evaluation criteria to identify policy gaps in the existing policy measures and the identification of possible policy overlaps was conducted using content analysis. Based on the results, the implementation of the current standards would reduce annual residential electricity demand in the surveyed households by 37% compared to BAU. National-level policy impacts show that the implementation of more stringent MEPS would contribute about 11.3% of the national emissions reduction target reached in Nigeria’s NDC. The research also finds out that key policy instruments (such as financial incentives) are still in their planning stages. Furthermore, the result from the content analysis reveals that the assigned institutional roles for the advancement of end-use energy efficiency are in some cases, not based on the statutory mandates of the respective institutions which create room for possible overlaps. To close the existing energy efficiency gaps and achieve effective energy-efficient appliance market transformation, the research underscores the need for a large-scale appliance market assessment to understand current baseline efficiency levels which will guide future policy designs and ensure that MEPS remain effective. The research also recommends key possible frameworks that can guide the design and implementation of financial incentive instruments to make energy-efficient investments more attractive.
