Mid Sweden University

miun.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
How do sustainability standards consider ecosystem services?
Mid Sweden University, Faculty of Science, Technology and Media, Department of Ecotechnology and Suistainable Building Engineering.
2019 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Ecosystem services (ES), i.e., the goods and services provided to humans by nature, are the cornerstone of society. However, the supply of many ES are at risk, largely due to human land use. International policy developments and an increasing amount of environmentally aware consumers, and associated market opportunities, have contributed to the increase of sustainability schemes in different sectors. Widespread use of such schemes in biomass production may limit negative effects on ES supply. However, how the implementation of such standards could affect ES supply has not yet been investigated. This thesis presents a conceptual analytical framework for assessing twelve biomass-related standards with a focus on agriculture (Fairtrade, IFOAM, KRAV, GGLS2), bioenergy feedstock (Bonsucro, ISCC, RSPO, RTRS), or forestry (MTCC, Naturland, FSC, ITTO), on how they contribute to the supply of ES. Results show that the assessed indicators cover 55 % environmental, 24 % social, and 21 % economic aspects. The total average concreteness is 1.97 (on a maximum of 3.00), with higher scores for bioenergy-related (2.21), followed by agriculture (2.01) and forestry (1.79) standards. Guidance is given by 91 % of the indicators. Mainly regulation and maintenance ES are considered, in particular soil quality, life cycle maintenance and pest and disease control. Indicators with a general contribution to ES, which can indicate ES bundles, is more found in forestry standards (30 %), compared to standards for agriculture (18 %) and bioenergy feedstock (15 %). Overall, 94 % has an enhancing impact on ES. Agriculture standards have the highest impact grade (4.4), then forestry (3.9), and bioenergy (3.2) standards. Standards supporting organic biomass production (IFOAM, KRAV, Naturland) have a larger impact than others. These results can serve as starting point for further development of sustainability standards. Future research, considering harvest numbers and specific beneficiaries of ES, could be able to identify more provisional and cultural ES. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. , p. 61
Keywords [en]
Agriculture; Bioenergy; Biomass; Certification; CICES; Forestry; Framework Sustainability standards
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-38764Local ID: MX-V19-A2-004OAI: oai:DiVA.org:miun-38764DiVA, id: diva2:1420632
Subject / course
Environmental Science MV1
Educational program
International Master's Programme in Ecotechnology and Sustainable Development NEKAA 120 higher education credits
Supervisors
Examiners
Note

2019-09-12

Available from: 2020-04-02 Created: 2020-03-31 Last updated: 2020-04-02Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

By organisation
Department of Ecotechnology and Suistainable Building Engineering
Environmental Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 274 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf