Global Change Abstracts The Swiss Contribution - SCNAT

Global Change Abstracts – The Swiss Contribution | General Topics
ventionally managed funds with respect to their
environmental impacts. Overlap in the portfolios
of sustainable equity funds and conventional equity
funds can be very large. Further, the sector
allocation of both types of funds is generally very
similar, because portfolio managers follow a chosen
benchmark to minimize risk. These two effects
may result in no difference existing between
the two types of funds in terms of their environmental
impact and damage (null hypothesis of
this research). This study comparatively assesses
the environmental impact of portfolios of 26 investment
funds: 13 sustainable investment funds
and 13 conventional funds, which are managed
according to the benchmark MSCI World. The
study applies input output life-cycle assessment
(IO-LCA) in combination with a simulation of company-
specific environmental performance. The
environmental impact is evaluated per functional
unit for each fund, measured as the risk- adjusted
financial performance. The statistical analysis
showed that the analyzed sustainable investment
funds performed better with respect to environmental
impact assessment but worse in economic
risk-adjusted performance (RAP) over the period
2000-2004. In 2004, however, the RAP of the selected
sustainable investment funds showed better
performance. Both samples considerably overlap
for the environmental and economic parameters.
The results suggest that the environmental impact
of sustainable investment funds in the sample is
slightly less than that of conventional funds.
Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2007, V11, N3, SUM,
pp 41-60.
08.1-439
Problem-oriented environmental research: The
view of geography and landscape ecology on
science and application
Leser H
Switzerland
Ecology , Modelling
Environmental research is a broad field of study. On
the one hand, environmental research is carried
out on the basis of specialised approaches and on
the other, on an integrative (i.e. holistic) approach.
In this contribution about environmental research,
landscape ecology is understood as a man-naturespace
system, the subject of which is the functional
connection of nature, technology and society, according
to Ernst Neef. Landscape ecology defines it
as the so-called “landscape ecosystem”. This model
comprises the three very complex subsystems: the
geosystem, biosystem, and anthroposystem. This
complex subject of environmental research can only
be adequately examined if the approach is integra-
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tive. This in turn means that the various sciences
must scrutinise their approaches and methods, so
that they do not over-specialise, and that they cooperate
on a transdisciplinary basis. The results of
this transdisciplinary research work are directed to
the various sciences as well as the different fields of
practice.
Gaia Ecological Perspectives For Science and Society,
2007, V16, N3, pp 200-207.
08.1-440
Linking models of land use, resources, and
economy to simulate the development of
mountain regions (ALPSCAPE)
Lundstroem C, Kytzia S, Walz A, Gret Regamey A,
Bebi P
Switzerland
Modelling , Agriculture, Soil Sciences , Economics
We present a framework of a scenario-based model
that simulates the development of the municipality
of Davos (Swiss Alps). ‘We illustrate our method
with the calculation of the scenario for 2050 “Decrease
in subsidies for mountoin agriculture and
liberalization of markets.” The main objective was
to link submodels of land-use allocation (regression-based
approach), material and energy flows
submodels (Material and Energy Flux Analysis),
and economic submodels (Input- Output Analysis).
Letting qualitative and quantitative information
flow from one SUbmodel to the next, following the
storyline describing a scenario, has proven to be
suitable for linking submodels. The succession of
the submodels is then strongly dependent on the
scenario. Qualitative information flows are simulated
with microsimulations of actor choices. Links
between the submodels show different degrees of
robustness: although the links involving microsimulations
are the weakest, the uncertainty introduced
by the land-use allocation model is actually
advantageous because it allows one possible change
in the landscape in the future to be simulated. The
modeling results for the scenario here presented
show that the disappearance of agriculture only
marginally affects the region’s factor income, but
that the consequences for the self-sufficiency rate,
for various landscape-related indicators and ecosystem
services, and for the economy in the long term
may be considerable. These benefits compensate
for agriculture’s modest direct economic value.
The framework presented can potentially be applied
to any region and scenario. This framework
provides a basis for a learning package that allows
potential detrimental consequences of regional development
to be anticipated at an early stage.
Environmental Management, 2007, V40, N3, SEP,
pp 379-393.