Background and problem discussion: Sustainability reporting has recently risen in importance and a rising number of companies choose to issue voluntary stand-alone sustainability reports. Their non-regulated nature increases the opportunity for management to angle the information in these disclosures to their own advantage. Lately the focus has shifted from examining what kind of information is provided in environmental disclosures, to analyzing how the information is presented.Purpose: The purpose is to examine if managers in the energy sector use optimistic tone when issuing sustainability reports. The aim is to find out if the tone applied in environmental disclosures is in congruence with either the environmental or economic performance or if an excessively positive tone is being used to mislead readers.Limitations: This study is limited to information found in environmental disclosures from private companies in the energy sector, issued in 2012 or 2013. Environmental performance is defined as the amount of CO2e emissions and economic performance refers to annual company revenues.Methodology: The quantification of optimistic tone is conducted using a content analysis, relying on a pre-specified wordlist and a pilot study.

The purpose of this literature review was to describe the paths of exposure and accumulation of organic pollutants into the tissues of farm animals. Organic pollutants can be spread in the environment by air and rainwater. Farm animals can be exposed to these pollutants for example by eating soil or contaminated plants. Many of the pollutants can then accumulate in the fat tissues of the body because of their lipophilic character. Brominated flame retardants and perfluorolated compounds are both pollutants of current interest.

Background: With the increased globalization food prices went down for a while, only to skyrocket to new levels. Prices of organic food, which already were more expensive than conventional, are now even more expensive. The current financial crisis results in reduced consumption which creates a threat to the smaller grocery stores. Globalization and the increased competition have had a negative impact on the environment but at the same time the desire to solve these issues has increased appreciably. The Environmental aspect has been given higher priority by the individual, which led to a wider range of organic products and dramatically increased the number of stores selling organic products, leading to a greater competition among the stores selling organic food.  Problem definition: What factors are important for organic retail business long term survival?Purpose: Trough case studies analyze and evaluate the organic niche retail companies? strategies of marketing.Methods: This study is based on both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

This is my thesis on the D-level at the university in Karlstad at the department for environmental science. It is an analysis of the idea of self-realisation in the deepecology movement.The Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess is one of the profiles in the foreground of deepecology in the world. His teories is important for the development of how to look at ecophilosophical matters in the nordic countries.i will therefor investigate his theories and see how Naess constructs the relation man-nature in his ecosophy T. The principle of self-realisation and identification is there the most important foundation for the antropocentric perspective.In my analysis I use Martin Bubers philosophy of dialogue and his thoughts about relational concept of the self as tools for my investigation.Ecophilosophy is an academic subject that touches a variety of fields of studies but has the collaboration between the subject of culture and nature as its base. Bubers concept of the self that highlights the third.

The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on a present trend of professionalization in Swedish local environmental politics, which have recently seen a decline in active participation of the citizens in favor of an increased governmental regulation. With the aim to closer investigate this relatively new phenomenon, the paper is a qualitative single case-study of environmental policies in the Swedish municipality of Karlskrona. In this case, the municipality is obviously balancing between regarding the interests of the national level and the interests of its own citizens at the same time. This motivates the use of system-theory, and relates to the classical political paradox between participation and efficiency which is also a present theme in the paper.This text-analysis based on interviews with personnel and documents from the municipality shows a visible trend of professionalization in the local politics of the municipality of Karlskrona, from a large grade of participation and a strong bottom-up approach in the days of Agenda 21 to now being more strongly top-down defined by national environmental objectives and principally operated on a professional level..

According to the theory of environmental Kuznets curve there is a relationship between carbon emissions and GDP. The relationship has an inverted U-shape. Carbon emissions rise initially and then decreases once a certain level of GDP is obtained.This essay interprets earlier studies in the field of environmental economics and uses public choice to seek answer on how the population acts on aggregate level. This essay analyses 115 countries in cross-sectional data. The analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and GDP that is increasing at first and then decreases for a certain level of GDP.

Sweden experienced a decline in exports of 16 percent in the period after the financial crisis. The decline has created a lot of question marks regarding the traditional exports which has started a process with the aim of finding Sweden?s next cash cow in export.Sweden adopted stringent environmental laws early which positioned them as a strong nation in environmental awareness. The stringent environmental legislation meant that the Swedish companies were required to minimize the environmental impact, which created a demand for eco-efficient products. Despite the early demand for eco-efficient products, the international success of the Swedish cleantech companies has been modest.The government can increase firms international competitiveness by encouraging, supporting and promoting activities on the domestic market.

Abstract Considering the social dimension of sustainable development this thesis focuses on the qualities of life and how the environmental qualities that the inhabitants value can be incorporated in the physical planning of the municipality. The thesis deals with the problems that occur when the physical planning, whit its focus on the Environmental aspects, also needs to consider peoples opinions, that springs from the individual experience of the place. The municipality of Mark, where this thesis takes its place, is characterised by the countryside landscape. Mark is situated in the western part of Sweden close to Göteborg, Borås and Varberg. The commuting is extensive and the demand for dwellings in the municipality is increasing. Those who strive to live in the municipality have a conception of what life on the countryside means and of which environmental qualities they want to assimilate.

The Swedish industrial society has left several areas with contaminated soil and water which today is of danger for the environment and human health. One of these areas with contaminated soil and water is the region where the former Glava glassworks operated during 1859 to 1939. The main object in this study has been to study the responsibility for the contaminations according to the Environmental Code. The method used is a qualitative content analysis of relevant literature to answer the following questions:What types of contaminations can be found in the area of Glava glasswork and what health issues can these cause?What kind of activity has been conducted in the area that have caused the contaminations in soil and water?According to law, what are the responsibilities for the contaminations in soil and water at Glava glassworks?The contamination in the region has been confirmed to originate from the glasswork due to the environmental engineering survey made in the area in 2009.

Background: In a world that are becoming more and more aware of the climate changes that occur as a consequence of the increasing emissions around the world companies? experience that the opinion blame the internal processors for this. Many companies feel forced to align their strategies to the environmental goals set by the community. Some of the emissions the companies? operations can be linked to business trips and it is therefore interesting to see how these can be reduced by using different performance measures.

Every plan and program decided on by an authority or municipality, where the environmental impact can be considerable, must be environmentally assessed according to Environmental Code, the Planning and Building Act (PBA) and the Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment.The purpose of this study is to examine the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for The Region Development Plan for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2010. The plan was approved by at that time the Regional Planning Office (Regionplanekontoret), which procured the process by consultants. RUFS 2010 includes two merged plans ie. a regional Development Plan (RUP) and the Regional Spatial Plan for Stockholm. It was necessary to establish an environmental assessment of RUP, but not for the regional plan.

During the period 2009-2013, investments in the Swedish national grid increase by a factor of ten compared to previous years. In order to fulfil their mission to manage the national grid in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound way, Svenska Kraftnät (Swedish National Grid) needs to take all these perspectives into account while planning new investments. To compare and relate perspectives of technology, economy and environment the same yard stick must be used. That yard stick is commonly money. A problem arises however as environmental issues are difficult to price.The purpose of this master?s degree project was to develop a tool for evaluation of environmental impact related to investments in the Swedish national grid.

The aim of this essay is to give the reader an idea of how the European agricultural policies have developed, in regard of sustainable development, since Sweden became a member in the union 1995. The main aspect that?s been investigated is the issues regarding sustainable development and how the issues regarding the ecological farming methods have been dealt with. My research questions are:- How has the European environment- and agricultural politics changed since Swedenjoined the union in 1995?- What consequences have the changes had for ecological farming?The answers to the stated questions are that there have been several treaties in the field of environmental development of the agricultural policy, starting with the Maastricht treaty and ends up with the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming.

AbstractPolitical Science, level III thesisSpring semester 2010Author: Emelie AlfredssonSupervisor: Tomas Mitander"A Changed Leadership? - A study of the EU leadership from a institutional standpoint, related to multilateral environmental negotiations"The EU has for a relatively long time considered itself a leader in the environmental policy area as a whole as well as in multilateral environmental negotiations. This study attempts to classify and identify the European leadership with the purpose of relating it to the institutional framework of the Union. The treaties of the European Union decide its ability to act and its institutions the right to engage in different policy areas, the environmental area being the focus of this study. With the recent ratification of the Lisbon treaty this study aims to make out if the type of leadership the Union showed during the Kyoto negotiations has changed with the new treaty, into a new type during the COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen.

Detta arbete ger en insyn i hur en miljöutredning kan genomföras på ett mindre företag, som inte tidigare aktivt har arbetat med miljöfrågor. Arbetet identifierar behovet av att en grundlig miljöutredning och uppföljning görs, samt åskådliggör de olika delmoment och metoder som kan appliceras på utförandet. Arbetet innefattar också ett exempel på en genomförd miljöutredning och utbildningsdag..