The relationship between free trade and the environment is often considered conflicting and the debates surrounding it are infected. My thesis deal with this conflict and how Environmental concerns are integrated in three regional free trade agreements, North American Free Trade Agreement, The common market of the southern cone (MERCOSUR) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). I point out how the organizations differ from each other in this respect and I present a possible explanation to why they differ. The explanation is founded on the theory of the Environmental Kuznets curve and that Environmental concerns will depend on which level of development the member states in the organizations have. To judge and rank the organizations I have composed a model based on a pre-existing description of the trade and environment conflict.

A uniform Environmental rating system for green buildings is demanded in today's society, where the requirements of the energy consumption for real estate are increasing. There are several different systems around the world used to rate buildings, all with different assessment criteria and starting points, which make it difficult to compare Environmental rated buildings with each other.The purpose of this paper is to acquire knowledge about the differences between the Swedish Environmental rating system Miljöklassad Byggnad and the American LEED, to discover which system is most advantageous. We also examine whether Environmental rating affect the value of a property.Miljöklassad Byggnad is relatively simple structured, which makes it possible for private individuals to rate their property. LEED is better structured on the other hand in the case of Environmental classification of commercial properties, because there are manuals for among others hospitals, schools and retail. The rating system for Miljöklassad Byggnad is good since the system seeks to fix the number of errors and deficiencies as soon as possible.

Environmental enrichment is of high importance for zoos. Borås zoo asked SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) for a student to perform a bachelor thesis for them. The task was to develop and evaluate Environmental enrichment for their Humboldt penguins. A structure was made, consisting of a sinking skeleton with a floating bridge attached to it. It was presented in an area of the pool that the keepers had experienced that the penguins did not use to any extent.

Swedish government aid is divided into three main themes: democracy and human rights, the environment and climate, and gender equality and women's role in development. These three themes in aid are considered by the government to be vital in order to fight poverty and create fair and sustainable development. This study will examine two of the four focus areas designated under the theme of "environment and climate". The study observes the relationship between projects in energy and water and how it promotes a sustainable lifestyle. A survey on Environmental habits will be conducted.

SummaryEurope?s public authorities are influential consumers. If they spend their money on greener products and services they can make an important contribution to the work towards a sustainable development. Green public procurement can thereby significantly improve the take-up of new Environmental technologies. Through the effects of economies of scale, production costs be lowered and better equip us to fight Environmental problems.

The concepts of Environmental scanning and Business Intelligence have gained increased interest over the last years in a number of different organisational contexts. The research in this field has mainly been dealing with methods and issues regarding organisation but the aim of Environmental scanning, the forming of new perspectives, has been largely ignored. The purpose of this thesis is to study how Swedish joint-stock banks put Environmental scanning and Business Intelligence into practice. First a literature study is made to create a background and to explain the different conceptions. Then I describe the different functions of the different services in Swedish joint-stock banks.

The increased interest in a sustainable environment puts pressure on companies in the manufacturing industry. Rexcell Tissue & Airlaid AB (Rexcell) in Skåpafors produces paper to be converted into tabletop and hygiene products. Rexcell is certified according to the Environmental management system ISO 14001, gaining competitive advantages by showing that the company works toward a sustainable environment and that they follow current legislation. The activities at the company are classified as hazardous to the environment according to the Environmental code. Every year, the activities are inspected by an independent inspector.

Abstract: The world in which companies are acting today offers challenges in the sense that it is rapidly changing and that a vast amount of information is available. In order to ensure the competitiveness and survival of the company, an effective and efficient Environmental scanning is essential to the company. Our aim with this Master's thesis is to investigate what factors constitutes important and basic conditions in a well functioning Environmental scanning and how companies strategically can go about to achieve this. In order to highlight and specify how these factors can be applied on a specific company Thule has been our focal point. Thule.

The demand for Environmental assessments on buildings and energy consumption is increasing as well as the energy performance requirements for buildings. At the same time it is increasingly common with self-producers of heat and electricity generation.The main purpose with this master thesis is to investigate how time resolution affects the Environmental assessment of energy consumption in office buildings connected to district heating (DH). Environmental assessments were done with both attributional LCA and consequential LCA with system expansion.Fortum´s DH system in Stockholm was analyzed and district heating production was simulated in a Matlab-model. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the production were calculated. The heat demand of the office Gångaren 16 in Stockholm was simulated in IDA ICE.

Environmental chemicals are transported to the Arctic through the air and oceans, once within the Arctic they spread through rivers, lakes and other watercourses. Polar bears and sledge dogs in-gest high concentrations of Environmental chemicals since many of the chemicals are fat-soluble and their diet mainly consists of marine mammals. The aim of this study is to describe how Environmental chemicals spread in nature, how they reach the polar bears, and finally how they affect the animals reproduction, with reproductive hormones and genitals in focus. The animals are exposed to a cocktail effect which complicates the assessment of the chemicals impact on the reproduction. Studies show that the genitals can decrease in size or become malformed, sexual maturation can be affected and the reproductive hormones can be disturbed.

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to investigate if and how pre-school teachers reach the objectives in the national curriculum concerning the Environmental issues.Another angle of this study is to find out if there are any involvement amongst the preschools regarding the Environmental issues and if the teachers encourage the children to join in and make them a part of discussion.I have randomly chosen 10 preschools throughout Sweden and interviewed one staff-member from each school. Most of the preschools were well aware of the goals to follow according to the national curriculum.After comparing the answers my conclusion is that preschools act quite differently concerning Environmental issues. Some worked almost exclusively with the children involved. Others occasionally involved the children whereas a few didn?t include the children at all.In every case the teachers would want to dedicate more time to Environmental issues.

It has become more and more common that companies in the service sector are beginning to understand their own effect on the environment and thus the need to contribute to a sustainable development through acting in a deliberate way. Serious Environmental work can help a company to improve their image and in that way win competitive advantage that leads to improved profitability. In a short time perspective, adjustment to the environment is an opportunity to gain competitive advantage and an opportunity to develop a profile. In a long time perspective it is about survival. The Environmental work has become a sequel to the work with quality.

Sweden?s Environmental work is to set out from 16 national Environmental quality objectives. It aims to work for a sustainable society and to solve our current Environmental problems today and not pass them on to future generations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Uppföljning av handlingsprogram för miljömål (a follow up-study of a programme for Environmental quality objectives) and to propose new methods to work with the revision of Handlingsprogram ? så genomför vi de regionala miljömålen i Hallands län (a programme to implement the regional Environmental quality objectives in the County of Halland), a revision which will start in autumn 2010.

Since the Bruntlandreport was published 1987, companies have shown their Environmental commitment through an Environmental account. Companies started these accounts because their rivals started having them and today most large companies have a Environmental account or sustainable development report. The information given by the companies have been seen as slanted, and others see it only as a part of the image production for the companies. There have been several investigations of the stakeholders of Environmental reports and it is not clear who is the primary stakeholder, in other words who actually reads them. All different stakeholders have different views of what an Environmental account should encompass.

As the Environmental awarenesshas increasedin recent decadessohas the society?s demand forEnvironmentalresponsible companies(Ammenberg, 2004).One way for companies to take responsibility and work with Environmental issues is to implement anEnvironmental management system(EMS). EMSserves as a tool for companies to systematically work with Environmental issues and develop the company's Environmental efforts. ISO 14001 is theEMSaccording to whichthat the majority of companies today choose to get certified(Brorson & Almgren, 2007). The introduction and operation of the ISO 14001 requires significant financial and human resources and it can therefore be questioned whether the Environmental managementsystem is adaptable forall companysizes.The purpose of this studyis to examine whether EMScan provide Environmental and economic benefits for companies of all sizes and ifthe conditions to get certifiedaccordingto ISO 14001 is the same for large and smallcompanies.A literature study was made to collect information on company'simplementation of ISO 14001.