Position: Post-doctoral researcher position (SEI Research Fellow)
Topic: Climate Policy implications of bioenergy trade
Duration: 2 years, with possibility of renewal or development of permanent position
Start date: Fall 2012 – exact date is negotiable but early fall preferred
Duty station: Stockholm, Sweden
Application deadline: Sunday 13 May, 2012
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
SEI is an independent, international research institute. Its mission is to support decision-making and induce change towards sustainable development around the world by providing integrative knowledge that bridges science and policy in the field of environment and development. With centres in six countries around the world, SEI has organised its work around four overarching themes. The theme Reducing Climate Risk supports the design, development and implementation of effective and equitable strategies for adaptation and mitigation in developing and developed countries.
Nordic Strategic Adaptation Research (NORD-STAR) programme
NORD-STAR is a Centre of Excellence involving collaboration across 10 research and policy organisations located in the 5 Nordic countries, with funding from the Norden Top-Level Research Initiative. Within the scope of climate impacts and climate policy, NORD-STAR focuses especially on two issues: land-use change and energy transitions. NORD-STAR researchers analyse and communicate needs and opportunities for strategic adaptation and the linkages between mitigation and adaptation using two tools: modelling/visualisation and policy analysis. Combining the two issues and the two methodological approaches, NORD-STAR has four main projects:
(1) Interactive land-use modelling, visualisation and decision support
(2) Land-use trade-offs affecting adaptive capacity
(3) Energy transition modelling
(4) Energy transition management
To support the implementation of projects 2 and 4 and to strengthen SEI expertise in these areas, SEI is hiring a post-doctoral researcher focusing on the climate policy implications of bioenergy trade.
Research questions, rationale and approach
This research considers the climate policy implications of the continuing expansion in international bioenergy trade, using the Nordic countries as a reference point but naturally connecting strongly to the international market context given the global nature of the impacts and driving forces. More specifically in relation to climate policy, does or can this expansion support both adaptation and mitigation strategies? If so, what is their relative importance and what are the key linkages, synergies and conflicts between climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in relation to expanded bioenergy trade.
The transition to sustainable and renewable energy will place greater demands on land use compared to the fossil and nuclear fuels being replaced: the impacts are especially significant in the case of bioenergy. Previously the land use impacts from bioenergy were local and regional; however, international trade in biomass and bioenergy has increased rapidly in recent years, with significant land use impacts and sectoral changes in agriculture and forestry. The changes in land use in turn impact adaptive capacity at the same time that they affect the nature and the pace of the sustainable energy transition at local and regional scales. The unique position of biomass among renewable sources as an internationally tradable set of commodities therefore endows the expansion in North-North, North-South and South-South bioenergy trade with special significance in relation to the broader energy sustainability transition. The transition is also inextricable from the dynamic changes in land use that are occurring globally due to increases in demand for food, feed, fuel and fibre, and the associated climate stressors that are thereby created or transformed.
The research approach will be interdisciplinary in nature and will be developed by the post-doctoral researcher in consultation with the relevant SEI staff, any appropriate NORD-STAR partners and any external collaborators that may be involved. The approach is expected to be three-fold: assessment of co-benefits and risk-sharing; an empirical investigation of spatial correlations in expected climate impacts; and regional case studies on the drivers of land use change and the associated climate impacts and institutional responses in relation to the expansion in bioenergy trade.
Some type of reduced-form model might be used to explore the dynamics in greater detail. The conceptual policy issues will be explored based on the market development and the subsequent governance frameworks that have emerged in response to those markets in recent years. Linkages, synergies and conflicts between mitigation and adaptation strategies will be explored at this conceptual level and then tested in empirical terms and in the case studies. The empirical work will likely require some synthesis of climate impacts on agriculture and forestry, and focusing on the trade trajectories in relation to biomass productivity and industry learning curves.
Key Qualifications
Ph.D. in economics, interdisciplinary energy/climate analysis, applied sciences, or a related field (less than five years old)*
Experience with quantitative and qualitative analysis of trade flows and/or bioenergy systems
Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
Ability to work in an international environment
Ability to develop and apply interdisciplinary methods
Willingness to travel
Fluency in written and spoken English
*Applicants expecting to defend their PhD thesis before 1 July 2012 are welcome to apply.
Desirable* Qualifications
Knowledge of another major language (e.g. Spanish, French) and/or a Nordic language
Experience in climate policy assessments for alternative energy systems and processes
Experience in assessing land use impacts and/or sustainability of bioenergy products or systems
Experience with evaluating climate impacts on biomass productivity
*Note that it is not expected that the candidate would possess all of these qualification or necessarily have experience in all the mentioned areas of analysis/research.
Applications
Applications should be submitted in PDF format and should consist of a CV and a cover letter that includes the names and contact details of three referees. Applications should be written in English and arrive at SEI as soon as possible but no later than Sunday 13 May, 2012. They should be sent by e-mail to vacancies@sei-international.org . Use as the subject line in the email:
‘Nord-star Post-doc position – Bioenergy Trade – [Applicant’s Last Name] - [Applicant’s First Name]’
Inquiries concerning the content of the position can be directed to Francis X. Johnson ( francis.johnson@sei-international.org ). The Academic Union at SEI Stockholm is represented in this recruitment process by Maria Osbeck ( maria.osbeck@sei-international.org or +46 8 674 7929).
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