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The significance of environmental governance is increasing worldwide, and Georgia is no exception. This article uses wide-ranging sources to provide comprehensive qualitative and quantitative data to discuss the most important aspects of environmental policy directions in Georgia. The results of the study show that: (a) it is crucial to increase public awareness about the importance of climate change and environmental protection; (b) introducing environmental and climate-related goals and objectives and green budgeting principles in national priorities is as important as implementing them effectively into practice; and (c) the practice of regulatory impact assessment needs further development in Georgia, especially in the environment and climate-related areas. Finally, the paper concludes that the lack of historical data is the main limitation for the current research, and proposes that scientific and practical work continues in the future to further explore the relationships between the country’s environmental policies and aspects of sustainable development on both an individual and public level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our planet is facing increasing challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemics, poverty, and many other problems closely linked to a deteriorating environment. Meanwhile, one of our most important assets, rangers working in protected and conserved areas responsible for managing large tracts of the planet's lands and waters, are often underutilized, underrecognized and underequipped. They are generally left out of the debate about conservation and sustainable development policy, despite being central to the success of those policies. This paper outlines the need for global leaders across multiple sectors to recognize the profession of rangers as essential planetary health workers and to position rangers more effectively within global conservation and environmental policy mechanisms. It introduces the challenges facing rangers, the emerging diversity of roles within the ranger profession and the important contribution of rangers to conservation and sustainable development. It presents policy and implementation avenues to improve recognition and professionalization of rangers as key executors of conservation and development policy, particularly considering the recent Global Biodiversity Framework ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this interview, Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, outlines the climate change problem in the Arctic, tells of the increasing speed with which the ice is melting, and outlines some possible solutions, ranging from relatively benign approaches to methods that call for increasingly more intrusive tinkering with the planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Green Belt Biosphere Reserve, with 2.33 million hectares and its internal urban area with 220 thousand hectares, is configured as a water security territory and expresses a direct relationship between urban development and areas that ensure well-being and ecosystem services for 12% of Brazil's population. With seventy-eight municipalities that fully or partially integrate the GBBR, the socioeconomic differences and the different contexts of urbanization and governance reflect on territorial management at the local level and impact the environmental and regional sustainable development agendas. Objective: Based on a survey of environmental policies and correlations between economic and socio-environmental indicators on a municipal scale for the entire study area, this article assesses the level of development of the main environmental public policies and identifies the relationship between these policies and socio-environmental indicators. Originality: Although the Green Belt Biosphere Reserve is an area recognized by the United Nations (UN), the management of its territory depends on municipal actions that comprise it. Little attention has been paid to environmental management, especially in terms of public environmental policies and a broad and ongoing understanding of the conservation of this area. Results: The analysis shows that the different municipalities in the GBBR have different levels of implementation regarding Environmental Agenda. When considering the Municipal Plans for Urban Afforestation, Adaptation to Climate Change, Atlantic Forest and Solid Waste, only Guarujá, Mogi das Cruzes, Santos and São Paulo have these four policies in preparation or completed, while for 33.3% (n=25) of the municipalities, none of these agendas was developed, and a positive correlation was identified between the HDI and the largest number of implemented policies. Contribution: Large and medium-sized cities in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, present studies addressing ecological patterns and processes, however, they do not address specific questions on the environmental sector itself, which this paper aimed at providing. Conclusion: As the Green Belt accounts for 72% of the volume of drinking water in all of São Paulo, the disparities between the municipal indicators analyzed reinforce the need to adopt the GBBR as a platform for adequate governance to integrate policies at different scales for sustainable regional development. Systemic efforts are needed, especially at the municipal scale, in order to carry out adequate environmental management of the GBBR territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kingdom of Morocco decisively increased trade and diplomatic interaction with countries of Western and Sub-Saharan Africa since the mid-2000s, supplementing Morocco's long-standing foreign policy orientation toward the 'West'. Under the guidance of King Mohammed VI, the country gradually sought regional political rapprochement after several decades of relative isolation. The push for regional integration is taking place across multiple policy fields and goes hand in hand with a more assertive demeanour on the stage of international diplomacy. Environmental sustainability – encompassing renewable energy production and environmental protection measures – is a policy sector on which the autocratic Moroccan regime places special emphasis. This paper traces Morocco's 'green turn', the development of environmental sustainability policy under King Mohammed VI in context of Morocco's general foreign policy realignment. It analyses Morocco's environmental engagement at the foreign policy level in terms of soft power activity and gives tentative insight on Morocco's path of becoming an influential regional player in Western and Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to present the research results on some environmental challenges and priorities of climate resilience. The research work was carried out in 2021 and referred to the analysis of the transcendence character corresponding to the environmental policies according to the strategic guidelines of recovery and resilience for sustainable development and green transition. Although sustainable development of the Romanian water sector has been approached in the past, the present paper has new research related to the water security and its role in building the climate resilience of agriculture and rural development in the European Union and our country. From a methodological view, there are used accumulations and outcomes from the specialty literature, from previous researches, the own data processing in figures and tables to describe some conceptual relationships, comparative analyses of the developmental state and the climatic vulnerability of the Romanian water infrastructure sector. The conclusions and recommendations highlight backlogs, needs and opportunities in the context of implementing the European Green Deal and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change which has showing its effects more severely both on a global and national scale requires global and national measures to be taken. In that means, European Green Deal (EGD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are thought that they are like qualified climate change mitigation appeal which attract attention. For his reason, it is very important for future policies to examine these two climate change mitigation calls in detail and to internalize what can be done in this framework. About this, advisories, implementations, and precautions which are assimilated by individuals and sectors are going to be the most important steps in terms of the target of climate change mitigation. Within this scope, energy, economy, land use, soil management and agricultural implementations regarding what can be done in the direction of EGD and SDGs are mentioned in this review, and Turkey's current situation and applicable strategy and methods with just transition are examined in detail. Research which is investigated in the study show that SDGs and EGD in terms of Turkey can achieve common goals with supporting R&D studies, developing applicable economic and environmental policies, and changing sectoral production habits and individual consumption habits. In this sense, it may be possible for adaptation strategies towards climate change impact and risk to succeed with implementation plan which will be specified by Turkey within climate change mitigation appeal which attract attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary examines the challenge of sustainable development in the Amazon, arguing that global efforts to mitigate climate change and current Amazonian policies are clearly inadequate to prevent global warming and deforestation from tipping the forest into a savanna. It analyses the growing climate pressures jeopardising the Amazon's resilience; the erratic Brazilian, Bolivian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian governance of the forest; and the failure of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to establish long-term forest conservation policies in the region. The research demonstrates that the 'savannisation hypothesis' is potentially closer to reality than most debates in the social sciences assume and should be considered seriously. The commentary concludes by suggesting possible pathways for preventing the dieback of the Amazon. These are based on three strategic axes: the strengthening of the ACTO, the promotion of a technological revolution in the forest, and a progressive environmental diplomacy by the Amazonian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the concept and practice of regenerative culture drawing on our experience as activist researchers within Extinction Rebellion Manchester from August-December 2019. It defines relationship between regenerative culture and a foundation of self-care, people care and planet care. It reports how in 2018 in Great Britain Extinction Rebellion (XR) launched itself as a mass environmental movement aiming to achieve systemic change through non-violent civil disobedience. It mentions need of establishing a citizens assembly to oversee the transition towards climate justice.

Innovation is the central element of climate change policy in many jurisdictions. Reduced to technology development and linked to market‐driven priorities, innovation accommodates the interests of large emitters in the energy sector and underpins a sustainable development discourse that denies ecological limits to economic growth. This study examines the use of innovation as a key component of climate change policy in the case of Alberta's Climate Change Emissions Management Corporation, utilizing a political economy approach to explain the drivers of government funding priorities. An analysis of this technology fund's investments over nine years, under two different governments, revealed that nearly half of the revenue has been used to subsidize R&D in the fossil fuels industry in the name of clean energy development, and that this priority has continued despite recent government commitments under the Paris CoP agreement. The carbon levy system that generates revenue for the fund has been unsuccessful in incentivizing facility reductions, pointing to the need for more stringent regulation. Innovation as a framework for transition to a post‐carbon economy is severely limited by its exclusion of the roles of social knowledge and citizen participation in envisaging and designing paths for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce nine papers on sustainable resource dynamics. In addition, we provide analytical results on the effect of stochastic damages on optimal economic growth, the effects of habits and loss aversion on the cost-benefit discount rate, and the effect of a carbon budget and carbon capture and storage (CCS) on optimal investment in technical change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively addressing environmental challenges such as climate change will require adopting policy measures that have some impact on collective human behavior. The present research examined attitudes toward different environmental policies, specifically focusing on the role of perceived justice. Justice was measured in two ways: as an assessment of the fairness of a particular policy and as a general tendency to endorse statements related to environmental justice. Because justice judgments can be context specific, policies were presented in four conditions, in a 2 × 2 design manipulating the type of impact described, ecological or societal, and the level of focus, individual or collective. The roles of political ideology and environmentalism were also investigated. Results from an online sample of 162 US residents showed that non-coercive policies, overall, were rated as more acceptable. Environmental justice statements were strongly endorsed, and justice in both its specific and general forms was a determinant of policy acceptance. In particular, ratings of the fairness of specific policies were a stronger determinant of acceptability than perceived effectiveness of the policy. Type of impact had little effect, but policies tended to be rated as more acceptable when they were framed in terms of the collective rather than the individual. Although a liberal ideology was associated with acceptance of environmental policies in general and with endorsement of environmental justice, controlling for endorsement of environmental justice eliminated the effect of political ideology in most, but not all, cases. Implications for policy support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals must have a quantitative understanding of the carbon footprint tied to their everyday decisions to make efficient sustainable decisions. We report research of the innumeracy of individuals as it relates to their carbon footprint. In three studies that varied in terms of scale and sample, respondents estimate the quantity of CO2 released when combusting a gallon of gasoline in comparison to several well-known metrics including food calories and travel distance. Consistently, respondents estimated the quantity of CO2 from gasoline compared to other metrics with significantly less accuracy while exhibiting a tendency to underestimate CO2. Such relative absence of carbon numeracy of even a basic consumption habit may limit the effectiveness of environmental policies and campaigns aimed at changing individual behavior. We discuss several caveats as well as opportunities for policy design that could aid the improvement of people’s quantitative understanding of their carbon footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the existence of humankind. There is also increasing acknowledgement that old arguments that focused on the exhaustion of economic resources and changing dynamics of utility are no longer necessary and useful in confronting climate change. This article reviews the main arguments that have shaped recent global initiatives on mitigating climate change and global warming. The increasing introduction of climate change mitigation initiatives comes from the recognition that such initiatives no longer require reducing economic growth. Fortunately, recent developments appear promising as the majority of the world's nations pledged at the Paris Accord of 2015 to check environmental degradation. Consequently, individual signatories have supplied intended national determined contribution proposals to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change to cap temperature rise to 1.5 ˚C over the next century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se presentan reseñas de varios artículos acerca del tema del cambio climático, incluyendo “Interfaz ciencia-políticas públicas en Chile: Una mirada a la investigación en cambio climático” de G.R. Borquéz en la “Revista Colombiana de Sociología”; “Colombia y la transición energética” de G. Corredor en “Ciencia Política”; y “Relación entre Democracia, Desarrollo Sustentable y Cambio Climático” de A.J. Gabaldon en “Tekhné.”

This paper develops an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Spain from 1970 to 2012 and seeks to update valuation approaches to a number of items. Two approaches have proven particularly controversial over recent decades; the costs of energy depletion and of climate change. The valuation implications in measuring present welfare have proven problematic, as both include future sustainability consequences arising from resource depletion and environmental impacts. This study includes a ‘ transition cost ’ approach to energy depletion, a modified approach to costs of climate change and water pollution, and removes the cost of ozone depletion. The results illustrate that while GDP per capita increased significantly, the ISEW per capita shows a widening gap. Household labour contributes strongly, but income distribution, energy depletion and costs of climate change limit improvement. Sensitivity analysis shows that accumulating climate change costs and escalating energy depletion costs have significant effects. Nevertheless, the new valuation approaches do not alter conclusions that welfare has shown little improvement. The ISEW provides a useful alternative to current indicators such as GDP subject to awareness of limitations. It is a measure of welfare that uses sustainability accounting methods when estimating costs, but is not an indicator of whether welfare is actually sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the incentives of a single firm to invest in a cleaner technology under quotas and emission taxation. We assume asymmetric information about the firm's cost of employing the new technology. Policy is set either before the firm invests (commitment) or after (time consistency). Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we find that with commitment (time consistency), quotas give higher (lower) investment incentives than taxes. With quotas (taxes), commitment generally leads to higher (lower) welfare than time consistency. Under commitment with quadratic abatement costs and environmental damages, a modified Weitzman rule applies and quotas usually lead to higher welfare than taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper clarifies the competing discourses of sustainability and climate change and examines the manifestation of these discourses in local government planning. Despite the increasingly significant role of sustainability and climate change response in urban governance, it is unclear whether local governments are constructing different discourses that may result in conflicting approaches to policy-making. Using a governmentality approach, this paper dissects the contents of 15 Canadian local governments' sustainability plans. The findings show that there are synergies and tensions between discourses of sustainability and climate change. Both share discursive space and shape local governance rationalities, though climate change response logics are not necessarily highlighted even where the action could result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. In some cases, existing GHG intensive practices are being rebranded as 'sustainable'. This suggests a tension between discourses of sustainability and climate change that may complicate attempts to address climate change through local sustainability planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the current topical problems is the prediction of climate change and mitigation of its consequences. All-sided analysis of ecological, economic, and social aspects of climate issues relies on interdisciplinary assessment models. This article adapts the MERGE optimization model to the current state of the world economy and introduces into the model a new component that implements a simplified procedure of 'green' GDP calculation ('green' GDP, or GGDP, provides information about the efficiency of use of environmental resources). The objective of our numerical simulations is to tests the consequences of Russia's hypothetical participation in the program for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to analyze the environmental indicators of Russia's GDP. The input data are mainly provided by the project of scenario conditions and main macroeconomic parameters for the forecasting of socio-economic development in Russia in the near future implemented by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. The calculations reveal the existence of reserves for Russia's 'painless' participation in environment-preserving initiatives that call for not exceeding the 1990 emission level in 2020-2025. At the same time, increasing the environmental efficiency of Russia's GDP is a relevant task that requires immediate attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MAPS-Chile experience was a novel way to approach the process of building scientific evidence to support policymaking on climate change in a developing country. This article analyzes the processes implemented in Chile and highlights key contributions to strengthening climate change policy formulation in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Wasatch Range Metropolitan Area of Northern Utah, water management decision makers confront multiple forms of uncertainty and risk. Adapting to these uncertainties and risks is critical for maintaining the long-term sustainability of the region's water supply. This study draws on interview data to assess the major challenges climatic and social changes pose to Utah's water future, as well as potential solutions. The study identifies the water management adaptation decision-making space shaped by the interacting institutional, social, economic, political, and biophysical processes that enable and constrain sustainable water management. The study finds water managers and other water actors see challenges related to reallocating water, including equitable water transfers and stakeholder cooperation, addressing population growth, and locating additional water supplies, as more problematic than the challenges posed by climate change. Furthermore, there is significant disagreement between water actors over how to best adapt to both climatic and social changes. This study concludes with a discussion of the path dependencies that present challenges to adaptive water management decision making, as well as opportunities for the pursuit of a new water management paradigm based on soft-path solutions. Such knowledge is useful for understanding the institutional and social adaptations needed for water management to successfully address future uncertainties and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the devastating effects of global warming, the problem of human-induced climate change, and in particular carbon dioxide emissions, has been high on the global policy agenda. In this study, we examine the relationship between national culture, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth in the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Applying system GMM panel estimator across 69 developed and developing countries, we confirm the existence of EKC and show that culture significantly affects the income-emission relationship. Moreover, the effects of the six cultural dimensions on EKC can be collapsed into two: (i) masculinity, power distance and indulgence move the EKC upward and shift the income turning point to the left; and (ii) individualism, uncertainty, and long-term orientation move the EKC downward while shifting the income turning point to the right. The impact of culture on EKC remains also robust for alternative specifications. Future policy and global initiatives in sustainable development should incorporate the multidimensional impact of culture on national behavior towards environment and economic growth, a relationship that has been largely ignored in economic decision-making models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The language of transformational change is increasingly applied to climate policy, and particularly in climate finance. Transformational change in this context is used with respect to low-carbon development futures, with the emphasis on mitigation and GHG metrics. But, for many developing countries, climate policy is embedded in a larger context of sustainable development objectives, defined through a national process. Viewed thus, there is a potential tension between mitigation-focused transformation and nationally driven sustainable development. We explore this tension in the context of operationalizing the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which has to deal with the fundamental tension between country ownership and transformational change. In relation to climate finance, acceptance of diverse interpretations of transformation are essential conditions for avoiding risk of transformational change becoming a conditionality on development. We further draw lessons from climate governance and the development aid literature. The article examines how in the case of both the Clean Development Mechanism and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, there has been limited success in achieving both development objectives and ‘nationally appropriate’ mitigation. The development aid literature points to process-based approaches as a possible alternative, but there are limitations to this approach. Policy relevance The concept of transformational change has gained prominence in climate finance. The conundrum facing the GCF is that it seeks to support transformational change in the climate realm, in a context where countries may have competing priorities. Balancing or even transcending this tension is a fundamental design challenge for the GCF. A primary focus on mitigation, particularly if metrics of performance are tied exclusively to GHG reduction, raise concerns about diluting ownership by recipient countries and evokes concerns of conditionality or worse. The literature on development assistance has explored options notably conditions on process and adequate capacity, and suggests that there are no short cuts to building domestic ownership. Actors on climate change need to avoid the risk that transformational change is perceived as, and becomes, an imposed condition. The risk that transformation change, operationalized in the context of unequal power relations, becomes an imposition on development, needs to be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty in economic policies and regulations incentivizes firms to delay investments in environmental research and developments (R&D) or postpone environmental projects that are costly to undo. A consequence of those decisions is that firms innovate less for the environment. Using 1026 U.S. firm data (equivalent to 13,241 firm-year observations) this study shows that a negative effect of policy uncertainty – a drop in environmental innovation – does not surface in the short term but in the longer term, i.e., in 5–6 years' time. The negative effect, nevertheless, dissipates after six years. These findings are of relevance to other developed countries as well as emerging countries that have a relatively higher uncertainty in their economic policies and regulations. In sum, the results call for attention from governments and regulators around the world: uncertainty in policies and regulations are detrimental to combating climate change and promoting environmental sustainability . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from February 15-19, 2016, is presented. Topics include environmental policy issues, sustainable development and the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. It cites the internal and external developments of the UNEP.

This paper explores the conceptual and practical linkages between climate change governance, diversity of authority and regenerative sustainability. It empirically explains such linkages in the context of adaptive flood risk management in the delta cities of Rotterdam and Hong Kong which are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It addresses three questions: 1) if what is being witnessed is a transition to more inclusive, engaging, empowering, place-sensitive modes of urban climate governance gaining authority to deliver climate policy, how should these transitions be conceptualized and analysed ? 2) how do transitions towards collaborative governance and regenerative sustainability and the deployment of authority in these transitions serve manage the risk of flooding in places with different cultural and climatic settings? 3) what do different cases demonstrate in terms of the practical pathways and examples of implementation of regenerative sustainability ? Conceptual and empirical understandings are needed to assess whether these new, flexible forms of governance might ultimately challenge state-centred authority in the policy responses to climate change. This paper reveals that new governance systems are diluting, not supplanting, state authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of literature during calendar year 2014 focused on environmental policies and sustainable development, and economic policies. This review is divided into these sections: sustainable development, irrigation, ecosystems and water management, climate change and disaster risk management, economic growth, water supply policies, water consumption, water price regulation, and water price valuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy discussion is replete with references to water security, food security, ecosystem health, community resilience, sustainable development, and sustainable urbanism. These terms are, by their very nature, ambiguous and difficult to define; they allow room, however, for a variety of actors to conceptualize water, food, ecological, economic, and urban problems in ways that allow them to move forward on contentious issues. This article focuses on the idea of water security and asks how it is conceptualized and used for regional policy debate in western Canada. We asked fifty-eight water stakeholders from the Saskatchewan River Basin to define water security, identify major barriers to security, and prioritize water problems. Responses showed there are myriad ways to think about water security, ranging from narrow conceptualizations, such as reliability, quality, and quantity, to broader sustainability perspectives about the nature of resource development and its social and economic consequences. The human dimensions of water security (governance, land use, and competing demands) were assigned higher priority than its biophysical aspects (flooding, droughts, and climate change). Framing water security to emphasize the human capacity to manage uncertain and rapid biophysical and societal change offers the opportunity to unite actors who otherwise would be separated by core environmental values, definitions of water security, provincial context (Alberta vs. Saskatchewan), and occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information about the concept of sustainable development. It provides an overview of sustainable development as well as its important role in addressing issues concerning global crises in climate, poverty, ecology, and food security. Information about the United Nations development agendas is presented.

Climate change poses challenges to the socio-economic life globally, though in varying degrees. Southern Africa is one of the regions that has shown signs of changes in climate. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007), temperatures in the region have risen by 0.5 degrees Celsius over the past hundred years. In addition, climate change has resulted in fifteen incidents of drought in Southern Africa between 1988 and 1992. This has consequently had a negative impact on the socio economic life of the inhabitants of the region. While climate change is an issue that requires attention from all spheres of government, it is posited in this article that the local sphere of government needs to be the focal point for redress as it is the sphere closest to the people. Mutanga, Pophiwa and Simelane (2013: 165) note that insufficient human and financial resources, inability to adapt technologically and politically driven climate change related programmes are some of the challenges faced by municipalities in tackling climate change. Capricorn District in Limpopo Province, South Africa has agriculture as one of its critical economic activities; thus climate change is a serious concern in the area. The article seeks to investigate how local government is responding to the climate change phenomenon. The Capricorn District Municipality is used as a case study. It must be noted that, although this municipality is not a typical representation of how the other local authorities in the country are responding to climate change, it however sheds significant light on how this phenomenon is viewed at this sphere of government. The guiding questions are:to what extent is climate change viewed as a challenge by local authorities?Secondly,what measures are local authorities taking to address both the causes and effects of climate change?It is postulated that local government in South Africa is not effectively proactive and innovative in dealing with climate change. There is a need for policies and mechanisms in municipalities that address challenges that are posed by climate change. This is only possible if both elected and appointed officials treat the issue as a priority. Interviews were conducted with key informants and official documents were consulted in order to gather data that would either support or refute the suggested hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global discourses on climate change have significantly shaped how climate change is viewed as a problem and issue to be governed. This article discusses the role of policy narratives and expertise in the rendering of climate change governable in the so-called least-developed countries (LDCs). The main arguments are illustrated with examples from Cambodia. There are 3 key findings. First, climate change policy narratives are an important product and driver of the shifting rationalities of government with respect to adaptation and mitigation. In the case of Cambodia, policy narratives of donors have dominated, but have also been co-opted by national government. Second, most responses to climate change are framed in technical terms that draw on expert knowledge, tools and technologies. In Cambodia, mitigation has been viewed through the currency of carbon credits, as in clean development mechanism projects, that downplay other ecosystems and values as well as the livelihood dimensions of intervention projects. Third, the combination of donor-driven policy narratives and expert technologies is potent: it strongly depoliticizes climate change as an issue rendering it more easily governable through existing bureaucratic planning processes and without challenging the current structures of political economy. In Cambodia, opportunities for meaningful public engagement in shaping national responses to climate change remain limited despite significant opportunities for complementarities with sustainable development policies and concerns with adverse impacts and trade-offs associated with large-scale projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of literature during calendar year 2013 focused on environmental policies and sustainable development, and economic policies. This review is divided into these sections: sustainable development, irrigation, ecosystems and watershed management, climate change and disaster risk management, environmental policies management, economic growth, water supply policies, water consumption, water price regulation, and valuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A notable feature of development aid since the 1960s has been a paradigm shift from centralised project planning and management to decentralised approaches. The transition from top-down to bottom-up elevates the concept of localism in project management for vulnerable groups. This change resonates well in community-based resource management schemes in privileging the locale in terms of generation of knowledge and how problems and remedies are enunciated. Localism conceptualised as devolving central-level government functions to non-state actors in social service delivery is contradictory and seems to negate state powers. This paper explores this trajectory to explicate the forms of localism and the contradictions from its multiple conceptualisations that influence energy access. Using qualitative methodology and interviews, it analyses renewable energy projects directed at poverty alleviation in rural communities in Nigeria while deploying a political ecology framework of power relations to highlight the dynamics of localism. While localism is touted as a constraint in the development process due to localism of action, the paper demonstrates its prospects and how scaling-up of operations may augur well for altering its conceptualisation and with far-reaching consequences for community sustainable energy projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Official development assistance currently totals around US$130 billion per year, an order of magnitude greater than international climate finance. To safeguard development progress and secure the long-term effectiveness of these investments, projects must be designed to be resilient to climate change. This article reviews 250 projects for three countries from two development organisations and finds that between 2% and 30% of these may require action now to “future-proof” investments and policies. Both organisations show improvements in the recognition of climate change in projects, but many projects are still not future-proof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That the climate is changing and societies will have to adapt is now unequivocal, with adaptation becoming a core focus of climate policy. Our understanding of the challenges, needs, and opportunities for climate change adaptation has advanced significantly in recent years yet remains limited. Research has identified and theorized key determinants of adaptive capacity and barriers to adaptation, and more recently begun to track adaptation in practice. Despite this, there is negligible research investigating whether and indeed if adaptive capacity is translating into actual adaptation action. Here we test whether theorized determinants of adaptive capacity are associated with adaptation policy outcomes at the national level for 117 nations. We show that institutional capacity, in particular measures of good governance, are the strongest predictors of national adaptation policy. Adaptation at the national level is limited in countries with poor governance, and in the absence of good governance other presumed determinants of adaptive capacity show limited effect on adaptation. Our results highlight the critical importance of institutional good governance as a prerequisite for national adaptation. Other elements of theorized adaptive capacity are unlikely to be sufficient, effective, or present at the national level where national institutions and governance are poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's reform/opening process has been exceptionally successful at generating lasting economic growth and in lifting millions of people out of absolute poverty. However, this success came at a significant price. Environmental degeneration represents one critical issue. Other serious topics include an increasing income and development gap between and within provinces, and between rural and urban areas. A proposed shift towards a low-carbon economy seems to provide an answer in addressing this complex environmental–development challenge. However, decisions on a future course of action are not made in a political, economic or social vacuum, instead decisions are made in the context of a particular structural environment, which restricts the options available for actors. Applying a structure–agency approach will help to identify and highlight the existing structural challenges inherent within China's development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A review of literature during calendar year 2012 focused on environmental policies and sustainable development, and economic policies. This review is divided into these sections: sustainable development, irrigation, ecosystems and watershed management, climate change and disaster risk management, environmental policies management, economic growth, water supply policies, water consumption, water price regulation, and valuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the scientific and negotiating community has recognized Bangladesh as one of the most vulnerable countries to Climate Change effect which in future is likely to face more frequent climatic adversities. This paper emphasizes on putting the theme of 'Education in Emergency' in all climate change adaptation efforts in the country which can enable it to safeguard country's important education sector during any disaster or in the recovery phase. Education has received inconsiderable amount of importance in those efforts and ultimately encompassed all the spheres of social, emotional, cognitive and physical ground which decelerate multifarious predicaments and adversities. In preparing this paper the authors highly rely on secondary sources of data. In the era of globalization, a vast number of populations remain untouched or being detracted from the light of education. It is particularly fact for country like Bangladesh where natural calamity is an incessant event due to the intrusion of globalization. Bilateral, multilateral, regional and global affiliation and association can be undertaken to the depletion of hindrances. Besides, substantial and congruous strategies, plans, policies and programs within the internal infrastructure may assist to mitigate this endanger and also comply with the commitment of education for all even in the cataclysm. For accomplishing responsiveness and flourishing prowess, an integrating approach to the management of Education in Emergency (EiE) requires coordination and collaboration among government departments or ministries and agencies, designing and upgrading courses (including issues like Need for Sustainable Development and Actions for Environment Protection, Environmental Management Tools & Environmental Assessment, Environment Pollution Management, Progress in Environmental Science, International Environment Laws etc.), as well as superior and immaculate information technology to resolve this consternation and vulnerability. Propitious and admissible approaches can ensure eco-balance and sustainable socio-economic development in a vulnerable country like Bangladesh with a proper accentuation on education in emergency. This paper will be highly helpful for policy makers both in private and public sectors to ensure sound education opportunity in the highly disaster prone i.e., coastal areas. However, this piece of effort might also cut attention of the human rights workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy initiatives in India, such as the Social Forestry Program and later the Joint Forest Management, were introduced for their co-benefits, including forest protection, employment opportunities, and added income for communities living in and around the forests. The evolution of these forest policies is critically reviewed. It is argued that India is perfectly positioned to benefit from climate change mitigation efforts, due to a rich, albeit chequered, history in forest management. National forestry policies are examined to assess how they can complement international climate change mitigation instruments, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the more recent Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD or REDD+ with conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) and aid national sustainable development objectives. There is a need to heed the experiences from India's evolving forest policies, particularly those concerning land tenure and resource rights, which lack specificity within international mechanisms. The active engagement of rural communities must be integral to any programmes that make any claim to development and to environmental integrity as a whole. Policy relevance India's forestry programmes are examined for their effectiveness in informing international initiatives such as the CDM and REDD+. Forestry policies in India can evolve to complement international climate mitigation tools. By examining current and historical forest legislation, and their subsequent impacts, it is shown how communities can sustain their system of forest management and retain/obtain rights to land and resources under the CDM and REDD+. Looking for such synergies within existing national policies to implement newer international initiatives can greatly facilitate and increase the momentum of global environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambitious carbon reduction targets are driving a new era of carbon control reflecting the UK, the EU and international commitment to mitigating the predicted impacts of global warming and climate change. Observed as a transition away from the more holistic goals of sustainable development (While et al., 2001), the ‘low carbon’ (LC) agenda is increasingly recognised as problematic in so far as it is pro-technological and promethean, marginalising the importance of social, political, economic and wider environmental issues. With specific implications for housing and householders, the paper explores how the current preoccupation with ‘LC’ presents some potential pitfalls in relation to advancing sustainable housing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SPREP / AGM-23 - Pacific Environment Moving Forward (David Sheppard) 351 Pacific Islands Forum - Taking an Oceanscape Approach 353 Pacific Islands Forum - Leaders Collaborate to Address Key Concerns 355 Earth Observation from Satellites: Supporting the Outcomes of UNCSD (Rio+20) - (Stephen A. Briggs and Stephen Ward) 357 EU - Developments in Environmental Law (Annalisa Savaresi) 365 EU - Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe - The Process 370 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaching the economic, environmental and sustainability objectives of all societies requires overcoming several major energy challenges; it necessitates rapid progress in multiple areas. The scenario pathways presented in this paper describe transformative changes toward these goals, taking a broad view of the four main energy challenges faced by society in the 21st century: providing universal access to modern energy for all; reducing the impacts of energy production on human health and the environment; avoiding dangerous climate change; and enhancing energy security. The overarching objective of the paper is to provide policy guidance on how to facilitate the transformation of the energy system to achieve these multiple energy objectives. Particular focus is given to the required pace of the transformation at both the global and regional levels, and to the types of financial and policy measures that will be needed to ensure a successful transition. Synergies and trade-offs between the objectives are identified, and co-benefits quantified. The paper makes an important contribution to the scenario literature by approaching the global transition toward sustainable development in a more integrated, holistic manner than is common in other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]