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342. Framing Climate Change: The Need for a Human Security Perspective
- Author:
- S. Nanthini and Tamara Nair
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- Climate change has now become the defining issue of the time – and one of the biggest threats to humanity. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has proven to be a “reality check”, making it clear that climate change is already affecting the world by laying out its various manifestations including temperature increases, sea level rise and changes in rainfall patterns. With the stress placed on the economic, social and political systems that underpin the international system, it is now becoming increasingly clear that climate change is a development, economic, health, and security risk, – essentially a human and national security risk. The impacts of climate change range from the direct, as seen by the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather phenomena, to the indirect, such as migration, resource scarcity and conflict – situations in which climate change acts as a ‘threat multiplier’. As such, it is now imperative to take into account the ways in which climate change is discussed, moving the discourse beyond the environmental, scientific and securitisation framings, which have dominated academic and policy discussions, into one that is more humanistic, taking into account the present and emerging vulnerabilities that are being generated through “dynamic social, political, economic, institutional, cultural and technological conditions and their historical legacies”. With the renewed interest in human security as seen in the release of the 2020 Human Development Report and its focus on the Anthropocene, as well as the latest IPCC findings released in August 2021, there is an urgency in focusing on, not only human-induced climate change but also in addressing the impacts of this climate variability on the global populations, especially the millions of vulnerable people that will be directly (and indirectly) affected. This NTS Insight will explore how investigating the impacts of climate change through a human security lens, in addition to the current narratives, might ensure the security and stability of communities in a new climate future.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Environment, and Strategic Stability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
343. Planetary Health and Triple Planetary Crisis: Relevance for Multilateral Cooperation on Biodiversity Protection and Conservation in Southeast Asia
- Author:
- Margareth Sembiring
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a search of its causes. Among the various theories available, nature decline offers a compelling explanation for the outbreak and the spread of the disease. This coincides with the formulation of the term ‘triple planetary crisis’ which refers to simultaneous issues of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss confronting the world today. These propositions give biodiversity protection a stronger focus and gain planetary health concept greater traction. In this regard, biodiversity protection and conservation measures at the regional level are particularly important given their transboundary coverage. Despite existing initiatives, they have yet to yield to outcomes sufficient to address triple planetary crisis. The rise of planetary health concept amidst this pandemic time could potentially
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Multilateralism, Conservation, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Asia
344. Community Gardens: Singapore’s “Fourth Food Basket”?
- Author:
- Jose M. L. Montesclaros and Paul Teng
- Publication Date:
- 11-2021
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- Can community gardens be a potential “basket” in Singapore’s food security strategy? As a “Fourth Food Basket” community gardens can complement imports, commercial domestic production, and overseas production, especially through the use of digital technologies.
- Topic:
- Environment, Science and Technology, Community, and Digital Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Singapore
345. Understanding Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau: Climate Data and Community Knowledge
- Author:
- Emily Yeh, Huatse Gyal, Kelly Hopping, Hung Nguyen, Boniface Fosu, and Brendan Buckley
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Tibetan Plateau spans more than one million square miles at the center of Eurasia with an average elevation of over 12,000 feet - by far the most extensive high-altitude region on Earth. Resulting from the collision of continental plates more than 50 million years ago, the Tibetan Plateau continues to play a major role in determining the climate that we experience today. More recently, the Tibetan Plateau has seen more significant warming than surrounding regions due to its higher altitude. As such, Tibetan communities are at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of climate change and their knowledge of such changes may contribute to better understanding the effects of a changing climate on this most significant region. This round table brought together social science researchers working with Tibetan pastoralist communities on the Tibetan Plateau and climate scientists who have worked in the Himalayas and Asia to discuss how interdisciplinary approaches might enrich understandings of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and contribute to our knowledge of global climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Pastoralism, and Social Science
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tibet
346. What Railway Deals Taught Chinese and Brazilians in the Amazon
- Author:
- Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Maiara Folly, and Maurício Santoro
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, Chinese investments in Brazil have expanded and diversified considerably, especially ones involving infrastructure. Chinese investors have also diversified geographically. Increasingly, major Brazilian infrastructure projects are being planned or implemented with Chinese backing in environmentally sensitive regions such as the Amazon rain forest and the Cerrado, a large savanna region in Central-West Brazil. Chinese actors have become directly involved in such projects against a backdrop of sharpening debates about sustainability and other consequences of large-scale infrastructure projects. This is especially true in protected areas such as land populated by Indigenous groups and conservation units. A notable example is the Ferrogrão project, a major railway line designed to cross sections of the Amazon and Cerrado to deliver goods to Brazilian ports. This paper examines the diverse ways that Brazilian and Chinese actors have learned from each other as they negotiate the terms of these deals. It also explores how these learning processes have been conditioned by intense domestic political debates over these projects in Brazil. Official documents and secondary sources reveal that, rather than a set Chinese way of doing business or a stock Brazilian response, such projects entail dynamic institutional learning. Such learning is shaped not only by the particulars of the Ferrogrão project but also by Chinese actors’ broader engagement with Brazilian infrastructure projects over the past ten years.
- Topic:
- Environment, Infrastructure, Investment, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin
347. An Overview of Agricultural Support Policies in Turkey: A Comparative Regional Analysis
- Author:
- Hakan Uslu
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- The agricultural sector is seriously affected by changes in many economic, social, or environmental factors. Hence, the necessity of supporting the sector by governments in various ways has become an indisputable reality. However, regional characteristics must be taken into account in order for these supports to reach their goals. Using a dataset spanning from 2002 to 2020, the current study comparatively analyses the changes in the agricultural support and agricultural production, income, and the value of products in two agricultural regions of Turkey, Central Anatolia and Southeast Anatolia regions. The results highlight that the increase in agricultural income is very low in both regions compared to the substantial changes in agricultural support policies. Additionally, the increase in the values of agricultural products in both regions is much higher than the increase in agricultural income, suggesting that the costs in agricultural activities are too high in the analysed regions.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Governance, and Rural
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Asia
348. The Case for a Climate-Smart Update of the Africa Mining Vision
- Author:
- Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Karan Bhuwalka, and Kojo Busia
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Mining sector investments in Africa can be structured so that the continent may benefit from climate policy in de- veloped countries that puts a global price on carbon. Cur- rent supply chains rely on complex, specialized networks where different parts of the production process are locat- ed in different regions of the world. This system of global value chains5 leads to greenhouse gas emissions through cross-border transportation and excess waste (especially in electronics and plastics). There is some evidence that border tariffs harm vertical specialization, where different regions are specialized in a very specific task.6 Therefore, carbon pricing, including carbon border tax, could lead to the localization of value chains. Multinational companies may move intermediate stages of production closer to the source of mineral extraction, providing a boost to foreign investment across Africa. The incentive for companies to shrink these value chains is even higher in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed some of the risks of relying on extensive global supply networks.7 These global trends sit within a broader and relatively recent context of soaring environment, social, and governance (ESG) investment affecting companies, shareholders, and governments alike.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Mining, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- Africa
349. Guide on incentives for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems
- Author:
- Anna Bulman, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, and Ladan Mehranvar
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Increased investment in agriculture and food systems—from both the private and public sectors—is critical to enhance food security and nutrition, reduce poverty, and adapt to climate change. To generate sustainable benefits, this investment must be responsible. What role should investment incentives play in encouraging such investment? This guide helps to answer that question. Specifically, the guide provides policymakers and government technical staff with guidance on how investment incentives can be used (and how they should not be used) to enhance responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. The guide provides an overview of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems; examines common types of incentives; offers general considerations on how incentives can be used; and discusses how to plan for, design, monitor, and evaluate investment incentives for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Food, Food Security, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
350. Five Years After the Adoption of the Paris Agreement, Are Climate Change Considerations Reflected in Mining Contracts?
- Author:
- Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, and Mara Greenberg
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- At the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, the world’s governments set an ambitious goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 °C over pre-industrial levels. To meet this goal, global anthropogenic CO2 emissions must decline steadily and reach net zero by about 2050.2 The pathway to a low-carbon future requires a fundamental shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy technologies. This transition will be mineral-intensive: the World Bank estimates that the production of minerals could increase by more than 450% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.3 How these minerals are produced will have a lasting effect on the clean energy transition. The mining and metal sector contributes 4–7% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally.4 Without adequate regulation to incentivize climate- friendly sustainable operations, increases in mineral extraction risk increasing the sector’s carbon footprint.5 In addition, climate change acts as a risk multiplier by increasing the risk of flooding, drought, and landslides and, as such, exacerbates the negative externalities caused by poor mining practices. First and foremost, climate change considerations should be incorporated into the climate, environmental, water, forestry, energy, or mining laws of mineral-rich countries. For example, in 2016, Kenya passed a climate law that requires climate mainstreaming in all sectors.6 Guinea’s 2019 Environmental Code encourages the use of renewable energy wherever possible and mandates the environment minister to implement the National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation.7 But the pace of legislative processes is often slow—and in countries where the legislation does not include climate change mitigation and adaptation requirements,8 countries may turn to contractual provi- sions to compel the mining sector to shift to climate- sensitive practices. This paper assesses the extent to which this is being done through an analysis of all publicly available mining contracts signed by fragile states in Africa9 after the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015 that appear on ResourceContracts.org (21 contracts).10 Though the magnitude of African fragile states’ contri- bution to global GHG emissions is minimal, these states have a comparatively high degree of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.11 In this context, governments can and should mobilize the mining sector to play a meaningful role in meeting their climate mitigation and adaptation needs and those of project-affected communities. In addition, the increased demand for critical minerals to produce renewable energy and battery solutions tends to increase investment flows into the mining sector of several of those fragile states,12 making it all the more crucial for their governments to ensure that new mining investments support each country’s sustainable development goals. Doing so, with respect to climate action, furthers both a country’s competitiveness in international markets13 and minimize the mining sector’s footprint on the country’s environment and communities. Though our analysis focuses on contracts concluded by fragile states in Africa, the policy recommendations that we draw from their analysis apply to all host governments that do not already have robust laws that operationalize mitigation and adaptation goals and are eager to leverage and strengthen the role of their mining sectors in achieving sustainable development. Our recommendations envision generating long-term savings over the life of the mines, even if some of those recommendations may in practice represent higher upfront costs for mining companies. For example, adopting renewable energy sources, though possibly more expensive at the outset, is more cost-effective than fossil fuels considering the life of a mine.14 Avoiding deforestation early on also generates savings for mining companies when the time comes to fulfill their mine closure and rehabilitation obligations. Furthermore, by supporting community efforts to build resilience to climate change, mining companies have the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to project-affected communities. Attention to climate change considerations that entail higher expenditures by mining investors at the initial stages of the operation of a mine also tend to reduce the tax revenues from mining for host governments in the short term. However, for governments, too, the long-term benefits outweigh the initial revenue reductions. As long as governments put strong progressive fiscal regimes in place,15 they will be able to reap the upside from a climate- aware, low-carbon mining sector that will be more profitable than a business-as-usual, carbon-intensive mining sector in the medium to long term.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus