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451. Research Capacity Development for Environmental Management in Cambodia: Outlining a Multi-Sector Approach

Author:
Kei Otsuki and Shimako Takahashi
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Research capacity development at the higher education level in order to improve environmental planning and management has been considered invaluable in ensuring the sustainable development of developing countries. In least developed countries (LDCs), such as Cambodia, people are especially vulnerable to environmental changes and advanced knowledge is urgently needed to enhance their socio-ecological resilience; however, governments lack both the financial and human resources needed to ensure adequate academic infrastructure for knowledge generation and dissemination. Furthermore, the international aid community has rarely placed emphasis on investing in higher education in developing countries; instead, producing basically skilled labourers through primary and secondary education was considered more effective in bringing return on investment and enhancing economic development. Neither national nor international development agendas have so far resulted in a substantial commitment to research capacity development of academic institutions in LDCs.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Environment
Political Geography:
Cambodia and Southeast Asia

452. The Evolution of Environmental Policy in the People's Republic of China

Author:
Richard Louis Edmonds
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper outlines how the evolution of China's policy and study of the environment are reflected in the scholarly literature, paying special attention to the impact of the country's environmental developments on international relations. In particular, it examines accounts of how China has moved from an isolated national scientific and environmental control infrastructure into the centre of international environmental debates as its society has opened and the geographical scale of ecological problems has expanded. The paper also identifies the continuing inhibitors to China's ability to control environmental degradation – including lack of transparency, elite manipulation, and bureaucratic weaknesses – despite the opening of China's system to limited participation of civil society in its environmental debates.
Topic:
Climate Change and Environment
Political Geography:
China

453. Behind the Facade of Rwanda's Elections

Author:
Filip Reyntjens
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Rwanda is a de facto one-party state where the ruling party maintains a façade of legitimacy through a sham electoral process. The country's turbulent past has given rise to a tense, and at times, violent political environment. The international community must develop a comprehensive strategy with the people of Rwanda to establish a legitimate and functioning democratic process.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
Rwanda

454. China is My Backyard: China's Environmental Degradation in a Global Context

Author:
Darrin Magee
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
China's environmental degradation and resultant human health impacts are embedded in global political and economic cycles. There is an urgent need to minimize the release of noxious byproducts of manufacturing and de-manufacturing into the environment. This will likely only be achieved by the coordinated efforts of Chinese authorities to tighten regulations and strengthen enforcement, by the demands of corporations for higher standards along their supply chains, and by the demands of consumers via purchasing decisions for manufacturers to prioritize environmental and health concerns.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
China

455. Governing the blue-green Baltic Sea: Societal challenges of marine eutrophication prevention

Author:
Mia Pihlajamäki and Nina Tynkkynen
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The PROBALT report identifies the challenges of Baltic Sea eutrophication governance and scrutinises past, ongoing and planned efforts to meet these challenges at the European Union and national levels, as well as within the Baltic Sea regional cooperation regime HELCOM. Considering that the Baltic Sea has been the focus of environmental management efforts for 40 years, it is surprising that in reality the ecological state of the Baltic Sea is not improving. This implies that protective efforts such as international and national policies and regulations, as well as their implementation, have not been effective enough.
Topic:
Environment, International Law, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

456. Environmental Migration: Policy Gaps and Response Strategies

Author:
Chris Perry
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Environmental change exacerbates existing socioeconomic, political, and cultural incentives to migrate. In fact, there will be an estimated 200 million environmental migrants by 2050. As the global climate warms, people will be pushed to move by sea-level rise, drought and desertification, food insecurity, natural disasters, and conflict over scarce resources. This paper examines the links between climate change and migration and identifies gaps in the current international policy and legal frameworks for dealing with environmentally displaced persons. It recommends strategies for coping with these population movements, including better international coordination on migration issues, funding and technical assistance for at-risk countries, and innovative institutional and legal frameworks for potential migration flows.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Migration, United Nations, and Culture

457. Rethinking Support for Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change

Author:
Simon Levine, Eva Ludi, and Lindsey Jones
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) was established in 2009 with the aim of understanding how development interventions can contribute to adaptive capacity at the community and household level, and to inform the design and implementation of development planning by governments and non-governmental development partners to support adaptive capacity for climate change and other development pressures. This paper is based on an analysis of three country studies conducted by national research teams in eight research sites in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mozambique for ACCRA. It describes the Local Adaptive Capacity framework developed for this project, its application during the research, and the evidence found about the impact of development interventions on the adaptive capacity of people and communities.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, and Ethiopia

458. Review of Climate Change Adaptation Practices in South Asia

Author:
Charlotte L. Sterrett
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Despite all its progress over the last quarter century, South Asia remains home to four out of every 10 of the world's poor ; 600 million of South Asia's 1.5 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day. Almost half the children below five are underweight, accounting for more than half of the world's undernourished children. Imbalances in economic growth, inequality among castes, classes, between genders, and a region beset by disasters, have added to the suffering of the poor and those most vulnerable and marginalised.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
South Asia

459. Investment incentives and the global competition for capital

Author:
Kenneth P. Thomas
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Investment incentives (subsidies designed to affect the location of investment) are a pervasive feature of global competition for foreign direct investment (FDI). They are used by the vast majority of countries, at multiple levels of government, in a broad range of industries. They take a variety of forms, including tax holidays, grants and free land. Politicians, at least in the United States, may have good electoral incentives to use them.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

460. Managing the growing impacts of development on fragile coastal and marine ecosystems: Lessons from the Gulf

Author:
Hanneke Van Lavieren, John Burt, David A. Feary, Geórgenes H. Cavalcante, Elise Marquis, Lisa Benedetti, Charles Trick, Björn Kjerfve, and Peter F. Sale
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Like many other places in the world, the coastal region of the Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf, and hereafter referred to as 'the Gulf') faces continuous environmental degradation. The unprecedented rate and scale of development that has occurred poses numerous environmental challenges and may be the greatest threat facing the Gulf's marine communities in the coming decades as urban populations along it's shores continue to grow. Some Gulf countries have already developed more than 40% of their coastline during the last 20 years. Pressure on coastal ecosystems is especially high in the smaller Gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, where residents either live entirely, or almost entirely within 100 km of the coast. Development has led to loss and severe degradation of important natural habitats, including mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Coastal 'mega-projects' including artificial islands, waterfront cities, ports, marinas and man-made waterways have sometimes been poorly conceived from an environmental perspective, leading to severe pressure on natural environments. Because development has taken place so rapidly there has not been enough time to develop adequate regulatory, technical, and monitoring capacity to guide this growth appropriately. Present trends suggest that development will not be accompanied by appropriately sophisticated policies and mechanisms for minimizing and mitigating deleterious impacts on the environment.
Topic:
Development, Environment, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Arabia