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461. Corruption in the Land Sector

Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Unprecedented pressures on land have been created as new areas are cultivated, taken over by expanding urban centres or are abandoned due to degradation, climate change and conflict. These developments have strained the rules, processes and institutions that determine which land resources are used, by whom, for how long and under what conditions.
Topic:
Climate Change, Corruption, Environment, Natural Resources, and Governance

462. Standards Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste

Author:
Rodney C. Ewing
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Abstract:
This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management. These comments and recommendations focus on standards and regulations for licensing a geological repository for SNF and HLW; however, I have added a brief annex on the classification of nuclear wastes. The initial classification of the waste determines the disposal strategy: deep geological disposal vs. near surface disposal.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Mexico

463. Needing to Have A Voice: Linguistic Grouping in the Digital Networked Environment

Author:
Han-Teng Liao
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
“[T]here isn't an economic internet and a social internet and a political internet; there's just the Internet,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about the U.S.'s Internet freedom agenda, claiming that there should not be “walls that divide the Internet.”
Topic:
Environment, Globalization, Science and Technology, Communications, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

464. Minorities and Green Political Thought: Normative challenges to an ideal ethics?

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
What does Green minority action do to our traditional views of minorities as conflict-prone, rights claiming entities that defy definition and pose constant tension in normative political theory? Normally concerned with justification of such issues as the right to existence, the right of self-determination, the protection of culture and language, and steeped in discourses of politics and struggles for recognition as well as of identity and difference, and multiculturalism versus egalitarianism, political theory has confined itself to addressing minority issues in terms of normative accommodation. The arrival on the scene of Green political thought has not c hanged this (as yet) but the empirical facts may force normative political theorists to engage with Green theory as well as impel Green political thought to address normative minority accommodation. It is the possibility of the latter that I will explore in this paper.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, Denmark, Latin America, North America, and Mexico

465. Primary Energy and Transportation Fuels and the Energy and Water Nexus: Ten Challenges

Author:
Blythe Lyons
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
A substantive dialogue has emerged in the United States under the rubric of "the energy and water nexus," representing the deepening understanding of the circular relationship between water and energy. Both are essential building blocks of US economic and physical security, and interface with efforts to improve health and prosperity. On a national level, the criticality of this relationship to economic and public prosperity is often ignored, as energy and water impacts are largely specific to a watershed or a local surface water source. The United States today needs new policies and significant infrastructure investment in order to meet the increasing demand for water and energy, while dealing with the constraints of growing water scarcity and potential threats to water quality.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, Oil, Natural Resources, Water, and Biofuels
Political Geography:
United States

466. The Gender and Climate Debate: More of the Same or New Pathways of Thinking and Doing?

Author:
Bernadette P. Resurreccion
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Feminist and development advocates have recently taken international agreement framers to task for the paucity of gender perspectives when defining climate change agendas, a gap which has led to the emergence of 'gender and climate change' discourses. This paper aims to contribute to this growing concern with gender and climate change adaptation by: (i) briefly reviewing international agreements and advocacy literature in order to understand the conceptual antecedents underlying gender and climate change discourses and their respective deficits; and (ii) engaging with past and current theorisations on gender, adaptation and resilience which are relevant to a better understanding of the linkages among gender, climate change adaptation and human security. This paper argues that 'gender' and 'vulnerability' have to be viewed as complex social and human security processes that defy current simplifications based on fixed and essentialised traits and properties of women that characterised the earlier women, environment and development (WED) discourse. Current gender and climate change discussions often build on this earlier strand. An understanding of the complex linkages and processes of gendering and vulnerability is applied to recent climate change adaptation studies in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
Vietnam and Cambodia

467. A Summary of the Liveability Ranking and Overview

Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The concept of liveability is simple: it assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions. Assessing liveability has a broad range of uses, from benchmarking perceptions of development levels to assigning a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages. The Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability rating quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual's lifestyle in any given location, and allows for direct comparison between locations. Every city is assigned a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. For qualitative indicators, a rating is awarded based on the judgment of in-house analysts and in-city contributors. For quantitative indicators, a rating is calculated based on the relative performance of a number of external data points. The scores are then compiled and weighted to provide a score of 1–100, where 1 is considered intolerable and 100 is considered ideal. The liveability rating is provided both as an overall score and as a score for each category. To provide points of reference, the score is also given for each category relative to New York and an overall position in the ranking of 140 cities is provided.
Topic:
Economics, Education, Environment, Health, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
New York

468. AB 32 and Climate Change: The National Context of State Policies for a Global Commons Problem

Author:
Robert N. Stavins
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Why should anyone be interested in the national context of a state policy? In the case of California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), the answer flows directly from the very nature of the problem— global climate change, the ultimate global commons problem. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) uniformly mix in the atmosphere. Therefore, any jurisdiction taking action—whether a nation, a state, or a city—will incur the costs of its actions, but the benefits of its actions (reduced risk of climate-change damages) will be distributed globally. Hence, for virtually any jurisdiction, the benefits it reaps from its climate-policy actions will be less than the cost it incurs. This is despite the fact that the global benefits of action may well be greater—possibly much greater—than global costs.
Topic:
Climate Change and Environment
Political Geography:
United States and California

469. From the Think Tanks

Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Americas Quarterly
Institution:
Council of the Americas
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America