THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEEP DRAFT USER FEES

Public Economics,

Sustainable Development in the European Union and World Economy-Main Selected Aspects

Main aspects are discussed in the paper from the EU and global perspective, with special reference to: the global partnership for sustainable development; fighting poverty and promoting social development; sustainable management of natural and environmental resources; trading in greenhouse gas emission allowances; main global and European challenges; goals and challenges facing the European Union member states as stemming from major strategic European Union renewed documents promoting sustainable development; especially promoting consumption and production that is sustainable and environmentally-friendly and green labeling system; a detailed look at "new" environmental policies; with special reference to sustainable transportation; a strategy for the sustainable use of natural resources; preventive strategy (preventing the creation of wastes) and waste recycling; sustainable and competitive tourism.Analizie poddane zostaly również wyzwania stojące przed państwami Unii Europejskiej, wynikające z nowych strategicznych dokumentów Unii Europejskiej, mających na celu promowanie zrównoważonego rozwoju, w tym w dziedzinie zrównoważonej produkcji konsumpcji, przyjaznego dla środowiska naturalnego "zielonego " systemu etykietowania, nowych celów i wyzwań w odniesieniu do polityki ochrony środowiska, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem zrównoważonego transportu, strategii zrównoważonego wykorzystania zasobów naturalnych, zapobiegania powstawaniu szkodliwych odpadów i promocji recyklingu oraz rozwoju zrównoważonej i konkurencyjnej turystyki

Health Reform and the 111th Congress

[Excerpt] The health reform debate in the 111th Congress has continued and expanded upon the work begun in the 110th Congress. On November 12, 2008, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Baucus, released a white paper detailing his principles for health reform. This provided a framework for work within the committee for the 111th Congress. Several bills were introduced when the 111th Congress first convened, and these bills focused on a broad spectrum of approaches to health reform. Most recently, the House and Senate committees of principle jurisdiction on health reform have been formulating their legislation. On July 15, one of the two committees with principle jurisdiction in the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, ordered reported S. 1679, the Affordable Health Choices Act. In the House, the principle jurisdiction for health reform is divided among the Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce. Jointly, the committees released for consideration H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, on July 14. The Committees on Education and Labor and Ways and Means each ordered reported, as amended, their versions of H.R. 3200 on July 17. The Committee on Energy and Commerce ordered reported its version of H.R. 3200 on July 31, 2009. The Senate Finance Committee ordered reported the Chairman’s mark, as amended, known as America’s Health Future Act of 2009, on October 13. The health reform bills being considered by the House and Senate committees of principle jurisdiction focus on simultaneously expanding private and public coverage options. Some of the other bills introduced in the 111th Congress take a similar approach to health reform. Additionally, other bills have focused on other solutions, attempting to expand coverage using one of the following approaches: • Largely replace existing coverage with a national government-provided health insurance program (or a national health service). • Expand existing public programs for certain individuals. • Expand privately sponsored coverage. • Encourage state-based reforms. • Simultaneously expand private and public coverage options. This report presents basic background on health insurance that may be useful to legislators considering health insurance reforms. It describes reform approaches and provides brief descriptions of health insurance reform bills introduced in the 111th Congress, as well as some of the general principles currently being considered by the Congress. The potential impact of the various approaches and bills is not analyzed in this report, however. As a result, it does not provide evaluations of how well different bills, once enacted, would meet their objectives. This report will be updated periodically to reflect recent congressional activity in health reform

Adapting Human Rights

Governmental leaders, scholars, and activists have advocated for human rights to food, water, education, health care, and energy. Such rights, also called positive rights, place an affirmative duty upon the state to provide a minimum quantity and quality of these goods and services to all citizens. But food, education, water, and health care are so different–in how they are produced, consumed, and financed–that the implementation of a positive right must be adapted to the distinctive characteristics of the good or service it guarantees. The primary aims of this adaptive implementation are transparency, enforceability and sustainability in the provision of positive rights. Only by adapting a positive right to its policy environment can such a right function as a viable means of protecting disadvantaged members of society. This article uses the example of positive rights to public utilities, such as water and energy, to illustrate adaptive implementation of positive rights. In doing so, this article explains why and how a positive right must be adapted to the unique policy environment of a given public utility

Policy Reforms and Institutional Weaknesses - Closing the Gap

Philipines, development, institutions

MCA4climate: A Practical Framework for Planning Pro-Development Climate Policy

MCA4climate is a major new UNEP initiative providing 1 Introduction practical assistance to governments in preparing their climate change mitigation and adaptation plans and strategies. It aims to help governments, particularly in developing countries, identify policies and measures that are low cost, environmentally effective and consistent with national development goals. It does this by providing a structured approach to assessing and prioritizing climate-policy options, while taking into consideration associated social, economic, environmental and institutional costs and benefits. In doing so, it seeks to counter the widely held perception that tackling climate change is costly, highlight the potential developmental benefits of addressing climate change and encourage action to that end

Energy Conservation in Existing Housing Sites; a Comparative Case Analysis\ud in the Netherlands

The housing sector in the Netherlands is responsible for a significant fraction of primary energy use and CO2 emissions. Great energy conservation opportunities are to be found in the existing housing stock, especially in large renovation projects on existing sites. Energy conservation savings of up to 90% are technically feasible. Despite this, there is little empirical evidence available about processes that influence the achievement of energy conservation goals in such locations. Moreover, no systematic, bottom-up research on the matter is available. This paper attempts to answer questions about the factors – size, direction and significance – that explain variation in the degree of energy conservation. Four main propositions were tested, comprising the following variables: actor characteristics, policy instruments, interorganizational collaboration and context. The study used a comparative research design. Data were collected from eleven existing housing sites where renovation projects had been executed, involving 70 personal interviews, a survey, and the collection of project documents. A mixed methods approach was applied for data analysis. The results show that interorganizational, collaborative efforts, policy instruments and the presence of wealthy housing associations have a positive influence on energy conservation outcomes. The mean energy conservation was slightly less than 40%, and outcomes varied between 26.5% and 69.8%. Strikingly, planning does not have a beneficial influence and the actual outcome is lower than predicted. The results are useful for national and local government policy makers, as they clearly argue that ambitious policy goals should be tempered