Low-carbon development for Colombia

Colombia is well-positioned to pursue a low-carbon development path given the country’s already large hydropower production, a model urban transport program, and significant potential to reduce emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land-use (AFOLU). While reducing carbon emissions through these and other activities can demonstrate Colombia’s commitment to addressing global climate change, the primary driver of such activities should be that they are part of the country’s economic and sustainable development agenda. Policymakers need to ensure that public policies for climate mitigation support projects that are economic and achieve macroeconomic goals such as generating income and employment. Given the importance of hydropower and Colombia’s huge potential for expanding agriculture and forestry, another consideration is that mitigation measures should not increase the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts—some could actually do that—but should also increase the country’s resilience to natural and manmade disasters. These findings are based on an analysis of Colombia’s climate mitigation options made jointly by the World Bank and the Department of National Planning (DNP)

Low-carbon development for Colombia

Colombia is well-positioned to pursue a low-carbon development path given the country’s already large hydropower production, a model urban transport program, and significant potential to reduce emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land-use (AFOLU). While reducing carbon emissions through these and other activities can demonstrate Colombia’s commitment to addressing global climate change, the primary driver of such activities should be that they are part of the country’s economic and sustainable development agenda. Policymakers need to ensure that public policies for climate mitigation support projects that are economic and achieve macroeconomic goals such as generating income and employment. Given the importance of hydropower and Colombia’s huge potential for expanding agriculture and forestry, another consideration is that mitigation measures should not increase the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts—some could actually do that—but should also increase the country’s resilience to natural and manmade disasters. These findings are based on an analysis of Colombia’s climate mitigation options made jointly by the World Bank and the Department of National Planning (DNP)

Ampliación del concepto “Producción más limpia”

“Cleaner production “ (CP) emerged in the aftermath of the 1987 Brundtland Commission (WCED, 1987) call for less and more efficient energy and materials use efficiency and the suggestion to substitute more harmful products (for the environment and health) by less dangerous ones. Cleaner production was the reply of industry to the inter-sectorial and socio-economic call for sustainable development. The technical aims widened. Originally they were targeted to improve en-vironmentally inferior products to less inferior ones. Today the goal is producing is quality products us-ing renewable energy efficiently and producing zero waste, while emitting no pollution.The perspective of the scope also changed from en-vironmental sustainability to the wider “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR). This includes that post-modern companies have not only responsibili-ties on their economic performance and the environ-ment, but should also act on issues including human rights and resources, business ethics, and community involvement. This widening of contents necessitates more and better adapted methods. During the past 45 years the number of assessment methods (preventing pollution and its effects) increased significantly from environmental aspects (EIA), over health (HIA) and policy aspects (SEA), to sustainability assessment, addressing not only environmental, but in an inte-grated way also social, economic, and ethical issues of the evaluation.This paper reviews this evolution of ideas. It provides not only the concepts, but is equally based on case studies and examples illustrating different aspects of this evolution. It acts as a guide towards contempo-rary CSR and advocates its support towards educa-tion and research.“Producción más limpia” (CP) surgió a raíz de la Comi-sión Brundtland de 1987 con el objetivo de requerir me-nos energía y de manera más eficiente con respecto a su uso, sugiriendo sustituir los productos más nocivos (por el medio ambiente y la salud) por menos peligroso; la pro-ducción más limpia, fue la respuesta de la industria a la llamada inter-sectorial y socioeconómica para el desarro-llo sostenible. Los objetivos técnicos se abrieron ya que originalmente estaban dirigidos a mejorar los productos de calidad medioambiental inferior a los menos inferio-res. Hoy en día el objetivo es producir productos de calidad utilizando energía renovable eficiente y productoras de re-siduos cero, mientras que emite ninguna contaminación.Desde la perspectiva del ámbito de aplicación se incorpora la sostenibilidad ambiental a la “Responsabilidad Social Empresarial” más ancha (RSE). Esto incluye que las em-presas de post-modernos no sólo tienen responsabilidades sobre su desempeño económico y el medio ambiente, sino que también deben actuar en temas como los derechos hu-manos y los recursos, la ética empresarial, y participación de la comunidad. Esta ampliación de contenidos requie-re más y mejor adaptados métodos. Durante los últimos 45 años el número de métodos de evaluación (prevención de la contaminación y sus efectos) aumentó significativa-mente de los aspectos ambientales (EIA), más de la salud (EIS) y los aspectos de política (SEA), con la evaluación de la sostenibilidad, abordar no sólo el medio ambiente, pero en una también forma integrada social, económica, y las cuestiones éticas de la evaluación.Este documento analiza esta evolución de las ideas. Ofre-ciendo no sólo los conceptos, sino que se basa igualmente en estudios de casos y ejemplos que ilustran diferentes aspectos de esta evolución. Actúa como una guía hacia la RSE contemporánea y aboga por su apoyo hacia la educa-ción y la investigació

The adaptation continuum: groundwork for the future

The focus of the program was to understand the challenges posed by climate change and climate variability on vulnerable groups and the policies needed to support climate adaptation in developing countries. The aim of the book is to share this experience in the hope that it will be helpful to those involved in shaping and implementing climate change policy

Paradoxes of the environmental behavior of university students in different academic disciplines

The objective of the present study was to establish the characteristics of the pro environmental behavior of Colombian university students; that is, to identify the attitudes, beliefs, valuations, practices and environmental knowledge of Colombian students from different university careers. For this purpose, a cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study was carried out with a sample of 1503 students from different university careers in five Colombian cities, with an incidence probability of .5, 95 % confidence and an error of 2.5 %. The participants were randomly selected within each university and the questionnaires applied were the Pro environmental Behaviour Inventory (ICP) and the Environmental Knowledge Test (TCA); the latter was developed specifically for the purposes of this research. The students surveyed were found to have positive environmental attitudes and beliefs in most dimensions. The level of environmental awareness of students in the five selected cities is low. Although no significant differences were observed between the careers with respect to beliefs, valuations, actions and environmental knowledge, paradoxically the students of environmental sciences occupied inferior places to those who study economic and administrative sciences. Thus, in the analysis of specific items it was evidenced that the students of environmental sciences develop diverse anti environmental actions, in a similar way to the behavior patterns of the students of the other researched careers. With respect to the region, the results show that it is possible to conclude that there are differences according to the city with respect to the beliefs, valuation, knowledge and environmental actions of the students surveyed. Among the findings it is worth highlighting the results of Bucaramanga in terms of the report of environmental actions and the highest average in the TCA observed in that city. Similarly, Cali stands out along with Bucaramanga in its results, while Medellín obtained the lowest scores in environmental knowledge. Finally, in the report on environmental actions in university students, contradictory results are observed, given that it presents a controversial profile because people perform pro-environmental and anti-environmental behaviors at the same time, with positive environmental attitudes and beliefs in accordance with these attitudes. Regarding the knowledge about the environment, in the descriptive results the average of the test was 12 points, which means that the students failed the test. The multivariate analysis showed that the theoretical model on which the construction of the ICP was based and the instruments from which items were selected for its conformation, apparently has great predictive power with respect to the verbal report of environmental actions; however, the TCA, a test constructed specifically for this research, would covariate with almost all the factors of the ICP but does not predict causally the actions reported by the students. In general, this study shows that university institutions and the Colombian government have the challenge of ensuring that environmental education achieves the expected results for the fulfillment of both the country and the world’s environmental goals. The results also demonstrates the need to articulate policies, actions and regulations to improve the quality of environmental education in universities, as well as to implement citizen behavior programs that promote responsible consumption, given that knowledge does not correlate with effective actions in terms of public services, green brands and solid urban waste management, among other areas.El objetivo del presente estudio fue establecer las características del comportamiento proambiental de los estudiantes universitarios colombianos, esto es, identificar las actitudes, creencias, valoraciones, prácticas y conocimientos ambientales de estudiantes colombianos de diferentes carreras universitarias. Para ello se realizó un estudio descriptivo-correlacional de corte transversal con una muestra de 1503 estudiantes de diferentes carreras universitarias en cinco ciudades colombianas, con una probabilidad de incidencia de .5, 95 % de confianza y un error del 2.5 %. Los participantes fueron seleccionados aleatoriamente al interior de cada universidad y se les aplicaron el Inventario de Comportamiento Proambiental (ICP) y el Test de Conocimiento Ambiental (TCA), este último desarrollado específicamente para propósitos de la presente investigación. Se encontró que los estudiantes encuestados poseen actitudes y creencias ambientales positivas en la mayoría de las dimensiones. El nivel de conocimiento ambiental de los estudiantes en las cinco ciudades seleccionadas es bajo. Si bien no se observaron diferencias significativas entre las carreras respecto a las creencias, valoraciones, acciones y conocimientos ambientales, paradójicamente los estudiantes de ciencias ambientales ocuparon lugares inferiores a los que estudian ciencias económicas y administrativas. Se puede concluir que existen diferencias según la ciudad en las creencias, valoración, conocimiento y acciones ambientales de los estudiantes encuestados. El reporte de acciones ambientales presenta un perfil controversial pues al mismo tiempo las personas realizan comportamientos proambientales y antiambientales. Las instituciones universitarias y el gobierno tienen el desafío de lograr que la educación ambiental muestre los resultados esperados para el cumplimiento de las metas ambientales del país y del mundo

On the mismatches between the monetary and social values of air purification in the colombian andean region: a case study

There is growing interest in air quality and air purification, due to current high pollution levels, their effects on human health, and implications for urban economies. Since the improvement of air quality carries important economic value, air-related benefits have been evaluated monetarily from two perspectives: the first relates to air quality improvements, while the second values air purification as an ecosystem function. This research opted for the second perspective, given that the study area (two Colombian municipalities) does not suffer from poor air quality conditions, but stakeholders prioritized this function as highly important to them. Contingent valuation methods were applied in order to identify the population’s probability of willingness to maintain the air purification function. Although individuals (n = 245) attribute a yearly monetary value of USD 1.5 million to air purification, it was found that, despite the high level of social importance that respondents assigned to air purification (mean = 4.7/5), this had no correlation with payment values (rho = 0.0134, p = 0.8350); that is, households do not really recognize the monetary value of all the benefits they receive or the benefits they would lose if the service suffers changes. Hence, it is posed that monetary values do not necessarily reflect the social importance that individuals assign to ecosystem services, and attention is called to the need to integrate social and monetary values into decision-making processes, so as to encompass the complexity of ecosystem services and conciliate conflicting valuation language

Organic Waste Composting through Nexus Thinking

Organic waste composting is another excellent example to demonstrate the power and the benefits of nexus thinking. Even though organic waste composting itself is not a new topic, those who want to start a new project or align an ongoing project with nexus thinking, find it difficult to gather the necessary information. With nine case studies from four continents, this book aims to fill above gap in literature. While current literature on composting is often found to be limited to either soil/agriculture sector or waste management sector, this book presents a combined point of view. This open access book starts with an introductory chapter that describes the need to bring the waste management aspects and soil nutrient management aspects of compost production into one integrated theme. The relevance of nexus thinking and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also presented in this introduction. The first three chapters after the introduction covers composting from the solid waste management and its policy aspects, taking examples from three developing countries. The next three examples are mostly about the benefits composting can provide to the soil and agriculture. These examples are also from three developing countries, but with a mixture of urban as well as rural settings. Last three chapters present more insight into the latest developments taking examples from Europe, as well as new methods adapted from the traditional styles from Africa

Water Partnership Program Annual Report 2011: "Strengthen, Secure, Sustain"

This annual report outlines the World Bank's Water Partnership Program's activities and progress in its key focus areas of water resources management, climate change, food security, and energy security. The program is a multi-donor trust that was established in 2009 and is transitioning, as of June 2012, into a bolder Phase II of its operations. In addition to investing in research, technology and practice, the program is building partnerships, networks, and capacity, and working towards its new objective of green growth

From Structures to Services. The Path toBetter Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean

To close its infrastructure gap, Latin America and the Caribbean needs more than investment in new structures. It needs to become more efficient at investing in infrastructure and regulating a new range of services that have the potential to disrupt the energy, transport, and water sectors. The technological revolution makes a future with quality services possible, but not inevitable. This book offers policy options for countries to improve the access, quality, and affordability of services today, to ensure that they will be sustainable in the future, and to harness emerging technological advances for the benefit of all. This report aims to provoke discussion and further research on those many important issues and mark a path that helps the region move from structures to services and improve infrastructure for all