The 2014 Australia-China trade report

Examines the benefits of the Australia-China trading relationship at a household level and looks beyond the resources boom and exploring the growth other Australian industries are seeing with China. It also provides practical advice on how to do business in China from Australian businesses already successfully doing it. Executive summary This report provides close analysis of the impact of bilateral trade between Australia and China on Australia’s business and economic integration with global value chains. It also extends the findings of previous reports by evaluating the latest flow-on effects of Australia-China trade for the Australian economy right down to the household level. Commissioned by the Australia China Business Council, this report expands on prior versions of the “Benefits to Australian Households of Trade with China Report” which, since 2009, have tracked the benefits to ordinary Australian households from trade with China

Climate change, forest conservation and science: A case study of New Zealand, 1860s-1920

To most of its European settlers, New Zealand was a land blessed by Providence. A temperate climate and year-round rainfall, easy availability of land and myriad work opportunities attracted many to the new colony. Climate and health figured prominently in migration considerations and many writers took delight in pointing out, as propagandist John Ward did to intending migrants in 1839, that in New Zealand: A never-failing moisture is dispersed over the country by the clouds which collect on the mountain-tops, without the occurrence of rainy seasons, beyond storms of a few days’ duration. This refreshing moisture, combined with the influence of the sea-breezes, renders the climate very favourable to the health, and development, of the human frame. And vegetation is, from the same cause, highly luxuriant, and the verdure almost perpetual

China, the United States, and the Climate Change Challenge

Outlines China's climate change policy, U.S. concerns about transfer of carbon-intensive jobs to China and ways to address them, ways for U.S. policy and legislation to spur China's adoption of clean technologies, and specific mechanisms for cooperation

Commodities and Linkages: Industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa

In a complementary Discussion Paper (MMCP DP 12 2011) we set out the reasons why we believe that there is extensive scope for linkage development into and out of SSA’s commodities sectors. In this Discussion Paper, we present the findings of our detailed empirical enquiry into the determinants of the breadth and depth of linkages in eight SSA countries (Angola, Botswana, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa Tanzania, and Zambia) and six sectors (copper, diamonds, gold, oil and gas, mining services and timber). We conclude from this detailed research that the extent of linkages varies as a consequence of four factors which intrinsically affect their progress – the passage of time, the complexity of the sector and the level of capabilities in the domestic economy. However, beyond this we identify three sets of related factors which determined the nature and pace of linkage development. The first is the structure of ownership, both in lead commodity producing firms and in their suppliers and domestic customers. The second is the nature and quality of both hard infrastructure (for example, roads and ports) and soft infrastructure (for example, the efficiency of customs clearance). The third is the availability of skills and the structure and orientation of the National System of Innovation in the domestic economy. The fourth, and overwhelmingly important contextual factor is policy. This reflects policy towards the commodity sector itself, and policy which affects the three contextual drivers, namely ownership, infrastructure and capabilities. As a result of this comparative analysis we provided an explanation of why linkage development was progressive in some economies (such as Botswana) and regressive in others (such as Tanzania). This cluster of factors also explains why the breadth and depth of linkages is relative advanced in some countries (such as South Africa), and at a very nascent stage in other countries (such as Angola)

Tibetan Plateau Grassland Protection: Tibetan Herders\u27 Ecological Conception Versus State Policies

The establishment of the “Three Rivers’ Sources Nature Reserve” in 2002 - one of China’s largest ecological protection projects - has had a major impact on the lives of Tibetan nomadic herders. This paper examines the ecological viewpoints of Tibetan herders, their conceptions of grassland protection and what they believe to be the best strategies to solve grazing problems. According to the Chinese authorities, the Nature Reserve was established to protect the grasslands, as well as the sources of China’s three major rivers – the Yellow River, the Yangtse and the Mekong. Grazing bans and flock reduction have been two recurring measures in this ecological protection project. Tibetan herders have also often been forced to settle down in new purpose built villages. These “ecological migrations”, as they are referred to in State environmental discourse, are also related to State policies to bolster security through population surveillance and territorial control. Therefore, in this complex context, ecological strategies are combined with political interests. To provide an alternative reading to the existing expert analyses of ecological problems and State reports on grassland and grazing problems, my paper focus on what Tibetan herders, resettled in new villages, think about these topics. Comparing their views against State discourse and policies, it is evident that herders have a different perception of the causes of the current ecological problems and propose alternative solutions, showing a high degree of consciousness of and active concern over grassland problems. Finally, I will argue that, although the ‘ecological migrations’ are often presented as the trigger of the settling of Tibetan nomads, the new resettlement villages are just the latest step in a much longer process of sedentarization, which had already started in the 1980s with the grasslands’ fencing policy

Global influences and local environments: Forestry and forest conservation in New Zealand, 1850s-1925.

This article examines the multiple factors that shaped the establishment of forest conservation and tree-planting in the colony of New Zealand. It presents a new perspective on forest history in New Zealand from the 1850s to the 1920s by examining the interplay of local and global factors in the development of forestry, while also suggesting future research topics in this area. Using the case-study of New Zealand, as an ancillary focus the article presents new interpretations of the exchange and introduction of forestry ideas, suggesting a need to re-examine the importance of locality in the period leading up to the emergence of ‘empire forestry’ in the twentieth century. With this in mind, it takes as one of its perspectives the work of historian of science David Livingstone, who has emphasised the importance of local factors in shaping the spread of scientific ideas. In light of Livingstone’s ideas, we demonstrate that while it makes sense to consider New Zealand forest policy both nationally and internationally, there were also significant local variations in policy according to geography, politics and other factors. These included uneven forest distribution throughout the country, slower growth-rates of indigenous trees and the impact of geography on forest removal and conservation. As well, long-standing political aversion to government interference in society restricted the role of the state in active forest management, giving greater latitude to private tree-planters. Meanwhile, New Zealand’ smaller government and population offered greater power to individuals than perhaps would be open to those living in larger societies with bigger government bureaucracies