Different perceptions of adaptation to climate change: a mental model approach applied to the evidence from expert interviews

We argue that differences in the perception and governance of adaptation to climate change and extreme weather events are related to sets of beliefs and concepts through which people understand the environment and which are used to solve the problems they face (mental models). Using data gathered in 31 in-depth interviews with adaptation experts in Europe, we identify five basic stakeholder groups whose divergent aims and logic can be related to different mental models they use: advocacy groups, administration, politicians, researchers, and media and the public. Each of these groups uses specific interpretations of climate change and specifies how to deal with climate change impacts. We suggest that a deeper understanding and follow-up of the identified mental models might be useful for the design of any stakeholder involvement in future climate impact research processes. It might also foster consensus building about adequate adaptation measures against climate threats in a society

Challenges for the implementation of the jurisdictional REDD+ in the Brazilian state of Amazonas

O setor florestal em países em desenvolvimento pode contribuir para combater a mudança climática através de negociações financeiras, sendo o mecanismo de REDD+ uma abordagem proeminente. A abordagem de REDD+ jurisdicional (J-REDD+) surgiu para países de grandes dimensões como o Brasil, cujas particularidades regionais ou estaduais podem influenciar na dinâmica de implementação do REDD+. Este estudo analisa a implementação do J-REDD+ no Amazonas (AM) de 2005 a 2022. Usando-se análises de documentos oficiais e estudos acadêmicos, uma matriz SWOT foi criada para identificação de forças, fraquezas, oportunidades e ameaças na implementação do J-REDD+. Foi percebido que as forças incluem políticas públicas, combate ao desmatamento, governança, monitoramento e metas de redução do desmatamento. As fraquezas englobam a falta de um plano estadual de REDD+, aumento recente de desmatamento, desafios estratégicos, representatividade limitada de PIPCTs em colegiados e mecanismo de transparência. Externamente, a oportunidade reside em financiamento crescente para projetos. No entanto, as ameaças incluem a falta de financiamento continuado, mudança na constituição de equipes e a descontinuidade dos programas do governo local. Concluiu-se que a implementação do J-REDD+ em ambas as escalas é crucial para que esse mecanismo contribua efetivamente para a mitigação da mudança climática, atendendo às necessidades presentes e futuras

An architecture for a net zero world: Global climate governance beyond the epoch of failure

In the wake of the 2021 Glasgow meeting of the Paris Agreement, where states embedded a 2050 pathway to net zero that will overshoot the Earth's remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C, attention is turning to the flaws of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This article highlights ways in which it blocks effective climate action, which has been acknowledged by states who are now pursuing voluntary and nonbinding initiatives on coal, forests, and oil and gas. The article assesses new proposals for treaties on deforestation, the elimination of coal, and a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. It argues that states should take these proposals to the UN General Assembly and adopt them as binding treaties consistent with holding global heating at 1.5°C. Following the model of the Nuclear Weapons Convention it further argues that these treaties should be folded into a full Greenhouse Convention, supported by a powerful International Climate Agency, to secure a net zero world. Drawing upon new proposals for an Earth-centric law that takes in the totality of social-natural processes at the planetary scale, these proposals could form part of a reformed international legal architecture that could be equal to the diabolical governance challenges of the Anthropocene

Cellulose based materials to accelerate the transition towards sustainability

Several significant sectors use cellulose, including paper manufacturing, cellophane, textiles (including rayon and viscose), and food and medicine additives. It can be utilised as a raw materials in production of fuel sources like cellulosic ethanol. Crystalline cellulose possesses a tensile strength of about 7.5 GPa, Young’s modulus of 110-220 GPa and as the most abundantly available natural polymer, with excellent biocompatibility, good degradation and regeneration properties, it is considered as a remarkable biomaterial. Cellulose-based materials can be fabricated with tuneable magnetic properties, electrical conductivity, photosensitivity, sensing abilities, catalytic activity, and other specific properties by incorporating nanoparticles. These qualities make cellulose a sustainable multifunctional material. To harness such properties, strenuous efforts are being made to manufacture cellulose based materials through a wide number of manufacturing processes. This review provides an overview of the current readiness in producing cellulose-based functional materials by surveying the manufacturing procedures, characteristics and their potential applications for the end users. Future directions and opportunities of work are suggested and the limitations inherent with every process and the challenges that needs to be overcome in scalable manufacturing of cellulose-based materials are also discussed

The Evolving Governance of REDD+

Peer reviewe

Computers from plants we never made. Speculations

We discuss possible designs and prototypes of computing systems that could be based on morphological development of roots, interaction of roots, and analog electrical computation with plants, and plant-derived electronic components. In morphological plant processors data are represented by initial configuration of roots and configurations of sources of attractants and repellents; results of computation are represented by topology of the roots' network. Computation is implemented by the roots following gradients of attractants and repellents, as well as interacting with each other. Problems solvable by plant roots, in principle, include shortest-path, minimum spanning tree, Voronoi diagram, $\alpha$-shapes, convex subdivision of concave polygons. Electrical properties of plants can be modified by loading the plants with functional nanoparticles or coating parts of plants of conductive polymers. Thus, we are in position to make living variable resistors, capacitors, operational amplifiers, multipliers, potentiometers and fixed-function generators. The electrically modified plants can implement summation, integration with respect to time, inversion, multiplication, exponentiation, logarithm, division. Mathematical and engineering problems to be solved can be represented in plant root networks of resistive or reaction elements. Developments in plant-based computing architectures will trigger emergence of a unique community of biologists, electronic engineering and computer scientists working together to produce living electronic devices which future green computers will be made of.Comment: The chapter will be published in "Inspired by Nature. Computing inspired by physics, chemistry and biology. Essays presented to Julian Miller on the occasion of his 60th birthday", Editors: Susan Stepney and Andrew Adamatzky (Springer, 2017

Machine Intelligence in Africa: a survey

In the last 5 years, the availability of large audio datasets in African countries has opened unlimited opportunities to build machine intelligence (MI) technologies that are closer to the people and speak, learn, understand, and do businesses in local languages, including for those who cannot read and write. Unfortunately, these audio datasets are not fully exploited by current MI tools, leaving several Africans out of MI business opportunities. Additionally, many state-of-the-art MI models are not culture-aware, and the ethics of their adoption indexes are questionable. The lack thereof is a major drawback in many applications in Africa. This paper summarizes recent developments in machine intelligence in Africa from a multi-layer multiscale and culture-aware ethics perspective, showcasing MI use cases in 54 African countries through 400 articles on MI research, industry, government actions, as well as uses in art, music, the informal economy, and small businesses in Africa. The survey also opens discussions on the reliability of MI rankings and indexes in the African continent as well as algorithmic definitions of unclear terms used in MI.Comment: Accepted and to be presented at DSAI 202

Valuing Local Environmental Amenity with Discrete Choice Experiments: Spatial Scope Sensitivity and Heterogeneous Marginal Utility of Income

Using discrete choice experiments we examine preferences for the spatial provision of local environmental improvements in the context of regeneration policies. Amenities we consider are: improvements to areas of open space, recreation facilities and other public spaces; street cleanliness; restoration of derelict properties; and the provision of paths dedicated to cycling and walking. We include the spatial scope of the policy as an attribute, making the trade-off between environmental amenity and its spatial provision explicit. We employ a novel estimator for average willingness to pay (WTP) for mixed logit models with a random cost coefficient, which is robust to the presence of price insensitive respondents and performs well relative to mixed logit estimation in WTP space. We find that the spatial scope of the policy affects both the intensity and heterogeneity of preferences, and that these effects are of statistical and economic significance.Non-market valuation, Discrete choice experiments, Local environment, Spatial analysis, WTP estimation, Urban planning