The Time Value of Carbon and Carbon Storage: Clarifying the terms and the policy implications of the debate

The question of whether there is any value to the temporary storage of carbon is fundamental to climate policy design across a number of arenas, including physical carbon discounting in greenhouse gas accounting, the relative value of temporary carbon offsets, and the value of other carbon mitigation efforts that are known to be impermanent, including deferred deforestation. Quantifying the value of temporary carbon storage depends on a number of assumptions about how the incremental impact (or social cost) of a given ton of carbon emissions is expected to change over time. In 2009, a U.S. government interagency working group was established and assigned the responsibility of calculating social cost of carbon estimates to be used in benefit/cost analysis of regulations impacting carbon dioxide emissions. Those estimates were released in March 2010. This working paper explores what those estimates imply about the value of temporary carbon storage, as well as the implications of those temporary storage values for several critical policy design questions relating to greenhouse gas accounting and biological offsets. This analysis suggests, for instance, that appropriate physical carbon discount rates for carbon accounting may be even lower than the social discount rates often used in intergenerational analyses. In the context of agricultural offsets, the social cost of carbon estimates are used to establish a definition of equivalence between permanent and temporary offsets; equivalence ratios are derived that vary between ~2 and 30, depending on the discount rate used and the length of the temporary offset contract period.temporary carbon storage, time value of carbon, temporary offsets, physical carbon discount rate

Propagación in vitro y conservación de Adenophora liliifolia Ledeb. ex A. DC., una especie con potencial ornamental y en peligro de extinción

Adenophora liliifolia, also known as Lilyleaf ladybell or false campanula, has been influenced by human activity and its natural habitat has been affected. The populations of this species currently show a widespread decline throughout Europe and several national red lists and the Carpathian Endangered Species List classified it as threatened due to the impact of its habitats. This project focuses on the preservation of A. liliifolia germplasm, establishing an ex situ conservation protocol and the conservation of A. liliifolia through its ornamental use, which could preserve the species in the long term. The current study demonstrates that A. liliifolia can multiply and root on a synthetic Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different doses of growth regulator (PGR) and natural extracts, with good efficiency. According to the results, the appropriate culture medium for A. liliifolia was 1⁄4 MS. A rapid and simple in vitro seedling micropropagation system was established for future reintroductions. These results are providing the starting point for future restoration programs and conservation management actions.Adenophora liliifolia, también conocida como Lilyleaf ladybell o falsa campanula, ha sido influenciada por la actividad humana y su hábitat natural se ha visto afectado. Las poblaciones de esta especie muestran un descenso actualmente generalizado en toda Europa y varias listas rojas nacionales y la Lista de Especies en Peligro de los Cárpatos la catalogaron como amenazada por la afectación de sus hábitats. Este proyecto se centra en la preservación del germoplasma de A. liliifolia, estableciendo un protocolo de conservación ex situ y la conservación de A. liliifolia a través de su uso ornamental, el cual podría preservar la especie a largo plazo. El estudio actual demuestra que A. liliifolia puede multiplicarse y arraigarse en un medio sintético de Murashige y Skoog (MS) suplementado con diferentes dosis de regulador de crecimiento (PGR) y extractos naturales, con buena eficiencia. Según los resultados, el medio de cultivo adecuado para A. liliifolia fue 1⁄4 MS. Se estableció una forma rápida y sencilla del sistema de micropropagación de plántulas in vitro para futuras reintroducciones. Estos resultados están dando el punto de partida para futuros programas de restauración y acciones de gestión de la conservación.Hungría. Tempus Public Foundation. Stipendium HungaricumTesis de maestrí

Knowledge and Know-how: the Role of Self-Defence in the Prevention of Violence Against Women

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs upon request by the FEMM Committee, examined research on the effectiveness of self-defence and its place in policies at EU and Member State levels. It concludes that there is a growing evidence base that feminist self-defence can be effective in preventing violence. Whilst references to self-defence are present in the EU and Council of Europe policy documents, they are not substantial and yet to be developed into a coherent approach. Self-defence should be considered a promising practice and be better promoted and supported. More space should be made for it in policy, financing and research

Domestic homicide review (DHR) : case analysis

Crime statistics for England and Wales (Flatley, 2016) show that 332 women and 78 men were killed by their partners/ex-partners between March 2012 and March 2015 – the time period within which the domestic violence homicides analysed in this report took place. In the same time period, 35 women and 46 men were killed by a son/daughter or other family member (see appendix one for details). Since the implementation of Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) in 2011, Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) have been a statutory requirement. Local areas are expected to undertake a multi-agency review after a domestic homicide to identify lessons learned and help prevent future incidents. In order to ensure that DHRs effectively draw out relevant learning, the Home Office has established a Quality Assurance process. A Panel of experts from across the statutory and voluntary sectors reviews each report and provides feedback to local areas. Since April 2011, over 300 reviews have been examined by the Quality Assurance Panel. There has been increasing interest in understanding the national picture on domestic homicide from the information contained within these individual reviews. In November 2013, the Home Office published a Lessons Learned (Home Office, 2013) document drawing out common themes from the first 54 cases reviewed by the Panel. However, many partners expressed the view that, although useful, the themes presented within the Home Office document provided limited insights (HMIC, 2014). Neville and Sanders-McDonagh, (2014: 56) describe the document as an ‘inadequate response to the complex findings that have emerged from DHR reports across the country’. In recognition of this, the charity Standing Together Against Domestic Violence (STADV) commissioned the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University to undertake an analysis of 32 Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) chaired by its associates (see appendix two for details of the STADV DHR Process). The aim of the analysis was to identify and explore in more depth the themes emerging from the STADV sample, thereby contributing learning to the national picture

Domestic violence perpetrator programmes : an historical overview. Briefing note 2

Since the 1970s, the feminist movement has campaigned to bring the issue of domestic violence to the social agenda. Yet, all too often, the men who perpetrate violence and abuse against their partners have remained absent, and left to continue their abusive regime. The need to address this absence was the basis upon which domestic violence perpetrator programmes (DVPPs) emerged

Deflection, denial and disbelief : social and political discourses about child sexual abuse and their influence on institutional responses : a rapid evidence assessment

The aim of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA or ‘the Inquiry’) is to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales, and to make meaningful recommendations for change, to help ensure that children now and in the future are better protected from sexual abuse. As defined in current government policy in England and Wales, child sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person under the age of 18 to take part in sexual activities. It includes contact and non-contact abuse, child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming a child in preparation for abuse (HM Government, 2015b). However, definitions and understandings of what counts as child sexual abuse have been subject to substantial change over time. As part of its work, the Inquiry commissioned this rapid evidence assessment (REA) to understand what the social and political discourses have been about child sexual abuse, and the ways in which these discourses may have influenced responses to child sexual abuse by institutions. These questions have cross-cutting relevance for the work of the Inquiry. The overarching aim of this REA was to summarise the existing evidence base about social and political discourses concerning child sexual abuse in England and Wales from the 1940s to 2017 and identify the ways in which those discourses may have influenced institutional responses to such abuse

Finding the costs of freedom : how women and children rebuild their lives after domestic violence

Whilst crisis interventions for women and children experiencing domestic violence are well developed, little is known about the process of rebuilding lives, including what longer term support needs might be. Women’s organisations have lacked the resources to follow up service users. The Research Grants Programme run by the Big Lottery provided an exciting opportunity to do just that. Working in partnership with the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University, Solace Women’s Aid successfully applied for funds that enabled us to track 100 women and their children over a three year period (2011-2014). Women were recruited into the study after exiting a range of domestic violence services provided by Solace and, through four waves of interviews, we followed their onward journeys. The overarching aims of the project were to identify: • What factors support long term settlement, how do they interrelate and at what points in the process are they particularly important? • When do obstacles to resettlement occur and how can they be overcome? • How can community resources best be developed and integrated for long term support of survivor resettlement and independence? Through a multi-layered research methodology we explored how women and children are able to grow their ‘space for action’ (Kelly, 2003) after physically removing themselves from the ‘coercive control’ (Stark, 2007) exerted by the perpetrator over their everyday lives. We also measured post-separation abuse in Wave Three, experience of services and the legal system, changes in housing situation and how their informal networks facilitated or interfered with efforts to create safety and freedom

Roads to Nowhere? Mapping Violence Against Women Services

This article reports on two separate research projects that use mapping techniques, specifically Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to assess the spatial characteristics of access to specialized support services for women who have experienced domestic/sexual violence, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), and sexual exploitation. In the first project, maps document the location of specialized violence against women (VAW) services across nations and regions of the United Kingdom, demonstrating many gaps in provision. In the second project, mapping techniques assess the distance and direction women traveled in their journeys to access specialized support services (specifically shelters) when escaping domestic violence. Policy outcomes and conclusions and possibilities for using GIS for feminist research on violence against women are discussed. </jats:p

Co-constructing sexual recovery after prostate cancer : a qualitative study with couples

Though only one person in a partnership experiences cancer, these data indicated the extent to which prostate cancer treatment also impacts on partners. The study indicates that adjustment to erectile dysfunction (ED) takes time, but is a highly significant event in couples' lives and its importance should not be under-estimated. Consequently, we suggest that relational models of care should be considered, whereby side-effects are recognised as impacting on both members of the partnership (for example ED, or lack or ejaculate). Supportive care in this context, therefore, may best be based on a relational approach using language and interventions that are appropriate to the patient and their situation