Mehr Fairness für arme Länder: Besteuerung von Rohstoffexporten gerecht gestalten

For decades, countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have remained trapped in poverty despite continuously exporting valuable commodities with which they are richly endowed – including oil, metals, plant proteins, grains, and more. This policy brief outlines one of the key causes of this harmful, unjust phenomenon: trade mispricing. More importantly, it introduces a raft of measures that can be taken to stop revenue losses from trade mispricing – in particular measures that commodity-exporting poor countries can implement unilaterally.Seit Jahrzehnten leiden viele Länder in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika unter Armut, obwohl sie wertvolle Rohstoffe exportieren – wie Erdöl, Edelmetalle, Kupfer, pflanzliche Rohstoffe, Getreide und vieles mehr. Eine Ursache dieses gravierenden Missstands sind Fehlbewertungen im Rohstoffhandel, die eine angemessene Besteuerung der Exporte verhindern. Dieser Policy Brief zeigt auf, was sich dagegen tun lässt. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf Massnahmen, die rohstoffexportierende arme Länder von sich aus umsetzen können

Free Days for Future?

Mainstream modes of working and consuming in rich countries are eroding our social and ecological foundations. Advocates of a shorter workweek point to a possible triple dividend from working less. This policy brief summarizes how reduced working hours could benefit our well-being, economies, and the natural world – and what measures could be taken to help make this vision a reality. Based on evidence and experience from around the world, we recommend a transformation pathway – shifting from Switzerland’s current standard workweek to a new, improved worktime status quo that could better meet our and others’ needs – and those of the planet.Die gängigen Arbeits- und Konsummodelle in wohlhabenden Ländern untergraben unsere sozialen und ökologischen Grundlagen. Befürwortende einer kürzeren Erwerbsarbeitszeit verweisen auf eine mögliche dreifache Dividende durch weniger Arbeit. Dieser Policy Brief fasst zusammen, wie reduzierte Wochenarbeitszeiten unserem Wohlbefinden, der Wirtschaft und der Natur zugutekommen könnten – und mit welchen Massnahmen sich eine solche Vision verwirklichen liesse. Gestützt auf internationale Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen empfiehlt ein Forschungsteam des CDE mögliche Wege weg von der derzeit in der Schweiz üblichen Wochenarbeitszeit hin zu einem neuen, besseren Status quo, der unseren Bedürfnissen sowie denen anderer – und des Planeten – besser gerecht werden könnte

Gute Absichten, hoher CO2-Ausstoss: Die Rolle von Privathaushalten in reichen Ländern

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre de la compréhension du rôle des bactéries au cours de l’altération des silicates dans l’environnement et en particulier des matrices de confinement de déchets et de leurs analogues naturels, les verres basaltiques.L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier les cinétiques d’altération de silicates complexes en conditions biotiques et abiotiques dans des expériences à long terme. La bactérie modèle choisie est une bactérie acidophile, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. Dans la littérature, ce genre bactérien est impliqué dans l’altération des matériaux tels que les bétons ou les pierres.L’action d’A. thiooxidans entraîne, comme il fallait s’y attendre, une diminution du pH des solutions d’altération, quel que soit le matériau considéré. Toutefois, avec le temps la formation d’un biofilm conduit à un ralentissement de la vitesse qui peut rejoindre et même devenir inférieure à celle observée pour le milieu stérile, bien que la solution reste acide.Par ailleurs, les seuls éléments retenus préférentiellement par le biofilm, formé par A. thiooxidans à la surface des matériaux étudiés, plutôt que par la couche minérale d’altération semble être le cuivre et le nickel alors que l’étude menée par Georges Aouad (2006) avait révélé que le biofilm produit par Pseudomonas aeruginosa était capable de piéger de nombreux éléments potentiellement toxiques tels que le plomb, le cadmium, le nickel, le cobalt et le zinc.Le fractionnement des terres rares semble lié à la fois au matériau considéré et à la présence ou non de notre bactérie. Le biofilm, de manière générale, est enrichi en terres rares légères par rapport aux terres rares lourdes. STILLE et coll. (2003, 2006) et AOUAD et coll. (2006) ont montré que la végétation avait tendance à retenir de façon plus importante les terres rares légères plutôt que les terres rares lourdes, phénomène également mis en évidence dans ce travail pour le biofilm montrant peut-être « un effet du au bio » sur le fractionnement des terres rares.This thesis is part of understanding the role of bacteria in the weathering of silicates in the environment and in particular matrices of waste containment and their similar natural basaltic glasses.The objective of this work is to study the kinetics of weathering of silicate complex under biotic and abiotic conditions in long-term experiments by the model bacterium Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, an acidophilic bacteria. In literature, this type of bacteria is involved in the alteration of materials such as concrete or stone.The influence of A. thiooxidans results, as expected, in a decrease of pH altering solutions, whatever the material considered. However, over time the formation of a biofilm leads to a slower speed that can reach and even become lower than that observed in the sterile environment, although the solution is acidic.Moreover, the elements retained preferentially by the biofilm formed by A. thiooxidans on the surface of materials studied, rather than the mineral layer of alteration appears to be copper and nickel, whereas the study by Georges Aouad (2006) revealed that the biofilm produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was able of trapping many potentially toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, nickel, cobalt and zinc.The fractionation of rare earth elements seems to be related both to the material considered and the presence or absence of this bacterium. The biofilm, in general, is rich in LREE relative to HREE. Stille et al. (2003, 2006) and Aouad et al. (2006) showed that plants tended to retain the LREE more than the HREE, a phenomenon also demonstrated in this work by the biofilm involving a possible biological effect on fractionation of rare earths elements

Vielfalt ist die Quelle des Lebens: Herausforderungen und Handlungsbedarf für die Förderung der Agrobiodiversität

For millennia, humankind’s food security and resilience were ensured by thousands of cultivated plant species, dozens of domesticated animal species, and the wider biodiversity from which they derive. But with the expansion of industrial agriculture and globalized standardized food systems, this long-running agricultural biodiversity has fallen steeply. Today, just three plant species account for half of all plant-based food calories,1 and only four animal species account for the vast majority of meat supplies.2 Looking ahead, restoring agrobiodiversity – the richness of what we cultivate, breed, consume, and conserve in the wild – is crucial to ensure resilient food systems against the backdrop of climate change. In particular, we must safeguard the livelihoods of the “guardians of agrobiodiversity”: approximately 500 million small farms across the world – particularly those in the global South.3 This factsheet outlines causes and consequences of agrobiodiversity loss, areas of promise, and options for policy and research.Depuis des millénaires, la sécurité alimentaire et la résilience de l’humanité sont assurées par des milliers d’espèces de plantes cultivées, des dizaines d’espèces animales domestiquées et la biodiversité dont elles proviennent. Mais la mondialisation de l’agriculture industrielle et les systèmes alimentaires normés ont fait chuter l’agrobiodiver-sité:trois espèces végétales fournissent la moitié des calories végétales1 et quatre espèces animales produisent presque toute la viande.2 Il est donc crucial de restaurer l’agrobiodiversité – qui représente la richesse de ce que nous cultivons, élevons, consommons et protégeons dans la nature – afin de conserver des systèmes alimentaires résilients, dans un contexte de changement climatique. Il faut d’abord sauvegarder les conditions de vie des «gar-diens de l’agrobiodiversité», les quelques 500 millions de petites fermes dans le monde, surtout dans les pays du Sud.3 Cette fiche d’information définit les causes et conséquences de la perte d’agrobiodiversité, les domaines prometteurs et les opportunités pour les politiques et la recherche.Jahrtausendelang wurde die Ernährungssicherheit und Widerstandsfähigkeit des Menschen durch Tausende von Kulturpflanzensorten, Dutzenden von Haustierarten sowie durch die nicht direkt genutzte Biodiversität, gewähr-leistet. Die starke Ausweitung der agroindustriellen Landwirtschaft führte zu globalen, standardisierten Nahrungs-systemen. Damit einher ginge eine drastische Verringerung der Vielfalt von Pflanzensorten und Tierrassen in der Landwirtschaft. Heute liefern nur drei Pflanzenarten die Hälfte aller pflanzlichen Nahrungskalorien,1 und nur vier Tierarten sind an der Produktion des Grossteils der globalen Fleischversorgung beteiligt.2 Die Wiederherstellung der Agrobiodiversität – die Vielfalt dessen, was wir anbauen, züchten, konsumieren und in freier Wildbahn erhalten – ist von entscheidender Bedeutung, um widerstandsfähige Nahrungssysteme vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels sicherzustellen. Dabei gilt es, den «Hütern der Agrobiodiversität» - die rund 500 Millionen kleinen Landwirtschafts-betrieben auf der ganzen Welt, vor allem im globalen Süden3 - den Lebensunterhalt zu sichern. Dieses Faktenblatt beschreibt Ursachen und Folgen des Agrobiodiversitätsverlusts, und zeigt auf, welche Wege Politik und Forschung einschlagen könnten

Marginalizing Progressives? Newspaper Coverage of Bernie Sanders in the ‘Invisible Primary’: A Critical Discourse Analysis

The present thesis uses methods of Critical Discourse Analysis to examine 16 front-page newspaper articles, from The New York Times and The Washington Post, covering progressive presidential candidate Bernie Sanders during the 2015 “invisible primary”. In particular, this thesis investigates how Sanders and his supporters were represented, linguistically and visually, and whether these representations – formulated as “interpretive frames” – appear more legitimizing or delegitimizing. In the crucial prevoting period of the invisible primary, the media largely have the power to construct the identity of relatively unknown candidates, such as Sanders, in the minds of the national public. The 2015/16 election season occurred against the backdrop of extreme levels of economic inequality and related societal ills, which have arguably arisen from four decades of neoliberal policies implemented by successive American presidents from both major political parties.The findings of the analysis appear to confirm a concerning pattern of largely delegitimizing US media coverage (or omission) of progressive political candidates and social movements going back several decades. In the articles analysed, Sanders was represented using interpretive frames casting him as an extreme leftist, angry and impersonal, or marginal and old. Only one major interpretive frame – representing him as a skilful, pragmatic politician – appeared legitimizing. Similarly, Sanders’ supporters were largely framed as activists, excitable fans, or divided into narrow identity categories (e.g. “white liberals”) that appear delegitimizing when considered opposite the shared economic struggles that many of them likely face. Given the liberal reputation of The New York Times and moderate image of The Washington Post, the results raise further doubts about the ideological diversity of the mainstream American public sphere

Marginalizing Progressives? Newspaper Coverage of Bernie Sanders in the ‘Invisible Primary’: A Critical Discourse Analysis

The present thesis uses methods of Critical Discourse Analysis to examine 16 front-page newspaper articles, from The New York Times and The Washington Post, covering progressive presidential candidate Bernie Sanders during the 2015 “invisible primary”. In particular, this thesis investigates how Sanders and his supporters were represented, linguistically and visually, and whether these representations – formulated as “interpretive frames” – appear more legitimizing or delegitimizing. In the crucial prevoting period of the invisible primary, the media largely have the power to construct the identity of relatively unknown candidates, such as Sanders, in the minds of the national public. The 2015/16 election season occurred against the backdrop of extreme levels of economic inequality and related societal ills, which have arguably arisen from four decades of neoliberal policies implemented by successive American presidents from both major political parties.The findings of the analysis appear to confirm a concerning pattern of largely delegitimizing US media coverage (or omission) of progressive political candidates and social movements going back several decades. In the articles analysed, Sanders was represented using interpretive frames casting him as an extreme leftist, angry and impersonal, or marginal and old. Only one major interpretive frame – representing him as a skilful, pragmatic politician – appeared legitimizing. Similarly, Sanders’ supporters were largely framed as activists, excitable fans, or divided into narrow identity categories (e.g. “white liberals”) that appear delegitimizing when considered opposite the shared economic struggles that many of them likely face. Given the liberal reputation of The New York Times and moderate image of The Washington Post, the results raise further doubts about the ideological diversity of the mainstream American public sphere