Sustainable development through the Clean Development Mechanism :an examination of Malaysian business organisations

PhD ThesisSustainable development and sustainability have become key ways of addressing the myriad of environmental and social problems faced on a global scale. The activities of business organisations are often linked to environmental degradation, global warming, human rights abuses and corruption. These organisations therefore, should be held more accountable for their actions. It is important to study and challenge the narratives of sustainable development produced by business organisations in different contexts. Literature on sustainable development and business organisations is primarily business centric, focused on how sustainability is a ‘win-win’ for business, society and the environment. Further, ecological modernisation is often simply accepted as synonymous with sustainable development. Uncritical acceptance of these discourses fails to problematize the unsustainable activities of business. In this way, other critical narratives are silenced and the ways of carrying on business and governing society continue to serve the interests of only some stakeholders. This study investigates how business organisations in Malaysia, a developing country, write and speak about sustainability in the context of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The research examines the narratives used by these business organisations to determine if it is a discourse of sustainable development or whether other narratives are at play which mask an empty commitment to sustainability. This study contributes by providing evidence and interpretations of how business organisations within the CDM represent their contributions to sustainable development. Further, it shows how these conceptions are formed partly by the ecological modernisation (EM) discourse within which the CDM lies. The empirical investigation consisted of three main components. The first and second were a qualitative content analysis and an interpretive textual analysis of project design documents produced by Malaysian business organisations writing about their response to sustainable development. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with senior management of the participating business organisations to determine how they talked about sustainable development and what their motivations were for entering the CDM. The results of the study demonstrate that business organisations are engaged in narratives that only have a symbolic commitment to sustainable development and are influenced by economic centric concerns. In ‘doing sustainable development’ the business organisations are driven by the ecological modernisation narrative of the CDM. It is argued that it is not possible for these business organisations to move beyond the ‘glass cage’ of EM because eco- ii efficient ‘managerialism’ acts as a limiting conception of sustainable development. This narrow interpretation of sustainability, denies and ignores the tensions between growth and natural limits and the issues of justice and equity for existing and future generations

Poetry

A series of poems written by Brendan Mooha

Warning: May Contain Politics. Poems on Diversity, Social Justice and Community Involvement by Jo McFarlane

This book is not for the faint-hearted, as evinced by the cover which features a saltire with the iconic image of Che Guevara printed across it. At the beginning, the poems are more polemical than poetic and not for the poetry purist. However, the politics and and sentiments are where the book’s power lies, and we are introduced straight away with two personal/political pieces, both based in Edinburgh. The first one uses the letters of her name to spell out a wish list for the opening of the Scottish parliament. The second is an angry lament set in a protest at the mound with a regretful twist at the end expressing her chagrin at not having been there

Cellulose Nanofibers and Other Biopolymers for Biomedical Applications. A Review

Biopolymers are materials synthesised or derived from natural sources, such as plants, animals, microorganisms or any other living organism. The use of these polymers has grown significantly in recent years as industry shifts away from unsustainable fossil fuel resources and looks towards a softer and more sustainable environmental approach. This review article covers the main classes of biopolymers: Polysaccharides, proteins, microbial-derived and lignin. In addition, an overview of the leading biomedical applications of biopolymers is also provided, which includes tissue engineering, medical implants, wound dressings, and the delivery of bioactive molecules. The future clinical applications of biopolymers are vast, due to their inherent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. All properties which their synthetic counterparts do not share

Effects of bovine spermatozoa preparation on embryonic development in vitro

The aim of our research was to examine the ability of density gradient preparation BoviPure(® )and swim up method on bull sperm separation and in vitro embryo production (IVP) systems. Frozen/thawed semen from six Simmental bulls was pooled and treated using both methods. The sperm motility, concentration, membrane activity, membrane integrity and acrosomal status were evaluated and compared before and after sperm processing using BoviPure(® )and swim up methods. We also evaluated and compared cleavage rates, embryo yield and quality between the methods. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the sperm characteristics before and after BoviPure(®), but not after swim up method. However, there were significant differences for sperm results among those two mentioned methods. A total of 641 oocytes were matured and fertilized in vitro and cultured in SOFaaBSA. The percentage of cleavage (Day 2) and the percentage of hatched embryos (Day 9) were similar for both methods. However, embryo production rate (Day 7) was significantly higher using BoviPure(® )method (P < 0.05). Also, total cell number and embryo differential staining (inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells) of Day 7 morulas and blastocysts showed that BoviPure(® )treated sperm displayed higher quality embryos compared to swim up method (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that BoviPure(® )method has an enhanced capacity in sperm selection for in vitro embryo production when compared with swim up method. So, we concluded that BoviPure(® )could be considered as a better alternative to swim up method for separating bull spermatozoa from frozen/thawed semen for IVP of bovine embryos

Book review: Our ancient national airs: Scottish song collecting from the Enlightenment to the Romantic era, by Karen McAulay

Book review of: Our ancient national airs: Scottish song collecting from the Enlightenment to the Romantic era (Music in 19th-Century Britain) by Karen McAulay. Farnham: Ashgate, 2013; ISBN 9781409450191 (£60.00)Publisher PD

Eine der originellsten Stimmen in der Musik der heutigen Zeit Janet Beat zum 75 Geburtstag 2012

A brief overview of the life and works of the British composer Janet Beat in celebration of her 75th birthday

Medieval fragments from Glasgow's archives

A group of medieval fragments recovered from the bindings of Glasgow’s archival documents has been known to researchers for over a century through their inclusion, to a greater or lesser extent, in catalogues compiled by earlier scholars. This study adds to their work by providing, for the first time, a full physical description and transcription for each of the eighteen fragments that can be located; one fragment remains lost. One of these, containing homilies by St Gregory the Great, has only recently been uncovered and is described here for the first time. Each transcription is compared with a variety of contemporary sources, of known origin, that most closely align with the reading in the fragment. This comparison shows that while most of the liturgical fragments follow the Sarum Rite, others contain variants found in the related liturgies of Hereford and York. The partial identification of some Rites leads to speculation regarding the use of the original books in Glasgow’s pre-Reformation churches