Muddling Through while Environmental Regulatory Capacity Evolves: What Role for Voluntary Agreements?

The city of León, Guanajuato, is Mexico’s leather goods capital and a notorious environmental hotspot. Over the past two decades, four high-profile voluntary agreements aimed at controlling pollution from León’s tanneries have yielded few concrete results. To understand why, this paper reconstructs the history of these initiatives, along with that of local environmental regulatory capacity. Juxtaposing these two timelines suggests that the voluntary pollution control agreements were both motivated by—and undermined by—gaps in the legal, institutional, physical, and civic infrastructures needed to make regulation effective. Our analysis offers a concrete definition of environmental regulatory capacity, provides insights into how it evolves, and demonstrates its importance. Moreover, it sheds light on the question of whether voluntary environmental agreements—an increasingly popular regulatory tool—are likely to be effective in developing countries.environment, voluntary agreement, regulatory capacity, Latin America, Mexico

Voluntary Environmental Agreements when Regulatory Capacity Is Weak

Voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated between environmental regulators and industry are increasingly popular. However, little is known about whether they are likely to be effective in developing and transition countries, where local and federal environmental regulatory capacity is typically weak. We develop a dynamic theoretical model to examine the effect of VAs on investment in regulatory infrastructure and pollution abatement in such countries. We find that under certain conditions, VAs can improve welfare by generating more private-sector investment in pollution control and more public-sector investment in regulatory capacity than the status quo.voluntary environmental regulation, developing country

Manejo sustentable del uso de agua y crecimiento urbano

Municipal water utilities face a complex set of environmental, economic, technical and administrative challenges, among others. In Northern Mexico, urban growth in the face of scarce water resources poses a serious sustainability problem. Water demand and supply management in that context could contribute towards improving the balance between extraction and recharge in the water sources exploited by municipal water systems, and thereby the sustainability of municipal water use. This paper evaluates the potential in that respect of two specific management tools: the cost of water for users (for demand control) and the physical efficiency of conveyance and distribution infrastructures (to control the balance between extraction and use). For that purpose, it is established the relationship between population, water use, physical efficiency, administrative efficiency and extraction requirement in a municipal water system; develop a long term extraction requirement forecast procedure that takes into account distinct scenarios with respect to the application of the aforementioned management tools; and, specify these scenarios based on the analysis of technical and financial data from municipal water utilities. It is presented a case study for the Laguna Metropolitan Area however the methodology could be applied to any other region. The results, combined with relevant hydrological information for the case study region, suggest that the application of the management tools could have a significant impact on municipal extraction requirements; however, this would be insufficient in and of itself to attain sustainability. For that, an integrated water resources management approach that considers simultaneously all types of water uses would be necessary.municipal water use, extraction requirement, growth, sustainability, Laguna Metropolitan Area

The role of TcdB and TccC subunits in secretion of the photorhabdus Tcd toxin complex

The Toxin Complex (TC) is a large multi-subunit toxin encoded by a range of bacterial pathogens. The best-characterized examples are from the insect pathogens Photorhabdus, Xenorhabdus and Yersinia. They consist of three large protein subunits, designated A, B and C that assemble in a 5:1:1 stoichiometry. Oral toxicity to a range of insects means that some have the potential to be developed as pest control technology. The three subunit proteins do not encode any recognisable export sequences and as such little progress has been made in understanding their secretion. We have developed heterologous TC production and secretion models in E. coli and used them to ascribe functions to different domains of the crucial B+C sub-complex. We have determined that the B and C subunits use a secretion mechanism that is either encoded by the proteins themselves or employ an as yet undefined system common to laboratory strains of E. coli. We demonstrate that both the N-terminal domains of the B and C subunits are required for secretion of the whole complex. We propose a model whereby the N-terminus of the C-subunit toxin exports the B+C sub-complex across the inner membrane while that of the B-subunit allows passage across the outer membrane. We also demonstrate that even in the absence of the B-subunit, that the C-subunit can also facilitate secretion of the larger A-subunit. The recognition of this novel export system is likely to be of importance to future protein secretion studies. Finally, the identification of homologues of B and C subunits in diverse bacterial pathogens, including Burkholderia and Pseudomonas, suggests that these toxins are likely to be important in a range of different hosts, including man

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Manejo sustentable del uso de agua y crecimiento urbano

Los organismos operadores de agua enfrentan un complejo conjunto de desafíos ambientales, económicos, técnicos y administrativos, entre otros. En el Norte de México, el crecimiento de las áreas urbanas en un entorno con escasez de recursos hídricos plantea un serio problema de sustentabilidad. En este contexto, el manejo de la demanda de los usuarios y de la oferta de los organismos operadores puede incidir en el equilibrio de las fuentes de abastecimiento, ya integradas a los sistemas municipales de agua, y contribuir a la sustentabilidad de los mismos. En este trabajo, se evalúa el potencial de dos instrumentos específicos de manejo para lograr este propósito: el costo del agua para los usuarios (para el control de la demanda) y la eficiencia física de las infraestructuras de conducción y distribución de agua (para el control de la relación entre la extracción y el uso). Para ello, se presenta una metodología que establece la relación, en un sistema de suministro de agua para uso público-urbano, entre población, consumo, eficiencia física, eficiencia administrativa y requerimiento de extracción; se desarrolla un procedimiento para el pronóstico del requerimiento de extracción en el largo plazo, según diversos escenarios en cuanto a la aplicación de los instrumentos de manejo; y se determina cuáles serán las pautas para la especificación de estos escenarios, con base en el análisis de datos técnicos y financieros de los organismos operadores de agua de la zona de estudio. La metodología se aplica al caso particular de la Zona Metropolitana de la Laguna, pero se puede replicar en cualquier otra región. El análisis de los resultados, a la luz del balance hidrológico de la zona de estudio, comprueba que los instrumentos de manejo pudieran tener unimpacto significativo sobre el requerimiento de extracción; no obstante, también establece su insuficiencia y la necesidad de un marco integrado para el manejo sustentable del agua, en el que se consideren simultáneamente todos los usos del agua y no solamente el público-urbano. Clasificación JEL: Q25, Q56

The potential benefits of water reallocation among agricultural users

Irrigated fields produce a large share of the world’s crops, but in many river basins agriculture faces growing competition from other water users. This paper focuses on the intensity of irrigation water use, i.e., the volume of water applied per unit of irrigated land, in the ten irrigation districts located on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande-Bravo Basin. Based on the analysis of historical production data for the districts’ main crops, results show that irrigation intensity varies widely among the districts and through time. Local environmental conditions (aridity and seasonal availability of water) explain most of this variability; however, districtlevel organizational characteristics (plot sizes and the land tenure regime) also play a role. These features of agricultural water use within the water-stressed river basin point to substantial opportunities for using water transfers to meet nonagricultural water needs (including environmental uses) without affecting overall crop production.La agricultura de riego aporta gran parte de la producción global de cultivos, pero en muchas cuencas hidrográficas enfrenta una creciente competencia por parte de otros usuarios del agua. Este trabajo se enfoca en la intensidad del uso del agua de riego, es decir, el volumen de agua aplicado por unidad de tierra de regadío, en los diez distritos de riego ubicados en la parte Mexicana de la cuenca del Río Grande-Bravo. Con base en el análisis de datos históricos de producción para los principales cultivos de los distritos, los resultados muestran que la intensidad del riego varía ampliamente entre los distritos y a través del tiempo. Las condiciones ambientales locales (aridez y disponibilidad estacional del agua) explican buena parte de esta variabilidad, sin embargo las características organizacionales de los distritos (tamaño de las parcelas y régimen de tenencia de la tierra) también inciden. Estas características del uso agrícola del agua revelan oportunidades sustanciales para satisfacer las necesidades no agrícolas del agua (incluyendo los usos ambientales) sin afectar la producción agregada de cultivos en la cuenca, mediante transferencias de agua

Muddling Through while Environmental Regulatory Capacity Evolves: What Role for Voluntary Agreements?

The city of Leon, Guanajuato, is Mexico's leather goods capital and a notorious environmental hotspot. Over the past two decades, four high-profile voluntary agreements aimed at controlling pollution from Leon's tanneries have yielded few concrete results. To understand why, this paper reconstructs the history of these initiatives, along with that of local environmental regulatory capacity. Juxtaposing these two timelines suggests that the voluntary pollution control agreements were both motivated by-and undermined by-gaps in the legal, institutional, physical, and civic infrastructures needed to make regulation effective. Our analysis offers a concrete definition of environmental regulatory capacity, provides insights into how it evolves, and demonstrates its importance. Moreover, it sheds light on the question of whether voluntary environmental agreements-an increasingly popular regulatory tool-are likely to be effective in developing countries