An agenda for ethics and justice in adaptation to climate change

As experts predict that at least some irreversible climate change will occur with potentially disastrous effects on the lives and well-being of vulnerable communities around the world, it is paramount to ensure that these communities are resilient and have adaptive capacity to withstand the consequences. Adaptation and resilience planning present several ethical issues that need to be resolved if we are to achieve successful adaptation and resilience to climate change, taking into consideration vulnerabilities and inequalities in terms of power, income, gender, age, sexuality, race, culture, religion, and spatiality. Sustainable adaptation and resilience planning that addresses these ethical issues requires interdisciplinary dialogues between the natural sciences, social sciences, and philosophy, in order to integrate empirical insights on socioeconomic inequality and climate vulnerability with ethical analysis of the underlying causes and consequences of injustice in adaptation and resilience. In this paper, we set out an interdisciplinary research agenda for the inclusion of ethics and justice theories in adaptation and resilience planning, particularly into the Sixth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6). We present six core discussions that we believe should be an integral part of these interdisciplinary dialogues on adaptation and resilience as part of IPCC AR6, especially Chapters 2 (“Terrestial and freshwater ecosystems and their services”), 6 (“Cities, settlements and key infrastructure”), 7 (“Health, wellbeing and the changing structure of communities”), 8 (“Poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development”), 16 “Key risks across sectors and regions”), 17 (“Decision-making options for managing risk”), and 18 (“Climate resilient development pathways”).: (i) Where does ‘justice’ feature in resilience and adaptation planning and what does it require in that regard?; (ii) How can it be ensured that adaptation and resilience strategies protect and take into consideration and represent the interest of the most vulnerable women and men, and communities?; (iii) How can different forms of knowledge be integrated within adaptation and resilience planning?; (iv) What trade-offs need to be made when focusing on resilience and adaptation and how can they be resolved?; (v) What roles and responsibilities do different actors have to build resilience and achieve adaptation?; (vi) Finally, what does the focus on ethics imply for the practice of adaptation and resilience planning

Adrenal function recovery after durable oral corticosteroid sparing with benralizumab in the PONENTE study

Background Oral corticosteroid (OCS) dependence among patients with severe eosinophilic asthma can cause adverse outcomes, including adrenal insufficiency. PONENTE's OCS reduction phase showed that, following benralizumab initiation, 91.5% of patients eliminated corticosteroids or achieved a final dosage ≤5 mg·day-1 (median (range) 0.0 (0.0-40.0) mg). Methods The maintenance phase assessed the durability of corticosteroid reduction and further adrenal function recovery. For ~6 months, patients continued benralizumab 30 mg every 8 weeks without corticosteroids or with the final dosage achieved during the reduction phase. Investigators could prescribe corticosteroids for asthma exacerbations or increase daily dosages for asthma control deteriorations. Outcomes included changes in daily OCS dosage, Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-6 and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), as well as adrenal status, asthma exacerbations and adverse events. Results 598 patients entered PONENTE; 563 (94.1%) completed the reduction phase and entered the maintenance phase. From the end of reduction to the end of maintenance, the median (range) OCS dosage was unchanged (0.0 (0.0-40.0) mg), 3.2% (n=18/563) of patients experienced daily dosage increases, the mean ACQ-6 score decreased from 1.26 to 1.18 and 84.5% (n=476/563) of patients were exacerbation free. The mean SGRQ improvement (-19.65 points) from baseline to the end of maintenance indicated substantial quality-of-life improvements. Of patients entering the maintenance phase with adrenal insufficiency, 32.4% (n=104/321) demonstrated an improvement in adrenal function. Adverse events were consistent with previous reports. Conclusions Most patients successfully maintained maximal OCS reduction while achieving improved asthma control with few exacerbations and maintaining or recovering adrenal function

Land-use planning as a tool for balancing the scientific and the social in biodiversity and ecosystem services mainstreaming? The case of Durban, South Africa

This paper evaluates the role of land-use planning, especially open space systems, in mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) at the urban level. Whilst there is increasing interest in BES mainstreaming to balance environmental protection with socio-economic development, there is also concern that BES thinking deflects attention from underlying social justice questions. Through the case study of Durban, South Africa – often held as an exemplar in BES mainstreaming – we argue open space systems can offer a pathway to BES mainstreaming that is both scientifically effective and socially just. Yet what makes this possible in Durban, we argue, is (1) a robust scientific evidence base deployed reflexively and sensitively; (2) a move towards explicit emphasis on providing benefits of BES to the most vulnerable people; and (3) supportive policy frameworks plus the presence of biodiversity managers able to navigate the political as well as scientific landscape

Diversification of hydraulic parameters in near rapid hydraulic structures (RHS)

Obecnie poszukuje się nowych rozwiązań budowlanych z zakresu inżynierii rzecznej. Najodpowiedniejszymi budowlami wydają się być bystrza o zwiększonej szorstkości. Spełniają one walory przyrodnicze i estetyczne oraz nie powodują przegrodzenia rzeki wędrującym rybom i innym organizmom wodnym, przez co są zalecane przez Ramową Dyrektywę Wodną Unii Europejskiej. W publikacji określono wartości parametrów hydraulicznych w rejonie bystrzy o zwiększonej szorstkości, znajdujących się na potoku Porębianka w Gorcach. Głównym celem pracy jest próba pokazania możliwości monitorowania wykonanych budowli hydrotechnicznych oraz pokazanie ewentualnych zmian w hydrodynamice cieku, które uniemożliwiłyby zamieszkiwanie odcinka rzeki przez organizmy wodne. Z przeprowadzonych badań można wnioskować o prawidłowej pracy bystrzy oraz o spełnieniu funkcji ekologiczno-krajobrazowej przez te budowle. Świadczy o tym bogate zróżnicowanie warunków hydrodynamicznych, co wpływa na zwiększenie ilości miejsc o różnorodnej faunie makrobezkręgowej. Parametry hydrodynamiczne zaobserwowane w rejonie bystrzy ściśle zależą od usytuowania punktu pomiarowego w stosunku do poszczególnych elementów budowli. Maksymalne prędkości nie zawsze powodują powstawanie największych sił działających na dno cieku, gdyż jest to związane również z ich rozkładem w pionie pomiarowym.At the present, in modern river training practices and philosophy one can notice coming more into use ecological friendly hydraulic structures. Those, which are especially needed for river training works, as far as expectation of Water Framework Directive is concerned, are rapid hydraulic structures (RHS). What is important, RHS in general do not stop fish and invertebrates against migrating upstream, provide natural and esthetical effects within the river channel, still working as hydraulic engineering structures. Along this paper we described and measured some hydraulic parameters within the reach of chosen rapid hydraulic structures, which we found in the field. The main aim of the research was to describe changes of values of those parameters upstream and downstream of the RHS’s and to find out their influence on hydrodynamics of the stream. The study was undertaken on the Porębianka Stream in the Gorce Mountains. Observed hydrodynamic parameters within the reach of the RHS’s depend on the location of measuring point and the influence of individual part of the structure. At the same time maximum velocity does not always create the bigger shear force, because it is also depend on the velocity distribution along the hydrological profile