Private opportunities, public benefits? The scope for private finance to deliver low-carbon transport systems in Kigali, Rwanda

A significant portion of finance for a low-carbon transition is expected to come from private sources. This may be particularly the case in the transport sector, where there is a large private sector presence and substantial investment needs, and in low-income countries, where climate action is unlikely to be the first priority for public finances. However, it is unclear whether private finance can deliver the full range of actions that are needed for a low carbon transition, or what role the public sector can and should play to mobilise these resources. Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is one of many cities in lower and middle income countries seeking to break away from business-as-usual trajectories and pursue more sustainable forms of urban development. In this paper, the economic case for a large set of low carbon transport investments in Kigali, Rwanda, is analysed from the perspective of a private investor and from the perspective of the city as an economic unit drawing on a data and methods used in a city-wide review of low carbon study of Kigali conducted in 2015 by the Climate Smart Cities team at the University of Leeds. Comparing the public and private perspectives provides the opportunity to explore the financing mechanisms and policy frameworks appropriate for different kinds of low-carbon investment, and to consider how governments in developing countries can lay the foundations for compact, connected low-carbon cities

Nature, green economy and sustainable development: The outcomes of UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development

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Hydrogeological characterization of small coastal wetlands and forests in the Southern Po Plain (Northern Italy).

This study is aimed to characterize the shallow groundwater system in the coastal area between the Uniti and Bevano rivers (southern part of the Po plain), where salinization is threatening the coastal ecosystems and posing a major environmental issue for the phreatic water management in the coast. A thin rainwater lens is present at the top of the aquifer in the backshore area and its extent has a seasonal variability. These few centimetres of freshwater represent a thin interface between sea water and the delicate coastal ecosystems, such as those of dunes and wetlands. To have a better understanding of the changes in groundwater chemistry, we performed a seasonal monitoring of the water quality at the top of the aquifer. Effective concentrations of chemicals and actual values of physical-chemical parameters in the rainwater lens could be measured by means of auger holes. The analysis of the cation-exchange process in the aquifer was made through the application of the Base Exchange index (BEX index) of Stuyfzand (2008), an indicator of salinization or freshening of waters. The results pointed out that a salinization process is taking place in the largest part of the aquifer. Extension and chemical composition of the rainwater lens are strongly influenced by anthropogenic factors such as drainage and land use. The surface water bodies are all brackish to salty and characterized by anoxic and reducing conditions. At present, only halophytes are present around the dune slacks, which have turned into brackish to hypersaline lakes