Transformations for sustainable development : promoting environmental sustainability in Asia and the Pacific

Asia and the Pacific is a dynamic region. Regional megatrends, such as urbanization, economic and trade integration and rising incomes and changing consumption patterns, are transforming its societies and economies while multiplying the environmental challenges. These environmental challenges range from growing greenhouse gas emissions, poor air quality, land use change, pressure on marine ecosystems, biodiversity loss and increasing demand for resources, such as energy and water. These megatrends are already shaping the future patterns of resource use and defining who benefits the most and who loses. A basic premise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is that trade-offs between environmental protection, shared prosperity and social progress can no longer be viewed as acceptable. Aligning these trends with sustainable development requires political will and action to reshape the relationships between the economy, society and the environment. This report examines four critical determinants of the relationships between these three dimensions of sustainable development as targets for fundamental transformations—in social justice, resource efficiency, investment flows and economic structures. This report is the product of a combined effort by four institutions: the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations University and the Institute for Global and Environmental Strategies. It is the seventh in a series of reports published every five years since 1985 by ESCAP and partners (formerly known as the State of the Environment in Asia and the Pacific series)

The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the relationship between water and armed conflict, and applies it to the ‘Summer War’ of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah). The framework broadens and deepens existing classifications by assessing the impact of acts of war as indiscriminate or targeted, and evaluating them in terms of international norms and law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In the case at hand, the relationship is characterised by extensive damage in Lebanon to drinking water infrastructure and resources. This is seen as a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of IHL, while the partial destruction of more than 50 public water towers compromises water rights and national development goals. The absence of pre-war environmental baselines makes it difficult to gauge the impact on water resources, suggesting a role for those with first-hand knowledge of the hostilities to develop a more effective response before, during, and after armed conflict

Theoretical analysis of biogas potential prediction from agricultural waste

AbstractA simplistic theoretical study of anaerobic digestion in order to predict the biogas amount of agricultural waste is proposed. A wide variety of models exist, but most of them rely on algebraic equations instead of biochemical equations and require many input parameters as well as computation time. This work provides a simplified model that predicts the biogas amount produced and could be applied for agricultural energy feasibility studies for instance dimensioning bioreactors digesting animal waste slurries. The method can be used for other feedstock materials and repeated for other similar applications, in an effort to expand anaerobic digestion systems as a clean energy source

Analyzing the Economic Sustainability of Tourism Development: Evidence from Hong Kong

Despite increased concerns about the negative economic impacts of tourism on host communities, insufficient attention has been paid to assess tourism economic sustainability. This paper aims to develop and validate a framework for assessing economic sustainability from the perspective of local stakeholders. In-depth interviews with 12 major stakeholders and a telephone survey with 1839 Hong Kong citizens were conducted. The tourism economic sustainability construct consisted of three dimensions: economic positivity, development control and individual welfare. The reliability and validity of the dimensions were confirmed by the data of sub-samples. The links between socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes toward tourism economic sustainability were evaluated. This paper enhanced our understanding of tourism economic sustainability by expanding the measurement from the macro level to micro level. Using the study setting in Hong Kong, it transcends previous analysis by providing a context to learn from ongoing controversies about the effects of tourism on host community

A GIS model-based assessment of the environmental distribution of g-hexachlorocyclohexane in European soils and waters

The MAPPE GIS based multimedia model is used to produce a quantitative description of the behaviour of γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) in Europe, with emphasis on continental surface waters. The model is found to reasonably reproduce γ-HCH distributions and variations along the years in atmosphere and soil; for continental surface waters, concentrations were reasonably well predicted for year 1995, when lindane was still used in agriculture, while for 2005, assuming severe restrictions in use, yields to substantial underestimation. Much better results were yielded when same mode of release as in 1995 was considered, supporting the conjecture that for γ-HCH, emission data rather that model structure and parameterization can be responsible for wrong estimation of concentrations. Future research should be directed to improve the quality of emission data. Joint interpretation of monitoring and modelling results, highlights that lindane emissions in Europe, despite the marked decreasing trend, persist beyond the provisions of existing legislation. An spatially-explicit multimedia modelling strategy was applied to describe the historical distribution of γ-HCH in European soils and surface waters

Sustainable Consumption Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Conceptual Framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for investigating the adoption patterns, inhibitors, and facilitators ( PIF ) of sustainable consumption in sub-Sahara African ( SSA ) settings. Literature evidence shows paucity of empirical studies on sustainable consumption from SSA , which partly explains lack of suitable conceptual framework to guide research in this area. Also, the existing frameworks, which were developed outside SSA may not be suitable for constructing sustainable consumption behavior in SSA because of its peculiarities. The key signifi cance of this article is the potential of providing future researchers in this area with a framework to guide and manage their studies. As a conceptual article, insight was drawn from a plethora of scholarly articles in the domain of sustainable consumption and related areas. The framework is built on four key constructs—adoption patterns, inhibitors, facilitators ( PIF ), and intention. As a guide for studies from the SSA , the article includes an empirical section, which provides preliminary empirical validation for the proposed PIF conceptual framework based on a pilot test. The result from the pilot study, using structural equation modeling ( SEM ), led to positing the PIF Sustainable Consumption model, thus giving support for the PIF Conceptual Framework, which this article puts forward. In addition, the proposed PIF conceptual framework is capable of providing insight for crafting sustainability-related policies. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc