Socioeconomic Drivers of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States

Existing studies examined the U.S.’s direct GHG emitters and final consumers driving upstream GHG emissions, but overlooked the U.S.’s primary suppliers enabling downstream GHG emissions and relative contributions of socioeconomic factors to GHG emission changes from the supply side. This study investigates GHG emissions of sectors in the U.S. from production-based (direct emissions), consumption-based (upstream emissions driven by final consumption of products), and income-based (downstream emissions enabled by primary inputs of sectors) viewpoints. We also quantify relative contributions of socioeconomic factors to the US’s GHG emission changes during 1995–2009 from both the consumption and supply sides, using structural decomposition analysis (SDA). Results show that income-based method can identify new critical sectors leading to GHG emissions (e.g., Renting of Machinery & Equipment and Other Business Activities and Financial Intermediation sectors) which are unidentifiable by production-based and consumption-based methods. Moreover, the supply side SDA reveals new factors for GHG emission changes: mainly production output structure representing product allocation pattern and primary input structure indicating sectoral shares in primary inputs. In addition to production-side and consumption-side GHG reduction measures, the U.S. should also pay attention to supply side measures such as influencing the behaviors of product allocation and primary inputs

Liberalizing Trade in Services: Lessons from Regional and WTO Negotiations*

ABSTRACT Liberalization of trade and investment in services through trade agreements has progressed less than trade in goods. We review the limited progress achieved to date in the WTO and major regional agreements on services and possible explanations why trade agreements have not been more effective at integrating the services markets of participating countries. We argue that the prospects for both services liberalization and welfare-enhancing regulatory reform in the context of trade agreements can be enhanced through mechanisms that enhance transparency, dialogue and cooperation between regulators, trade officials and stakeholders

Photosynthesis in non‐foliar tissues: implications for yield

Photosynthesis is currently a focus for crop improvement, however the majority of this work has taken place and been assessed in leaves, whilst limited consideration has been given to the contribution that other green tissues make to whole plant carbon assimilation. The major focus of this review is to evaluate the impact of non‐foliar photosynthesis on carbon use efficiency and total assimilation. Here we appraise and summarise past and current literature on the substantial contribution of different photosynthetically active organs and tissues to productivity in a variety of different plant types, with an emphasis on fruit and cereal crops. Previous studies provide evidence that non‐leaf photosynthesis could be an unexploited potential target for crop improvement. We also briefly examine the role of stomata in non‐foliar tissues and their role in gas exchange, maintenance of optimal temperatures and thus photosynthesis. In the final section, we discuss possible opportunities to manipulate these processes and provide evidence that wheat plants genetically manipulated to increase leaf photosynthesis, also displayed higher rates of ear assimilation, which translated to increased grain yield. By understanding these processes, we can start to provide insights into manipulating non‐foliar photosynthesis and stomatal behaviour to identify novel targets for exploitation for on‐going breeding programmes

Bioprospecting the African Renaissance: The new value of muthi in South Africa

This article gives an overview of anthropological research on bioprospecting in general and of available literature related to bioprospecting particularly in South Africa. It points out how new insights on value regimes concerning plant-based medicines may be gained through further research and is meant to contribute to a critical discussion about the ethics of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). In South Africa, traditional healers, plant gatherers, petty traders, researchers and private investors are assembled around the issues of standardization and commercialization of knowledge about plants. This coincides with a nation-building project which promotes the revitalization of local knowledge within the so called African Renaissance. A social science analysis of the transformation of so called Traditional Medicine (TM) may shed light onto this renaissance by tracing social arenas in which different regimes of value are brought into conflict. When medicinal plants turn into assets in a national and global economy, they seem to be manipulated and transformed in relation to their capacity to promote health, their market value, and their potential to construct new ethics of development. In this context, the translation of socially and culturally situated local knowledge about muthi into global pharmaceuticals creates new forms of agency as well as new power differentials between the different actors involved

Maternal and Child Nutrition in Nepal: Examining drivers of progress from the mid-1990s to 2010s

This paper explores the drivers of Nepal's maternal and child nutrition success using document review, interviews with mothers, and quantitative analysis of DHS datasets. Our qualitative and quantitative analyses both highlight similar policy and community level changes but limited improvements in child feeding and care practices. Improvements in four key drivers of nutritional change emerged: health services, sanitation, education, and wealth. However, the relative contributions of each factor varied by indicator, with health services more important for linear growth among children, and sanitation more important for weight gain among both children and mothers. We conclude with a discussion bringing the qualitative and quantitative findings together into key lessons from Nepal's success

Dietary and physical activity strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes in South Asian adults:protocol for a systematic review

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a major health concern among populations of South Asian ethnicity. Although dietary and physical activity interventions may reduce the risk of T2D, the effectiveness has been moderate among South Asians. This might (in part) be because this subgroup follows strategies that were originally developed for interventions among other populations. Therefore, this review aims to assess the evidence for the current dietary and physical activity strategies recommended in T2D prevention intervention studies and guidelines for South Asians. Included will be all studies and guidelines on dietary and/or physical activity strategies to prevent T2D in adult South Asians. Two reviewers will search online databases from their start until the present date for published and unpublished experimental/quasiexperimental studies, with at least an abstract in English. References of identified articles and key reviews will be screened for additional studies. Guidelines will be identified by searches in online databases and websites of public organisations. Finally, expert consultations will be held to supplement any missing information. Trial quality will be assessed with the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies Data, and guidelines with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II. Data on the strategies recommended, targeting and evidence on effectiveness will be extracted by two reviewers and presented in tabular and narrative forms. Recommendations will be compared with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines [PH35]. Overall findings on dietary and physical activity recommendations, as well as findings for specific subgroups (eg, by sex), will be discussed. Ethics assessment is not required. Start date: 1 January 2016, finishing and reporting date 31 July 2016. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, the project report of EuroDHYAN (www.eurodhyan.eu) and in a PhD dissertation. The protocol is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registration number CRD42015027067

Capital Market Development: Whither Latin America?

Abstract Over the last decades, many countries have implemented significant reforms to foster capital market development. Latin American countries were at the forefront of this process. This paper analyzes where Latin American capital markets stand after these reforms. We find that despite the intense reform effort, capital markets in Latin America remain underdeveloped relative to markets in other regions. Furthermore, stock markets are below what can be expected, given Latin America's economic and institutional fundamentals. We discuss alternative ways of interpreting this evidence. We argue that it is difficult to pinpoint which policies Latin American countries should pursue to overcome their poor capital market development. Moreover, we argue that expectations about the outcome of the reform process may need to be revisited to take into account intrinsic characteristics of emerging economies. The latter may limit the scope for developing deep domestic capital markets in a context of international financial integration. JEL classification codes: G18, G2

Regaining momentum for international climate policy beyond Copenhagen

The 'Copenhagen Accord' fails to deliver the political framework for a fair, ambitious and legally-binding international climate agreement beyond 2012. The current climate policy regime dynamics are insufficient to reflect the realities of topical complexity, actor coalitions, as well as financial, legal and institutional challenges in the light of extreme time constraints to avoid 'dangerous' climate change of more than 2°C. In this paper we analyze these stumbling blocks for international climate policy and discuss alternatives in order to regain momentum for future negotiations