The environmental Kuznets curve: The validity of its foundations in developing countries

La Curva de Kuznets Ambiental (CKA) ha sido probablemente el tópico más analizado en la economía ambiental en los últimos años. Puntualmente, la hipótesis sostiene que entre el producto y cualquier medida de contaminación plausible de ser utilizada como indicador de degradación ambiental se verifica en el largo plazo una relación funcional con forma de U invertida, por lo que el daño ambiental es una función creciente del nivel de actividad económica hasta un determinado nivel crítico de renta a partir del cual mayores niveles de renta se asocian a niveles progresivamente mayores de calidad ambiental. Sin embargo, varios de los argumentos que sirven de sustento teórico a la hipótesis no resultan mayormente operativos en las circunstancias económicas, sociales e institucionales propias de países en desarrollo. En particular, la desigualdad en la distribución del ingreso y la fragilidad del marco institucional en materia ambiental debilitan los principales fundamentos que sostienen esta hipótesis, quitando relevancia a la conveniencia de esperar y crecer para alcanzar mejoras en la calidad ambiental. En este contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo es revisar los argumentos teóricos que sirven de soporte a la CKA y analizar las particularidades que los mismos enfrentan en el caso de países en desarrollo, dejando en evidencia la importancia que la política ambiental adquiere en estos últimos para mejorar las condiciones de vida de la poblaciónThe Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) has probably been the most discussed topic in applied environmental economics over the last twenty years. The hypothesis states the existence of an inverted U‑shaped relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation, which involves that environmental damage increases with economic activity up to a certain level of income, after which increases in income are associated to higher environmental quality. However, many of the arguments that serve as a theoretical basis for the hypothesis are not applicable to the economic, social and institutional circumstances of developing countries. In particular, inequality in income distribution and the weakness of the institutional framework in the environmental field weakens the main arguments that support the idea of the EKC, making the desirability of waiting and growing to achieve improvements in environmental quality less relevant. In this context, the aim of this study is to present a review of the theoretical arguments supporting EKC and to analyze the particularities they face in the case of developing countries, showing the importance of the role played by environmental policy in the improvement of living conditions in these countrie

Uso de recursos hídricos en las actividades productivas del Municipio de General Pueyrredon, Buenos Aires

El agua es un recurso natural renovable, escaso y crítico para el desarrollo de la vida, por lo que también resulta estratégico. La disponibilidad natural de agua por habitante ha disminuido globalmente en un 30% en las últimas dos décadas debido al impacto del crecimiento poblacional, el cambio climático y el desarrollo económico (FAO, 2020). Dado este escenario y de acuerdo a la Agenda 2030 de la ONU, la consecución de diversos Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible demanda una urgente definición de esquemas de gestión sostenibles y equitativos para el uso y consumo del agua (ONU, 2018).Fil: Anrriquez Anlauf, Dulce Serena. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Lacaze, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Zilio, Mariana I. CONICET. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía; Argentina

Engaging stakeholders across a socio-environmentally diverse network of water research sites in North and South America

Maintaining and restoring freshwater ecosystem services in the face of local and global change requires adaptive research that effectively engages stakeholders. However, there is a lack of understanding and consensus in the research community regarding where, when, and which stakeholders should be engaged and what kind of researcher should do the engaging (e.g., physical, ecological, or social scientists). This paper explores stakeholder engagement across a developing network of aquatic research sites in North and South America with wide ranging cultural norms, social values, resource management paradigms, and eco-physical conditions. With seven sites in six countries, we found different degrees of engagement were explained by differences in the interests of the stakeholders given the history and perceived urgency of water resource problems as well as differences in the capacities of the site teams to effectively engage given their expertise and resources. We categorized engagement activities and applied Hurlbert and Gupta's split ladder of participation to better understand site differences and distill lessons learned for planning comparative socio-hydrological research and systematic evaluations of the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement approaches. We recommend research networks practice deliberate engagement of stakeholders that adaptively accounts for variations and changes in local socio-hydrologic conditions. This, in turn, requires further efforts to foster the development of well-integrated research teams that attract and retain researchers from multiple social science disciplines and enable training on effective engagement strategies for diverse conditions

Engaging stakeholders across a socio-environmentally diverse network of water research sites in North and South America

Maintaining and restoring freshwater ecosystem services in the face of local and global change requires adaptive research that effectively engages stakeholders. However, there is a lack of understanding and consensus in the research community regarding where, when, and which stakeholders should be engaged and what kind of researcher should do the engaging (e.g., physical, ecological, or social scientists). This paper explores stakeholder engagement across a developing network of aquatic research sites in North and South America with wide ranging cultural norms, social values, resource management paradigms, and eco-physical conditions. With seven sites in six countries, we found different degrees of engagement were explained by differences in the interests of the stakeholders given the history and perceived urgency of water resource problems as well as differences in the capacities of the site teams to effectively engage given their expertise and resources. We categorized engagement activities and applied Hurlbert and Gupta's split ladder of participation to better understand site differences and distill lessons learned for planning comparative socio-hydrological research and systematic evaluations of the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement approaches. We recommend research networks practice deliberate engagement of stakeholders that adaptively accounts for variations and changes in local socio-hydrologic conditions. This, in turn, requires further efforts to foster the development of well-integrated research teams that attract and retain researchers from multiple social science disciplines and enable training on effective engagement strategies for diverse conditions.Fil: Smyth, Robyn L.. Bard College; Estados UnidosFil: Fatima, Uroosa. Bard College; Estados UnidosFil: Segarra, Monique. Bard College; Estados UnidosFil: Borre, Lisa. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Zilio, Mariana Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Reid, Brian. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Pincetl, Stephanie. Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Estados UnidosFil: Astorga, Anna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Economía. Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Huamantinco Cisneros, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Geografía y Turismo; ArgentinaFil: Conde, Sergio Daniel. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Harmon, Thomas Christopher. University of California Merced; Estados UnidosFil: Hoyos, Natalia. Universidad del Norte; ColombiaFil: Escobar, Jaime. Universidad del Norte; Colombia. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; PanamáFil: Lozoya, Juan Pablo. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Perillo, Gerardo Miguel E.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Geología; ArgentinaFil: Piccolo, Maria Cintia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Geografía y Turismo; ArgentinaFil: Rusak, James A.. Dorset Environmental Science Centre; Canadá. Queens University; CanadáFil: Velez, Maria I.. University of Regina; Canad

Can scenario-planning support community-based natural resource management? Experiences from three countries in latin america

Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is a concept critical to managing socio-ecological systems, but whose implementation needs strengthening. Scenario-planning is one approach that may offer benefits relevant to CBNRM, but whose potential is not yet well understood. We therefore designed, trialled and evaluated a scenario-planning method intended to support CBNRM at three cases, located in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. Implementing scenario-planning was judged as worthwhile in all three cases, although aspects of it could be challenging to facilitate. The benefits generated were relevant to strengthening CBNRM: encouraging the participation of local people and using their knowledge; enhanced consideration and adaption of future change; and supporting the development of systems thinking. Tracing exactly when and how these benefits arise is challenging, but two elements of the method seemed particularly useful. Firstly, using a systematic approach to discuss how drivers of change may affect local socio-ecological systems helped to foster systems thinking and identify connections between issues. Secondly, explicitly focusing on how to use and respond to scenarios helped identify specific practical activities ('response options') that would support CBNRM despite the pressures of future change. Discussions about response options also highlighted the need for support by other actors (e.g. policy groups): this raises the question of when and how other actors and other sources of knowledge should be involved in scenario-planning, so as to encourage their buy-in to actions identified by the process. We suggest other CBNRM initiatives may benefit from adapting and applying scenario-planning. However, these initiatives should be carefully monitored since further research is required to understand how and when scenario-planning methods may produce benefits, and their strengths and weaknesses versus other methods

Evolución de los Recursos Hídricos en el “Bajo de Sarmiento” (Patagonia Extra Andina): Impactos Naturales y Antrópico

Water resources dynamics within a basin depend on natural variables (latitude, topography, and climatic variability) and the anthropic uses of those resources. Social perception on the basin environmental situation and the priority on resources use, define the degree of conservancy of water resources. Water resources conservancy is critical in the Argentinean Patagonia, where the arid conditions prevail since the early Holocene until the present. On this work, it is studied the dynamics of the hydrological resources (lakes and rivers) within the “Bajo de Sarmiento”, located in the center of Argentine’s extra Andean Patagonia. The aim of this work is to understand whether the social perception regarding the priority use of water resources is leading to management that could increase the impact that naturally affects lakes and rivers in the area by climate variability. Thus, the hidrogeomorfology dynamics of the “Bajo de Sarmiento”, derived from the combined impact of climate variability and human activity, from the Holocene to the present, was rebuilt. Geological Sheet 4569-IV Escalante, the SRTM digital terrain model (30m) and Land Sat (5-7-8) satellite images were analyzed to compare the regime of the main permanent channels described and represented in the literature and historical cartography of “Bajo de Sarmiento” with their current regimes. The data obtained were compared with fieldwork observations. On the other hand, structured survey was made to social actors related with water uses in the basin, in order to analyze the social perception on resources. The results showed that while climate variability (in particular the arid conditions prevailing since the middle Holocene) has historically been the main factor affecting the dynamics of water bodies in the area, the development of various human activities (based on the perception of the resources that the inhabitants have) have increased these effects over the past 120 years. Thus the basin has changed from exoreic to endoreic and one of the lakes located within it has been close to disappeared in 2016

Socioeconomic and Environmental Proxies for Comparing Freshwater Ecosystem Service Threats across International Sites: A Diagnostic Approach

In this work, we develop and test proxy-based diagnostic tools for comparing freshwater ecosystem services (FWES) risks across an international array of freshwater ecosystems. FWES threats are increasing rapidly under pressure from population, climate change, pollution, land use change, and other factors. We identified spatially explicit FWES threats estimates (referred to as threat benchmarks) and extracted watershed-specific values for an array of aquatic ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere (Ramsar sites). We compared these benchmark values to values extracted for sites associated with an international FWES threat investigation. The resulting benchmark threats appeared to provide a meaningful context for the diagnostic assessment of study site selection by revealing gaps in coverage of the underlying socio-environmental problem. In an effort to simplify the method, we tested regularly updated environmental and socioeconomic metrics as potential proxies for the benchmark threats using regression analysis. Three category proxies, aggregated from (i) external (global to regional, climate-related), (ii) internal (watershed management-related), and (iii) socioeconomic and governance related proxies produced strong relationships with water supply threat benchmarks, but only weak relationships with biodiversity-related and nutrient regulation benchmark threats. Our results demonstrate the utility of advancing global FWES status and threat benchmarks for organizing coordinated research efforts and prioritizing decisions with regard to international socio-environmental problems