Global environmental change and sustainable development

The UC3M group of “Global environmental change and sustainable development: social trends and emerging policies” offers its experience on the following fields: • Sustainable Development. • Environmental Education. • Agenda 21. • Sustainable Cities and Sustainable Land Planning. • Environmental Impact Evaluation. • Sustainable Transport and Mobility. • Social Management and Saving Policies (energy, waste, water, noise). Within this framework, the work of this research group aims to: 1) The analysis and diagnosis of how Global Environmental Change and Sustainable Development can affect each specific organization. 2) The proposal of solutions. 3) The management of their implementation. 4) Instruction and training. These objectives are tackled from their basic study to their applied development through reports and consultancy services

Summary of baseline household survey results: Rupandehi, Nepal

This report, prepared by Nepal's Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED), provides a summary of the main results of a household baseline survey carried out in early 2011in 7 villages, with 137 households, in the Rupandehi CCAFS site in Nepal. The survey was carried out using the standardized CCAFS household baseline tool. The results show that most households in Rupandehi produce a multitude of crops. The rice-wheat cropping pattern predominates in this area and many farmers integrate livestock such as cows and buffaloes with crops. Agricultural work on their own farms is shared by multiple members of the households, while men are more responsible for off-farm work. There are varied sources of income within the site, although almost one fifth of households do not have an off-farm source of cash. Many of the surveyed households in Rupandehi reported adopting new crops or varieties in the last 10 years and making cropping and soil related changes. Varietal changes could be observed mainly in rice and wheat, two very important crops for almost all farmers in this area. Changes in regards to livestock keeping practices, however, were not widespread. In terms of food security, many households in Rupandehi are food secure throughout the entire year. On-farm production provides the majority of the diet. Some households need to procure food from off-farm sources, particularly during the months of July, August and September. The area possesses highly productive soils for rice and wheat and it is considered a production bowl for Nepal, supplying large amounts of rice and wheat to the neighbouring districts. Land holdings in the site are small; almost 50% of the surveyed households were marginal farmers (<1 ha) followed by smallholders (1-2 ha) and medium holder farmers (2-5 ha). The area is characterized by having irrigation facilities in a substantial number of farm households (93%). Use of agricultural inputs was universal, with many households using more than one type of fertilizer on their crops. Households also place great value on their livestock and purchase veterinary medicines when necessary. The survey shows that radio, TV, bicycle and cell phones are very common assets in this area. A majority of households receive electricity from a grid. Based on the index we constructed, more than three quarters of the surveyed households fall in the high level of asset ownership

Economic Development and Environmental Protection

There is a long-standing debate on the relationship between economic development and environmental quality. From a sustainable development viewpoint there has been a growing concern that the economic expansion of the world economy will cause irreparable damage to our planet. In the last few years several studies have appeared dealing with the relationship between the scale of economic activity and the level of pollution. In particular, if we concentrate on local pollutants several empirical studies have identified a bell shaped curve linking pollution to per capita GDP (in the case of global pollutants like CO2 the evidence is less clear-cut). This behaviour implies that, starting from low per capita income levels, per capita emissions or concentrations tend to increase but at a slower pace. After a certain level of income (which typically differs across pollutants) – the “turning point” – pollution starts to decline as income further increases. In analogy with the historic relationship between income distribution and income growth, the inverted-U relationship between per capita income and pollution has been termed “Environmental Kuznets Curve”. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide an overview the literature: there are several survey papers around doing precisely that. We instead reconsider the explanations that have been put forth for its inverted-U pattern. We look at the literature from this perspective. In addition, without resorting to any econometric estimation, we consider whether simple data analysis can help to shed some light on the motives that can rationalize the Environmental Kuznets Curve.Climate Policy, Environmental Modeling, Integrated Assessment, Technical Change

Environmental Policy Update 2012: Development Strategies and Environmental Policy in East Africa

The seven chapters that comprise this report explore ways to integrate sustainability goals and objectives into Ethiopia's current development strategies

The Evolution of International Environmental Law

In the last forty years, international environmental law has evolved rapidly, as environmental risks have become more apparent and their assessment and management more complex. In 1972, there were only a few dozen multilateral agreements, and most countries lacked environmental legislation. In 2011, there are hundreds of multilateral and bilateral environmental agreements and all countries have one or more environmental statutes and/or regulations. Many actors in addition to States shape the development, implementation of, and compliance with international environmental law. Moreover, environment is increasingly integrated with economic development, human rights, trade, and national security. Analyzing the evolution of international environmental law helps us understand the possibilities and the limitations of law in addressing environmental problems, whether globally, regionally, or locally

Environmental Effects On Drosophila Brain Development And Learning

Brain development and behavior are sensitive to a variety of environmental influences including social interactions and physicochemical stressors. Sensory input in situ is a mosaic of both enrichment and stress, yet little is known about how multiple environmental factors interact to affect brain anatomical structures, circuits and cognitive function. In this study, we addressed these issues by testing the individual and combined effects of sub-adult thermal stress, larval density and early-adult living spatial enrichment on brain anatomy and olfactory associative learning in adult Drosophila melanogaster. In response to heat stress, the mushroom bodies (MBs) were the most volumetrically impaired among all of the brain structures, an effect highly correlated with reduced odor learning performance. However, MBs were not sensitive to either larval culture density or early-adult living conditions. Extreme larval crowding reduced the volume of the antennal lobes, optic lobes and central complex. Neither larval crowding nor early-adult spatial enrichment affected olfactory learning. These results illustrate that various brain structures react differently to environmental inputs, and that MB development and learning are highly sensitive to certain stressors (pre-adult hyperthermia) and resistant to others (larval crowding). © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd

Environmental Taxation and Revenue for Development

environment, taxation, carbon tax, consumption

Economic Development And Environmental Quality: An Environmental Kuznets Curve (Ekc) Investigation Using Cross-countries Data

This paper tests a relationship between economic development, measured by per capita income, andenvironmental quality, particularly investigates an existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) usingcross-countries data. Sampled data consists of 124 countries divided by low-income countries, middle-income countries, and high-income countries. It is different from previous studies; environmental quality ismeasured by index named Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Statistical test suggests that for allcountries (full-sample data), the relationship follows a smooth N-shaped. There is no relationship for low-income countries; linear function for high-income countries; and quadratic function for middle-incomecountries. Thus, the existence of the EKC is not found in this study.Keywords: Environmental Kuznets Curve, Environmental Performance Index, Environmental Quality