scholarly journals Blue Carbon in Emissions Markets: Challenges and Opportunities for Mexico

Author(s):  
Antonina Ivanova Boncheva ◽  
Alfredo Bermudez-Contreras

AbstractMangroves are ecosystems made up of trees or shrubs that develop in the intertidal zone and provide many vital environmental services for livelihoods in coastal areas. They are a habitat for the reproduction of several marine species. They afford protection from hurricanes, tides, sea-level rise and prevent the erosion of the coasts. Just one hectare of mangrove forest can hold up to 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide, more than tropical forests and jungles. Mexico is one of the countries with the greatest abundance of mangroves in the world, with more than 700,000 ha. Blue carbon can be a novel mechanism for promoting communication and cooperation between the investor, the government, the users, and beneficiaries of the environmental services of these ecosystems, creating public–private-social partnerships through mechanisms such as payment for environmental services, credits, or the voluntary carbon market. This chapter explores the possibilities of incorporating blue carbon in emissions markets. We explore the huge potential of Mexico’s blue carbon to sequester CO2. Then we analyse the new market instrument that allows countries to sell or transfer mitigation results internationally: The Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM), established in the Paris Agreement. Secondly, we present the progress of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to standardize the methodologies to assess their stock and determine the magnitude of the blue carbon sinks. Thirdly, as an opportunity for Mexico, the collaboration with the California cap-and-trade program is analysed. We conclude that blue carbon is a very important mitigation tool to be included in the compensation schemes on regional and global levels. Additionally, mangrove protection is an excellent example of the mitigation-adaptation-sustainable development relationship, as well as fostering of governance by the inclusion of the coastal communities in decision-making and incomes.

Author(s):  
Alexandre A.F. Rivas ◽  
James R. Kahn ◽  
Carlos Edwar Freitas ◽  
Lawrence E. Hurd ◽  
Gregory Cooper

The county of Barcelos in the state of Amazonas, Brazil comprises 122 thousand square kilometers of land, composed of the rainforest, rivers and lakes of the middle Rio Negro watershed. The area is virtually free of deforestation and blessed with abundant fishery resources. It is widely regarded to be the best freshwater fishing location in the world and until recently was regarded as one of the global centers of the aquarium fish trade. Unfortunately, a variety of factors have kept the human population of this immense region from benefiting from these abundant natural resources. This paper outlines a path towards sustainable development of these resources that we developed in conjunction with the government of Barcelos, fishermen’s cooperatives, and indigenous associations. The paper illustrates how a payment for environmental services can jump start sustainable development in a pristine area and illustrate some of the factors that can impede such a system. Most discussion of payment for environmental services focuses on how such a payment can prevent deterioration of an area under current threat. The goal is to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the area in a way that eliminates future potential threats to the ecological integrity of the complex aquatic/terrestrial ecosystem. In addition to the development of human capital, a fishery and ecotourism management plan is developed that uses the revenue from the environmental tax to solve infrastructure, human capital and social capital needs. Although the official program of payment for environmental services was halted for local political reasons, the authors are in the process of establishing a voluntary program of payment for environmental services which will accomplish the same objectives.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Martin ◽  
Janelle Leslie ◽  
Marta Ruiz-Arranz ◽  
Ramiro López-Ghio ◽  
Gian Vasquez

This document presents a comprehensive analysis of challenges and opportunities for promoting inclusive and sustainable development in Belize on a sectoral level, where rekindling faster, sustained economic growth is arguably one of the country's most significant development challenges. The unprecedented hit of the COVID-19 pandemic has added pressure to an economy with characteristically low growth, and dramatically transformed Belize's economic and social outlook. Reigniting economic growth that is sustainable and inclusive, as well as removing structural bottlenecks, requires addressing three priority areas categorized here as pillars. These pillars are: (i) Anchoring fiscal policy for growth, (ii) Transforming the export sector through diversification, integration, and innovation, and (iii) Providing social protection and skills to shape the future. These development challenges are interdependent and tackling them will require a collaborative and synchronous approach. At the IADB, we trust the BIDeconomics Belize will be a valuable tool for the Government of Belize and the country's stakeholders to overcome these challenges. BIDeconomics is a series of publications by the Department of Countries of Central America Haiti, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic that provides analysis and proposals to support the sustainable development of the countries of the region. Each publication summarizes the findings of the Country Development Challenges studies, which are respectively prepared as inputs for each of the IDB Country Strategies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 480-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Di Trapani ◽  
Riccardo Squatrito ◽  
Mario Foderà ◽  
Riccardo Testa ◽  
Salvatore Tudisca ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-72
Author(s):  
Wekgari Dulume

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is grounded in different international human rights instruments. Human rights (HR) principles and standards are strongly reflected in several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. Furthermore, SDG 17 emphasizes partnership as a key to achieving all of the SDGs. This article examines the SDGs-HR linkage in general, as well as specific HR principles that can be advanced by the achievement of SDG 17. Opportunities and challenges to promote Goal 17 of the SDGs that directly affect certain HRs are also examined. A review of relevant literature, 2030 summit documents, and outcomes of recent international conferences on the SDGs is undertaken in order to determine the progress made towards forging regional and global partnerships for the SDGs, as envisaged in Goal 17. This article finds that the absence of a political will and commitment, increased isolationist policy, narrow nationalism and poor rule linkage at national and international levels are some of the obstacles to the attainment of Goal 17. Yet, opportunities abound to promote the Goal. The article recommends a genuine commitment to implementing the SDGs by encouraging the South-South and North-South to prevent the SDGs from becoming a mere wishlist. Synergy between the government, individuals, civil society organizations (CSOs) and transnational corporations (TNCs) is equally very important. Keywords: Human rights, sustainable development goals, partnership for the goals.


Author(s):  
Abiodun Alao ◽  
Roelien Brink

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (41R) era requires industries to adopt the use of technology and specialised study accomplished with digital knowledge. This has contributed to the high rate of unemployment and job loss of people, especially the youths without digital knowledge. The objective of this study is to understand how ICTs can be used for the sustainable development of youth employability. The youths are among the low-income populations that require access to information on industry requirement for improved employability and the provision of digital skills training will allow them to have the knowledge to use ICTs to access information on the relevant job skills needed in the labour market. The sustainable livelihood theory was used to guide the study. Recommendations for the study will allow the government, ICT policymakers, and stakeholders to use ICTs for the sustainable development of youths and improve employability.


2022 ◽  
pp. 343-364
Author(s):  
Poshan Yu ◽  
Samuel Kwok ◽  
Zhongyue Jiang

This chapter aims to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 in China's education sector. It will capture the dynamics of the interlinked changing relationships between the availability and use of education technology (EdTech) and the demand for online learning among various stakeholders in the Chinese education market. In addition, this chapter examines whether and how these relationships enhance operational efficiency via transforming the current business models in the sector, in particular due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing the current practices of the sector, this chapter will critically discuss the challenges and opportunities for technology in education and how these changes in turn drive stakeholders (including students, educators, and regulators) to respond and engage with each other, and how these stakeholder engagements impact the sustainable development of delivery modes, such as digital education and remote learning by using EdTech strategies in the sector.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 4192
Author(s):  
Yanbin Li ◽  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Yun Li ◽  
Bingkang Li ◽  
Zhen Li

Power grid investment behavior (PGIB) is a necessary prerequisite to ensure safe and reliable power supply. The supervision of PGIB is an important measure to reduce electricity price. It helps to release the dividends of the new power system reform and promote the sustainable development of the power industry. However, for a long time, China’s regulation of PGIB was relatively weak, lacking clear supervision awareness and effective supervision methods. On the basis of clarifying the contents of PGIB supervision, this paper establishes an evaluation index system for the compliance of PGIB from the government supervision perspective, involving four dimensions and 14 secondary indicators. Furthermore, a hybrid evaluation model based on the combined decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method (DEMATEL-ANP), analytical network process method, and vague set is proposed. The results reveal that the control over cost and efficiency of the PGIB in China is not enough. According to the results, this paper puts forward the indicators that close attention should be paid to and the work priorities in China’s supervision of PGIB, which has certain practical value for the implementation of new power system reform and the sustainable development of Chinese power industry.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Min Song

In 2015, the central government issued a document on building the harmonious labor relations, which emphasized the right to rest of workers and rectified the current severe imbalance of labor relations. This document released a signal to guarantee the sustainable development of the labor force for the future. These measures, such as relative departments perfecting the legislation and law enforcement, the trade union performing their duties actively, employing units and workers raising their awareness and enhancing mutual understanding and branches of the government cooperating, can realize the right to rest of workers to the greatest extent possible.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zne-Jung Lee ◽  
Hsiang Huang ◽  
Chou-Yuan Lee ◽  
Yi-Huo Jiang ◽  
Chun-Yen Chang

In an aging population with a changing demographic structure, the government aims to ensure that elderly people receive care. In the concept of lifelong learning, education opportunities are available to senior learners, not just children and young people. The sustainable development for senior learners becomes a very important issue because it promotes a variety of learning activities for senior learners. Many universities have started to offer education for senior learners in Taiwan. Positive experiences for senior learners in senior universities can be fostered by ensuring the sustainable development of senior education. In this paper, a study on sustainable development for senior learners is proposed. This study aims to explore potential tools or approaches in evaluating the sustainable development for senior learners for decision making. In this study, two approaches are applied to analyze the sustainable development for senior learners. The first is a statistical analysis, and the second is the random forest model. The methodology of statistical analysis focuses on three aspects such as social assistance, inspiration, and the learning fulfillment for senior learners in senior universities. The random forest model is used to generate decision rules to support decision making. The random forest in this study obtained 22 decision rules. The results suggest that the items in the questionnaire and the decision rules from random forest could provide useful information that allows decision-makers to analyze the sustainable development of senior learners.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thales Pacific Yapatake Kossele ◽  
Magalie Gabriella Ngaba Mbai-Akem

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corruption control on capital flight in the least corrupt African countries. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data covering the period of 1996-2010. Findings The results show that the extent of corruption, the total natural resources rent are statistically significant and affect positively the capital across the pooled, random and fixed effects. Inflation and economic growth are also found to have a negative impact on capital flight. Moreover, the exchange rate has a negative and significant effect on capital flight. Practical implications The findings of this study suggest that the extent of corruption control by responsible institutions can be considered as one of the most effective weapons in the fight against capital flight in the least corrupt African countries. Social implications The paper recommends to the government of the least corrupt countries in Africa to create an enabling political and economic environment for investor’s attractiveness. This, in turn, will reduce the occurrence of capital flight and lead to the sustainable development. Originality/value The findings of this study suggest that the extent of corruption control by responsible institutions can be considered as one of the most effective weapons in the fight against capital flight in the least corrupt African countries. The paper recommends to the government of the least corrupt countries in Africa to create an enabling political and economic environment for investor’s attractiveness. This, in turn, will reduce the occurrence of capital flight and lead to the sustainable development.


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