scholarly journals Taiwan’s ecological footprint and overshoot day

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jaan Lee ◽  
Lei Chai ◽  
Po-Shu Wu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Conversion Rates ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Population

AbstractThis study examines Taiwan’s ecological footprint (EF) and its Overshoot Day from 2000 to 2018. The latest EF calculation method is used to determine the conversion rates and equivalent factors of bioproductive lands in each year to establish a database of Taiwan’s EF in that period. The results reveal that Taiwan’s EF was 7.69 gha/person in 2000, dropping steadily to 6.46 gha/person in 2018. Taiwan’s carbon footprint accounted for about 61% of Taiwan’s total EF, slightly higher than the world average (60%). The carbon footprint as a proportion of the total EF has been increasing annually. This study adopts social communication tools, such as the overshoot day and the earth clock, to promote sustainable development goals and climate change policy initiatives. Global Footprint Network (GFN) updates the overshoot day of each country in its database yearly, based on each country’s EF and biocapacity. Since Taiwan is not included in GFN, this study adopts the same method and finds out that Taiwan's Overshoot Day in 2018 was March 14th, meaning that on March 14th, 2018, Taiwan exhausted all of the biological resources that its bioproductive lands can regenerate in the year. If the global population lived like Taiwanese, four Earths would be required to provide the resources used. This result not only reflects the consumption of natural resources in Taiwan, but also indicates that Taiwan should focus on sustainable development and reduce that consumption.

Global Health and International Development

2018 ◽  
pp. 216-235
Author(s):  
Andrew Harmer ◽  
Jonathan Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Economic System ◽  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Population

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.

scholarly journals The (un)successful EU Environmental Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Rafael Leite Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Environmental Action ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Action Programme ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
The Eu

The EU asserts itself as a leader when it comes to climate change policy. In this article, we analyze the EU’s environmental action regarding the 7th Environmental Action Programme 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) 2030 set by the UN. We synthesise the successes and failures of the EU’s environmental policy in the fields of emissions reduction, circular economy, biodiversity, energy policy and agricultural policy, with the goal of understanding where the EU is lacking and what, therefore, needs stronger measures to reach international goals and avoid an environmental catastrophe. We conclude that the EU will not reach most environmental targets set for 2020 and in order to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, what changes need to be implemented to ensure stronger environmental measures.

scholarly journals An Assessment of the Applicability of Behavioral Economics’ Tools to Policy Making Process Considering Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Abeer Mohamed Ali Abd Elkhalek
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Development Goals

Achieving sustainable development goals in a very dynamic and complicated world requires innovated solutions. As people are in the heart of the developmental process, understanding what motivates people and what drives their behaviors is a must for designing policies targeting the achievement of developmental goals. This paper aims to assess how the behavioral economics’ tools may be applied to directing people’s behaviors toward more sustainable activities and then contributing to achieve sustainable development goals. Using deductive qualitative approach, and a comparative analysis, the study explores and discusses to what extent insights and techniques from behavioral economics may affect and change policy making process and then public policies' outcomes specifically in the context of sustainable development disciplines. The results showed a vital role of behavioral economics tools in developing public policies in accordance to real behaviors of people which -in turn- help in achieving sustainable development goals. Moreover, it was concluded that changing humans' behaviors toward more sustainable patterns of life provides so many opportunities to strengthen the effectiveness of policies for sustainable development in both developed and developing countries. Using behavioral economics tools, policymakers can design more effective policies to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

scholarly journals THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF THE TOURISM IN ACHIEVING THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1259-1264
Author(s):  
Aneta Stojanovska-Stefanova ◽  
Nikola V. Dimitrov ◽  
Marija Magdinceva-Sopova
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Earth Summit ◽  
The Earth ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
High Level

As the United Nations General Assembly affirmed when announcing the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, tourism can contribute to all the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – and each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Not only does the sector spearhead growth, it also improves the quality of people’s lives. It can bolster environmental protection, champion diverse cultural heritage, and strengthen peace in the world. In this spirit, World Tourism Day 2017 presents a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the contribution of sustainable tourism for development among public and private sector decision-makers and the international community, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change. Accounting for 7% of worldwide exports, one in eleven jobs and 10% of the world’s GDP, the tourism sector if well managed can foster inclusive economic growth, social inclusiveness and the protection of cultural and natural assets. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is plan of action for the people, planet and prosperity. In accordance with paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda, Member States have decided that the High Level Political Forum shall carry out regular voluntary reviews of the 2030 Agenda which will include developed and developing countries as well as relevant UN entities and other stakeholders. The reviews were state-led, involving ministerial and other relevant high-level participants, and provide a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders. Since the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 - known as the Earth Summit, it was recognized that achieving sustainable development would require the active participation of all sectors of society and all types of people. Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit, drew upon this sentiment and formalized nine sectors of society as the main channels through which broad participation would be facilitated in UN activities related to sustainable development. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom, in the same time recognising that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, has committed that acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan.

scholarly journals The Role of Fire in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Artemi Cerdà
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Earth System ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations do not mention Fire as a key factor in achieving an environmentally-friendly human society. This paper reviews the key aspects of the impact of fire that make it necessary to update the SDGs. Upon reviewing the scientific literature, it was found that fire has been part of the Earth System for the last 400 million years, and that it is part of biogeochemical cycles. From a geological perspective, fire shaped the current Earth System. Humans have used fire in the last million years as hunter-gatherers, and the last Pleistocene period evolved with the presence of fire. Since the Neolithic revolution, humankind spread the use of fire, without which agriculture would not have progressed as it did. Fire is still used today as a tool to clear forests, scrublands and meadows in order to establish agriculture fields. To achieve the SDGs, we cannot ignore the role of fire. Fire should be present, as it is part of the geological cycle of the planet; it is part of rural culture and plays a key role in hydrological, erosional and biological cycles. We discuss the following issues related to fire in connection with the SDGs: (i) biota; (ii) soil properties; (iii) carbon cycle; (iv) sediment and water yield; (v) air and water pollution; and (vi) risk assessment. We conclude that: (i) fire is key to flora and fauna diversity; (ii) soil properties are temporally changed after exposure to fire; (iii) the carbon cycle is disturbed by fire, but the long-term impact can be a reduction in the CO2 content in the atmosphere; (iv) sediment and water yield are enhanced by forest fires, but only during the period of disturbance; (v) air and water pollution are ephemeral; and (vi) the risk associated with fire necessitates careful planning. Prescribed fires may be part of the solution, but there is a need to educate citizens on the role that fire plays. More research is necessary due to the diversity of the biomass and the complex history of fire on the planet. Fire is part of the Earth System and the SDGs should include it as a key element in their agenda.

What is driving conversion of land to aquaculture in the Indian Sundarbans?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim M. Daw ◽  
Sandip Giri ◽  
Partho Protim Mondal ◽  
Sourav Samanta ◽  
Sugata Hazra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Agricultural Productivity ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Indian Sundarbans ◽  
Conversion Rates ◽  
Development Goals

<p>Land in the Indian Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) has been extensively (and illegally) converted from agriculture to aquaculture over the last two decades, with implications for Sustainable Development Goals addressing food, poverty, employment, terrestrial and marine ecosystems and inequality. The economic returns from aquaculture are higher than agriculture, but more unequally shared, demand for labour is lower (and often fullfilled by non-local workers) and the expansion of brackish water aquaculture, in particular can contribute to the salinization of land through seepage from ponds, and intentional water management to bring saline water to farms. While remote sensing can demonstrate the conversion, the drivers behind are less clear. Much literature, along with commonly articulated stakeholder perspectives strongly suggest that sea-level rise and cyclone impacts lead to salinization, resulting in reduced agricultural productivity, leading farmers to convert to saline aquaculture as an adaptation. However, this is unclear in the Indian Sundarbans where the highest rates of conversion are not in areas which have suffered saline inundation. SBR-wide factors that affect rates of conversion include international demand for prawns, technology development and transfer, availability of seed, legal frameworks and land tenure. At a more local level, connectivity (for inputs and for marketing product), proximity to water sources, levels of cyclone inundation, salinity and agricultural productivity, existing aquaculture areas, extension services and local government (dis)incentives may explain spatial patterns of differing conversion rates. In this paper we use a two-decade long timeseries of remotely sensed data on land cover and agricultural productivity along with spatially explicit data on connectivity to evaluate which factors were most associated with conversion from agriculture to aquaculture in the past two decades. We then project future possible conversion based on scenarios of how these drivers may change over the the next decade and discuss their implications for Sustainable Development Goals.</p>

scholarly journals Sustainable Development Goals – Quo Vadis, Cities of the World?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-179
Author(s):  
G Venkatesh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Global Energy Consumption

The United Nations unveiled a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, with 169 targets and a little over 230 indicators. This was a sequel to the Millennium Development Goals whose remit ended in 2015. Challenges lie ahead for governments around the world – national, provincial and municipal – to adapt the targets and indicators to effect a meaningful transition towards sustainable development by 2030. Cities are where the battle for sustainable development will be won or lost – they contribute 80% of the global GDP, and account for 70% each of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. With over two-thirds of the global population likely to live in cities by 2060, this is more than a cliché. A clutch of sustainable cities makes a sustainable province; a clutch of sustainable provinces makes a sustainable country, and it follows that several sustainable countries learning and sharing and helping other countries, will make for a sustainable world in the 21st century and further on into the future. While moving forward, trade-offs and complementarities must not be forgotten. Often, there are serendipitous benefits when complementarities which exist are not factored in, but the trade-offs if forgotten may end up robbing Peter to pay Paul. Despite the interregnum brought about by the Corona Virus pandemic in 2020, the world will be getting up, dusting itself clean and moving ahead in the next decade towards the SDGs set for year-2030.

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