Green Politics

Author(s):  
Antje Brown

Whilst Scottish environmental policies feature many characteristics typical for modern systems of governance, addressing similar environmental challenges and wicked problems of the twenty-first century, many environmental policy responses in Scotland are nevertheless distinctly contextual and often driven by the ongoing constitutional debate whilst also being ambitious, if not pioneering. This is not to say that Scotland leads in environmental politics on all fronts; where coalition networks and other factors may not promise the desired results, Scottish decision makers shy away from a determined green approach. This chapter therefore argues that in order to understand green politics in Scotland as a whole we need to study environmental policies carefully and individually and take into consideration a number of factors (or parameters) such as resource availability and, more importantly, the strategic consideration of whether or not a co-framing between green ambitions and national identity can be achieved successfully.

Author(s):  
Paul Hedges

This chapter explores the development of Anglican inter-faith relations since 1910 which has been shaped by a number of factors including: the ecumenical context, changing dynamics within the global Communion, globalization issues, and moves from mission to dialogue. The chapter begins with a historical overview and traces developments in key Anglican Communion texts and meetings, especially in recent times the Lambeth Conferences of 1988, 1998, and 2008. The ecumenical context which has shaped thought on inter-faith relations in this period is also given strong attention. The chapter concludes with two case studies. The first explores relations with Buddhism in the Sri Lankan context, while the second looks at relations with Islam focusing on the Middle East. While charting some general trends, it is noted that very different dynamics and varying standpoints exist in Anglican attitudes on inter-faith relations and have been part of the historical development throughout the period surveyed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Desing ◽  
Gregor Braun ◽  
Roland Hischier

Non-technical summary Resources are the basis of our economy and their provision causes major shares of the global environmental burdens, many of which are beyond safe limits today. In order to be sustainable, our economy needs to be able to operate within those boundaries. As resources are the physical ‘currency’ of our economy, we present a method that allows translating Earth system boundaries into resource budgets. This ecological resource availability determines the global annual production of a resource that can be considered absolutely sustainable. The budgets can be managed like financial budgets, bringing absolute environmental limits one step closer to decision-makers.


Author(s):  
Victoria A. Beard ◽  
Diana Mitlin

This paper highlights challenges of water access in towns and cities of the global South and explores potential policy responses. These challenges are not new, although, we argue that they have been underestimated by policy makers due to a focus on global data, thus, resulting in decision makers paying insufficient attention to these problems. Policies need to be based on a more accurate assessment of challenges, specifically the need for continuous and affordable water service, and the need to provide services to informal settlements. We share findings from research on 15 cities across Latin America, Asia, and Africa.


2012 ◽  
Vol 538-541 ◽  
pp. 895-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Chen Huang

A number of factors must be considered when selecting a convention site. Typically, most selections are based on the decision makers’ knowledge and experience, which may lead to biased decisions based on the decision makers’ subjective judgment. This study establishes decision-making evaluation factors and attributes for convention site selection based on a literature review. After surveying experts’ opinions using questionnaires, we employed the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to analyze the weighting of the factors and attributes. The results show that of the five evaluation factors, site environment is the most important, followed by meeting and accommodation facilities, local support, extraconference opportunities, and costs. Additionally, the five most important attributes among the 20 evaluation attributes are the suitability of convention facilities, suitability and quality of local infrastructure, climate, city image, and political conflict or terrorist threats.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-205
Author(s):  
Abass A. Gazal ◽  
Napat Jakrawatana ◽  
Thapat Silalertruksa ◽  
Shabbir H. Gheewala

The appropriate use of limited natural resources for generating basic human needs such as energy, food, and water, is essential to help the society function efficiently. Hence, a new approach called nexus is being considered to resolve the effects of intrinsic trade-offs between the essential needs. A review of different methods and frameworks of the water-energy-food nexus was done in this article to give a detailed repository of information on existing approaches and advocate the development of a more holistic quantitative nexus method. Assessing biofuels under the water-energy-food nexus perspective, this review addresses the sustainability of bioenergy production. The results show the countries that can sustainably produce first-generation biofuels. Only a few methods have varied interdisciplinary procedures to analyse the nexus, and more analytical software and data on resource availability/use are needed to address trade-offs between these interacting resource sectors constituting the nexus. Also, “land” is suggested as an additional sector to consider in future studies using both the nexus index and life cycle assessment methodology. The review reveals that to tackle composite challenges related to resource management, cross-disciplinary methods are essential to integrate environmental, socio-political facets of water, energy, and food; employ collaborative frameworks; and seek the engagement of decision-makers.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1400-1413 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Imbrenda ◽  
M. D’Emilio ◽  
M. Lanfredi ◽  
M. Ragosta ◽  
T. Simoniello

Land degradation is one of the most impacting phenomena on natural resource availability, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In order to provide efficient tools for territorial sustainable management in areas affected by land degradation, it is important to define suitable models and indicators able to identify exposed areas and their vulnerability level, so as to provide an effective support for decision makers in identifying intervention priorities and planning mitigation/adaptation strategies. This work is focused on the evaluation at high spatial detail of land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors, which is a crucial issue in areas devoted to farming practices. Vulnerability is evaluated by integrating a new indicator of the mechanization level the authors recently developed, with a set of census based indicators of land management. The new indicator is independent of census data being based on land cover data; thus, it can provide a better spatial characterization and a more frequent updating compared to commonly adopted indices that are evaluated at municipal scale. By analyzing data for the whole Southern Italy, such an indicator was integrated for the first time at full spatial resolution to obtain a final vulnerability index of land management. This comprehensive index enabled a more accurate estimation of the land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors allowing the discrimination of priority areas within the municipal areas.


Author(s):  
V. Imbrenda ◽  
M. D’Emilio ◽  
M. Lanfredi ◽  
M. Ragosta ◽  
T. Simoniello

Land degradation is one of the most impacting phenomena on natural resource availability, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In order to provide efficient tools for territorial sustainable management in areas affected by land degradation, it is important to define suitable models and indicators able to identify exposed areas and their vulnerability level, so as to provide an effective support for decision makers in identifying intervention priorities and planning mitigation/adaptation strategies. This work is focused on the evaluation at high spatial detail of land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors, which is a crucial issue in areas devoted to farming practices. Vulnerability is evaluated by integrating a new indicator of the mechanization level the authors recently developed, with a set of census based indicators of land management. The new indicator is independent of census data being based on land cover data; thus, it can provide a better spatial characterization and a more frequent updating compared to commonly adopted indices that are evaluated at municipal scale. By analyzing data for the whole Southern Italy, such an indicator was integrated for the first time at full spatial resolution to obtain a final vulnerability index of land management. This comprehensive index enabled a more accurate estimation of the land degradation vulnerability due to anthropic factors allowing the discrimination of priority areas within the municipal areas.


2022 ◽  
pp. 164-184
Author(s):  
Çağlar Karamaşa ◽  
Selçuk Korucuk ◽  
Ezgi Demir

Considering the environment and human life, the importance of dangerous goods transportation should be carefully considered. Preventing damages during this transportation, anticipating the dangers, and minimizing the risks are vital components for businesses, human life, and the environment. Therefore, reducing/minimizing risks in dangerous goods transportation is a critical element of vital importance. This chapter is aimed to rate the risk factors related to dangerous goods transportation and select the most ideal warehouse locations due to the their importance for human and environmental health. There are a number of factors for that purpose. There are six provinces in the Eastern Black Sea region having the strategic function and structure. According to the decision makers' views and judgments, three provinces are determined in terms of dangerous goods transportation. Picture fuzzy sets-based AHP-TOPSIS methodology was used to analyze the problem of dangerous goods transportation and the most ideal warehouse location selection.


2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Kraft

Environmental policy and politics in the United States have changed dramatically over the past three decades. What began in the late 1960s as an heroic effort by an incipient environmental movement to conserve dwindling natural resources and prevent further deterioration of the air, water, and land has been transformed over more than three decades into an extraordinarily complex, diverse, and often controversial array of environmental policies. Those policies occupy a continuing position of high visibility on the political agenda at all levels of government, and environmental values are widely embraced by the American public. Yet throughout the 1990s environmental policies and programs were characterized as much by sharp political conflict as by the consensus over policy goals and means that reigned during the early to mid-1970s. As the twenty-first century approaches, there is considerable value in looking back at this exceptional period to under-stand the nature of the transformation and its implications for the future.


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