Attenuation of the effects of desertification through sustainable development of Great Green Wall in the Sahel of Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Njidda Mamadu Gadzama
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Green Wall ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
The People ◽  
Sand Dune Stabilization ◽  
Arid Agriculture ◽  
Collaborative Activities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop the Great Green Wall (GGW) Project initially financed by the United Nation’s Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, is a Pan African proposal in greening the Sahel of Africa from West (Dakar) to the East (Djibouti). It aims at reducing poverty and soil degradation in this region, taking into account the effects of desertification and climate change on sustainability of livelihoods. Design/methodology/approach Several desertification attenuation projects in Nigeria are employing different methods for maximum benefits obtainable from the objectives of the particular projects. As noted above, however, the approach of GGW is to improve the alternative livelihoods of the people by their active participating in the implementation of the project. It is also noted that environmental impact assessment, community reconnaissance or needs assessments might be initial part of pre-project activities, thereby making the communities more aware and educated of the impending environmental problems. Findings Desertification has reached an alarming state in Nigeria. The frontline desert threatened States of Nigeria constitute 43 percent of the land mass of the country. With increased pressure of desertification, exacerbated by a period of prolonged drought of more than 20 years, climate change and human activities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain sustainability in the management of the fragile lands and the region’s ecosystem. Strategic interventions in combating the problem of desertification in Nigeria have attenuated some of the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts on the affected communities. Programmes and projects have strengthened the resilience of the people, participating in sand dune stabilization, the Great Green Wall Sahara Sahel Initiative, including shelterbelt developments. Government has sustained inputs in environmentally friendly agriculture and also encouraged synergetic collaborative activities with international and national NGOs, international agencies and local institutions. Originality/value These results/activities give evidence of the increased public awareness of environmental degradation due to desertification and climate change in Nigeria; the realization in environmental stabilization needs with ready participation of the communities for improved livelihoods in environmental activities and arid agriculture as supported by the National Great Green Wall (NAGGW) program of the country; resulting in internalization of these projects supporting livelihoods for sustainability in the Sahel of Nigeria.

On major environmental problem of desertification in Northern Nigeria with sustainable efforts to managing it

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Njidda Mamadu Gadzama ◽  
Haruna Kuje Ayuba
Keyword(s):  
Public Awareness ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
The People ◽  
Sand Dune Stabilization ◽  
Agricultural Yields ◽  
Arid Agriculture ◽  
Collaborative Activities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the extent of desertification and land degradation as threat to sustainable environmental, agricultural and land development in the Sahel of Nigeria with its consequences; with also some efforts to control desertification. Design/methodology/approach – Several desertification attenuation projects in Nigeria are employing different methods for maximum benefits obtainable from the objectives) of the particular project. Specific methods will be cited for particular projects mentioned as appropriate. It is noted however that environmental impact assessment, community reconnaissance or needs assessments were initial part of pre-project activities. Findings – Desertification has reached an alarming state in Nigeria. The frontline desert threatened States of Nigeria constitute 40 per cent of the land mass of the country. With increased pressure of desertification, exacerbated by a period of prolonged drought of about 20 years, climate change and human activities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain sustainability in the management of the fragile lands and the region’s ecosystem. Strategic interventions in combating the problem of desertification in Nigeria have attenuated some of the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts on the affected communities of the Sahel of the country. Programmes and projects are designed to strengthen the resilience of the people in the affected region with sound ecosystems’ management; support the efforts of the communities resulting in increased agricultural yields. Programmes and projects have strengthened the resilience of the people, participating in sand dune stabilization, the Great Green Wall Sahara Sahel Initiative and other shelterbelt development. Government has sustained inputs in environmentally friendly agriculture and also encouraged synergetic collaborative activities with national agencies, international agencies and local institutions. Originality/value – These results/activities give evidence of the increased public awareness of environmental degradation due to desertification in Nigeria; the realization in environmental stabilization needs with ready participation of the communities for improved livelihoods in arid agriculture; resulting in internalization of these problems for Nigeria.

Crowdfunding green projects in Brunei: awareness and investing preferences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaista Wasiuzzaman ◽  
Nurul Nabilah Hj Pungut ◽  
Muhammad Khaliq Syafie Md Don
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Environmental Awareness ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Climate Change Issue ◽  
The People ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

PurposeThe objectives of this study are to determine the level of awareness of crowdfunding and green projects among Bruneians, to investigate the preference of Bruneians regarding funding through crowdfunding as well as to evaluate the willingness of Bruneians to use crowdfunding as a funding alternative for green projects in Brunei. In addition to that, this study aims to identify the effects of environmental awareness and environmental concern on the willingness to crowdfund green projects.Design/methodology/approachA total of 177 responses from an online questionnaire distributed via convenience and snowball sampling was used for data analysis. Frequency, descriptive, correlation and regression analyses are used to achieve the aims of this study.FindingsThe study finds that the awareness of the concepts of crowdfunding and green project is high among Bruneians, but the level of their familiarity of crowdfunding platforms and climate change issues is very low. Regression analysis carried out to test the effects of awareness and concern on willingness indicates that while environmental concern has a significant positive effect on the willingness to support crowdfunded green projects, environmental awareness is insignificant.Originality/valueThe study highlights that government policy should be aimed at not just increasing awareness but at increasing the knowledge of the impacts of climate change issue that will raise concern and improve participation of residents in green projects. The study focuses on a rarely studied population, the people of Brunei.

Measuring climate change on Twitter using Google’s algorithm: perception and events

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdeen Hamed ◽  
Alexa A. Ayer ◽  
Eric M. Clark ◽  
Erin A. Irons ◽  
Grant T. Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Ranking Algorithm ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Worldwide Population ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Earth Day

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis of whether more complex and emergent hashtags can be sufficient pointers to climate change events. Human-induced climate change is one of this century’s greatest unbalancing forces to have affected our planet. Capturing the public awareness of climate change on Twitter has proven to be significant. In a previous research, it was demonstrated by the authors that public awareness is prominently expressed in the form of hashtags that uses more than one bigram (i.e. a climate change term). The research finding showed that this awareness is expressed by more complex terms (e.g. “climate change”). It was learned that the awareness was dominantly expressed using the hashtag: #ClimateChange. Design/methodology/approach – The methods demonstrated here use objective computational approaches [i.e. Google’s ranking algorithm and Information Retrieval measures (e.g. TFIDF)] to detect and rank the emerging events. Findings – The results shows a clear significant evidence for the events signaled using emergent hashtags and how globally influential they are. The research detected the Earth Day, 2015, which was signaled using the hashtag #EarthDay. Clearly, this is a day that is globally observed by the worldwide population. Originality/value – It was proven that these computational methods eliminate the subjectivity errors associated with humans and provide inexpensive solution for event detection on Twitter. Indeed, the approach used here can also be applicable to other types of event detections, beyond climate change, and surely applicable to other social media platforms that support the use of hashtags (e.g. Facebook). The paper explains, in great detail, the methods and all the numerous events detected.

The importance of information access of cultural values to the principles of sustainable development in climate change

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Ike Iswary Lawanda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Generation X ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Control ◽  
Generation Gaps

Purpose This is a methodological proposal that describes the access to information as a starting point, and the importance of access to information as the backbone for the values of investment with the notion of culture as shared beliefs, supported by information to communicate and provide awareness about issues related to environmental policy that is consistent with sustainable development. Data collection is done from census data of Cikarawang population, observation and in-depth interviews with informants of community leaders. Constructive theory constructs to identify the diversity of existing construction of and placing in the consensus. The goal of this methodology is to produce an informed and knowledgeable construction of, which simultaneously improving continuously. Constructivists do not intend to predict and control the real world and divert it but to reconstruct the world at the point of its existence: in the mind of the people of the community in Cikarawang village. The view of the importance of cultural institutions and traditional knowledge should not be ignored in reaching the target of practical dissemination of information regarding environmental policy should be conducted for further study the model of and the model for the construction of the constructed. The use of application in documenting myths and rituals of Cikarawang people is enabling the access of information of the people in learning the culture and language of Cikarawang. Moreover, it is the way to reach the goal of sustainable environment for the next generations. Design/methodology/approach The goal of this methodology is to produce an informed and knowledgeable construction of, which simultaneously improved continuously. Constructivists do not intend to predict and control the real world and divert it but to reconstruct the world at the point of its existence: in the mind of the constructor. In the process related to two aspects, : hermeneutic and dialectical. Aspects of individual construction of hermeneutic describe as compare and contrast to the dialectical aspects of individual construction of, so that each respondent was entered into the construction of another and entirely fused. Findings The access of information on asri to face global warming is to demonstrate the hybridity and syncretism of this everyday locality and to show how this global sense of place is a progressive sense of place which avoids defensive and exclusionary definitions of place and culture because they cannot be sustained in a world where understanding a place means understanding its connection to other places. However, the youths of Cikarawang are likely to self-identify, as liberals are also more supportive of progressive domestic social agenda than older generations. They are less overtly religious than the older generations. Research limitations/implications The access of information, is about trying to establish the existence of the collectivity by defining what makes it a community – isolating national characteristics, defining crucial historical moments or significant places. None of these implies that these meanings can be fixed. There might be useful to think of nations as projects which are never fully achieved. There are always alternative accounts which are being given, and alternative interpretations being made from different positions. Climate information needs to be made in accordance with the local context and activities of both of the content, format, timing and distribution (dissemination). Practical implications The undetermined that perceived lack of locals trying to understand the information about weather and climate change are delivered by using technology need to engage their participation to identify and develop adaptation and mitigation strategies. Knowledge about the weather and how to overcome it is also myths about the environment containing taboo and prohibition as well as the annual harvest ritual. Digital technology using application is the nearest object to individual youngsters to access information openly and individually. Access of information using apps and internet is bridging the issues of climate change, myths and rituals about environment, and generation gaps. Social implications The behavior of young people of Generation X are not heeding the ban in the experience of their ancestors. It is not only because of their belief in myth depleted but also in the absence of respected elders. Person figures which are respected as wise men or local leaders to be role models. In the past, knowledge and cultural information are presented, preserved, generated down to future generations. Nowadays, information about climate, weather, cultural knowledge in agriculture, irrigation, daily life, ritual, myth, and kinship is no longer simply rely on figures but the media that they believe in. Originality/value It is an interdisciplinary research of global knowledge, memory and communication. Digital technology-based application as the system to support access of information and the effort of documentation on community myths and rituals of remote people may affect on sustainable local wisdoms which protect and sustain the environment to be inherited to next generations. Web, private social networks, wikis and blogs are becoming important corporate tools for communication, collaboration and information-sharing. It is a way of young people in this Generation X most familiar in such as interactive, collaborative, managing knowledge, and managing global system and bridging generation gaps.

Environment and technology dominate the WEF agenda

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The People ◽  
Impact Risk ◽  
Trade Deals ◽  
First Time

Significance For the first time in the eleven-year history of the survey, no economic risk makes the list of the top five most likely or biggest impact risks. In contrast, large-scale terrorist attacks make the top five most likely risks for the first time and weapons of mass destruction are cited as the highest impact risk. All five environment-related risks are ranked among the top ten highest impact risks for the first time -- four in the top five: extreme weather events; water crises; major natural disasters; and failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The survey cites strengthening global cooperation systems as a top five challenge, and says these environmental risks will be exacerbated if cooperation diminishes. Impacts Nearly a third of respondents think that increasing polarisation will be an underlying trend over the next ten years. More must be done to include the people left behind by technological change -- more than 4 billion lack internet access. The United States may withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, and a number of free trade deals are at risk.

Chile glacier protection legislation will move slowly

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prolonged Drought ◽  
Protection Legislation

Subject Glacier protection legislation in Chile. Significance A prolonged drought has heightened public awareness of the risks that climate change poses for Chile. However, a battle in Congress over glaciers illustrates the persistence of entrenched attitudes that view environmental protection and economic activity as inherently antagonistic. Impacts The government’s choice of the Mining Ministry to represent it in debating the bill suggests alignment with the mining lobby. The bill’s proponents will be up against the government’s powers to control the order of business in Congress. When covered with dust, as from mining operations, glaciers will melt more quickly because they cannot deflect the sun’s rays.

scholarly journals Mitigating and adapting to climate change: attitudinal and behavioural challenges in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-493
Author(s):  
Shahzad Alvi ◽  
Umer Khayyam
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
The People ◽  
Climatic Hazards

Purpose This study aims to examine peoples’ perception of climate change. It assessed their attitude, behavioural motivation for mitigating and adapting to climate change in the two capital cities of South Asia: Islamabad in Pakistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach This study used the quantitative research technique based on responses of 800 close-ended questions embedded in a close-ended questionnaire, which were filled-out from randomly selected sample of respondents. The primary data was analysed and presented through tabulation. For binary dependent variables, the standardised logistic coefficients were projected for more reliable estimates. Findings The findings reveal that the population of both capital cities have a low personal perception of climate change. Also, the dwellers of both cities have a low level of motivation to take mitigative and adaptive measures against climatic hazards. The results of the logistic regression model further indicate that the people who believe that climate change is a threat to their lives are more likely to adopt mitigative and adaptive strategies. This mostly applies to the people with a relatively higher income and education level. Research limitations/implications This study implies to create awareness and sensitise the local community in both the capitals and beyond through information dissemination. Further, the availability of toolkits to handle emergencies remains imperative in registering attitudinal and behavioural changes to reduce the impacts of climate variability in poor localities. Originality/value This research study analysed the link between climate change mitigation and energy conservation from the societal attributes of perception, motivation, attitude and behaviour, which remains essential for community-based mitigation against climatic hazards.

scholarly journals Overstraining international climate finance: when conflicts of objectives threaten its success

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Buchholz ◽  
Dirk Rübbelke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Problems

Purpose Climate finance is regularly not only seen as a tool to efficiently combat global warming but also to solve development problems in the recipient countries and to support the attainment of sustainable development goals. Thereby, conflicts between distributive and allocative objectives arise, which threaten the overall performance of such transfer schemes. Given the severity of the climate change problem, this study aims to raise concerns about whether the world can afford climate transfer schemes that do not focus on prevention of (and adaptation to) climate change but might be considered as a vehicle of rent-seeking by many agents. Design/methodology/approach Future designs of international transfer schemes within the framework of the Paris Agreement are to be based on experience gained from existing mechanisms. Therefore, the authors examine different existing schemes using a graphical technique first proposed by David Pearce and describe the conflicts between allocative and distributional goals that arise. Findings In line with the famous Tinbergen rule, the authors argue that other sustainability problems and issues of global fairness should not be primarily addressed by climate finance but should be mainly tackled by other means. Research limitations/implications As there is still ongoing, intense discussion about how the international transfer schemes addressed in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement should be designed, the research will help to sort some of the key arguments. Practical implications There are prominent international documents (like the Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) seeking to address different goals simultaneously. While synergies between policies is desirable, there are major challenges for policy coordination. Addressing several different goals using fewer policy instruments, for example, will not succeed as the Tinbergen Rule points out. Social implications The integration of co-benefits in the analysis allows for taking into account the social effects of climate policy. As the authors argue, climate finance approaches could become overstrained if policymakers would consider them as tools to also solve local sustainability problems. Originality/value In this paper, the authors will not only examine what can be learnt from the clean development mechanism (CDM) for future schemes under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement but also observe the experiences gained from a non-CDM scheme. So the authors pay attention to the Trust Fund of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which was established with global benefit orientation, i.e. – unlike the CDM – it was not regarded as an additional goal to support local sustainable development. Yet, despite its disregard of local co-benefits, the authors think that it is of particular importance to include the GEF in the analysis, as some important lessons can be learnt from it.

Long Chile drought raises profile of climate impacts

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Energy Matrix ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Irrigation Projects ◽  
The Future ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Subject Drought and agriculture. Significance In the last three months, emergency decrees prompted by lack of water have been issued in more than one-third of the country’s 16 regions as a result of the ten-year drought, which has worsened in 2019. The emergency decrees are focused on ensuring access to drinking water for people in rural areas, providing fodder and water for livestock, and implementing irrigation projects for small and medium-sized farms. Impacts Hydropower represents about 30% of Chile’s energy matrix but there is sufficient backup from other sources to avoid outages. The drought has raised public awareness on the future impacts of climate change on Chile. A warmer and drier future may lead to migration to the country’s south in the longer term.

Determinants of climate change disclosures in the Turkish banking industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 901-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merve Kılıç ◽  
Cemil Kuzey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Banking Industry ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of voluntary climate change disclosures in the Turkish banking industry and explore the factors explaining the extent of such disclosures.Design/methodology/approachThe research sample is based upon 24 banks that had been continuously operating in Turkey over the seven-year period from 2010 to 2016. The study uses a disclosure index to investigate the extent of voluntary climate change-related disclosures made in their annual and sustainability reports by banks. The study also investigates factors impacting the extent of disclosures by using multiple regression and fractional regression analysis.FindingsThe findings of the research reveal that while the number of banks providing voluntary information on their climate change-related practices substantially increased from 2010 to 2016, there remains a significant number of banks that have not incorporated climate change-related issues into their lending policies or corporate strategies. Further, with regard to the regression analysis, the study documents the significant and positive impacts of bank size, profitability, bank age and listing status upon the extent of the climate change disclosures, in line with political cost and legitimacy theory.Practical implicationsThe banking sector crucially impacts climate change indirectly, since banks provide financial backing to companies operating in environmentally sensitive industries. This paper presents empirical evidence of the factors impacting the extent of climate change disclosures by these banks, which might then be referred to by regulatory bodies when developing policies to promote environmentally responsible business practices within the banking industry.Social implicationsSeveral parties, which include governments, companies, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must work together to fight climate change. In this sense, the NGOs and green activists have a crucial role in raising public awareness about climate change, which might then inspire financial institutions to incorporate climate change-related issues into their policies, operations and strategies.Originality/valueThe study extends the prior literature in two ways. This study has concentrated on environmental reporting practices in the banking sector which have been investigated in very few prior studies. Since prior research has focused on developed countries, this paper adds to the current literature by examining the environmental disclosure practices of commercial banks operating in Turkey, which is a rapidly developing country.

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