Elements of Sustainable Development in the Context of the Environmental and Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sustainable development is the need of the hour today. For over three decades, since the term was used in public little has been done about it. Such important activities for the protection of our ecosystem have been mainly discussed at scientific conferences or in the comfort of academic lecture halls. Successive global crises, especially the ecological, economic, financial and now humanitarian one related to the COVID-19 pandemic have demolished global economies, sidelined the development of a sustainable economy and especially sustainable construction, treating it more as a whim of the rich than expedience. The construction sector accounts for up to 40 per cent of the global carbon dioxide emissions and generates more than 0.5 billion tonnes of waste every year. However, when it comes to improving macroeconomic indicators after another crisis, the easiest way to look for savings is to use the production of emerging markets, without considering their lower economic and environmental awareness. Each time, the lust for profit prevailed over environmental protection. Education, business, and institutional factors failed, as indicated in the conclusions. That was the case until November 17, 2019, when the first man was infected with the coronavirus. Will we draw the right conclusions from that while facing a crisis unprecedented in human history? Can we change priorities from having to being?

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Advocating for green building minimum compliance system in Rwanda: Using bricks to achieve sustainability

Facta universitatis - series Architecture and Civil Engineering ◽

10.2298/fuace210922006g ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 67-80

Author(s):

Ilija Gubic ◽

Dheeraj Arrabothu ◽

John Bugirimfura ◽

Laurel Hasabamagara ◽

Irenee Isingizwe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Construction Material ◽

Green Building ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Building Stock ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Minimum Compliance ◽

Economic Perspectives

Development countries in Africa will see 75% increase of its current building stock until 2060 due to the economic development, rapid urbanization and population growth. Rwanda?s Third National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that the carbon dioxide emissions from buildings will increase by 574% by 2050 in the business as usual scenario. The aim of this paper puts sustainable architecture and green buildings in a context of rapidly urbanizing Rwanda, showing five recently constructed brick buildings that exploit the culture while meeting the sustainability demands of the 21st century. Global sustainability agendas are advocating for the use of brick for its durability, quality, with environmental, economic, and social benefits for construction sector. This paper provides insights on the policies, such as the Green Building Minimum Compliance System, advocating for the use of brick as a sustainable construction material. Despite the rapid urbanization in Rwanda, the existing sustainable construction practices help in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, while this paper also documents results on social and economic perspectives for the community from construction sector.

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Forecasting Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Thailand’s Construction Sector by Enriching the LS-ARIMAXi-ECM Model

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10103593 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 3593 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jindamas Sutthichaimethee ◽

Kuskana Kubaha

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Error Correction ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Development Policy ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Forecasting Model ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Error Correction Mechanism

The Thailand Development Policy focuses on the simultaneous growth of the economy, society, and environment. Long-term goals have been set to improve economic and social well-being. At the same time, these aim to reduce the emission of CO2 in the future, especially in the construction sector, which is deemed important in terms of national development and is a high generator of greenhouse gas. In order to achieve national sustainable development, policy formulation and planning is becoming necessary and requires a tool to undertake such a formulation. The tool is none other than the forecasting of CO2 emissions in long-term energy consumption to produce a complete and accurate formulation. This research aims to study and forecast energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in Thailand’s construction sector by applying a model incorporating the long- and short-term auto-regressive (AR), integrated (I), moving average (MA) with exogenous variables (Xi) and the error correction mechanism (LS-ARIMAXi-ECM) model. This model is established and attempts to fill the gaps left by the old models. In fact, the model is constructed based on factors that are causal and influential for changes in CO2 emissions. Both independent variables and dependent variables must be stationary at the same level. In addition, the LS-ARIMAXi-ECM model deploys a co-integration analysis and error correction mechanism (ECM) in its modeling. The study’s findings reveal that the LS-ARIMAXi -ECM model is a forecasting model with an appropriate time period (t − i), as justified by the Q-test statistic and is not a spurious model. Therefore, it is used to forecast CO2 emissions for the next 20 years (2019 to 2038). From the study, the results show that CO2 emissions in the construction sector will increase by 37.88% or 61.09 Mt CO2 Eq. in 2038. Also, the LS-ARIMAXi -ECM model has been evaluated regarding its performance, and it produces a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.01% and root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.93% as compared to the old models. Overall, the results indicate that determining future national sustainable development policies requires an appropriate forecasting model, which is built upon causal and contextual factors according to relevant sectors, to serve as an important tool for future sustainable planning.

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The role of sustainable construction in sustainable development

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201817401027 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 01027

Author(s):

Agnieszka Czajkowska

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Building Construction ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Hard Coal ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

Factors Affecting

Humans and the actions they take to improve their quality of life lead to the disturbance of the processes occurring in the natural environment. These processes should not be stopped while the solution should be found to help humans coexist with nature. The ecological and social problems and the resulting threats have become an inspiration for the development of the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development has led to the necessity to implement changes towards balancing all areas of human activity, including the construction sector. Factors affecting sustainable development are present in many phases of building creation and use. The most important of them have been characterized and discussed. The article describes the main requirements for sustainable development, contained in laws and regulations, at every stage of building construction. Furthermore, the study analysed the share of individual sectors of the economy in consumption of energy resources. The focus was on the consumption of raw materials in the sector of industry and construction and the sector of households. The analysis shows that the industry and construction sector has a large share in hard coal consumption, heat and electricity. The hard coal consumption is increasing in the sector of households.

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Framework Development Methodology for Sustainable Procurement of Construction Works in Indonesia

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201820302014 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 203 ◽

pp. 02014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Muhamad Abduh ◽

Reini D. Wirahadikusumah ◽

Yunita Messah

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Development Methodology ◽

Sustainable Procurement ◽

Procurement System ◽

Framework Development ◽

Construction Works

To implement sustainable development in construction sector, or called as sustainable construction, Indonesian still face challenges that requires massive research and developments related to that issue. One of the most important practices in sustainable construction is adoption of sustainable principle in procurement processes or called sustainable procurement. This paper will discuss a methodology formulation that is designed to develop a framework for implementing sustainable procurement in construction projects. The framework will consist of important factors driving the sustainable procurement system and their relationships to effectively produce the outputs of procurement processes that meets sustainable principles.

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The Tje Divine Laws of Charity: The Islamic Solution to Consumerism and Its Consequences

Ijtimā iyya Journal of Muslim Society Research ◽

10.24090/ijtimaiyya.v5i2.4189 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 157-165

Author(s):

Zin Eddine Dadach

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Global Warming ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Way Of Life ◽

The Poor ◽

The Social ◽

Global Warning ◽

Social Flow ◽

The Rich ◽

Global Carbon

In contradiction with the divine laws of charity imposed by Allah (SWT) on the whole universe, money in the social flow of consumerism runs from the poor consumers to the rich companies and banks. The increase of intensity of the natural disasters linked to global warming, could just be a louder global warning from Allah (SWT) through nature in order to urge us to obey the divine laws of charity and change our lifestyle from consumerism to charity-based societies. The recent coronavirus pandemic could also be another global warning from The Merciful (SWT) to force humanity to change the life style based on consumerism. In order to reduce consumerism and its consequences on human health and nature, some people are already adopting “minimalist” lifestyles. The most important benefits of this way of life are reducing waste to help the environment, decreasing global carbon dioxide emissions and saving money and time used for excess consumption for charity-based activities.

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Anti-System Politics

10.1093/oso/9780190699765.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jonathan Hopkin

Keyword(s):

Comparative Approach ◽

The European Union ◽

Political Systems ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

The Us ◽

Long Term Result ◽

The Rich ◽

Dramatic Shift ◽

To Come ◽

The Right

Recent elections in the advanced Western democracies have undermined the basic foundations of political systems that had previously beaten back all challenges—from both the Left and the Right. The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency, only months after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, signaled a dramatic shift in the politics of the rich democracies. This book traces the evolution of this shift and argues that it is a long-term result of abandoning the postwar model of egalitarian capitalism in the 1970s. That shift entailed weakening the democratic process in favor of an opaque, technocratic form of governance that allows voters little opportunity to influence policy. With the financial crisis of the late 2000s, these arrangements became unsustainable, as incumbent politicians were unable to provide solutions to economic hardship. Electorates demanded change, and it had to come from outside the system. Using a comparative approach, the text explains why different kinds of anti-system politics emerge in different countries and how political and economic factors impact the degree of electoral instability that emerges. Finally, it discusses the implications of these changes, arguing that the only way for mainstream political forces to survive is for them to embrace a more activist role for government in protecting societies from economic turbulence.

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Sustained sustainable development actions of China from 1986 to 2020

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-87376-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bingsheng Liu ◽

Tao Wang ◽

Jiaming Zhang ◽

Xiaoming Wang ◽

Yuan Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Local Governments ◽

Local Development ◽

Well Being ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Development Goals ◽

Development Levels ◽

The Right ◽

Resource Conditions

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.

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Demographic, Social, Economic, and Regional Factors Affecting the Diffusion of Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Japan

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14082130 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 2130

Author(s):

Ken’ichi Matsumoto ◽

Yui Nakamine ◽

Sunyong Eom ◽

Hideki Kato

Keyword(s):

Electric Vehicles ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Hybrid Electric Vehicles ◽

Alternative Fuel Vehicles ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Hybrid Electric ◽

The Right

The transportation sector is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, and the resulting climate change. The diffusion of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), is an important solution for these issues. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the ownership ratio of HEVs, particularly passenger vehicles, and the regional differences in the purchase of HEVs in Japan. This study performed a fixed-effects regression analysis with panel data for 47 prefectures during the period 2005–2015 to evaluate the factors affecting the HEV ownership ratio and conducted three cluster analyses to investigate the regional differences in diffusion in terms of price categories, body types, and drive systems of HEVs. Some demographic and social factors were found to affect the ownership ratio in Japan, whereas economic factors, including prefecture-level subsidies for purchasing HEVs, were not. Regarding regional differences, prefectures in urban areas with higher income levels tend to purchase more expensive and large-sized HEVs. These results suggest that a strategy to sell the right vehicle to the right person and region is essential for further promoting HEVs in Japan.

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Boomerang hiring: Strategy for sustainable development in COVID-19 era

Human Systems Management ◽

10.3233/hsm-201152 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Penumadu V. Raveendra ◽

Yellappa M. Satish

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Organization Culture ◽

Human Beings ◽

Hiring Process ◽

Positive Growth ◽

The World ◽

Key Drivers ◽

Hr Managers ◽

The Right

BACKGROUND: Many companies are forced to restructure themselves by right sizing due to unexpected fall in demand for their products and services created by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID 19 not only affected the health of human beings but also their wealth across the world. Global economic parameters are showing a sign of positive growth with decreased number of COVID 19 cases across the world. Many companies are in a dilemma to rehire their former employees or to hire the new candidates to meet the increased demand. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of study are i) to analyze the key drivers for boomerang hiring and ii) to develop a conceptual process for boomerang hiring. METHODS: An exploratory methodology was designed to identify the key drivers of boomerang hiring by studying the various successful stories of those companies which had rehired their former employees. Various papers were reviewed to develop the process for boomerang hiring. RESULTS: Study showed that knowledge about the culture of the company, cost of hiring, morale booster for the existing employees, and customer retention, are the key drivers for boomerang hiring. This hiring process requires special skills from HR Managers, as this decision will impact long term success of the company. CONCLUSION: The process of boomerang hiring cannot be standardized as each organization culture is different and companies cannot have the same strategy for each candidate as every individual is different. Boomerang hiring will work as the right strategy during pandemic situation as former employees would have built relations with the customers. The customers will be happy to see the former employees who had served them better.

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