Biosphere Reserves: Sustainable territories, Resilient communities – A conceptual model for the assessment of ecosystem services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Alves ◽  
Jorge Duran ◽  
José Paulo Sousa ◽  
Paula Castro ◽  
Filipe Martinho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Biosphere Reserves ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Resilient Communities

<p>Biosphere Reserves (BR) are territories recognized by UNESCO for their natural and cultural heritage and their role in promoting solutions to harmonize biodiversity conservation with the sustainable use of natural resources. Further, BRs are identified as “learning places for sustainable development”, emphasizing their importance to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, Portuguese BRs lack recognition from society as well as from the local, regional or national entities as privileged instruments and areas for valuing and developing the territory.</p><p>To enhance the relevance and visibility of the BRs in society and among stakeholders, we designed a project based on the assessment of ecosystem services (ES), as they play fundamental roles in the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and on the sustainability of the communities and their territories. Our project seeks to structure and foster collective dynamics in these social-ecological systems, respecting the autonomy and diversity of context and heritage that characterizes the Portuguese BRs. Our work is based on a conceptual model with three fundamental pillars. First, we will identify available geographical and biological information and combine it with remote sensing data (Landsat and Sentinel) to map the current and potential ES provided by Portuguese BRs. Second, in each BR, we will implement participatory multi-actor methodologies and focal groups to select the key ES to promote sustainable development and valorisation of natural endogenous resources. To do so, we will use a holistic assessment of the ecological, economic and social values of the different ES, as well as of their role in mitigating and adapting to climate change and environmental change. Finally, we will train local stakeholders on the valuing, promotion and sustainable production and consumption of ES, as to help these communities implementing the Sustainable Development Plans that will be prepared for each BR and in accordance with the UN’s Agenda 2030.</p><p>Through complementary initiatives and a comprehensive and networked programmatic action, “Biosphere Reserves: Sustainable territories, Resilient communities” seeks to add value to Portuguese BRs, increasing their resilience and sustainability, and to promote their unique territories and heritage, while showcasing them as model areas for the sustainable development.</p>

Improving Climate Change Resilience in Global South Cities Through South-South Climate Finance

2022 ◽  
pp. 440-448
Author(s):  
Dumisani Chirambo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Global South ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Global North ◽  
Community Science

Climate change is likely to exacerbate inequality and poverty in Global South cities despite the presence of international agreements and conventions to enhance sustainable development such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, replicating Global North development models in the Global South might not be sufficient to address the climate change and development aspirations in the context of Asia; hence, Global North innovation capabilities might not be sufficient to address Global South climate change challenges. This paper provides an inductive analysis of the innovations and policies that could facilitate improved climate change mitigation and adaptation in the context of developing Asian cities. The paper concludes that innovative climate change policies should utilise emerging climate finance mechanisms such as South-South climate finance modalities to promote community science/citizen science and social innovation rather than building hard infrastructure as this could improve the governance and distribution of resources in cities.

Sustainable Development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Constraints ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Late Capitalism ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Grave Problem ◽  
Intensive Growth

Sustainable development was famously defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” In the decades that followed, anthropologists have made clear that the term requires a more specific redefinition within its context of late capitalism. For anthropologists, sustainable development evokes the effort of extending capitalist discipline while remaining conscious of economic or environmental constraints. Yet they have also found that sustainable development discourses frequently pitch certain forms of steady, careful capitalist extension as potentially limitless. Anthropologists have broadly found “sustainable” to be used by development workers and policy experts most widely in reference to economic rather than environmental constraints. Sustainable development thus presents as an environmentalist concept but is regularly used to lubricate extraction and energy-intensive growth in the name of a sustained capitalism. The intensifying impacts of climate change demonstrate the stakes of this choice. Anthropological interruptions and interrogations of the sustainable development concept within the unfolding logic of late capitalism range from the intimate and local realm of economic lives, to the political ecology of resource extraction, to the emerging ethnography of climate change. Anthropologists investigate sustainable development at these three scales. Indeed, scale is an effective analytic for understanding its spatial and temporal effects in and on the world. Anthropologists approach sustainable development up close as it has been utilized as a short-term disciplinary instrument of transforming people identified as poor into entrepreneurs. They can zoom out to see large extractive industries as, themselves, subjects and drivers of a larger-scale, longer-term framework of sustainable development. They also zoom out even further, intervening in emergent responses to climate change, a problem of utmost urgency that affects the globe broadly and far into the future, but unevenly. The massive environmental changes wrought by energy-intensive growth have already exceeded the carrying capacity of many of the world’s ecosystems. Climate change is at once a grave problem and a potential opportunity to rethink our economic lives. It has been an impetus to redefine mainstream approaches to sustainable development within a fossil-fueled capitalism. However, a deliberate program of “neoliberal adaptation” to climate change is emerging in sites of sustainable development intervention in a way that promises a consolidation of capitalist discipline. Anthropologists should thus engage a more robust ethnographic agenda rooted in environmental justice.

Improving Climate Change Resilience in Global South Cities Through South-South Climate Finance

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Dumisani Chirambo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Global South ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Global North ◽  
Community Science

Climate change is likely to exacerbate inequality and poverty in Global South cities despite the presence of international agreements and conventions to enhance sustainable development such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, replicating Global North development models in the Global South might not be sufficient to address the climate change and development aspirations in the context of Asia; hence, Global North innovation capabilities might not be sufficient to address Global South climate change challenges. This paper provides an inductive analysis of the innovations and policies that could facilitate improved climate change mitigation and adaptation in the context of developing Asian cities. The paper concludes that innovative climate change policies should utilise emerging climate finance mechanisms such as South-South climate finance modalities to promote community science/citizen science and social innovation rather than building hard infrastructure as this could improve the governance and distribution of resources in cities.

Land use and a low-carbon society

2012 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin D. Campbell ◽  
Allan Lilly ◽  
Willie Towers ◽  
Stephen J. Chapman ◽  
Alan Werritty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Reduce Emissions

ABSTRACTLand use and the management of our natural resources such as soils and water offer great opportunities to sequester carbon and mitigate the effects of climate change. Actions on forestry, soil carbon and damaged peatlands each have the potential to reduce Scottish emissions in 2020 by hundreds of thousands of tonnes. Most actions to reduce emissions from land use have beneficial effects on other ecosystem services, so if we can cut emissions we can in many circumstances improve the environment. The cost of reducing emissions through land use change can be low in relation to other means of cutting emissions. The Scottish Land Use Strategy and the Ecosystem Approach it calls for, employing the concept of ecosystem services, offers a way of balancing environmental, social and economic demands on the land. Scotland's land, soils, forests and waters are all likely to be significantly altered by future climate change. Each of these components of the land-based environment offers opportunities for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The emerging new imperatives for securing food, water and energy at a global level are equally important for Scotland, and interact with the need for environmental security and for dealing with climate change.

CURRENT SITUATION OF MANAGEMENT OF LIFE SKILLS EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND PREVENTION OF DISASTER FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE ETHNIC MINORITIES BOARDING HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE NORTHWESTERN AREA AND ISSUES HAS BEEN POSED

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vu Thi Thu Trang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Northwestern Region

Through survey results on the status of management of life skills education activities to cope with climate change and disaster prevention for the sustainable development of local communities in the ethnic minority boarding high schools in the Northwestern region from 2013 to 2018, the author deeply analyzed and assessed the strengths, weaknesses, causes of strengths and weaknesses of the management of education activities on life skills to cope with climate change and disaster prevention for the sustainable development of local communities for ethnic minority students at boarding high schools for ethnic minorities in the Northwestern region in the present period and the issues raised.

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 Loss and damage from climate change and implicit assumptions of sustainable development

2021 ◽  
Vol 164 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad S. Boda ◽  
Turaj Faran ◽  
Murray Scown ◽  
Kelly Dorkenoo ◽  
Brian C. Chaffin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Loss And Damage ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Research And Policy

AbstractLoss and damage from climate change, recognized as a unique research and policy domain through the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) in 2013, has drawn increasing attention among climate scientists and policy makers. Labelled by some as the “third pillar” of the international climate regime—along with mitigation and adaptation—it has been suggested that loss and damage has the potential to catalyze important synergies with other international agendas, particularly sustainable development. However, the specific approaches to sustainable development that inform loss and damage research and how these approaches influence research outcomes and policy recommendations remain largely unexplored. We offer a systematic analysis of the assumptions of sustainable development that underpins loss and damage scholarship through a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed research on loss and damage. We demonstrate that the use of specific metrics, decision criteria, and policy prescriptions by loss and damage researchers and practitioners implies an unwitting adherence to different underlying theories of sustainable development, which in turn impact how loss and damage is conceptualized and applied. In addition to research and policy implications, our review suggests that assumptions about the aims of sustainable development determine how loss and damage is conceptualized, measured, and governed, and the human development approach currently represents the most advanced perspective on sustainable development and thus loss and damage. This review supports sustainable development as a coherent, comprehensive, and integrative framework for guiding further conceptual and empirical development of loss and damage scholarship.

scholarly journals 13.D. Workshop: SDGs in the focus of environmental and health issues

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Environmental And Health Issues ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This workshop is dedicated on SDGs in the focus of environmental and health issues, as very important and actual topic. One of the characteristics of today's societies is the significant availability of modern technologies. Over 5 billion (about 67%) people have a cellphone today. More than 4.5 billion people worldwide use the Internet, close to 60% of the total population. At the same time, one third of the people in the world does not have access to safe drinking water and half of the population does not have access to safe sanitation. The WHO at UN warns of severe inequalities in access to water and hygiene. Air, essential to life, is a leading risk due to ubiquitous pollution and contributes to the global disease burden (7 million deaths per year). Air pollution is a consequence of traffic and industry, but also of demographic trends and other human activities. Food availability reflects global inequality, famine eradication being one of the SDGs. The WHO warns of the urgency. As technology progresses, social inequality grows, the gap widens, and the environment continues to suffer. Furthermore, the social environment in societies is “ruffled” and does not appear to be beneficial toward well-being. New inequalities are emerging in the availability of technology, climate change, education. The achievement reports on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also point out to the need of reviewing individual indicators. According to the Sustainable Development Agenda, one of the goals is to reduce inequalities, and environmental health is faced by several specific goals. The Global Burden of Disease is the most comprehensive effort to date to measure epidemiological levels and trends worldwide. It is the product of a global research collaborative and quantifies the impact of hundreds of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in countries around the world. This workshop will also discuss Urban Health as a Complex System in the light of SDGs. Climate Change, Public Health impacts and the role of the new digital technologies is also important topic which is contributing to SDG3, improving health, to SDG4, allowing to provide distance health education at relatively low cost and to SDG 13, by reducing the CO2 footprint. Community Engagement can both empower vulnerable populations (so reducing inequalities) and identify the prior environmental issues to be addressed. The aim was to search for public health programs using Community Engagement tools in healthy environment building towards achievement of SDGs. Key messages Health professionals are involved in the overall process of transformation necessary to achieve the SDGs. Health professionals should be proactive and contribute to the transformation leading to better health for the environment, and thus for the human population.

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