Green Capital Denial: Insulating the Green Spirit from Capital

2018 ◽  
pp. 117-142
Author(s):  
Jesse Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Receding Horizon ◽  
Distinct Mode ◽  
Natural Sense ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Radical Transformation

Planetary improvement is less about improving the planet in some objective, ‘natural’ sense as it is about improving and sustaining a very distinct mode of inhabiting this planet, of making natures and organizing lives (human and nonhuman alike). Cleantech entrepreneurs envision themselves greening the economy bit by bit, and refuse to see how the economy is actually transforming their visions and ideas, molding any new technologies or the possibility thereof into a commodity form that primarily serves the needs of capital. Through the maintenance of four conceptual and practical separations, cleantech proponents are able to gesture vaguely towards world-making ambitions, while at the same time insulating these visions from their day-to-day business activities and short-term financial projections: (1) a separation between personal and professional commitments; (2) the difference between thinking (about climate change) and doing (something profitable); (3) the difference between abstract and concrete concerns; and (4) the distinction between short-term (fundable) solutions and long-term visions. What emerges is a way of seeing the future as a forever receding horizon of possibility, whose radical transformation is preserved in people’s minds while the perpetuation of an unsustainable status quo is preserved in reality.

Pandora's Box: Reviewing the Composition of the UN Security Council in the Light of British and French Experience 1945–1963

1997 ◽  
Vol 66 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 273-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Short Term ◽  
French Experience ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Foreign Ministries

AbstractThis article aims to throw a light on the problems relating to the proposed enlargement of the composition of the UN Security Council at present by studying the creation of four non-permanent seats in the Security Council in 1963 from the British and the French perspectives. The examination is based on the author's research of original documents in the archives of the British and French foreign ministries and upon information provided to the author by British, French and Finnish diplomats. The author concludes that, as between 1946 and 1963, British and French short term interests are still best served by maintaining the status quo in the Security Council. However, in a long term perspective it is not clear where the interests of these two States lie.

scholarly journals Satellites, Self-reports, and Submersion: Exposure to Floods in Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 232-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Guiteras ◽  
Amir Jina ◽  
A. Mushfiq Mobarak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Flood Exposure ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Term Variation

A burgeoning “Climate-Economy” literature has uncovered many effects of changes in temperature and precipitation on economic activity, but has made considerably less progress in modeling the effects of other associated phenomena, like natural disasters. We develop new, objective data on floods, focusing on Bangladesh. We show that rainfall and self-reported exposure are weak proxies for true flood exposure. These data allow us to study adaptation, giving accurate measures of both long-term averages and short term variation in exposure. This is important in studying climate change impacts, as people will not only experience new exposures, but also experience them differently.

Climate change: long-term targets and short-term commitments

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Corfee-Morlot ◽  
Niklas Höhne
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Short Term

goods and cash are shown sometimes together, sometimes sepa­ rately. This inventory may be compared to the assets of modem bal­ ance sheets. It was accompanied by a cash statement. There were no liabilities since long-term debts had been forbidden by the stat­ utes since 1702. The Company relied only on the funds contrib­ uted by its partners or on profits. After 1785, short-term debts were separated from each corresponding item of receipts. It was not until 1820 when the use of double entry bookkeeping showed liabilities as they are shown at the present time. Those liabilities included short-term debts and estimated liabilities so that the net worth (called “capital net") could be calculated. Inventory was never compared to the receipts and payments statement as a means of verifying the inventory. For example, depreciation was calculated at the end of the 18th century in order to have an accurate inventory, but it was never featured clearly in the calcula­ tion of profit. The 18th item of the statutes of Plastrier’s Company3 men­ tions that profit is the difference between receipts and payments, and that "they were quarterly calculated after the constitution of a 15000£ (livres toumois) reserve." This was the only means the Company had of knowing how much could be paid to the owners. Such a simplified system was entirely in line with the desire to keep this information confidential. According to Sellon, an important Genevese shareholder of the Company, the simplified accounting system allowed any director, ignorant of accounting, to hold the Ledger sans confidens, that is without the help of a qualified accountant, so that secrets of the business could be preserved. The term "capital" was not used. The statutes only say fonds or effets, which correspond to the inventory value of all the assets of the Company at a fixed date. The owners' contributions to capital were made either in-kind (Venetian glass from Pocquelin in 1667) or in cash after 1702. They were considered an advance to the company, rewarded at a 10% rate. However, these advances were never refunded so that they can be considered as capital. The number of partners was fewer than ten before 1695. After that date, through inherit­ ances and the selling of ownership interests, the number of part­

2014 ◽  
pp. 252-252
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Net Worth ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Double Entry

Techniques to Predict Agricultural Droughts

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zekai Şen
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Weather Variables ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Yield Model ◽  
Regression Techniques ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Effects Of Drought

In general, the techniques to predict drought include statistical regression, time series, stochastic (or probabilistic), and, lately, pattern recognition techniques. All of these techniques require that a quantitative variable be identified to define drought, with which to begin the process of prediction. In the case of agricultural drought, such a variable can be the yield (production per unit area) of the major crop in a region (Kumar, 1998; Boken, 2000). The crop yield in a year can be compared with its long-term average, and drought intensity can be classified as nil, mild, moderate, severe, or disastrous, based on the difference between the current yield and the average yield. Regression techniques estimate crop yields using yield-affecting variables. A comprehensive list of possible variables that affect yield is provided in chapter 1. Usually, the weather variables routinely available for a historical period that significantly affect the yield are included in a regression analysis. Regression techniques using weather data during a growing season produce short-term estimates (e.g., Sakamoto, 1978; Idso et al., 1979; Slabbers and Dunin, 1981; Diaz et al., 1983; Cordery and Graham, 1989; Walker, 1989; Toure et al., 1995; Kumar, 1998). Various researchers in different parts of the world (see other chapters) have developed drought indices that can also be included along with the weather variables to estimate crop yield. For example, Boken and Shaykewich (2002) modifed the Western Canada Wheat Yield Model (Walker, 1989) drought index using daily temperature and precipitation data and advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data. The modified model improved the predictive power of the wheat yield model significantly. Some satellite data-based variables that can be used to predict crop yield are described in chapters 5, 6, 9, 13, 19, and 28. The short-term estimates are available just before or around harvest time. But many times long-term estimates are required to predict drought for next year, so that long-term planning for dealing with the effects of drought can be initiated in time.

Introduction

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Berner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
The Earth

The cycle of carbon is essential to the maintenance of life, to climate, and to the composition of the atmosphere and oceans. What is normally thought of as the “carbon cycle” is the transfer of carbon between the atmosphere, the oceans, and life. This is not the subject of interest of this book. To understand this apparently confusing statement, it is necessary to separate the carbon cycle into two cycles: the short-term cycle and the long-term cycle. The “carbon cycle,” as most people understand it, is represented in figure 1.1. Carbon dioxide is taken up via photosynthesis by green plants on the continents or phytoplankton in the ocean. On land carbon is transferred to soils by the dropping of leaves, root growth, and respiration, the death of plants, and the development of soil biota. Land herbivores eat the plants, and carnivores eat the herbivores. In the oceans the phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton that are in turn eaten by larger and larger organisms. The plants, plankton, and animals respire CO2. Upon death the plants and animals are decomposed by microorganisms with the ultimate production of CO2. Carbon dioxide is exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere, and dissolved organic matter is carried in solution by rivers from soils to the sea. This all constitutes the shortterm carbon cycle. The word “short-term” is used because the characteristic times for transferring carbon between reservoirs range from days to tens of thousands of years. Because the earth is more than four billion years old, this is short on a geological time scale. As the short-term cycle proceeds, concentrations of the two principal atmospheric gases, CO2 and CH4, can change as a result of perturbations of the cycle. Because these two are both greenhouse gases—in other words, they adsorb outgoing infrared radiation from the earth surface—changes in their concentrations can involve global warming and cooling over centuries and many millennia. Such changes have accompanied global climate change over the Quaternary period (past 2 million years), although other factors, such as variations in the receipt of solar radiation due to changes in characteristics of the earth’s orbit, have also contributed to climate change.

The Effect of Incentives: Diffusion of Responsibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 166-182
Author(s):  
Jason Brennan ◽  
William English ◽  
John Hasnas ◽  
Peter Jaworski
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Tragedy Of The Commons ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Collective Action Problem ◽  
P Diffusion ◽  
Perverse Incentives ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Diffusion Of Responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility refers to the problem that when something is everyone’s job, it in effect ends up being nobody’s job. This explains why many collective problems arise. People face perverse incentives to free ride on others’ actions and not to do their part. As a result, agents often think in short-term rather than long-term ways. Problems such as climate change can be modeled as instances of the tragedy of the commons, one form of a collective action problem that arises due to perverse incentives created by the diffusion of responsibility.

scholarly journals Nemo-Nordic 1.0: A NEMO based ocean model for Baltic & North Seas, research and operational applications

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robinson Hordoir ◽  
Lars Axell ◽  
Anders Höglund ◽  
Christian Dieterich ◽  
Filippa Fransner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Short Term ◽  
To Come ◽  
Ocean Forecasting ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Industrialised Countries ◽  
High Degree

Abstract. We present Nemo-Nordic, a Baltic & North Sea model based on the NEMO ocean engine. Surrounded by highly industrialised countries, the Baltic and North seas, and their assets associated with shipping, fishing and tourism; are vulnerable to anthropogenic pressure and climate change. Ocean models providing reliable forecasts, and enabling climatic studies, are important tools for the shipping infrastructure and to get a better understanding of effects of climate change on the marine ecosystems. Nemo-Nordic is intended to come as a tool for both short term and long term simulations, and to be used for ocean forecasting as well as process and climatic studies. Here, the scientific and technical choices within Nemo-Nordic are introduced, and the reasons behind the design of the model and its domain, and the inclusions of the two seas, are explained. The model's ability to represent barotropic and baroclinic dynamics, as well as the vertical structure of the water column, is presented. Biases are shown and discussed. The short term capabilities of the model are presented, and especially its capabilities to represent sea level on an hourly timescale with a high degree of accuracy. We also show that the model can represent longer time scale, with a focus on the Major Baltic Inflows and the variability of deep water salinity in the Baltic Sea.

scholarly journals The development of climate security discourse in Japan

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-281
Author(s):  
Yasuko Kameyama ◽  
Keishi Ono
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Change Problem ◽  
Indirect Economic Losses

AbstractAs the level of understanding about climate change has increased, the term “climate security” has been increasingly used in the rapidly growing literature on this subject. Although Japan has officially acknowledged the importance of tackling climate change, discussion of climate security has been almost nonexistent among Japanese governmental officials, politicians, and academics. Our aim was to trace discourses related to climate security in Japan to determine why so little exists in Japan and whether or not such discourse could suggest new areas for consideration to more comprehensively respond to the climate change problem. Because of different interpretations and uses of the term “climate security” in the existing literature, we first categorized existing approaches to climate security into four types and used this categorization to examine Japan’s discourse from these perspectives. Two of the approaches, namely “long-term irreversible planetary changes” and “short-term abrupt risks to individuals”, had been considered in Japan previously but without specific reference to the term climate security. The other two, “cause of conflict and violence” and “impacts to military and defense organizations”, however, had not been used and need to be included in discussions of climate change in Japan. Some of the topics not discussed in Japan include indirect economic losses of Japanese industries via supply chains, loss of Japan’s exclusive economic zone due to sea-level rise, and the potential inflow of refugees resulting from extreme weather patterns outside of Japan.

scholarly journals Perception and risk of Covid-19 and climate change: investigating analogies in a common framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonello Pasini ◽  
Fulvio Mazzocchi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Risk Equation ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Policy Level ◽  
Common Framework

This paper investigates analogies in the dynamics of Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. A comparison of their common features (such as nonlinearity and inertia) and differences helps us to achieve a correct scientific perception of both situations, increasing the chances of actions for their solutions. Besides, applying to both the risk equation provides different angles to analyse them, something that may result useful especially at the policy level. It shows that not only short-term interventions are needed, but also long-term strategies involving some structural changes. More specifically, it also shows that, even if climate change is probably more critical and long-lasting than the Covid-19 crisis, we still have, at least currently, more options for reducing its related risk.

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