Evolution of Solar Energy in Chile: Residential Opportunities in Arica and Parinacota

Chile has set itself to achieve Greenhouse Gas emission neutrality, with at least 70% of electricity coming from renewable energy sources by 2050. To this end, institutional and regulatory frameworks have been improved, resulting in significant progress in medium and large-scale projects. However, solar energy production at residential level and its surplus injection to all distribution networks has been very limited. This paper analyzes the evolution of the regulatory energy policies in Chile in order to contrast it with an economic evaluation of residential projects. The analysis focuses on the city of Arica, one of the highest potential regions in terms of solar energy within the country. There, a particularly low penetration of residential solar energy usage has been observed. Based on the current situation, projections are made for Arica in 2050, through the identification of barriers and opportunities on a residential scale development. According to some recommendations, there is the need to design policies that take into account the particular characteristics of each region within the country.

Corporate responsibility and biodiversity conservation: challenges and opportunities for companies participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Summary China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), designed to build critical infrastructure and coordinate economic growth, is the most significant development initiative in modern history. The BRI has a documented vision for sustainability, including environmental impact assessments and responsibility tenets. Despite this, a growing body of literature has found adverse effects of BRI projects on protected land and species. To understand corporate responsibility and regulations for companies participating in the BRI, we gathered information on 260 BRI companies using the Refinitiv Eikon BRI Connect database and the China Global Investment Tracker. The results revealed a significant gap in corporate responsibility reporting for biodiversity impacts, environmental restoration, environmental project financing and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 14 ‘Life below Water’ and 15 ‘Life on Land’. The modest fraction of companies that we found to report biodiversity accountability highlights the need to restructure and incentivize the reporting of environmental and biodiversity risks. The current evidence of limited adherence to responsibility measures highlights a clear opportunity to align BRI development with the BRI’s vision for sustainability, and to strengthen links for policy engagement within Chinese regulatory frameworks and international obligations at the United Nations within its SDG framework.

Medical cannabis use in Thailand after its legalization: a respondent-driven sample survey

Background Many countries now allow the consumption of cannabis or cannabinoids for medical purposes with varying approaches concerning products allowed and the regulatory frameworks prevailing their endowment. On 18 February 2019 Thailand passed legislation allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes. This study aimed to examine patterns and purposes for consumption of medical cannabis, and consumers’ perceptions and opinions towards benefits and harms of cannabis and related policies in 2019–2020. Methods A cross-sectional study using a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method was conducted in four sites across Thailand. Participants were 485 adults aged 18 years and over, living in the study region, who had used cannabis for medical purposes within the past 12 months. Face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire were used to collect data on (1) demographic characteristics, (2) pattern of consumption, (3) source of information and perception of benefits and harms of medical cannabis, and (4) opinion towards cannabis policies. Data were analyzed using RDS Analyst and presented as percentage and mean with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Most participants (84.7%, 95% CI [78.9–90.5]) used an oral form of crude oil extract while 9.2% (95% CI [4.1–14.2]) used the raw form. The most common uses were for treatment of cancers (23.3%, 95% CI [16.1–30.4]), neuropsychiatric symptoms (22.8%, 95% CI [17.5–28.0]), and musculoskeletal pains (21.6%, 95% CI [16.7–26.6]). Illegal sources such as underground traders (54.5%, 95% CI [40.8–68.3]), friends and relatives (12.2%, 95% CI [6.2–18.3]), not-for-profit provider groups (5.2%, 95% CI [0.5–10.9]), and clandestine growers or producers (2.9%, 95% CI [0.6–5.3]) were the main suppliers. Most (>80%) perceived cannabis could treat cancers, chronic pains, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease and generalized anxiety disorder. Less than half perceived that cannabis could cause adverse conditions e.g., palpitation, panic, memory impairment and schizophrenic-like psychosis. Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the policies regarding permission to use cannabis for medical purposes (95.1%, 95% CI [92.0–98.2]), for the legal sale of medical cannabis products (95.9%, 95% CI [93.7–98.2]), and for people to grow cannabis for medical use (94.2%, 95% CI [91.8–96.5]). However, only two-thirds agreed with policies concerning the sales of cannabis (65.3%, 95% CI [56.9–73.7]) and home-grown cannabis for recreational purposes (61.3%, 95% CI [52.7–69.9]). Conclusion Our study reports the experiences of consumers of medical cannabis in the first year after its legalization in Thailand. Consumers reported various patterns and indications of consumption that were not supported by scientific evidence, but had positive perception of the results of consumption. These findings highlight ongoing policy challenges for Thailand and can be a lesson to be learned for other countries in the region.

Mobilizing Worker Rights: The Challenges of Claims-Driven Processes for Re-Regulating the Labor Market

Low-wage workers continue to face high levels of exploitation in the workplace. The regulatory frameworks that exist to protect workers and provide avenues for redress for violations of workers’ rights rely on individual or collective claims-making by workers. Worker centers have developed creative mobilization strategies to support worker claims and build worker power in the low-wage labor market. This paper leverages qualitative case study data to better understand the process of worker claims-making and the psychosocial toll it can take on workers. Based on these case studies, this paper argues that worker centers and other alt-labor groups need to take into account the costs and challenges for workers endemic to the claims-making process under current regulatory regimes.

The Scope and Potential for Mini-Grid Power Systems Based on Biomass Waste for Remote Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been experiencing an energy crisis. Socio-economic balances depend on access to clean, convenient, and dependable energy. This is critical for remote areas which are off the national grid, necessitating the installation of renewable energy sources such as bioenergy plants. These plants could valorize waste using combustion and gasification or biogas plants. The challenge is to produce a competitive levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Nations like Germany and Sweden have successfully launched these. SSA can benchmark from these and valorize its biomass wastes. Key issues to consider would be cost-effective supply chains, sustainable harvest rates, after sales support, and good regulatory frameworks. This study was mostly a desktop review with a few field study observations. It was concluded that the stoker fired boiler and landfill gas ‘biomass only' technologies would have the least capital costs, although gasification and anaerobic digestion are also competitive in terms of LCOE.

Staying Small and Beautiful: Enhancing Sustainability in the Small Island Developing States

Spread over the ocean regions of the Caribbean, the Pacific and Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the South China Sea, the small island developing states (SIDS) are a distinct group of developing countries often known for their rich biological diversity, oceans, tourism, and fisheries. The pressures on these and other natural resources is most immediate in the islands where the high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, limited land and water resources, often unsustainable natural resource use, and other particular economic vulnerabilities are disrupting livelihoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the SIDS economies and livelihoods. Over the past 25 years the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has supported interventions in SIDS through $578 million in financing, in critical areas such as biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and energy access through renewable energy. But how effective and sustainable have these interventions been? What factors influencing the sustainability of GEF interventions can provide insights for future project design and implementation? This chapter draws on findings from a recent country cluster evaluation on SIDS conducted by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the GEF. It presents the main environmental challenges in SIDS, the evidence on the relevance and effectiveness of GEF interventions in addressing these challenges, and the main risks to sustainability of outcomes. Important contextual factors that affect sustainability in SIDS include good policies and legal and regulatory frameworks, national ownership of projects, environmental awareness, institutional capacity, and strategic institutional partnerships. Project-related factors including good project design and adaptive project management, scaling-up and replication based on lessons learned, and a good exit strategy are also important for sustainability.

Ethical Risks in the Cross Section of Extended Reality (XR), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The ethical risks which emerge from the cross section of artificial intelligence, extended reality, and geographic information systems could be examined in two broad categories of environmental and user-centric interactions of human beings with AI-curated mixed realities. These categories resonate with the capacity of AI to significantly impact the efficient application of extended reality technologies, while utilizing geodata and behavioral modelling to alter and transform experiences. While regulatory frameworks are catching up with the rights of users in the digital economy, the recently accelerated growth of immersive technologies provides further scenarios and use cases, which ought to be considered for their capacity to amplify biases, produce alternative realities, and affect human emotions.

Promises and Prospects of Legal Education in India in the Context of the New Education Policy: A Reality Check

Legal education serves as a means of social regulation and a tool for social transformation. In 2020, the Indian government released India’s third educational policy, considered the most ambitious educational policy ever. However, legal scholars fostered several misgivings about the efficacy of the drafted policy in addressing underlying shortcomings in legal education in India. Serious concerns have been raised, especially in light of the nation’s recent loss of prospects in the global economy that could have been achieved otherwise. As a result, addressing the debate that arose due to the NEP’s introduction and its impact upon legal education, which is still subjugated by multiple regulatory frameworks, has become critical. Against this background, the present research explores legal education and its history to better grasp the problems at hand. Following that, the article attempts to analyse the quotidian adversities faced by the institutions and regulators in meeting the demands of the new world order. While doing so, this article takes a critical approach to identify the concerns and inhibitions that exist under the draft policy and remains unresolved by the NEP in view of aimed ‘radical reconstruction of education’. Finally, the authors conclude the article with findings and recommendations.