Number of results to display per page
Search Results
82. The Development of Environmental Legislation through Procedural Means and the Right of Participation
- Author:
- Ilgın Özkaya Özlüer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Rather than recommending “new” means to be established for the first time in terms of Turkish legislation, “The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters” (“The Aarhus Convention”, in short) will ensure that already existing procedural means that implement rights such as the right to information, the right of participation and the right to environment are compatible with international networks. In this sense, the Aarhus Convention is the body of “procedural means” that is clearing the path to establishing a participatory public administration that can transform the aforementioned rights into effective tools for their beneficiaries, to assist in the creation of an egalitarian, transparent and effective administration and a new public order facilitating the social integration of disadvantaged groups like the elderly, the youth, women, children and immigrants.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Environment, Governance, Legislation, Accountability, Urban, Transparency, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
83. Sustaining Peace in Burkina Faso: Responding to an Emerging Crisis
- Author:
- Christian Lara and Gabriel Delsol
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- In 2017, the UN launched a system-wide effort to support the implementation of the sustaining peace agenda in Burkina Faso. Since then, a rapidly deteriorating security situation and an imminent humanitarian crisis have forced the UN, the Burkinabe government, and their partners to recalibrate their efforts. This ongoing recalibration, together with the changes resulting from the UN development system reforms, makes this an opportune moment to assess the state of efforts to sustain peace in Burkina Faso. This paper examines the implementation of the UN’s peacebuilding and sustaining peace framework in Burkina Faso, looking at what has been done and what is still needed. It focuses on the four issue areas highlighted in the secretary-general’s 2018 report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace: operational and policy coherence; leadership at the UN country level; partnerships with local and regional actors; and international support. Burkina Faso provides lessons for how the UN’s sustaining peace efforts can respond to growing needs without a change in mandate. Continued support for the UN resident coordinator in Burkina Faso is necessary to ensure that these efforts are part of a holistic approach to the crisis, together with local, national, and regional partners. Such support could underpin Burkina Faso’s status as a buffer against spreading insecurity in the Sahel and make the country a model for the implementation of the sustaining peace agenda in conflict-prone settings without UN missions.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Peace, Sustainability, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Burkina Faso
84. Unpacking the UN’s Development System Reform
- Author:
- Lesley Connolly and Jimena Leiva Roesch
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- On January 1, 2019, a far-reaching reform of the UN development system went into effect. This was referred to by the deputy secretary-general as “the most ambitious reform of the United Nations development system in decades.” While this reform has only briefly been in place, questions have already arisen about its implementation and implications. This issue brief aims to contribute to the understanding of this ongoing reform and its significance. It provides a detailed overview of the UN development system reform at the headquarters, regional, and country levels, highlighting why it was undertaken and identifying some of the political and bureaucratic complexities it entails. The report concludes that more than a year into the reform of the UN development system, significant progress has been made, but it is too early to assess the reform’s long-term impact. What is clear, however, is that bringing about change of this scope will require the UN to adapt not only its structure but also its way of working.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
85. Green certificates: a better version of green bonds
- Author:
- Dion Bongaerts and Dirk Schoenmaker
- Publication Date:
- 11-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- The market for green bonds is growing rapidly and has been boosted by the European Commission’s plan to raise through green bonds 30 percent of the up to €750 billion that will be borrowed under the Next Generation EU coronavirus economic recovery programme. But while green bonds can reduce the financing costs of green projects and technologies, their current design means they fall short of fulfilling their full potential. Issuing green bonds alongside regular bonds fragments bond issues, reducing liquidity and thus increasing financing costs. Moreover, green bond prices reflect liquidity, credit risk and environmental performance jointly, which makes it difficult to isolate the part of the return on the bonds that relates to environmental performance. We propose an alternative: issuance of regular bonds with attached green certificates that ensure earmarking for green purposes. The new design would lead to more liquid securities (as only regular bonds are issued), which would reduce financing costs and in turn would provide incentives to start a greater number of environmentally-friendly projects. The new design would also make market prices more informative about environmental performance. In addition, green certificates would address the criticism that green bonds are used mostly for refinancing existing green projects rather than for new projects. Sovereigns are among the largest issuers of bonds and are therefore natural candidates for implementation of green certificates. The European Commission could also issue regular bonds and green certificates to finance the European Union’s recovery package, and should include green certificates in the under-preparation EU Green Bond standard. Commission issuance of green certificates would give a major boost to EU bonds as liquid safe assets while promoting green investment.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Finance, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
86. How a pinch analysis can help visualise emission cuts for developing countries - Philippines
- Author:
- Dominic Foo and Raymond Tan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham
- Abstract:
- Policy makers should use the carbon emissions pinch analysis (CEPA) as a graphical technique to allow the energy-climate nexus to be analysed visually and easily. This will help decision makers achieve the emission cuts they need. We illustrate the usefulness of CEPA by applying it to the case of the Philippines as a representative developing country.
- Topic:
- Developing World, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- Philippines and Global Focus
87. How a pinch analysis can help visualise emission cuts for transition economies
- Author:
- Dominic Foo, Raymond Tan, and Purusothmn Nair
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham
- Abstract:
- Policy makers should use the carbon emissions pinch analysis (CEPA) as a graphical technique to allow the energy-climate nexus to be analysed visually and easily. This will help decision makers achieve the emission cuts they need. We illustrate the usefulness of CEPA by applying it to the case of Malaysia as a representative for transition economies.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Sustainable Development Goals, Renewable Energy, Economic Development, Sustainability, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- Malaysia
88. Water quality monitoring in the Red River Delta (Vietnam): how to improve water resource management in the region
- Author:
- Suzanne McGowan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham
- Abstract:
- Policy makers should use collected datasets to inform policy making that supports improved water resources management. The Red River Delta has a long history of collecting water quality data. These datasets can help policy makers understand how population growth and urban development has impacted water quality in the region. This brief suggests new methodologies and approaches to guide collection, analysis and interpretation of water quality monitoring datasets for improved water resources management.
- Topic:
- Natural Resources, Water, Sustainable Development Goals, Urban, Population Growth, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Vietnam
89. Water: A Key Driver for Sustainable Growth
- Author:
- Jamal Saghir
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
- Abstract:
- Why is water important in the MNA region? • It matters for people. MNA countries cover 10 percent of the world’s area and home to 6% of the world’s population but receive less than 2% of the world’s renewable water supply. With rapid population growth since the mid 1970s, this has caused dramatic contraction in per capita renewable water resources. The MNA region is now the world’s driest region in the World. • It matters for the economy. Over 60 percent of the population of MNA lives in area of high-water stress compared to some 35% for the rest of the World. Water stress in MNA will be severe in the next 20 years as freshwater per resources per capita is estimated to keep on declining steadily unless fundamental shift occurs. The MNA region has the greatest expected economic losses from climate-related water scarcity, estimated at 6–14 percent of GDP by 2050. The MNA region will have to learn to do more with less – no matter what. • It matters for the environment. wastewater, 82% of which is not being recycled in the region, compared to just 30% in highincome countries. This presents a major threat to human and environmental health but also a massive opportunity to better satisfy water demand. Wastewater is the only natural resource that increases, as cities and populations grow. • It matters for equality. Equality between men and women; between urban and rural and between nations. MNA countries need to comprehend water as a political, economic and security issue in the region that plays a profound role in the future of the region and its growth and development, and take more concerted actions now.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Water, Economic Growth, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North Africa, and Global Focus
90. Sustaining Peace in Papua New Guinea: Prevention in Practice
- Author:
- Lesley Connolly and Laurie Mincieli
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- Papua New Guinea is facing two major challenges to peace: a November referendum on the future political status of Bougainville, the site of a brutal conflict from 1989 to 1998; and the recent increase in intercommunal violence in the Highlands region. This makes it an important test case for the UN’s approach to peacebuilding and sustaining peace and the recent reforms to the UN development system. This paper, a publication of IPI and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), examines the implementation of the UN’s peacebuilding and sustaining peace framework in Papua New Guinea, looking at what has been done and what is still needed. It focuses on the four issue areas highlighted in the secretary-general’s 2018 report on peacebuilding and sustaining peace: operational and policy coherence; leadership at the UN country level; partnerships with local and regional actors; and international support. Despite ongoing challenges in Papua New Guinea, implementation of the secretary-general’s recommendations on sustaining peace is already underway, offering examples of how to use the UN’s tools and resources to reduce and prevent violence and sustain peace. It reveals the importance of getting a resident coordinator with the right skill set; taking a long-term, preventive approach; building the capacity of government and civil society; ensuring continuous and flexible funding; and working with the Peacebuilding Commission to bring political attention in New York.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Peace, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Australia/Pacific and Papua New Guinea