Environmental Development最新文献

Despite the importance of time poverty in economic decision-making and impact on welfare outcomes, empirical studies linking ecological shocks and time poverty is limited. This paper documents the relationship between an ecological shock and time poverty in northern Ghana using data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS). We employ the standard instrumental variable (IV) method and conduct several robustness checks to ensure a robust estimate of ecological shock on time poverty. The results show that ecological shocks increases time poverty by 15 percentage points. The decomposition analysis of time poverty indicates that ecological shock is postively associated with time poverty based on paid work with no significant effect on time poverty based on unpaid work. Our results further show that the effect of ecological shocks on time poverty is a rural phenomenon. In addition, we note that the effect of ecological shock on time poverty is more prominent among the youth, large farm holders, and high-income earning household heads. The main implication of the findings is that development interventions that enhance access and adoption of gender-sensitive labour-saving technologies must be scaled up to reduce farm committed time, increase crop productivity and reduce the potential intergenerational transfer of time poverty. Provision of social protection measures such as the support through the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty to poor farm households would reduce the burden of ecological shocks on their wellbeing.

Despite the recognized impact of agricultural fires on air pollution and public health globally, with significant consequences observed in regions such as China, India, and Turkiye, there remains a critical gap in understanding their underlying causes. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing agricultural fires in Turkiye between 2012 and 2021. This research conducts a thorough district-level evaluation using extensive micro-level data, remote sensing datasets, and robust methodologies, including fixed effects and spatial panel data methods. The study finds that variables such as the cultivation of second-crop corn and regional conflicts positively correlate with fire occurrences. In contrast, factors like cotton cultivation, livestock presence, and forested areas are inversely related to fire incidents. These findings underscore the complicated relationship between agricultural practices, environmental factors, and socio-economic conditions influencing fire occurrences. The study's outcomes offer significant policy implications, highlighting the necessity for customized strategies to curb agricultural fires. These strategies encompass promoting alternative crop patterns, tackling socio-economic determinants, and accommodating regional specificities.

Riverbank erosion is a catastrophic phenomenon that has rendered floodplains worldwide vulnerable and has significantly impacted millions of people. This article aims to examine the relative status of socio-economic vulnerability to riverbank erosion at the village level in the Middle Brahmaputra floodplains of Assam, India, by constructing a socio-economic vulnerability index (SeVI). The index was constructed based on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) approach by integrating the three components of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Data on the site-specific indicators of these components were collected through a field survey of 508 households from 18 villages. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between vulnerability and its components. The SeVI analysis revealed that eight villages were highly vulnerable to bank erosion while seven and three villages experienced moderate and low vulnerability respectively. High vulnerability is attributed to displacement of erosion-affected people, soil degradation, land use land cover (LULC) changes and poor performance in the fields of health, education, economy, infrastructure and agriculture. The regression analysis indicated that the degree of vulnerability was mostly impacted by exposure followed by sensitivity. The study calls for infrastructural upgradation, improvements in education and healthcare facilities, construction of erosion control structures, use of geotextiles, application of bioengineering techniques and adoption of traditional knowledge to reduce the level of vulnerability. The SeVI as a planning tool has not only identified the vulnerable villages but also helped in setting priorities for socio-economic development. Thus, the methodological framework adopted in this study may be utilized by other geographical regions for assessing vulnerability and safeguarding the communities from the risk of bank erosion.

Flood risk is a global phenomenon affecting developed and less developed countries alike. Although developed countries are better equipped to handle the consequences of flood events due to investments in disaster risk reduction measures, less developed countries are struggling to cope with this challenge. This can be attributed to the complexities of managing floods while ensuring environmental sustainability, which are yet to be fully understood. As such, developing strategies to manage floods, adapt, and build resilience requires understanding the complex relationships between socioeconomic, environmental, and infrastructural factors to promote policy development in sustainable flood risk management. System archetypes provide a framework for understanding complex system behaviour and assessment of intended and unintended consequences of policy actions. Using the coastal city of Limbe as a case study, this paper identified and analysed four key system archetypes that define flood risk management in Limbe; - ‘fixes that fail’, ‘shifting the burden’, ‘limits to growth/success’ and ‘growth and under-investment’. Findings from the study underscore that policy availability does not directly translate to policy implementation and that Limbe's operational policies prioritise quick fixes for flood symptoms, often leading to unintended consequences, emphasizing the need for adaptive, flexible policies. Some leverage points are discussed to improve the sustainable management of floods and advocate for policies that consider long-term sustainability within its urban planning system, considering future urban and population growth to ensure sustainability in the short, medium, and long run.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published their Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in an effort to further a common understanding and successful application of NbS. Our objective is to analyse the applicability of and considerations and advancements in using the IUCN Standard, as very few studies have examined and reflected on its actual application. As method, we applied the IUCN Standard to three case studies of river restoration projects with a focus on flood risk mitigation: (1) Eddleston Water Project, (2) “Room for the River” Deventer Project, and (3) Missouri River Levee Setback Project. Rather than evaluating the case studies itself, we evaluated the outcome to find the strong and weak points of the IUCN Standard. The gathered data (publicly accessible documents, conducted interviews with experts and stakeholders) was analysed and showed the role of the number of documents and interviews available. This determined the outcome of the IUCN assessment. The consultation of project experts has appeared to be an essential step in the data collection, while stakeholder interviews and field visits were less important, but did increase the degree of substantiation and the ease of data collection, respectively. Although restricted by a limited evaluation of flood risk mitigation studies, using the IUCN Standard for an ex-post assessment can provide credibility to project processes (e.g. stakeholder engagement and adaptive management), reveal project strengths and weaknesses, and provide opportunities for the comparison of projects. Hence, the IUCN Standard aptly evaluates process-based aspects of Nature-based Solutions for riverine flood risk mitigation.

In recent decades, cleaner production has received increasing attention since it can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change mitigation. This study aims to use the Life Cycle Assessment-ReSOLVE method to find and quantify the main environmental impacts that happen along the production chain. It will also look at how each production stage contributes to these effects and then discuss ways to fix these problems using the circular economy approach and the ReSOLVE framework in the case study. Although this study used a mushroom-growing facility in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as a case study, the approach can be applied to other industries and countries worldwide. The LCA helped identify environmental hotspots, which were areas with significant environmental impact. The data on these hotspots were used to evaluate the ReSOLVE framework to determine appropriate circular practices for improving mushroom cultivation's environmental impacts. The results showed that electricity consumption and plastic baskets are the primary hotspots for environmental impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions while growing shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) were 2.38 kg CO₂e/kg mushroom, of which energy use contributes to 72.87% of the emissions. The evaluation findings obtained from the ReSOLVE framework indicate that the facility is now implementing 17 out of 42 circular practices. The facility significantly prioritizes process optimization, implementing eight practices, and places a strong emphasis on regeneration, implementing five practices. According to the study's findings, practitioners should adopt this approach to support businesses in achieving sustainable development. Practitioners should tailor the circular practices in the ReSOLVE framework to the industry in which they evaluate and implement the suggested circular economy solutions to assess the effectiveness of using both the ReSOLVE framework and CE solutions. Moreover, this study only focused on a mushroom facility as a case study. Consequently, we want to enhance the methodology and extend this approach to other sectors in future research.

Background

The effects of human activity on the environment are widespread and widely known. Human activities on most continents can be generalized as shelters and food chains due to the basic requirements of human life. Most of these activities require Land-use Land-cover (LULC) transformations, and their effects can be seen as changes such as increases in the global Land Surface Temperature (LST) and air pollutant concentrations. The present research aims to use remote sensing to monitor LULC transformations in Cyprus.

Method

This research uses Sentinel-3 data, Python programming, geographical information systems, and remote sensing to develop a moving average research method for a case study of Cyprus. Importantly, this work eliminates all political and ethnic boundaries to produce a unified analysis.

Result

Based on the research outcomes, the highest mean LST and sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter (with a diameter of 10 μm or less) emissions occur in the Limassol, Famagusta, Nicosia, and Larnaca districts. These emissions are mainly attributable to artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, and forested and semi-natural areas. These trends may relate to electric power plants, a cement factory, an airport, and intensified agricultural activities in the research area.

Complexities in water, energy, and food (WEF) governance provide varied systems and pathways that shape welfare outcomes. The biggest question relates to the scale and complexities in resource management and governance, which reaches a certain equilibrium to achieve maximum welfare benefits. This is a proposition that is assessed in this study which sought to compare the WEF welfare outcomes of jurisdictions under Water User Associations (WUAs) and Catchment Partnerships (CPs). The study used a multi-stage purposively sampled cross-sectional survey of 1184 households from Greater Taung and Magareng Local Municipalities (Vaalharts Water User Association) and Matatiele Local Municipality (uMzvimvubu Catchment Partnership) in South Africa. The Household Water Insecurity Experiences, Household Multi-Dimensional Energy Poverty Index and Household Food In-Access Scale, Min-Max normalization and Propensity Score Matching were used to analyze the data. There was association between jurisdiction and the level of WEF security. Households under the jurisdiction of a WUA experienced 13.8%, 6.8% and 9.3% higher levels of water, energy, and food insecurity, respectively. The study concludes that households under the jurisdiction of a CP had higher levels of WEF security, with complexities or lack thereof resulting in higher welfare outcomes. Therefore, larger is not always lekker. The study recommends either (i) scaling down of WUA to CP and/or (ii) diversifying by increasing the breadth and scope of stakeholders within WUA. The governance systems should be integrated in an evaluation to ascertain any impact on the welfare outcomes.

Through Government Regulation No. 79, issued in 2014 on National Energy Development, the Indonesian government aimed to diversify raw materials from biomass, including rice straw, an abundant resource. To realize the national goals, farmers' participation in rice straw utilization and management plays an essential role in determining the direction and succession of these valorization programs by considering sustainability aspects. Statistical analysis by clustering methods using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) was employed to visualize and extract information about farmers' willingness and participation. The survey results of 300 farmers in three regions of East Java found that most farmers utilized rice straw in small portions, depending on the weather, for animal feed and planting purposes, such as mushroom media planting, fertilizer, and mulch. More than 60% of farmers have a significant perception that better rice straw management, when complemented by the government's role in supporting physical and nonphysical facilities, will improve farmers' socioeconomic quality and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The findings of this study will help to minimize the challenges and barriers to bioenergy development and optimize their opportunities by continuing to synergize to set future strategies.

The availability, accessibility and use of weather and climate information services (CIS) are essential to enable farmers to minimize losses due to climatic uncertainties and take advantage of opportunities presented by favourable climatic conditions. This study examines the key challenges and determinants of access and the utilization of CIS by smallholder farmers in the drylands of South Africa, using Limpopo Province as the case study. Primary data were collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire administered from 240 households and were validated through focus group discussions with key local informants. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and a binary logistic model were used for data analysis. The results indicated that most smallholder farmers had access to the daily weather forecasts (76%) that are mainly broadcasted via radio (66%) and television (63%), while very few had access to other types of CIS such as seasonal weather forecasts (7%) and early warnings (10%). The results indicate that most smallholder farmers (56%) were not using any CIS in planning their farm activities. This was mainly due to unreliability, lack of tailored and local-specific CIS (farm or community level) as well as language barriers, difficulty in understanding, decoding and use of supplied information for decision-making. The results also showed that the accessibility and utilization of CIS varies across different locations due to their differences in terms of customs, access to resources and levels of prioritizing farming as a major source of livelihood. The results further indicated that farming being a major occupation and awareness of climate variability were the main factors determining the accessibility of CIS, while utilization of CIS was additionally determined by the level of education and understating of climate change in the study area. The access to internet and mobile applications, awareness campaigns, capacity-building initiatives and co-production of local-specific CIS accompanied by agrometeorological advisories are recommended to overcome these barriers to the access and use of CIS.