Development Agenda Research Articles

GF-1 WFV satellite images based forest cover mapping in China supported by open land use/cover datasets

The United Nations sustainable development agenda emphasizes the importance of forests. China’s forests cover 5% of the world’s forest area, significantly influencing global climate and ecology. In recent decades, China’s forests have undergone notable changes. Accurate forest cover maps are crucial for understanding forest distribution, conducting ecological research and sustainable management. However, there is a lack of forest cover maps satisfying the criteria. To this issue, this study focuses on developing a precise 16-m resolution forest cover map of China. For this purpose, we propose a forest classification framework based on weakly supervised deep learning and prior knowledge from open datasets. Utilizing this framework and GF-1 WFV satellite images, we generated China’s forest cover map in 2020 named FCM16. The FCM16 is evaluated using 136,385 sample points, achieving an overall accuracy of 94.64 ± 0.12%, producer’s accuracy of 91.12 ± 0.27% and user’s accuracy of 87.31 ± 0.34%. Additionally, FCM16 was compared with existing forest-related datasets, demonstrating its reliability. In general, FCM16 effectively represents China’s forest cover in 2020, providing a valuable resource for social and ecological analysis.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES IN MODERN INDIA: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND IMPACT

Environmental policies in modern India have undergone significant transformation, reflecting the country's evolving socio-economic conditions, global environmental concerns, and its commitment to sustainable development. The journey of India's environmental policy can be traced back to its post-independence era, where economic growth was prioritized, often at the expense of environmental considerations. Early policy frameworks lacked a coherent environmental focus, with limited institutional mechanisms for protecting natural resources. However, in the 1970s, influenced by the global environmental movement and events like the 1972 Stockholm Conference, India began to formalize its environmental approach, marking the beginning of policy reforms aimed at balancing development with ecological preservation. Important milestones in India's environmental policy include the establishment of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 1985, the promulgation of the Environment Protection Act (1986), and the National Forest Policy (1988), which aimed to curb deforestation and promote sustainable land use. The 1990s and 2000s saw India increasingly engaging with international environmental frameworks, including the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (1997), and emphasizing the integration of environmental concerns into the developmental agenda. Despite these advancements, the impact of environmental policies in India remains mixed. While there has been notable success in areas such as wildlife conservation, pollution control, and biodiversity preservation, challenges like deforestation, water scarcity, and industrial pollution persist. The growing pressures of industrialization, urbanization, and climate change present ongoing challenges in policy implementation. Additionally, the tension between economic development and environmental sustainability continues to be a contentious issue. This paper examines the historical evolution of environmental policies in India, assesses their impact on ecological conservation, and explores the ongoing challenges and future directions for achieving a balance between growth and sustainability. KEYWORDS: Environmental Policies, India, Historical Context, Sustainable Development, Deforestation, Industrialization, Climate Change, Wildlife Conservation, Economic Growth, Environmental Governance.

SOVREMENNAYa INNOVATsIONNAYa POLITIKA, ORIENTIROVANNAYa NA MISSII (primer Germanii)

New trends in global economic development, such as the processes of transnationalisation, economic and energy crises, gaps in foreign trade and logistics chains, challenges of modern technological development, intensify the competition of companies in world markets. The governments of the developed countries and large multinational corporations are actively engaged in radical transformation of the modern social and economic world development model on the basis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Germany is at the forefront of this global agenda. According to the German government, the development and introduction of transformative innovations is one of the tools that brings the world closer to sustainable development model. Such innovations do not only lead to technical progress, but also solve important social problems. To force through rapid modernisation German government has chosen a time-tested method – mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP). State becomes the leading actor of the national innovation system, setting the goals of technological development and mobilising economic resources required to achieve these goals. For the first time, the missions of innovation policy were formalised in government documents in 2018. In early 2023 the new German government updated the drafting and composition of the missions. This article discusses the theoretical foundations of the MOIP approach to the formation of government innovation policy, describes the missions of the innovation policy of Germany, approved in 2018 and 2023, and examines the practical results of the implementation of some missions in 2018‒2022 on the example of renewable energy technologies introduction, building up battery cell production in Germany, developing clean mobility, putting German indigenous artificial intelligence technologies into practical application, digital healthcare, creating sustainable circular economies.

Modern Perception of Water Scarcity Issue in African Countries

The article analyzes how water scarcity on the African continent is perceived by the United Nations, Russia, and African countries. Water is an important part of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. The international decade for action on Water for Sustainable Development was declared from 2018 to 2028. The author studies the United Nations’ vision of the water issue by using 2 indicators that often appear in reports of this international organization and its subordinate structures, namely access to water supply services and the level of water stress. These parameters are compared with the results of public opinion polls conducted by the African research center “Afrobarometer” and search query statistics in Google Trends. In order to identify Russian society’s ideas on the water issue in Africa, literary works, as well as publications of the TASS news agency were analyzed.

Evaluation of the sustainable development efficiency of environment and energy in China

With the increasing global demand for sustainable development, China, being one of the world’s most populous countries, is confronted with increasingly prominent challenges in sustainable development of environment and energy, specifically in terms of environmental protection and energy transformation. To promote sustainable development in China’s environment and energy sector, this paper constructs an evaluation indicator system for sustainable development of environment and energy by integrating the relevant sustainable development goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The DEA-SBM model is employed for static analysis of the sustainable development efficiency and dynamic analysis is conducted using the Malmquist index, aiming to reveal regional differences and trends in the efficiency of sustainable development from 2016 to 2022. The results indicate that there is a significant disparity in the sustainable development efficiency of environment and energy among the 31 provinces in China. China has seen a slight overall improvement in the sustainable development of environment and energy, with a promotion of environmentally friendly development patterns. Moreover, technological innovation proves to be a key element in achieving more efficient and environmentally friendly development. In addition, the decomposition of technical efficiency change also makes the management level and factor allocation be attached importance.

Millets: A Nutrient - Rich Path to Sustainable Development Goals, Bridging the Gap Between Environment and Health

In 2015, the United Nations introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. Another major company significantly contributes to these goals. In 2015, global leaders united to embrace the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at tackling the world's most critical issues. Central to this agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a blueprint for fostering a more just, prosperous, and sustainable world. These goals encompass a diverse array of objectives, including the elimination of poverty and hunger, the promotion of clean energy, and the advancement of gender equality. Halfway through the 2030 deadline, it is important to keep track of completed products and work to be done. In recent times, there has been a growing concern worldwide about the relationship between environmental safety and human health. With the global population on the rise, the urgency for ensuring health and well-being has intensified. Often referred to as the “rich grain,” millet has emerged as the promise of bridging the gap between protecting the environment and improving human health. Millets offer a promising solution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They address ecological challenges and promote better health outcomes.

The relationship between natural resource rents and gender discrimination laws: evidence from panel data analysis

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of hydrocarbon rents on gender discrimination laws and the extent to which democratic institutions and women’s political participation condition this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses static and dynamic panel estimation including pooled-ordinary least squares, fixed and random effects and system generalized method of moments.FindingsThe results show that countries with higher hydrocarbon rents have higher levels of gender discrimination laws. Furthermore, there is a significant link between hydrocarbon rents and gender discrimination laws regardless of the quality of democratic institutions or strength of women’s political empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsThe index of gender discrimination laws is limited to laws that impact a woman’s access to employment and entrepreneurial activity once a woman enters the labor force and does not take into account implementation of the laws.Practical implicationsPolicymakers should promote output and export diversification and adopt gender-inclusive policies to counter the adverse consequences of gender discrimination laws associated with hydrocarbon resource wealth.Originality/valueWomen’s empowerment is a major issue on the global development agenda, featuring most notably in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on achieving women equality and empowerment of women and girls. There is scant evidence about how hydrocarbon rents impact gender discrimination laws, a pervasive obstacle to women’s economic and political empowerment. This paper fills this gap in the literature paper by examining the effect of hydrocarbon rents on gender discrimination laws.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2024-0174

Quota Allocation Policy in Carbon Market Trading -- A Case Study of Beijing and Shenzhen

With the increasingly serious problem of the greenhouse effect and climate change, the concept of a carbon emission market has been gradually included in the development agenda of various countries. Establishing carbon markets is expected to promote energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development of multiple industries. In 2021, China's carbon market officially launched, entering a new stage of development. This paper aims to take Beijing and Shenzhen, two pilot cities approved in advance, as examples to study the allocation of credits in the Chinese carbon market. through the literature research method, content analysis method, and comparative analysis method, combined with existing literature to carry out specific analysis and comparison of quota allocation in these two cities. Through the above analysis, this paper aims to get a clearer and deeper understanding of the current situation, distribution mode, distribution method, and characteristics of local Allocation of emission credits relating to the following activities in the actual situation. It helps us to grasp the existing problems and defects in the carbon quota allocation of the two cities. It provides reference significance for promoting the development of Beijing, Shenzhen, and the overall carbon market in China.

A Systematic Bibliometric Review of Fiscal Redistribution Policies Addressing Poverty Vulnerability

The elimination of poverty in all its forms is the first global goal of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Achieving this goal is recognized as a long-term process that is complicated by persistent vulnerabilities stemming from factors such as natural disasters, food insecurity, health challenges, educational disparities, and social inequality. This systematic bibliometric review provides a comprehensive survey of the impact of social protection-based policies in mitigating poverty vulnerability, focusing on selected countries and regions, including America, Europe, Oceania, and part of Asia and Africa. Our analysis reveals that 81% of the studies examine poverty vulnerability from a single dimension, predominantly focusing on food security and nutrition (23%), climate change shocks (18%), and health-related vulnerabilities (14%). The geographic distribution indicates that the United Kingdom and the United States lead research in this field, contributing 36 and 32 papers, respectively, followed by China (16 papers), South Africa (15 papers), and Canada (10 papers). The results indicate that these fiscal redistribution policies significantly contribute to reducing poverty and inequality and have positive impacts on other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). However, notable gaps remain, especially regarding the integration of these policies with environmental sustainability goals like SDG 13 (Climate Action), which are addressed in only a minority of studies. This study concludes by recommending the adoption of more holistic and integrated policy frameworks that bridge the gap between social protection and environmental sustainability, thereby advancing the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Public Sector Corporate Social Investments in Namibia: The Case of the Mobile Telecommunications Company

A bias in research has seen studies focus mostly on corporate social investments (CSIs) in the private sector. The current study aims to provide an alternative perspective to the traditional association of CSIs with private sector organisations by including public sector entities such as public enterprises (PEs), using the case of the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) in Namibia. A qualitative research method and a single case study research design focusing on MTC was used, and data were analysed through themes and deductive reasoning. The major findings of this study show that MTC is exemplary in practicing CSI in Namibia’s public sector. MTC has various impactful socio-economic and environmental focus areas of CSI, which contribute to the development agenda of the Namibian government. The issue of CSI in the public sector is intriguing and could be usefully explored in further research, particularly from a developing country perspective. It is now possible to conclude that PEs can also be dominant players in the CSI sphere, particularly from a public sector perspective. The findings in this study make important contributions to the literature by providing a public sector institutional perspective of CSI that is different from the traditional view that mostly associates CSIs with the private sector.

Land: Governance, Digitization and Human Rights – a Comparative Study

The digitization of land records is being promoted by the World Bank at scale, especially in developing countries. Efficiently maintaining land records can improve tenure safety and food security, reduce poverty, and aid democratic urbanization. While the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development encourages the use of new technology to administer land, it also forewarns that such initiatives ought to factor in digital divide. These evolving processes tend to have a detrimental impact on the tenure rights of marginalized people who are devoid of both access and understanding of such modernization efforts. Through this paper, we examine digitization and associated land governance processes from a human rights perspective. To bring them to light, we compare digitization initiatives in both India and South Africa and draw lessons from them to address issues of equity, inclusion, and good governance in an increasingly digital world.

Paradoxes in the operation of public administration: opportunity or barrier to the sustainable development of organisations?

The Sustainable Development Goals formulated within the framework of the UN resolution “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” are a challenge for both businesses and public administrations. The authors of this article focused on the social dimension and attempted to identify the challenges and paradoxes associated with building a sustainable workplace at the State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service. An in-depth analysis of 31 interviews with inspection employees revealed that despite the positive attitude of managers and employees toward building a sustainable work environment, the organisation faces many challenges and paradoxes along the way, including, among others, the need for sustainable development vs. limited funding or high job requirements vs. unattractive working conditions. These are largely due to its profound underfunding, which lowers the prestige of the workplace, hinders recruitment, and negatively affects working conditions and thus employee engagement.

Temporality in the United Nations 2030 Agenda: development or rupture?

Time is a constitutive element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations (UN). This article analyses how the 2030 Agenda articulates time – i.e. how its discourse connects past, present and future. This analysis shows how the agenda partially breaks with the 19th-century evolutionist assumptions that pervaded previous UN development policies and strategies. On the one hand, the 2030 Agenda implicitly assumes that a historical rupture is needed to shift the world towards a sustainable path in order to avert a civilisational crisis, and that the history of modern, industrialised Western countries is no longer exemplary in this respect. On the other hand, the 2030 Agenda fails to integrate the need for a historical rupture consequentially: it falls into contradictions and continues to replicate the linear logics that caused the very problems that the agenda aims to solve. ‘Development or rupture?’ seems to be the troublesome and difficult dilemma that haunts the UN’s endeavour to transform the world.

Growth and Yield Responses of Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to Tree Lopping and Organic Manure under Morus-Based Agri-Silvicultural System

Sustainable land management targets climate change by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, bolstering resilience against climate-related disasters and advocating sustainable practices. India has significantly contributed to shaping the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, in which agroforestry has emerged as a critical component. The tree-based intercropping practices implemented in agroforestry reduce competitive associations between woody and non-woody components, at the same time obtaining advantage of interactions that are beneficial. The present investigation was accomplished during the year 2019-20. The research trial was structured using a split-plot design to explore the possibilities of successfully cultivating Phaseolus vulgaris as an intercrop under Morus alba. The study incorporated 4 different levels of tree lopping (T0: 0 %; T1: 25 %; T2: 50 %; T3: 75 %) and 5 dosages of manure (S0: No manure; S1; FYM, S2: Jeevamrutha 5 %; S3: Jeevamrutha 10 %; S4: RDF+FYM). The results revealed that maximum values for above and below-ground growth parameters were recorded in treatment T3 (75 % lopping intensity) and treatment S4 (RDF + FYM). The treatments S1 (FYM) and S4 also significantly influenced soil parameters. Based on this investigation, it was inference that the integration of Phaseolus vulgaris with Morus alba provides the best possibility for diversity and enhanced profitability compared to a single species, if lopping is performed scientifically and a combination of manures are applied appropriately, besides offering numerous additional environmental gains.

Does low-carbon pilot policy promote corporate green total factor productivity?

This study investigates the impact of China’s low-carbon pilot policy on corporate green total factor productivity. Exploiting the staggered rollout of the policy across cities, we employ a difference-in-differences approach and find that the policy significantly increases the green total factor productivity of heavily polluting firms. This effect is driven by improvements in both green technological progress and efficiency. The positive impact is more pronounced for firms facing financial constraints, lower product market competition, and lower capital intensity. Textual analysis of annual reports reveals that the policy promotes corporate green total factor productivity by enhancing executives’ environmental awareness and facilitating firms’ green transformation. Our findings highlight the effectiveness of the low-carbon pilot policy in advancing China’s green development agenda and provide policy implications for other economies pursuing sustainable growth.

Breastfeeding Support for All: Narrowing Inequalities for Nurturing a Future That Is Fair and Sustainable

Early initiation of breastfeeding, duration, and exclusivity are internationally recommended practices to maximize impact in preventing and reducing the double burden of malnutrition, reducing child mortality and other morbidities, improving child development, and reducing health costs. The protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding are also central to countries' commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Global progress in breastfeeding rates has been reported in past years. However, many children are still left behind and are not receiving the numerous benefits of breastfeeding. There are also relevant inequities in breastfeeding rates across global regions and countries and between groups from different socioeconomic statuses and cultural backgrounds within countries. These inequities are also extended to the frequency and availability of comparable standardized indicators worldwide. In 2023, globally, only 39% of the countries provided information on exclusive breastfeeding rates to the age of six months, and 7% assessed their overall breastfeeding support programs in the past five years. The increase in the coverage and frequency of monitoring globally agreed breastfeeding targets and the assessment of the impact of breastfeeding programs are imperative to providing breastfeeding support for all and increasing breastfeeding prevalence equitably. Breastfeeding can be an equalizer in society; no one should be left behind. Only this way can breastfeeding mums be celebrated in all their diversity and journeys, attending the 2024 World Breastfeeding Week call.

Designing Care Spaces in Urban Areas

This paper presents a novel approach to sustainable urban revitalization. Care Spaces are defined, and an area selected for revitalization is described. Transformation of city space is of fundamental importance for everyday life, its comfort as regards the functional aspect as well as the psychological and cultural ones. The presented projects are in accord with 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the conception of Baukultur. Both approaches tend to create well designed environment that support health and well-being of people and other living creatures while taking into account cultural aspects in design and construction. Focusing on the combination of soundscape analysis with design elements. To monitor the soundscape, a custom database of urban sound recordings was constructed, and key analytical methods such as Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), feature extraction, Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), and permutation of feature importance were applied. The effectiveness of these algorithms was confirmed through field investigations.

Evaluating Objectives of TVET in Kenya in Light of Pragmatic Theory towards Lifelong Learning: A Holistic Approach to Competency Training

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Bank and different countries including Kenya have placed education and training as a central tool towards youth employability and realization of the industrialization agenda. Despite the dying industries and increase in demand for employability skill in training, TVET graduates lack employability skills. The study was tasked to evaluating objectives of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Kenya in light of pragmatic theory towards lifelong learning: A holistic approach to Competency Training. The study sought to answer the following research question; what are the objectives of TVET in Kenya in light of pragmatic theory towards lifelong learning. The study was a literature review and both Primary and secondary sources were used, this overruled the adoption of quantitative tools and methods towards data collection and analysis. Since the study was a qualitative review, constructivism paradigm and a philosophical design were adopted. The methods were philosophical analysis and synthesis. Philosophical analysis method was used in reviewing commissions, presidential taskforce reports, acts of parliament and policies. Synthesis method was adopted in developing arguments and searching for the findings of the study. The study found out that education and training in Kenya has been polished by Policy documents and Taskforce reports towards realizing the country’s development agenda. The study also found out that the objectives of TVET have not been explicitly stated in the past documents it is after the TVET Act 2013 that clearly reorients TVET as an engine of attaining The Kenya Vision 2030.The objectives of TVET are; committed in training for skill development, social efficiency and democratic participation however skill development has been overemphasized. Implications of the study identify TVET as an engine of national development that has been all along given a low profile, lowly funded and a level of training that accommodates majority of the secondary graduates. The study recommends promotion of holistic competency training that promotes lifelong learning whereby emphasis is on the competencies for the world of work and not only for employability and economic development.

Aceh Party Seen By Millennials In Bireuen Regency

The Aceh Party in Bireuen District, Aceh Province, has been successful in multiple elections, winning the mayoral election and occupying the majority seat for two terms. The party has played an active role in fostering democratic life and maintaining peace in the region, as well as influencing policy and promoting the development agenda. Despite a decline in the number of legislative seats in each election, the Aceh Party has managed to maintain its presence as a winner by acquiring parliamentary seats. However, it is important to note that the decline in legislative seats is not the sole factor that weakens the party's existence. There are various factors that contribute to the declining electability of the Aceh Party, and further analysis is required to understand the overall impact on the party's strength. This research aims to understand the views of the millennial generation on the Aceh Party, a local political party. Using a qualitative approach, the study explores how millennials perceive the party's existence in the present day. It is important to explore the knowledge and insights of millennials, as it provides an understanding of their role in shaping the nation and state. The research hopes to promote millennial awareness and involvement in building national identity and democratic wisdom in Bireuen Regency. The study will employ a qualitative and descriptive method, using techniques such as interviews and documentation to collect and analyze data. This data is crucial in examining the perspectives of the millennial generation on the Aceh Party in Bireuen Regency, Aceh Province, ensuring accurate and reliable findings. The study conducted on the perception of the millennial generation in Bireuen Regency towards the Aceh Party reveals contrasting views. While the party's existence is seen through a historical struggle lens and tends to be sectoral egoistic, the millennials view it more objectively, resulting in a decline in its political electability. The Aceh Party fails to engage and empower the millennials in promoting the party, thereby hindering its effectiveness. This disconnect is primarily due to the rapid growth of digital media and the information it disseminates. Consequently, the Aceh Party struggles to stay relevant in the current political landscape. As the millennial generation plays a significant role in Bireuen Regency, it is crucial to approach them in an adaptive manner, avoiding sectoral egos and exclusivity, and aligning with their evolving needs and preferences.

Advancing social value analysis: challenges and opportunities to understanding social outcomes in the United States and in the United Kingdom

This paper addresses the comparability and related scalability constraint of Maier et al. (VOLUNTAS 26: 1805–1830, 2015) of social impact measurement by deploying experimental mapping of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target indicators onto social return on investment (SROI) data proxies. Datasets on the unit cost database model hosted by the Greater Manchester Authority are derived for the UK and for the US. Discreet differences in data terminology between financial proxies in the UK and in the USA are translated with a contextual approach for data optimization. The resultant mapped datasets of financial proxies offer early evidence in support of the scalability of SROI. This is valuable for local measurement of progress towards the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This research finds that there are comparatively wide differences in sufficient data both within and across the UK and the US datasets. Yet, mapped data counts show sufficient cross-geographic financial proxy overlaps, pointing to the viability of data collection with financial proxy sampling and mapping both for the better understanding of place-based social value creation and for comparative localised social value contribution. This paper concludes that initial mapping of data onto the SDG target indicators improves the comparability constraint of SROI.