Global Change Policy Research Articles

Assessing Air Pollution, Health and Economic Impacts of Global Change: An Integrated Assessment Approach

Aims: This study aims to assess the health and economic impacts of changes in air pollution (ozone and particulate matter) due to global change policies, including controls on greenhouse gases and ...

Global social policy studies: Conceptual and analytical reflections

This article reviews the conceptual and analytical contribution of one strand of ‘global social policy studies’ since the mid-1990s. It outlines some of the strengths and weaknesses of the core conceptual basis of the approach acknowledging that the theoretical aspects have remained more implicit than explicit in many core texts. The article advances the case for using the ‘Agency, Structure, Institution and Discourse’ (ASID) approach as a framework within which to advance the analysis of the formation and transformation of ‘global social policy’. The recent development of the ILO and UN policy on advancing social protection floors is then used to illustrate how the ASID approach might be applied to an actual global social policy change.

Aligning Key Concepts for Global Change Policy: Robustness, Resilience, and Sustainability

Anderies, J. M., C. Folke, B. Walker, and E. Ostrom. 2013. Aligning key concepts for global change policy: robustness, resilience, and sustainability. Ecology and Society 18(2): 8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05178-180208

Possible future trade-offs between agriculture, energy production, and biodiversity conservation in North Dakota

In this study, we describe a spatially explicit scenario analysis of global change effects on the potential future trade-offs and conflicts between agriculture, energy generation, and grassland and wetland conservation in North Dakota (ND), USA. Integrated scenarios combining global policy, oil security, and climate change were applied to North Dakota using a spatial multi-criteria analysis shell. Spatial data describing climate changes and grassland, wetland, cropland, and energy distributions were used to characterize the geographical environment. The final multi-criteria framework examined the potential trade-offs between climate change, agricultural expansion, and energy generation resulting from global change scenarios on one hand, and the current footprint of wetlands and grasslands for six regions of ND that capture the major climate gradients and differences in land use. The results suggest that the tension between regional climate changes that may limit agricultural expansion, and global changes in food and energy security and commodity prices that favor agricultural expansion, may focus a zone of potential pressure on grasslands and wetland conversion in central ND and the Prairie Pothole Region. The balance between conservation programs, commodity prices, and land parcel productivity may determine grassland conversion, while wetland outcomes may almost totally depend upon regional climate change.

Slippage and/or symbolism: gender, policy and educational governance in Scotland and Sweden

This article provides an overview and analysis of the relationship between gender, educational policy, and governance in Scotland and Sweden and the two countries’ response to European Union and global legislative and policy change. In Scotland, gender is mainly invisible in recent policies on inclusion, achievement beyond academic attainment, and the idealisation of the child. Gender is thus marginalised within a range of factors contributing to social in/equality. In Sweden, in contrast, gender has higher visibility in policy and governance as both an indicator of democracy and a means of preserving social democratic consensus and prosperity. However, recently its privileged position has come under attack. We draw on social capital, gender, and policy theory to analyse the range of influences on gender and educational governance in the two countries including that of the social capital of organised feminism.

Land and Water Institutions in the Blue Nile Basin: Setups and Gaps for Improved Land and Water Management

AbstractThis study undertook an assessment and gap analysis of the institutional arrangements for improved land and water management in the Tana and Beles Sub‐basins highlands of the Blue Nile Basin. We explored the mandates and design features of the major land‐ and water‐related institutional arrangements. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a literature review were used in the analysis.The results of our work reveal that a lot of progress has been made in creating an institutional framework for improved land and water management and the policies and laws hitherto developed reflect global policy changes consistent with the widespread adoption of the integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles. There are also cases where informal institutions replace formal institutions. Judged by their enforcement, the water resources management, pollution control standards, and regulations and land use rights are not enacted effectively because of poor enforcement capacity. Overall there is a tendency to focus on command‐and‐control type policies. There is a need to strengthen traditional institutions by drawing lessons from their strengths and establish the legitimacy of these institutions. There is also a need to improve formal policy design, developing policies with specific objectives, goals, targets, and overall institutional changes and resources through active adaptive management to maximize the level and effectiveness of institutional learning. Finally, more focus needs to be given to incentive‐based policies through increased use of positive incentives and more emphasis needs to be given to self‐enforcement rather than third‐party enforcement.

Effectiveness of pharmacy interventions in improving availability of essential medicines at the primary healthcare level

To assess the effectiveness of pharmaceutical systems interventions in improving the availability of essential medicines at the primary care level. Literature search for examples of pharmaceutical systems interventions in low and middle income countries that evaluated the impact of specific interventions on medicines' availability. Qualitative and quantitative studies were included. Seventeen studies were included, on privatisation of drug distribution, user-fees, revolving drug funds (RDFs), supervisory visitation programmes, staff training initiatives, community-directed interventions (CDIs) and disease-specific drug programmes. We found no studies on non-monetary staff incentives or the use of national pharmacy standards. Generally, the quantity and quality of evidence was low; evidence was strongest for supervisory visitation programmes and CDIs. Several interventions have the potential for improving medicines' availability without requiring large-scale international cooperation or global policy change. The absence of evidence in this field does not prove lack of effect. There is a need for more systematic studies of multi-faceted pharmaceutical interventions to improve drug availability in the context of difficult health systems, such as structured supervision of remote health facilities, CDIs, staff training, integration of disease-specific programmes, implementation of national pharmacy standards, non-monetary staff incentives and measures to ensure cost is not a barrier to access. A standardised approach to measuring the availability of essential medicines is needed.

Spatial and temporal patterns of CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems of North America during 1979–2008: application of a global biogeochemistry model

Abstract. Continental-scale estimations of terrestrial methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes over a long time period are crucial to accurately assess the global balance of greenhouse gases and enhance our understanding and prediction of global climate change and terrestrial ecosystem feedbacks. Using a process-based global biogeochemical model, the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we quantified simultaneously CH4 and N2O fluxes in North America's terrestrial ecosystems from 1979 to 2008. During the past 30 years, approximately 14.69 ± 1.64 T g C a−1 (1 T g = 1012 g) of CH4, and 1.94 ± 0.1 T g N a−1 of N2O were released from terrestrial ecosystems in North America. At the country level, both the US and Canada acted as CH4 sources to the atmosphere, but Mexico mainly oxidized and consumed CH4 from the atmosphere. Wetlands in North America contributed predominantly to the regional CH4 source, while all other ecosystems acted as sinks for atmospheric CH4, of which forests accounted for 36.8%. Regarding N2O emission in North America, the US, Canada, and Mexico contributed 56.19%, 18.23%, and 25.58%, respectively, to the continental source over the past 30 years. Forests and croplands were the two ecosystems that contributed most to continental N2O emission. The inter-annual variations of CH4 and N2O fluxes in North America were mainly attributed to year-to-year climatic variability. While only annual precipitation was found to have a significant effect on annual CH4 flux, both mean annual temperature and annual precipitation were significantly correlated to annual N2O flux. The regional estimates and spatiotemporal patterns of terrestrial ecosystem CH4 and N2O fluxes in North America generated in this study provide useful information for global change research and policy making.

Woodlands and Agrobiodiversity in Irrigation Landscapes Amidst Global Change: Bolivia, 1990–2002*

The global shift to small- and medium-scale irrigation is potentially compatible with high-agrobiodiversity production. A case study of the Cochabamba region in central Bolivia between 1990 and 2002 is designed to examine new interactions of irrigation with agrobiodiversity through change and continuity of landscape structures and functions. Irrigation change contributed to increased commercial potato and peach farming. Still persistent interactions of canal woodland habitat (landscape matrix including uncultivated or “wild” agrobiodiversity) with patches of cultivated agrobiodiversity helped ensure nutrient transfer and likelihood of gene flow. Farmers' field-level responses continued to include agrobiodiversity, especially multiple farmer varieties (FVs) of Andean maize. Capacities of social–ecological resilience in the period from 1990 to 2002 are estimated to have been moderate in anthropogenic canal woodlands (> 95 percent continued cover, albeit with reduced connectivity) and cultivated agrobiodiversity (viable with local loss of Andean potato FVs) and moderate-high in wild agrobiodiversity (viable with reduced capacity due to modified weed management). Indigenous “ethnodevelopment” applied to Andean community irrigation contributed positively to social–ecological resilience, albeit with significant limitations. Findings recommend that global change policies build emphasis on the interactions of water resource and agrobiodiversity management.

Accounting for carbon stocks in models of land-use change: an application to Southern Yucatan

To assess the impact of land-use change on carbon stocks, we apply a new methodology, linking ecological and economic modeling, to southern Yucatan, Mexico. A spatial econometric multinomial logit model of ten land-cover classes is estimated (four primary forest categories, three secondary growth categories, an invasive species, and two agricultural land-cover categories), using satellite data on land cover, linked with census socioeconomic data and other biophysical spatial data from 2000. The analysis is novel in that it is the first attempt to link detailed satellite data on land use, with on-the-ground estimates of carbon stocks in a spatial econometric model of land use. The estimated multinomial logit model is then used with two scenarios of future economic growth (“low growth” and “high growth” changes in population, agricultural land use, market access, and education levels) in the region to predict land-cover changes resulting from the economic growth. The per hectare carbon (C) stocks in each land-cover class are derived from previously published estimates of biomass from field sampling across the study region. We consider aboveground-only, aboveground plus soil, transient and non-transient pools of carbon. These estimates are scaled up to the total area in each class according to the predictions of the model baseline and the two development scenarios. Subsequently, the changes in carbon stocks resulting from the predicted land-cover changes are calculated. Under the low growth scenario, carbon stocks declined by 5%; under the high growth scenario, losses were 12%. Including soil C, the proportional losses were lower, but the absolute amount lost was more than double (to 6 Tg C under the low and almost 15 Tg C under the high-growth scenario). This methodology could be further developed for applications in global change policy, such as payments for environmental services (PES) or reduction in emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).

Understanding coupled human and natural systems in a changing world

It is now widely accepted that global change and human disturbances, such as global warming, economic globalization, population growth, and government policy changes are putting great pressures on the ecoenvironment worldwide. The impacts of land degradation, soil erosion, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, and increased greenhouse gas emissions are damaging our living planet. This is challenging scientists and practitioners worldwide to think about the future sustainability of the global eco-environment. Academe, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies have acknowledged that the environmental problems facing these complex systems involve understanding tightly coupled interrelationships between natural systems and human society. Furthermore, we now recognize that these problems cannot be addressed solely through technical innovations, political reformations, or economic development. Sound policy formulations and management decisions about the environment and natural resources necessitate effective collaborations among social and bio/ physical scientists and management practitioners, as well as a better understanding of the influence of differing scales of biological organization. The newly developed portfolios of coupled human-natural systems provide important insights into diverse complex systems that cannot be well-understood or effectively managed within a single dimension. Coupled human-natural systems are integrated systems where people interact closely with the natural world. The U.S. National Science Foundation in establishing its Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program in 2001 recognized the need for enhancing our understanding of complex systems. This program was established to promote and financially support “quantitative, interdisciplinary analyses of relevant human and natural system processes and complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse scales.” As a result, there are major changes in progress concerning how the U.S. scientific community develops approaches to addressing interdisciplinary and applied eco-environmental problems. An increasing number of interdisciplinary programs have been integrating ecological and social sciences to study and better understand the dynamics of coupled human and natural systems. From this context, Beijing Normal University and Cornell University co-organized “International Workshop in Conservation and Sustainable Development: Understanding Coupled Socio-Cultural and Natural Systems in Fragile Landscapes” from May 27–30, 2009 in Beijing, which was funded by NSF China (30910303027), State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, Lehman Funds of Cornell University, and cosponsored by Higher Education Press, IUCN-China Program, ICRAF-China Program, and TNC-China Program. This workshop has brought together a group of social, biological, and physical scientists from Beijing Normal University, Cornell University, and elsewhere to examine conservation and sustainable development issues in fragile landscapes worldwide. Totally, we have gathered over 70 participants from over 40 Chinese institutions and 6 international organizations. We have received 56 papers on these topics, and 36 presentations are planned for this workshop. We selected best papers that highlight the updated issues in the fields of coupled human and natural systems to publish them as a special issue for the journal of Frontiers of Earth Science in China. It is within this context that we wish to serve as models because examining coupled human-natural systems worldwide is expected to attract interest from many nongovernment organizations inside and outside China, as well as from numerous

Sequencing of antiretroviral therapy in children in low- and middle-income countries

With recent changes in global pediatric HIV policy to initiate treatment immediately after early infant diagnosis, there will be greater demand for feasible antiretroviral sequencing strategies that will support children through adulthood. This review will discuss HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy) failure, regimen switching, and sequencing approaches in children. Although children appear to acquire resistance mutations in a similar pattern to adults, they may develop virologic failure more rapidly; reports from Africa and Asia have already documented rates as high as 26% at 12 months of antiretroviral therapy. Ritonavir-boosted lopinavir is recommended after failure to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors; efavirenz is the preferred nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor after protease inhibitor failure. Approaches to sequencing nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors are more complicated, as accumulated resistance mutations may render currently recommended combinations less potent. Salvage regimens are preferably selected after genotyping, and may require the use of expensive, novel boosted protease inhibitors and new drug classes (e.g., integrase inhibitors). Data on drug resistance in children in low- and middle-income countries are emerging and will guide future sequencing strategies. Lack of access to treatment monitoring and second-line and salvage drugs are key limiting factors that need to be addressed in order to ensure ongoing treatment success.

A Review of Sustainability Assessment Methods in Engineering

[Abstract]: Sustainability Assessment (SA) debate had undergone a dramatic transformation in response to global policy changes, i.e. Kyoto Protocol, trade liberalization, Doha negotiations. The purpose of this paper was to review the body of literature relevant to Sustainability Assessment functional methods in engineering. To shed light on the current standing of sustainability assessment (SA) this paper reviewed and compared up to fifty five (SA) tools. These include descriptive, quantitative and qualitative measures, or indices. In order to achieve a unified approach integrating the needs of society and the natural system, the application and spatial implication of these tools in engineering were considered within the bounds of systems theory. It was found that whilst progress has been made in the development of assessment tools, definitional ambiguities remains evident (i.e. indicators and criteria). Furthermore (SA) exhibited a skewed alignment towards the triple bottom line theory i.e. economic, social, environmental objectives with baseline conditions. Therefore, there is a pressing need for further research into engineering (SA) sustainability assessment frameworks and their ultimate objectives,direction and magnitude, particularly whether the engineering professional can afford to endorse scores of tools.

GSIM Measurement of the Effects of the EU accession of the Balkans and Turkey on Agricultural Trade

GSIM Measurement of the Effects of the EU accession of the Balkans and Turkey on Agricultural Trade In this paper, the global simulation model (GSIM) for the analysis of global, regional, and unilateral trade policy changes by Francois and Hall (2003) was applied to the agricultural trade between the EU, the Balkans and Turkey. This was done in order to measure the effects of an EU accession of the Balkans and Turkey. Most of the changes in welfare after a full liberalisation of agricultural trade between the Balkans and Turkey on the one hand and the EU on the other hand can be expected in the accession countries themselves. It is estimated that incumbent EU members will be affected only to a minor extent. It was also estimated that the exchange rate risk is not very high.

Research needs for finely resolved fossil carbon emissions

Scientific research on the global carbon cycle has emerged as a high priority in biogeochemistry, climate studies, and global change policy. The emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion is a dominant driver of the current net carbon fluxes between the land, the oceans, and the atmosphere, and it is a key contributor to the rise in modern radiative forcing. Contrary to a commonly held perception, our quantitative knowledge about these emissions is insufficient to satisfy current scientific and policy needs. A more highly spatially and temporally resolved quantification of the social and economic drivers of fossil fuel combustion, and the resulting CO2 emissions, is essential to supporting scientific and policy progress. In this article, a new community of emissions researchers called the CO2 Fossil Fuel Emission Effort (CO2FFEE) outlines a research agenda to meet the need for improved fossil fuel CO2 emissions information and solicits comment from the scientific community and research agencies.

Shahid Yusuf, M. Anjum Altaf, and Kaoru Nabeshima, eds. Global Change and East Asian Policy Initiatives. New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 2004. Pp. xx+452. $30.00 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsShahid Yusuf, M. Anjum Altaf, and Kaoru Nabeshima, eds. Global Change and East Asian Policy Initiatives. New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 2004. Pp. xx+452. $30.00 (paper).Shujiro UrataShujiro UrataWaseda University Search for more articles by this author Waseda UniversityPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 56, Number 1October 2007 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/520567 Views: 7Total views on this site © 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Neoliberal Visions and Revisions in Global Communications Policy From NWICO to WSIS

The author proposes that any account seeking to contextualize crucial policy debates connected to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) must engage with two necessary projects. First, it must historicize WSIS in relation to an earlier international forum similarly focused on global communications policy, the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). Second, it must theorize WSIS in terms related to neoliberalism, the dominant political economic system defining global relations today. This analysis brings into focus both continuities and changes in global communications policy during the formative period of the past three decades.

Agricultural Trade Liberalization Under Doha: The Risks Facing African Countries

African countries tend to be affected by global agricultural policies in the same way as other economies but with much more severe economy-wide repercussions... The present discussion paper 1) examines the vulnerability of Africa economies with respect to global agricultural trading policies and their induced changes in world agricultural markets, based on the above characteristics; 2) analyzes the efficiency effects within Africa's agricultural sector of world market distortions resulting from agricultural trading policies; 3) illustrates the impact of global protectionism on poverty levels and distribution among rural households in Africa and the implication for the objective of poverty reduction; 4) reviews the options and risks facing African countries in their pursuit of opportunities for greater participation in the global trading system, in particular in connection with the Doha trade agenda; and 5) discusses options for global trade liberalization that would best benefit African economies. The paper argues that the insistence on the part of African countries on Special and Differential Treatment entails much more risks than benefits for their economies. It also indicates that trade preferences have been less beneficial to African economies than usually assumed and at any rate have not been significant enough to compensate African countries for the negative impact of global protectionism. Finally, the paper also disagrees with the widely accepted conclusion that African countries would suffer from liberalization of global agricultural policies because they tend to be net food importers. That conclusion does not sufficiently take into consideration the dynamic long term effects of global policy changes on production and trading patterns among African countries and the potential efficiency effects that would emanate there from.

‘Signals’ from pre-crisis discourse: Lessons from UK flooding for global environmental policy change?

This paper evaluates policy accelerations after past flood crises in the UK (in 1947, 1953, 1998 and 2000) and explores their value as surrogates or metaphors for how governments might respond with policy changes to the local expressions of global climate and environmental change in the future. We find that these past policy change accelerations were, in general, not based on the development of new ideas but on bringing forward existing ideas that were already the subject of widespread professional or public discourse. We suggest, therefore, that we may be able to detect now, as ‘signals’ within current policy discourse, the embryos of the policy shifts that are likely to come about as part of any crisis-response adaptation to future climate change. If this is the case, then we believe that those with policy responsibilities now may be able to begin carefully and proactively to prepare the ground for such policy changes ahead of the crisis events that will alone trigger their acceleration and adoption.

Global policy change and women's access to safe abortion: the impact of the World Health Organization's guidance in Africa.

Along with governments from around the world, African leaders agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 to address unsafe abortion as a major public health problem. At the five-year review of the ICPD, they decided further that health systems should make safe abortion services accessible for legal indications. Based on this mandate, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed norms and standards for quality abortion services, Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems, released in 2003. While abortion-related maternal mortality and morbidity remains very high in many African countries, stakeholders are increasingly using WHO recommendations in conjunction with other global and regional policy frameworks, including the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, to spur new action to address this persistent problem. Efforts include: reforming national laws and policies; preparing service-delivery guidelines and regulations; strengthening training programs; and expanding community outreach programs. This paper reviews progress and lessons learned while drawing attention to the fragility of the progress made thus far and the key challenges that remain in ensuring access to safe abortion care for all African women.