International Environmental Agenda Research Articles

New ways for (in)validating the forest carbon neutrality hypothesis.

Over 50 years ago, Eugene Odum postulated that mature or climax forests reside in carbon neutrality. As climate change rose to prominence in the international environmental agenda, the neutrality hypothesis transformed from an ecological principle to a justification for using forest management in combating climate change. Despite persistent efforts, Odum's neutrality hypothesis has resisted both confirmation and refutation. In this opinion we show the limitations of past efforts to (in)validate Odum's neutrality hypothesis and propose new research directions for the community to permit a more general confirmation or refutation with current and near-future observations. We then demonstrate such an approach by using metabolic theory to formulate testable predictions for the total sink strength considering soil, litter, and biomass of mature or climax forests based on observations of tree biomass and individual density. In doing so, we show that ecological theory can create additional relevant, testable hypotheses to provide timely support to decision-makers seeking to address one of the world's most pressing environmental challenges.

National and Natural Parks in Portugal. A brief history to understand the appropriation by the state of humanized territories

The text examines legal frameworks in Portugal to discuss how nature conservation has been managed from a state perspective. Natural Protected Areas correspond to a desire of the political sphere to match an international environmental agenda. However, they have been implemented mainly in private properties or in baldios (communal, though not public lands). Therefore, in practical terms, a tension has been always present between the state and the communities and/or private owners since the beginning of the 20th Century with the creation of ‘forest perimeters’. The article flies over the critical turning points in Portuguese conservation policies from the seventies of the 20th Century to present-day with the recently created diploma of co-management for Protected Areas.

Green Practices in Mega Development Projects of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor

This research aimed to investigate the green practices in the mega construction project of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Over recent years, there has been an increasing need for adopting and implementing more green and sustainable practices, leading to national and international sustainable and green environmental agendas. To address the issue, green project practices were considered an independent variable comprising green design, procurement, and construction. The dependent variables were environmental performance and economic performance. Primary data were collected from respondents working on the CPEC project. A representative sample of 276 respondents was used. The analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. The results indicated that green design significantly influences economic performance, green procurement has a positive and significant effect on environmental performance, and green construction has a positive and significant impact on both environmental and economic and financial performance. The research showed that construction management at CPEC should adopt all facets of green project practices together, reducing negative environmental effects, increasing environmental benefits, and improving long-term economic performance in the area.

History and Evolution of the Environmental Management System in Brazil

The idea of sustainable development emerges first as a socio-political movement, from a series of questions and concerns that have arisen at the international level, related to the contamination of natural environments and human beings, a result of industrial activities. From these concerns, a series of events and movements caused significant changes in international and national policies, leading to the construction of a significant legal framework and institutional apparatus, never seen in any other theme. The establishment of environmental management systems in most countries was a direct reflection of an international agenda launched during the Stockholm Conference, in 1972, which was continued with several other conferences and protocols, such as Rio-92, Rio+20, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, among others, that have consolidated an international environmental agenda over the past 50 years. In Brazil, this process generated direct reflexes with the construction of a significant legal framework and institutional apparatus. In this article, we describe this process, an important part of both the world’s and the Brazilian environmental history until 2014.

Effects of deforestation on water erosion rates in the Amazon region

Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest is a recurring theme on the national and international environmental agenda. However, little attention has been given to its influence on water erosion and soil degradation. This study aimed to model the effect of deforestation on the spatial and temporal variation of water erosion in a watershed of the Amazon region. Therefore, we hypothesize that the expansion of deforestation, and the consequent changes in land use and cover, contributed to increasing soil losses due to water erosion. The Xingu River watershed was selected as a study area once it is one of the most affected regions by deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The estimate of water erosion was performed in the years 1988, 1998, 2008, and 2018 using the Potential Erosion Method (EPM). The application of the model was carried out in a Geographic Information System environment. Between 1988 and 2018, the deforestation in the selected basin increased by 12% (52,258 km2). In the same period, water erosion increased by 312%, corresponding to about 180 million tons of soil lost per year. The result of the study can help in planning erosion control in the Amazon region.

Идентификация и оценка экосистемных услуг: международный контекст

Over the past 10 years the problems related to ecosystem services have been reflected not only in scientific developments but also in official conceptual documents of the leading international organizations, including the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Community (EC). Ecosystem services and payments for these services have become important in the economic and political parts of these documents. This is related in many ways to the awareness of the rapid degradation of nature, which also damages human well-being and the economy. This article analyzes the existing definitions and classifications of ecosystem services by international organizations and in the scientific literature. It concludes that the term “ecosystem services” remains controversial and that there are a number of approaches to its definition. Common in these approaches is an attempt to link eco-services with benefits for human well-being. The most recognized approach is the methodology of the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which defines ecosystem services as those benefits that people receive from ecosystems. Particular attention in this article is paid to identifying the economic value of ecosystems and their services, which is the most difficult and urgent task for economic science. Due to the latent nature of many benefits from ecoservices and their diffusion among consumers/beneficiaries, they largely serve as public goods and are seen as free. Thus their importance is greatly underestimated, which leads to their degradation. Without a solution to this problem, the transition to a new economy for humanity is impossible. It is necessary to level out the risks of over-exploitation and depletion of ecosystem services, which requires that the environmental factor is adequately taken into account when making economic decisions.In Russia the economics of ecosystem services has been poorly developed both in economic research and in legal and policy documents. An important step in resolving this problem should be the implementation of the Russian president’s Orders to the Government of the Russian Federation (January 2017), which envisage the development of an international environmental agenda for the formation of a system of compensation (payments) for ecosystem services with Russia as an environmental donor. Such a system needs to be formed within the country to support regions with large ecosystem capital.

Feasibility of Ecosystem Services Concept Implementation for Russian Cities

This article considers feasibility of ecosystem services assessment for Russian cities. The high significance of this study is determined by the assignment of the President of the Russian Federation to the Government of Russia to develop an action plan aimed at strengthening Russia's position for the formation of international environmental agenda and discussion of issues related to the creation of a system of compensation (payments) for ecosystem services, focusing at Russia’s position as an environmental donor (Pr-140GS, p.1 d, dated December 26, 2016), on the one hand, and implementation of the strategy for housing development for Russian Federation till 2015, on the other. In this paper, ecosystem services as both direct and indirect effects of ecosystems on the well-being of society are considered. The high relevance of the assessment of ecosystem and urban ecosystem services for Russian Federation is discussed. Adaptation of foreign methods for the Russian Federation is actualized. Various approaches to the classification of urban ecosystem services are considered, and a classification of urban environmental services for Russian cities is developed in accordance with Russian legislation. Foreign approaches for the assessment of the ecosystem service "Air Purification" are considered, and existing limitations for the application of these approaches in Russian cities are identified. Russian approaches for the regulation functions assessing of the urban ecosystems are analyzed: dust, gas purification by soils, urban green zones. Approaches for assessing of the need for the ecosystem service "Air Purification" in the city were analyzed. By the example of the "Air Purification" service determines the possibility of adapting approaches to the assessment of ecosystem services for Russian cities are shown.

An Institutional Model of Transboundary Watershed Management Toward Sustainable Development

The objective of this study were to evaluate the institutional of watershed management in border area of Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and to design a model of transboundary watershed management institution for Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Weighting of internal and external factors method was used to evaluate the institutional transboundary watershed management, while analytical hierarchy process was used to compute the institutional model of transboundary watershed management. The internal factors consists of: the commitment of the stakeholder in watershed management, development priorities at border area, the limited institutional cooperation, the land use changes. The external factors are: international environmental agenda on development country, international conferences that supported the countries collaboration toward sustainable development achievement, supporting culture in forest and water resources protection, slash and burn cultivation activities, conflicts, lack of ecological. The result showed that weighting of internal and external factors on quadrant III is alternaltive institutional model of transboundary watershed management. The priority alternatives institutional model and also road map for sustainable development are collaboration agreement of transboundary management, transboundary watershed forum, and autonomous transboundary watershed management. The alternatives institutional has relation with the development phase, condition of local community and environment.

Environmental networks and the role of NGOs in the establishment of carbon sequestration projects: the case of Bananal Brazil

The new demand for institutions to cope with both broadening and deepening interdependencies in the environmental global context has created the need for co-operation and co-ordination between individuals and social groups at the international level. In this context, local environmental needs are not easily incorporated into the global agenda, largely dominated by global organizations highly influenced by the governments of developed countries and large international NGOs. The domination of the international environmental agenda by strong global actors obviously limits the ability of poor countries and local communities to properly address their specific needs.This paper assesses the role played by NGOs in environmental networks in the context of the implementation of a carbon reduction project in Bananal, Brazil. The analysis shows that NGOs can either help or hinder the incorporation of global and local issues into the environmental agenda. In particular, the case study analyzed here suggests that the nature of the links between participants in an environmental network is the main factor determining the benefits obtained by each member. The case of Bananal shows how by studying the nature of the links, it is possible to determine the distribution of power and the degree of dependence of each participant as well as his or her influence on the decision-making power of other network members.

How Subnational Governments are Rescaling Environmental Governance: The Case of the Brazilian State of São Paulo

This paper analyses how, by undertaking an international agenda to address global environmental problems, subnational governments (SGs) are promoting a rescaling of environmental governance. It uses the Brazilian state of São Paulo as a primary example. It argues that by establishing an international environmental agenda, the state breaks the fixed scales in which it would traditionally operate. As a result, the state engages in a particular form of rescaled environmental governance—one that extends the locus, agency, and scope of action from the regional to the transnational level. To undertake this analysis, the paper brings the multilevel governance and subnational diplomacy literatures into dialogue. The paper suggests that when engaging in an international environmental agenda, SGs promote six forms of rescaling; this is a wider and more nuanced picture than so far envisioned by the literature. The paper draws upon documental analysis, and semi-structured interviews.

A Amazônia na Rio+20: as discussões sobre florestas na esfera internacional e seu papel na Rio+20

As florestas apresentam uma situação única e muitas vezes contraditória na esfera internacional. Tema transversal, inerente às principais discussões ambientais e sociais atuais, o regime de florestas não apresenta um documento internacional de leis vinculativas. A situação do tema na Rio+20 também foi contraditória, já que apesar de perpassar os temas discutidos, as florestas não fizeram parte da agenda oficial do evento. No entanto, o momento de mudanças vivido no Brasil contribuiu para que o tema, em particular a Amazônia, fosse exaustivamente discutido em eventos paralelos. Quatro questões dominaram o debate - a construção de Belo Monte, o desmatamento, as unidades de conservação e o código florestal - evidenciando o papel central da Amazônia não apenas no Brasil, mas também na esfera internacional. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma análise dessa qualidade singular do tema florestas na agenda ambiental internacional e o papel da Amazônia no encontro das Nações Unidas.

Law of the Sea Perspectives on Climate Change

Abstract The Law of the Sea Convention was negotiated at a time when climate change was not yet part of the international environmental agenda. Nevertheless, it is not a static or immutable legal regime and it is not difficult to apply Part XII to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change insofar as they affect the marine environment. However, it is doubtful whether viewing climate change from the perspective of the law of the marine environment greatly alters the overall picture. At best it provides a vehicle for compulsory dispute settlement notably lacking in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regime. Realistically, while the 1982 Convention may import any newly agreed standards for the control of GHGs, it is not a substitute for further agreement within the UNFCCC framework.

In Name or Nature? Implementing International Environmental Procedural Rights in the Post-Aarhus Environment: A Finnish Example

Rights-based approaches to environmental protection are on the increase as the public become more aware of both the environment around them and of their other civil and political rights. Whilst methods for combining environmental protection and rights-based regulation still allude to a large conflict of anthropocentric versus ecocentric interests, one approach increasingly stands out as a potential effective solution: ‘procedural rights’. More commonly, this concerns rights to be heard, rights to information, to participation and the right of access to justice. Such perspectives are increasingly finding purchase within international environmental agendas, indeed, several national jurisdictions have progressed from mere principles into more formal ‘hard law’. In order to follow this progression and to assess the influence of international procedural rights in national jurisdictions, this article looks in particular at the environmental law of Finland as an example, and seeks to illustrate the formation of one facet of internationally accepted procedural rights: that of public participation, within national environmental regulation.

International Public Goods and Agency Problems in Treaty Organizations

This paper analyzes the extent to which international public goods and agency problems are present in international organizations. A noncooperative model of the funding choices of donor countries and the subsequent policy choices of an international agency is used to develop hypotheses about the behavior of ideal and problematic international agencies. The analysis suggests that international agencies are likely to be underfunded and undermonitored relative to that which maximizes the joint interest of signatory countries. The funding and policy implications of the model are tested using data from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The statistical results suggest that (i) treaty obligations affect behavior of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 countries, (ii) GEF’s allocation of grants generally advances the international environmental agenda, and (iii) significant free-riding and agency problems exist in GEF as it is presently organized. Overall, the empirical results suggest that treaty organizations may be relatively effective, if not perfect, instruments of international public policy.

International Public Goods and Agency Problems in Treaty Organizations

This paper analyzes the extent to which international public goods and agency problems are present in international organizations. A noncooperative model of the funding choices of donor countries and the subsequent policy choices of an international agency is used to develop hypotheses about the behavior of ideal and problematic international agencies. The analysis suggests that international agencies are likely to be underfunded and undermonitored relative to that which maximizes the joint interest of signatory countries. The funding and policy implications of the model are tested using data from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The statistical results suggest that (i) treaty obligations affect behavior of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 countries, (ii) GEF's allocation of grants generally a dvances the international environmental agenda, and (iii) significant free-riding and agency problems exist in GEF as it is presently organized. Overall, the empirical results suggest that treaty organizations may be relatively effective, if not perfect, instruments of international public policy.

Ecological Revitalization of Chinese Villages

I read R. Stone's article “Villagers drafted into China's model of ‘sustainability'” (News of the Week, 7 Apr., p. [36][1]) with great interest. In my 16 years investigating long-term ecological changes in rural China, I have witnessed numerous governmental programs aiming to link improved rural livelihoods with ecological revitalization of village landscapes ([1][2]–[3][3]). Energy self-sufficiency and improved land management have been central to all of these programs, which have combined national and provincial policy and organizational efforts with demonstration villages, townships, counties, and even provinces. Although often only modestly successful, China's efforts to improve rural environments are an absolute triumph when compared with those of most rural developing countries and compare well with those of many developed countries during their own industrial transition. The convergence of national and international environmental agendas on a single rural village will inevitably cause conflict. And Huangbaiyu will probably end up as have other village experiments: Temporary improvements will ultimately be dwarfed by the needs of local people to adapt to the developments going on around them. Although local demonstration projects might therefore be avoided, these can help to highlight and fix problems before more extensive programs are implemented. Regardless, the failings of a single village experiment should be presented as a minor part of the main story. China and the Chinese continue to make major efforts, by many means, to make the best of what is arguably the greatest environmental challenge any human population has ever faced ([4][4]). 1. 1.[↵][5]1. X. Cheng, 2. C. R. Han, 3. D. C. Taylor , World Dev. 20, 1127 (1992). [OpenUrl][6][CrossRef][7][Web of Science][8] 2. 2.1. T. Shi , Ecol. Econ. 42, 359 (2002). [OpenUrl][9][CrossRef][10][Web of Science][11] 3. 3.[↵][12]“Opinion: Document shows determination to build a new countryside,” People's Daily Online , 23 Feb. 2006 ( ). 4. 4.[↵][13]1. V. Smil , China's Environmental Crisis, an Inquiry into the Limits of National Development (M.E. Sharpe, New York, 1993). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.312.5770.36a [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DWorld%2BDev.%26rft.volume%253D20%26rft.spage%253D1127%26rft.atitle%253DWORLD%2BDEV%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252F0305-750X%252892%252990005-G%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/0305-750X(92)90005-G&link_type=DOI [8]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=A1992JN82200005&link_type=ISI [9]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DEcol.%2BEcon.%26rft.volume%253D42%26rft.spage%253D359%26rft.atitle%253DECOL%2BECON%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS0921-8009%252802%252900122-2%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [10]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00122-2&link_type=DOI [11]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000178496800003&link_type=ISI [12]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3. in text [13]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4. in text

How Have International Business Discourses on the Environment Changed over the Last Decade?

One group of discourses often neglected within the study of international environmental politics are those of business actors. Comparing two key events in international environmental politics, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the 2002 Johannesburg Earth Summit, provides an excellent opportunity to examine the changing character of business discourse over time. This article systematically analyses and compares the business–environment discourses of two books written for the summits respectively, representing the view of the international business community: Changing Course(1992) and Walking the Talk (2002). The comparison of both texts reveals some continuity but also major changes. One area of continuity is that business discourses on the environment attempt to mask a traditionally antagonistic view of environmental issues. Major changes include an increasing willingness to reach accommodation with environmental non-governmental organizations and a desire to overcome business's traditionally defensive, reactive role. Characterizing this is the adoption of a proactive approach to shaping the international environmental agenda. The article also discusses the significance of these findings for our understanding of the environmental role of business in a globalized society.

Upstream, Downstream, China, India: The Politics of Environment in the Himalayan Region

There is a long history of debate about the changing Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) environment, but with important disjunctures between research, international environmental agendas and institutions, and various different domestic policies at the national level. Within academe, a retreat from the Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation (THED) since the late 1980s has not been reflected to any degree in domestic policy agendas of India and China. Here, we make a comparative analysis of the “upstream downstream” debates (which claim that the resource use practices of upstream users have serious detrimental costs to those downstream) in two of the most powerful and populous countries of the HKH region: India and China. We find that the rejection of THED is, on the whole, contradicted but sometimes appropriated by different national players within important political arenas, and in this sense it becomes a discursive pawn in “games of the state.” Parts of the retreat from THED are simply ignored, and others are actively resisted. Set against these discursive maneuvers within domestic politics, the academic “state of the game” has undergone profound changes, shifting away from technically derived and science-led imperatives of environmental management toward issues of plural environmental truths, environmental justice, and hybrid knowledge. However, national debates have taken their individual routes, shaped largely by national political events. Thus, the poststructuralist turn in the social sciences in the academy and in some policy arenas, too—the deconstruction of one grand environmental narrative after another (e.g., deforestation, the wood fuel crisis, overstocking), the faltering claims of positivist science to deliver truth, and growing attacks of uncertainty—all this has had a contingent, but usually peripheral, impact upon national academic, political, and policy agendas in China and India. Some conclusions about policy studies are drawn.

Governance for Sound Chemicals Management: The Need for a More Comprehensive Global Strategy

The upcoming United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), in Johannesburg, August-September 2002, will be an important occasion to assess global progress in dealing with environment and development issues and to determine future priorities. In the aftermath of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, where new environmental issues were identified for deepened international cooperative actions, the international environmental agenda has undergone significant expansion. One of the most important of the new issues has been enhanced chemicals management, which presents a major challenge to the international community. In addition to the often severe environmental and human health effects of hazardous chemicals, the significance of the chemical industry to politically important sectors such as agriculture, industry, and trade--the products of the chemical industry are worth approximately U.S. $1,600 billion annually and account for around 13 pe rcent of world trade--ensures that chemicals regulation will continue to occupy a prominent place on the international environmental agenda for the foreseeable future. (1) Hazardous chemicals are often divided into three categories: pesticides, industrial chemicals, and unintentionally produced by-products. Such substances are toxic--they can be poisonous, infectious, or corrosive--are often persistent, and as a result have the ability to bioaccumulate (build up in fatty tissues in individual organisms) and concentrate further or biomagnify up food chains. Emissions are almost exclusively anthropogenic in origin from a wide range of both point and diffuse sources, including agricultural use, manufacturing and use of goods, by-products of production, waste incineration, combustion, metal production, and reemissions from contaminated wastes, soil, and surface waters. Once dispersed into the environment, complete cleanup is technically extremely difficult and in some cases not even possible where negative consequences may linger extensively. The need for concerted global action on hazardous chemicals arises from several circumstances where improved chemicals management could limit the negative environmental and human health effects of existing hazardous chemicals and prevent the future introduction of dangerous new substances. First, transboundary transport of emissions through air, water, ice, and migratory species results in widespread transnational dispersal. (2) Virtually all the world's areas and ecosystems are to some degree vulnerable, and there are many cases of substantial environmental accumulation in regions-remote from any emissions source. (3) Second, many of the activities that cause chemicals problems are governed or influenced by multiple international institutions and organizations. The connection, for instance, between environmental and human health protection and trade is very strong in chemicals management. Third, international cooperation is a way of diffusing knowledge about the problem and aiding in the identification of a lternative techniques and substitutes, which is lacking today in many (mainly) developing countries. Fourth, even if developing countries recognize the problem with hazardous chemicals and wish to initiate risk reduction measures, they often encounter difficulties in mustering adequate technical, financial, and/or human capital. Then, international activities can function as catalysts for the diffusion of such resources and lead to domestic actions that otherwise would not have been taken. In this article we focus on international institutional attempts to reduce risks associated with hazardous human-made chemicals that pose a direct threat to human health and the environment. As such, it ties in with a broader academic interest in institutional design and the horizontal interplay between institutions operating at a similar level of social organization. …

The Organization of the Impossible

Proposals for the creation of a World Environment Organization (WEO) are considered in light of the wide range of arrangements for environmental management at the national level. Organizational difficulties are compounded at the international level, suggesting that a WEO is neither possible nor desirable. Proposals to improve international environmental management must consider not only the weaknesses of current arrangements but also the sources of their effectiveness. Carefully designed steps to strengthen the institutions of international environmental management are desirable. Organizational proposals, other than strengthening the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), are a diversion from the pressing international environmental agenda.