International Policy Interventions Research Articles

A growing plastic smog, now estimated to be over 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world's oceans-Urgent solutions required.

As global awareness, science, and policy interventions for plastic escalate, institutions around the world are seeking preventative strategies. Central to this is the need for precise global time series of plastic pollution with which we can assess whether implemented policies are effective, but at present we lack these data. To address this need, we used previously published and new data on floating ocean plastics (n = 11,777 stations) to create a global time-series that estimates the average counts and mass of small plastics in the ocean surface layer from 1979 to 2019. Today's global abundance is estimated at approximately 82-358 trillion plastic particles weighing 1.1-4.9 million tonnes. We observed no clear detectable trend until 1990, a fluctuating but stagnant trend from then until 2005, and a rapid increase until the present. This observed acceleration of plastic densities in the world's oceans, also reported for beaches around the globe, demands urgent international policy interventions.

Paradoxes of Aggravated Vulnerability, Marginalization, and Peril of Forest-Based Communities after Increasing Conservative Forest and Protected Areas in Nepal: A Policy Lesson on Land-Based Climate Change Mitigation

Many measures of international policies and support have dictated developing countries to upscale land areas of intact forestry, special biodiversity conservation site, and other wild reserves to half the land territory of the nation by 2050 for resulting environmental, and other benefits to global societies. The international initiations and work urged scholars to assess the potential impacts of the aggressive policy on forest-based communities and especially those living in institutionally and geo ecologically vulnerable areas. This study compiled the impacts of such international policy interventions on diverse affairs of the local community and national economies in Nepal and drew some conclusions on the well-being future of such forest-based communities. It explained that the international interventions in managing community-based resources induced serious disturbances in many local systems and resulted in vicious circles of emigration, income losses, social problems, psychological stresses, and food insecurities. The interventions have placed some communities and especially indigenous ethnic groups in the position either to be displaced from their ancestors’ homelands or suffer for generations. This study also explained some reinforcing phenomena that emerged from the external interventions which have placed situations of the resource impacting local communities adversely for years. It also investigated whether support of international agencies in policy formation and implementation for resource management safeguards the well-being of the resource-based communities. The agencies resulted in the best environmental and other benefits to foreign societies which have aggravated the misery of local communities, particularly the poor people, women, and indigenous ethnic communities. The adverse impacts on the local societies are not repercussions (accidentally or unknowingly happened). All these findings infer that the international policies of upscaling forests and wilderness areas or making conservation areas in half of their land territory, especially in developing societies for the global benefit, may place the lives of the forest-based communities in peril of suffering for generations or extirpating.

Understanding the Disaster–Migration–Violent Conflict Nexus in a Warming World: The Importance of International Policy Interventions

The importance and extent of some of the linkages between disasters, migration and violent conflict are not very well understood. There has been controversy in the empirical analytical literature both over core elements of the nexus and over the mechanisms driving it. One reason for the current state of the pertinent literature is the widespread neglect of international policy interventions in the policy fields of disaster risk reduction, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, migration management as well as humanitarian and development assistance. This contribution highlights the importance of international interventions in these fields with respect to elements of the nexus. Based on a brief review of the comparative empirical evidence concerning the disputed links between disasters, migration and violent conflict it demonstrates how international policy interventions are affecting them. The study concludes with a call for more research into the ways in which international policy interventions contribute to shaping the disaster–migration–violent conflict nexus, arguing that a better understanding would enhance the potential for better policies to address its negative consequences.

Using Geopolitics in the Comparative Analysis of Two International Systems Based on Factors Considered Relevant

Abstract The international scene is still modeled on the states’ interests, despite the challenges of non-state actors, whose international policy intervention can not be described as new. The state still continues to play a central role in shaping the international system, even if it is forced to act in an environment where large corporations are designing many of the national economies of states whose nationality they do not have, and non-governmental organizations are at the outskirts of an emerging global civil society, which could jeopardize the state’s right and obligation to prevent injustice, and considering that at the global level there is no entity able to issue regulations in this regard, all of which amid testing international governance models. Looking retrospectively, during the Cold War, the state was much stronger and the threats which it had to face were characterized by a much higher degree of predictability. This paper aims to analyze the contemporary international system by reference to that specific to the Cold War, based on factors considered relevant, the objective being to identify the possibility of turning the present international system to a new Cold War.

Breaking the resource curse: Transparency in the natural resource sector and the extractive industries transparency initiative

This article critically examines the impact, up until 2009, of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The EITI is an international policy intervention that aims to mitigate the negative effects of resource abundance by promoting the transparency of resource revenues and accountability of the governments of resource rich states. Its effectiveness can be assessed by examining two outcomes that are suggested to be negatively affected by resource abundance: economic development and quality of governance. Through a panel study, including approximately 200 countries, the influence of the EITI in these two areas is examined. Results suggest that the negative effect of resource abundance on GDP per capita, the capacity of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and the level of rule of law is mitigated in EITI countries. However, the EITI has little effect on level of democracy, political stability and corruption. The study concludes that there are some early indications that the EITI has been successful in protecting some nations from selected elements of the resource curse. This is encouraging given the relatively short time period since the founding of the EITI, however the mixed results suggest that a similar study should be repeated in 5 to 10 years when EITI policies have had enough time to fully take effect.

¿Ilegales, irregulares, informales ... ?. Aportes para un debate sobre el suelo

El debate latinoamericano en torno a la configuración de diversos mercados de tierras para el hábitat popular (Clichevsky; 1975, Smolka; 1981, Jaramillo; 1982) o los planteos sobre la necesidad de una reforma urbana (Hardoy y Moreno; 1972) se remonta a las décadas de 1970 y 1980, como parte de las reflexiones emergentes sobre el proceso de urbanización. Sin embargo, el meollo de las discusiones en relación al acceso al suelo en conflicto con el orden legal producido por el Estado se promueve recién - y sobre todo - a partir de la década de 1990, tanto a nivel académico como de políticas nacionales e internacionales de intervención en asentamientos precarios. En ese marco, las controversias sobre las aparentes antinomias legalidad-ilegalidad, formalidad-informalidad y/o regularidad-irregularidad en el acceso al espacio urbano constituyen un debate en sí mismo. Aquí nos proponemos rastrearlo, planteando diversos ejes de lectura y poniendo en cuestión algunas de las tesis centrales. Esta discusión pone en evidencia la complejidad del conflicto y remite al necesario diálogo entre las múltiples perspectivas - jurídica, económica y política- , que lo abordan, ya sea de manera conjunta como separada. En tal sentido, la revisión de dichas categorías y, con ello, la posibilidad de construir sentidos propositivos que superen las miradas fragmentarias y viabilicen el acceso a derechos fundamentales, constituye el desafío en el que aquí nos embarcamos.

European and international policy interventions of implementing the use of wood fuels in bioenergy sector: a trend analysis and a specific wood fuels' energy application

During the last century, wood fuels exploitation is extensively implemented in European and international levels. Their use is especially effective to support the subsistence level of rural regions, thus strengthening the local economies. In the present study, a systematic presentation of policy interventions is given, regarding the use of wood fuels in bioenergy sector. In addition, the possibility of specific wood fuel types utility, which are prolifically cultivated in the Northern Greece context, is examined as an alternative energy source in the conventional coal-based energy network. This energy application focuses on the successful estimation of the actual energy demand in domestic hot water and space heating applications and consequently on the precise evaluation of energy production from the proposed wood fuels exploitation. Furthermore, the optimum environmental, economic and socioeconomic conditions are evaluated.

Key policy considerations for facilitating low carbon technology transfer to developing countries

Based on Phase I of a UK–India collaborative study, this paper analyses two case studies of low carbon technologies—hybrid vehicles and coal-fired power generation via integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC). The analysis highlights the following six key considerations for the development of policy aimed at facilitating low carbon technology transfer to developing countries: (1) technology transfer needs to be seen as part of a broader process of sustained, low carbon technological capacity development in recipient countries; (2) the fact that low carbon technologies are at different stages of development means that low carbon technology transfer involves both vertical transfer (the transfer of technologies from the R&D stage through to commercialisation) and horizontal transfer (the transfer from one geographical location to another). Barriers to transfer and appropriate policy responses often vary according to the stage of technology development as well as the specific source and recipient country contexts; (3) less integrated technology transfer arrangements, involving, for example, acquisition of different items of plant from a range of host country equipment manufacturers, are more likely to involve knowledge exchange and diffusion through recipient country economies; (4) recipient firms that, as part of the transfer process, strategically aim to obtain technological know-how and knowledge necessary for innovation during the transfer process are more likely to be able to develop their capacity as a result; (5) whilst access to Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) may sometimes be a necessary part of facilitating technology transfer, it is not likely to be sufficient in itself. Other factors such as absorptive capacity and risks associated with new technologies must also be addressed; (6) there is a central role for both national and international policy interventions in achieving low carbon technology transfer. The lack of available empirical analysis on low carbon technology transfer, coupled with the prominence of the issue within international climate negotiations, suggests an urgent need for further research effort in this area.

International Conservation Policy Delivers Benefits for Birds in Europe

Conservation of the planet's biodiversity will depend on international policy intervention, yet evidence-based assessment of the success of such intervention is lacking. Poor understanding of the effectiveness of international policy instruments exposes them to criticism or abandonment and reduces opportunities to improve them. Comparative analyses of population trends provide strong evidence for a positive impact of one such instrument, the European Union's Birds Directive, and we identify positive associations between the rate of provision of certain conservation measures through the directive and the response of bird populations. The results suggest that supranational conservation policy can bring measurable conservation benefits, although future assessments will require the setting of quantitative objectives and an increase in the availability of data from monitoring schemes.

Multi-level governance: The way forward for European illicit drug policy?

Illicit drug policy has long been an area that has attracted international policy intervention, however, the European Union has declared it an area of subsidiarity, leaving ultimate control to national governments. Nevertheless, European Union preoccupation with the illicit drug issue and international drug trafficking and organised crime concerns have ensured that continued and increased cooperation in illicit drug policy is never off the agenda. This article examines the history of European integration in contrasting areas of policy and considers both the desirability and the viability of an increasingly harmonised drug policy for Europe. Finally, it proposes a model of integrated illicit drug policy that is strongly connected to developing patterns of European social policy, calling on multi-level governance and close involvement at the level of the citizen.

A Global Disease and Its Governance: HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Agency of NGOs

This article provides a theoretical assessment of the agency attributed to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) within the emerging international governance of HIV/AIDS. The analysis, which focuses on the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, responds to the question of how effectively NGOs are able to function in policy interventions in the long term. It looks at the nature of the emerging governance system and the role it attributes to NGOs, then raises questions for this system by looking at the operational characteristics of NGOs in context. In conclusion, it suggests that although NGOs have been important actors in this field, they do not have the sort of agency required for sustainable long-term policy interventions in the HIV/AIDS context. KEYWORDS: HIV/AIDS, Africa, agency, NGOs, governmentality. ********** The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a catastrophic phenomenon--one of the most devastating ever--that has and will continue to impact people's lives in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2005, approximately 29 million people are living with the disease in the region. In 2002, 3.5 million people contracted HIV. (1) The epidemic, generalized largely in eastern and southern Africa, influences all aspects of society. The problem has been given importance in international development and aid policy agendas for most of the last ten years. Although international policymakers believe that the intervention mechanisms in place are providing correct channels for policy interventions, they have recognized lack of funding as one of the most important challenges they are facing in scaling up these existing mechanisms to deal with the more generalized disease. In this, taken as a part of the existing intervention mechanisms, civil society organizations--nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)--have been at the center of the international policy interventions for the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the region. Therefore, it is timely at this juncture, when many countries are pledging new HIV/AIDS-targeted funds, most of which will be channeled through the existing mechanisms, to ask the following questions: how efficient is the role played by these organizational forms, (2) and do they have the agency to bring about long-term sustainable change to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic? It opens up an important problem in the field, namely the agency required to positively address people's needs. By examining this problem, the distinction between claimed and actual agency of NGOs can be scrutinized. In this article, I argue that this international system, or governance system, not only manages but also constitutes the agency of certain actors and relevant domains of policy. This is done according to a particular domain of governance whereby people with the disease are constructed in a manner independent of their everyday lives, allowing them to be governed in a particular domain, that of international HIV/AIDS policy produced by certain languages and technologies. The overall analysis is based on the outcomes of my ongoing research on the impact of international policy on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa conducted in the last three years in Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, and Rwanda. The article is a theoretical look at the issues; the empirical claims related to this debate are analyzed in depth elsewhere. The first part articulates the conceptual concerns of the present study by looking at the idea of agency and governance. The second part examines the context of governance and articulates the peculiarities of the system in relation to the international policy environment on HIV/AIDS. This section points out those issues that exacerbate the disjuncture between the policy context and the needs expressed by the infected and affected. This is followed by a section that locates NGOs within this system whereby they have become the main actors in the implementation of policies on the ground. The following part looks at the characteristics of NGOs as civil society actors. …