Natural Resource Security Research Articles

Environmental expertise and its importance for ensuring natural resource security

This article is devoted to the important procedural institute of environmental expertise, which has been created relatively recently in the domestic legal process. Environmental safety should not be reduced to the elimination of the occurred harmful consequences, prognostic moments and propaedeutic activity are very important, which requires a special type of control and application of special knowledge for these purposes. The introduction shows the complexity of organization and implementation of environmental expertise, outlines the scope of analytical objectives included in the considered segment. The authors study the material, procedural and tactical aspects related to this institute; show the significance of its development for environmental protection. In the course of description of materials and methods of research, conclusions are formulated about the demand for this format of research, prospects of its use in proving criminal and civil cases. The idea of the complexity of the definition of the expert objective in the highlighted segment is substantiated, as there are no clear ideas about the capabilities of science in this special field. The results obtained in the paper are presented in the form of concrete proposals for determining the paths of development of the considered institution. According to the authors, the complex researches carried out at the intersection of related spheres of specialized knowledge are most in demand. This approach allows to broaden the subject of analysis and gives the obtained results theoretical and applied validity. The methodological basis for the study of the selected moments is based on the combination of axiological aspects and systemic principles with the application of the activity component. The methodological part reveals and substantiates the most effective means and ways of this kind of research for investigation of environmental crimes and consideration of civil law disputes related to natural objects. The discussion formulates the reasons that hinder the development of this type of expertise, with certain proposals to overcome them.

Enhancing Forest Security through Advanced Surveillance Applications

Forests established through afforestation are one of the most precious natural resources, especially in harsh and desert-biased conditions. Trees are often exposed to various threats that need to be addressed. Some of the threats are igniting fires, illegal lumberjacking, hunting, using, and crossing prohibited areas, etc. This article delves into the combination of advanced technologies, such as radars, thermal imaging, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and biomass monitoring systems, in the field of forestry and natural resource security. By examining the parametric assurance technologies described in this paper, the potentials of real-time monitoring, early detection of threats, and rapid response capabilities are examined, which significantly improves the efficiency of forest protection efforts. This article deals with the presentation of advanced algorithms that include radar, thermal cameras, and artificial intelligence, which enable the automatic identification and classification of potential threats with a false alarm rate (FAR) as low as possible. The article presents a systemic solution that optimizes the answer for a parametric security system that is required to work in a complex environment with multiple triggers that can cause false alarms. In addition to this, a presented system is required to be easy to assemble and have the ability to integrate into natural areas and serve as a vulnerable aid in nature as much as possible. In conclusion, this study highlights the transformative potential of security applications in improving forest and natural reserve security while taking into account the complexity of the environment.

Climate change in Himalayas: Impacts on lives and livelihoods

Climate change is emerged as an issue of great concern for the nations around the world. It affects virtually all physical, biological and human systems on this planet. However, the impacts are particularly severe for highly climate sensitive environments like Himalayas. The impacts of climate change are well observed in the Himalayas in the form of increasing temperature, melting glaciers, formation of glacial lakes, glacial lakes outburst floods (GLOFs) event and changing biodiversity and the ecosystems. Often referred as the ‘Third Pole’ or the ‘Water Tower of Asia’, Himalayas host largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar region which feed 10 of giant Asian rivers. Himalayas provide lifeline for half a billion people in the mountains and more than 1.3 billion people in the river basins who depend directly or indirectly on mountain resources for food, water, hydroelectricity, timber, biodiversity, and niche products. Climate change is a critical issue in the Himalayas not only because it adversely affects ecosystem of the region but also because it could have serious repercussions for mountain people. Due to fragile ecology and inaccessibility and poor economic development, people in the mountains have limited livelihood options. They depend heavily on agriculture, livestock rearing, forest products and tourism which are highly sensitive to climate change. Thus, any adverse impact on mountain resources will eventually have adverse effects on the life and livelihoods of mountain people. Although data about human well being in the Himalayas is scant, the climate change effects are likely to be experienced by them, among other things, on their livelihoods, health, and natural resource security. Thus, in this paper an attempt has been made to review the available literature on the climate change trends in the Himalayas and their subsequent impacts on mountain people.

Authoritarian environmentalism in Vietnam: The construction of climate change as a security threat

This article examines the construction of climate change as a security threat under authoritarian political structures. Based on 55 Vietnamese government policies, strategies, laws, and action plans and building on the theoretical framework of authoritarian environmentalism, the article demonstrates that climate change is increasingly being taken seriously by the Vietnamese policymakers and that security framings play a significant role in this debate. Although the authoritarian state in Vietnam appears to be relatively independent of public preferences and is argued to rely primarily on top-down, non-participatory environmental management, it nonetheless strives to construct narratives that support its public legitimacy. Through the use of various frames such as natural resource security, water resource security, food security, and energy security, Vietnamese discourse presumes that climate change policies should bring economic benefits, which in turn provides the basis for the public security agenda and ultimately serves regime security, strengthening the legitimacy and resilience of the Communist Party of Vietnam. These findings indicate that development and security discourses in the area of climate policy actively interact and perpetuate each other, highlighting an important feature of emerging state environmentalism in Vietnam.

Ten Years of Research on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: An Analysis of Topics Evolution

This study explores how the concept and research on the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus has evolved over time. The research uncovers the key terms underpinning the phenomenon, maps the interlinkages between WEF nexus topics, and provides an overview of the evolution of the concept of WEF nexus. We analyzed published academic literature from the Scopus database and performed both qualitative and quantitative analyses using Natural Language Processing method. The findings suggest that the nexus approach is increasingly evolving into an integrative concept, and has been incorporating new topics over time, resulting in different methods for WEF nexus research, with a focus on interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral analyses. Through the five periods outlined, we have identified the nexus approach debate focused on the following predominant topics: i) Trend 1 (2012–2016) debates on WEF nexus for water management and natural resource security, ii) Trend 2 (2017–2018) linkages between the nexus, the sustainable development goals and green economy, iii) Trend 3 (2019) WEF nexus governance and policy integration, iv) Trend 4 (2020) application of the nexus concept on different scales, including regions, countries, watersheds, urban areas as well as other components coupled to the WEF nexus, and, v) Trend 5 (2021) climate change and urban nexus challenges.

The Role of Autonomous Robots in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as an Approach of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG9): Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure in Handling the Effect of COVID-19 Outbreak

This research is aimed to discuss the implementation of Autonomous Robot as Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Technology approaches in facing this current epidemic outbreak. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the current and emerging environment in which technologies has transformed the way we live and work. Since Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9): Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure aimed to build resilient infrastructures, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and encourage innovation, it is believed that 4IR technology can help to achieve that. World Economic Forum (2017) emphasizes that 4IR innovation can promote system transformation across the environment and natural resource security agenda including enhancing the Risk Reduction agenda Disaster (DRR). A comprehensive solution is needed to prevent or slow down the spread of COVID-19. The objective of the paper is to discuss the implementation of Autonomous Robot as Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Technology approaches in facing this current pandemic outbreak in Malaysia and overseas. The methodology used for this paper is Visual Analysis method. 15 YouTube videos from 12 countries were reviewed. Therefore, gaps determined will help innovators especially in improving the existing function of Autonomous Robots used during COVID-19.

Environmental and economic franchising tools in the sustainable management system: application technologies

The article formulates and reveals the main mechanisms and technologies for managing the introduction of environmental and economic franchising tools in management, which allows to ensure the implementation of the target functions of the modern environmental management system and environmental protection, taking into account current problems and risks of different nature.The essence and content of basic and specific functions of nature management and environmental protection of the state are revealed. This allowed to determine the list of necessary for the implementation of economic, types of environmental and economic franchising in the context of ensuring the transition of the state and its regions to sustainable development in resource constraints as a result of increasing and rationalizing the use of natural resources.The importance and significance of ecological and economic franchising for the development of the national system of sustainable management are described. The following are formulated and detailed: a economic and legal conditions and grounds for the effectiveness of the tools of environmental and economic franchising in Ukraine; financial and environmental policies of the state. This became the basis for substantiation: a set of tasks to achieve sustainable management of socio-economic systems and territorial natural economic formations, a format for implementing effective environmental innovation projects to address environmental issues, and an innovative composition of search tools and methods. new opportunities and reserves to attract investment to increase the level of economic, environmental, social, industrial and natural resource security of the state as a whole. It is shown that the introduction of franchising requires not only changes in production and economic and organizational and managerial structures, but also the restructuring of thinking and ways of doing business at all levels, which take care of spatial management of sustainable development of the state and its regions.

Manufacturing Process Monitoring in Terms of Energy Management Improving

Seeking out new technologies and deploying them for competitive advantage is a key priority for any company. In this context, Internet of Things (IoT) promise to change the way we live and work. IoT could help us in overtaking the top global challenges, as energy management, agriculture and food security, environment and natural resources security, etc., but to achieve this vision, "things" need to sense their environment and share this information among them as well as with us to offer intelligent decision-making. Nowadays, IoT become even more interesting due to the existence of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks. LPWA is a key component of a wider IoT technology wave. In this paper, a LoRaWAN based solution is presented, for manufacturing process monitoring, in order to improve energy management in plants. The authors present a minimally invasive device, with which many product manufacturing data can be obtained for analysis and further improvements. This paper is an extended variant of [14].

Evaluating approaches to resource management in consumer product sectors - An overview of global practices

Addressing global sustainability challenges associated with natural resource security and climate change requires new perspective on waste and resource management. Sustainability-driven business model innovations have a crucial role in transforming current, unsustainable, production and consumption patterns by slowing product replacement and closing material cycles. This study identifies best practice across a range of consumer product sectors. The study developed a novel methodology to identify and evaluate practical approaches to resource efficiency and the circular economy in order to reduce energy and material demand in these product sectors. These approaches include durable product design, enhanced repair and upgrade services, and product take-back. The study analysed 519 products and identified a total 145 examples of best practice within their respective product sectors that provide important insights into planning more circular business models in a range of product sectors. The paper highlights major barriers to, and opportunities, for wider implementation of these practices.

Defining and Quantifying National-Level Targets, Indicators and Benchmarks for Management of Natural Resources to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are high on the agenda for most countries of the world. In its publication of the SDGs, the UN has provided the goals and target descriptions that, if implemented at a country level, would lead towards a sustainable future. The IAEG (InterAgency Expert Group of the SDGs) was tasked with disseminating indicators and methods to countries that can be used to gather data describing the global progress towards sustainability. However, 2030 Agenda leaves it to countries to adopt the targets with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. At present, guidance on how to go about this is scant but it is clear that the responsibility is with countries to implement and that it is actions at a country level that will determine the success of the SDGs. Reporting on SDGs by country takes on two forms: i) global reporting using prescribed indicator methods and data; ii) National Voluntary Reviews where a country reports on its own progress in more detail but is also able to present data that are more appropriate for the country. For the latter, countries need to be able to adapt the global indicators to fit national priorities and context, thus the global description of an indicator could be reduced to describe only what is relevant to the country. Countries may also, for the National Voluntary Review, use indicators that are unique to the country but nevertheless contribute to measurement of progress towards the global SDG target. Importantly, for those indicators that relate to the security of natural resources security (e.g., water) indicators, there are no prescribed numerical targets/standards or benchmarks. Rather countries will need to set their own benchmarks or standards against which performance can be evaluated. This paper presents a procedure that would enable a country to describe national targets with associated benchmarks that are appropriate for the country. The procedure builds on precedent set in other countries but in particular on a procedure developed for the setting of Resource Quality Objectives in South Africa. The procedure focusses on those SDG targets that are natural resource-security focused, for example, extent of water-related ecosystems (6.6), desertification (15.3) and so forth, because the selection of indicator methods and benchmarks is based on the location of natural resources, their use and present state and how they fit into national strategies.

PRIORITY TRENDS IN ENSURING THE ENERGY SECURITY OF UKRAINE IN THE TERMS OF EUROINTEGRATION

The subject matter of the study is to find the priority tasks and to select ways to ensure the energy security of Ukraine as well as to identify its energy potential for accelerating the economic growth. The goal of the article is to study the trends and strategic prospects for creating, developing and ensuring the energy security of Ukraine under the conditions of European integration reforms. The following methods and ways of scientific research were used in the article: the dialectical and the system approach was used to generalize the scientific study; the method of logical generalization was used to study the existing situation and to justify the directions for ensuring the energy security, to substantiate the relevance of the topic, the goal and objectives of the study, to identify the essential features and threats of the excessive use of imported energy supplies; the method of grouping to systematize tasks and ways to diversify the energy consumption in Ukraine. Ukraine has a significant potential for accelerating the economic development and enhancing the energy security. The energy security is an important component of the national security of the state and one of the global problems of every country in the world. To realize the existing potential, Ukrainian laws and regulations should be reformed and the requirements of international agreements should be met, the relations with the countries of the European Union should be developed. The following tasks were solved: the current state of fuel and natural resources security of Ukraine was analyzed and the ways for improving the energy security were systematized, the trends in the development and the priorities of the strategic prospects of Ukraine in the context of integration processes were studied. The following results were obtained: the main steps to ensure the energy security of Ukraine, to enhance the cooperation with the EU countries, to strengthen the relations in the context of the energy security were highlighted, the available energy potential for accelerating the economic growth was substantiated. Conclusions. The need to neutralize threats to energy efficiency as a diversification of energy consumption in Ukraine is proved. This approach will ensure the international competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy, the prerequisites for membership in international organizations; it will also stimulate the renewal of the domestic energy industry. The prospects for further research in this area are the study of the development of the competitive energy market and transition to the energy-efficient use of energy resources in order to ensure the energy security of Ukraine.

Reconsidering Non-Traditional Security Threats: A Case of Natural Resource Security

Reconsidering Non-Traditional Security Threats: A Case of Natural Resource Security

Developing Responsive Indicators of Indigenous Community Health.

How health is defined and assessed is a priority concern for Indigenous peoples due to considerable health risks faced from environmental impacts to homelands, and because what is “at risk” is often determined without their input or approval. Many health assessments by government agencies, industry, and researchers from outside the communities fail to include Indigenous definitions of health and omit basic methodological guidance on how to evaluate Indigenous health, thus compromising the quality and consistency of results. Native Coast Salish communities (Washington State, USA) developed and pilot-tested a set of Indigenous Health Indicators (IHI) that reflect non-physiological aspects of health (community connection, natural resources security, cultural use, education, self-determination, resilience) on a community scale, using constructed measures that allow for concerns and priorities to be clearly articulated without releasing proprietary knowledge. Based on initial results from pilot-tests of the IHI with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (Washington State, USA), we argue that incorporation of IHIs into health assessments will provide a more comprehensive understanding of Indigenous health concerns, and assist Indigenous peoples to control their own health evaluations.

The China Investment Corporation: Power, Wealth or Something Else?

In 2007, China created the China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). There is much anxiety about how Beijing will deploy this US$500 billion fund. Specifically, there are concerns that Beijing may use the CIC to sanction others, gain control of other countries’ key assets, or challenge the international order. This analysis demonstrates that China is not wielding its SWF aggressively as an instrument of economic statecraft. Instead, Beijing primarily leverages it in order to advance its domestic objectives. However, China does use the CIC to enhance its natural resource security and build international partnerships.

Review and prospect of research on the spatial pattern of China's urban system

Creating a scientifically-sound spatial pattern of urban system is an important content of promoting the "new urbanization" strategy in China. In this article, we discuss the progress of research on the overall characteristics, evolution, and development mechanisms of the spatial pattern of China's urban system. These include the research progress on the spatial distribution and structure of China's urban system, the spatial pattern of city scales, the spatial pattern of functional structure, as well as the spatial pattern of urban network of China's urban system. This review concludes that although much research has been done on the spatial pattern of China's urban system based on socioeconomic development, further in-depth and improved research is still needed. Less research has been done on the spatial pattern of China's urban system based on ecological environment and natural resources security concerns, and this fails to meet the practical needs of urban development. Research on optimization theory and evaluation of the spatial pattern of China's urban system is overall insufficient. System simulation and optimization mode research is relatively weak. Accordingly, in addition to deepening and improving studies on current research themes, future studies should focus on the spatial coupling of the ecological security pattern, resource and environment pattern, and economic and social development pattern of China's urban system. The research on optimization theory, evaluation methods, system simulation models, and optimization modes and strategies of the spatial pattern of China's urban system should be highligted. Finally, an integrated system of theory and methodology on the spatial pattern of China's urban system should be developed.

The Myth of ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ in Sustaining Water Resources

With growing concerns regarding natural resources security over the last fifty years, a range of movements, including the notion of the tragedy of the commons suggest how to enhance sustainability of natural resources. A case in point is the discourse on the necessity of introducing regulatory and market schemes for the challenges to the sustainability of the commons. This article, inter alia, highlights the literature on the tragedy of the commons, in order to understand its theoretical and practical strengths, and examine the applicability of its core ideas to current issues of water security. As contemporary water security problems are interconnected and complex, the article challenges the adequacy and effectiveness of coercive regulatory arrangements to individual water users’ behavior in sustaining water security. It also examines the variation of new initiatives (in natural resources management) from the traditional perspectives of the tragedy of the commons. It is argued that introducing coercive regulatory institutional arrangements is not by itself sufficient because water security may require comprehensive regulatory and non-regulatory institutional arrangements at national and transnational levels (supplemented by comprehensive implementation strategies) to address a range of water pressures. Key words: Tragedy of the Commons, the Commons, open- access, institutional arrangements, water security, water pressures

EMERGING EAST ASIAN ECONOMIES AS FOREIGN INVESTORS: AN ANALYTICAL SURVEY

This paper documents and analyzes the rise of emerging East Asian economies as major international investors. Foreign direct investment (FDI) from these economies is rising faster than their economic growth, trade and inward FDI, and the region is by far the most important investor from the developing world. We develop an analytical interpretation of the behavior and competitive strategies of major developing East Asian outward investors. We conclude that the drivers of this outward FDI (OFDI) are generally consistent with the international investment literature. But in addition, particular factors are at work, including the desire for natural resource security, and exceptionally high domestic savings rates. The major challenge for the rest of the world is to accommodate these FDI flows, as part of the global reorientation of economic activity toward East Asia.

Asia Rising: Emerging East Asian Economies as Foreign Investors

This paper documents and analyzes the rise of emerging East Asian economies as major international investors. Foreign direct investment (FDI) from these economies is rising faster than their economic growth, trade, and inward FDI, and the region is by far the most important investor from the developing world. We develop an analytical interpretation of the behaviour and competitive strategies of major developing East Asian outward investors. We conclude that the drivers of this outward FDI are generally consistent with the international investment literature. But in addition particular factors are at work, including the desire for natural resource security, and exceptionally high domestic savings rates. The major challenge for the rest of the world is to accommodate these FDI flows, as part of the global reorientation of economic activity towards East Asia.

Dynamic Tracking and Comprehensive Evaluation on the Natural Resources Security Elements and System in China

Abstract System theory, pressure–state–response and driving–pressure–state–impact–response model have been applied to establishing China’s dynamic tracking evaluation system of natural resources security in this article. Based on analytic hierarchy process and Delphi methods, the natural resources security situation has been evaluated systematically from 1991 to 2007. The result showed that the overall level of China’s natural resources security presented a downtrend from 1991 to 2007. The basic reasons are the pressure indicators such as population, GDP, natural resources trade increased gradually, resulting in tension and fragility of natural resources security.