Need For Environmental Policy Research Articles

Environmental impact of pharmaceutical contaminants in dumpsites: a study from Ejisu-Juaben municipality, Ghana

This study assessed the occurrence of nine pharmaceuticals (caffeine, ibuprofen, metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, diclofenac, doxycycline, and paracetamol) in leachate and soil samples from eight dumpsites within the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It evaluated the ecotoxicological risk posed by these pharmaceuticals to organisms. The study also investigated the disposal patterns of pharmaceuticals by inhabitants of the municipality. After solid-phase extraction, the residues of selected antibiotics and analgesics in soil and leachate samples were analyzed using an HPLC–PDA method. Five of the pharmaceuticals were detected in the leachate and soil samples. Chloramphenicol, diclofenac, and paracetamol were detected in all leachate and soil samples, with concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 74.53 µg/L in leachate and 0.06–305.06 µg/kg in soil samples. Chloramphenicol had the highest concentration in leachate samples, while amoxicillin had the highest concentration in soil samples. Ecological risk assessment indicated that even the least detected pharmaceuticals posed a significant risk to fish, daphnia, and algae, with hazard quotients ranging from 0.56 to 1742.75. Survey results indicated that 71.0% of respondents disposed of unwanted or expired medicines. Within this group, 83.5% inappropriately disposed of expired drugs by placing them in household garbage, which is destined for dumpsites. Additionally, 52% of respondents wanted to protect the environment and would willingly contribute financially to enhance remediation efforts. The findings emphasize the urgent need for environmental policies and public education on proper pharmaceutical disposal to mitigate the ecological risks posed by pharmaceutical contaminants in developing regions. Altogether, the study highlights the presence of pharmaceutical residues in dumpsites at levels that could harm the ecosystem's health. Continuous monitoring and strategies to reduce pharmaceutical release into the environment are essential to protect the environment.

Dynamic factors driving PM2.5 concentrations: Fresh evidence at the global level

This paper analyzes the dynamic impact of economic, social, and governance factors on PM2.5 concentrations in 89 countries from 2006 to 2019. Using the GMM-PVAR approach and Impulse-Response Functions, we examine how shocks to specific variables affect PM2.5 concentrations over a 10-year period. Our findings reveal that the influence of these factors on PM2.5 levels varies over time. For example, a shock in urbanization has no effect on PM2.5 concentrations in the first year, but in the second year, pollution increases significantly. In the third period, PM2.5 levels decrease, but they rise again in the fourth period, albeit not significantly. By the fifth period, pollution decreases until a new equilibrium is reached in the sixth period. Additionally, a shock in financial development, government effectiveness, industrialization, trade openness, or GDP has no effect on PM2.5 concentrations in the initial period. However, during the second period, air pollution decreases, followed by an increase in the third period and a decrease again in the fourth period. These dynamic patterns highlight the need for environmental policies that consider the evaluation time horizon. Our analysis is supplemented by the Granger causality test, guiding specific policy recommendations based on our findings.

Combined application of up to ten pesticides decreases key soil processes

Natural systems are under increasing pressure by a range of anthropogenic global change factors. Pesticides represent a nearly ubiquitously occurring global change factor and have the potential to affect soil functions. Currently the use of synthetic pesticides is at an all-time high with over 400 active ingredients being utilized in the EU alone, with dozens of these pesticides occurring concurrently in soil. However, we presently do not understand the impacts of the potential interaction of multiple pesticides when applied simultaneously. Using soil collected from a local grassland, we utilize soil microcosms to examine the role of both rate of change and number of a selection of ten currently used pesticides on soil processes, including litter decomposition, water stable aggregates, aggregate size, soil pH, and EC. Additionally, we used null models to enrich our analyses to examine potential patterns caused by interactions between pesticide treatments. We find that both gradual and abrupt pesticide application have negative consequences for soil processes. Notably, pesticide number plays a significant role in affecting soil health. Null models also reveal potential synergistic behavior between pesticides which can further their consequences on soil processes. Our research highlights the complex impacts of pesticides, and the need for environmental policy to address the threats posed by pesticides.

An Econometric Analysis of Economic Development and CO2 Emissions in India

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of economic development on the environment. Using time series data from 1991 to 2019, GDP per capita and CO2 emissions are utilised as indicators of economic development and environmental degradation, respectively.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: PP and ADF unit root tests verify variable stationarity. Econometric study using Johansen cointegration test and vector error correction model (VECM) and residual stability model.
 Findings: Study revealed that long-run association among Carbon dioxide emissions, gross domestic product per capita, and industrial Value added. Carbon dioxide emissions increased with the rised in the Gross domestic product per capita. GDP per capita was outcomes to be unfavorably related to Carbon dioxide emissions in India.
 Research Limitations/Implications: This study was suggest that environmental degradation can be reduced at the cost of economic development. Energy-efficient technologies should be encouraged to enhance the domestic product with the help of the industrial sector by improving environmentally friendly technologies from advanced economies. This study suggests the need for environmental policies to reduce emissions during periods of economic growth.
 Originality/Value: This paper used new econometric methods to study the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation in India year 1991 to 2019.

Spatial analysis of wild bird trafficking in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil

Wild animal trafficking is a growing practice worldwide and a complex problem that brings a lot of profit, moving billions of dollars. This illegal trade has Brazil as route due to its rich biodiversity. It is widespread throughout the state of Pernambuco, having constant growth because the state is in a geographical position that favors this type of illegal practice and has a great diversity of species. Thus, the objective of the study was to perform a spatial analysis of wild bird trafficking in the municipalities of the state of Pernambuco in the period from 2016 to 2021, through an exploratory data analysis with seven variables that could explain its occurrence. It was used as methodology the global and local Moran’s indexes, all implemented in the Geographic Information System software. The findings revealed that the municipalities that showed high average rates of wild bird trafficking in the investigated period, in general, are geographically close to those that also showed high rates of seizure of birds, Intentional Lethal Violent Crime, Violent Crime against Property, and unemployment. In general, the results allowed us to conclude that the methods of spatial cluster analysis proved satisfactory for the analysis in question. Moreover, it is important to note that the precarious enforcement favors the continuity of this practice, and there is an urgent need for environmental policies to restrain it effectively.

The impact of urbanisation on the cardiometabolic health of Indigenous Brazilian peoples: a systematic review and meta-analysis, and data from the Brazilian Health registry

Indigenous Brazilian peoples have faced an unparalleled increase in the rate of cardiovascular diseases following rapid nutritional transition to more urban diets. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between urbanisation (including data from Amazon rainforest deforestation) and cardiometabolic risk factors and outcomes. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for articles published in any language between the year 1950 and March 10, 2022. Studies conducted in Indigenous Brazilian adults that evaluated metabolic health were included. Data for deforestation was obtained by the Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Project. Cardiovascular mortality was obtained from the Brazilian Health registry. Two independent reviewers evaluated studies for risk of bias, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations. The main outcomes assessed were the prevalence of obesity and related cardiometabolic risk factors among Indigenous Brazilian peoples and its association with urbanisation. Summary data were extracted from published reports for the meta-analyses. We calculated pooled estimates of the prevalence of each cardiometabolic outcome by using a random-effects model (DerSimonian-Laird method). This study is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, CRD42021285480. 46 studies were identified, including a total of 20 574 adults from at least 33 Indigenous Brazilian ethnicities. Meta-analyses of the prevalence of obesity showed that there were higher rates of obesity (midwest region: 23% [95% CI 17-29]; and south region 23% [13-34]) and hypertension (south region: 30% [10-50]) in Indigenous peoples living in urban regions of Brazil, while the lowest rates of obesity (11% [95% CI 8-15]) and hypertension (1% [1-2]) were observed in those in the less urbanised (north) regions of Brazil. The prevalence of obesity was 3·5 times higher in participants living in urbanised Indigenous territories (28%) than in those living in lands with >80% native Amazon rainforest (8%). In meta-analyses that evaluated blood pressure level, there was no incremental change in blood pressure with ageing in Indigenous peoples who lived according to traditional lifestyle, in contrast to those living in urbanised regions. For Indigenous men with traditional lifestyles, systolic blood pressure changed from 109·8 mm Hg to 104·4 mm Hg between the youngest (<30 years) and the oldest (>60 years) age groups, and diastolic blood pressure changed from 69·8 mm Hg to 66·1 mm Hg. For Indigenous women with traditional lifestyles, systolic blood pressure was 100·0 mm Hg for the youngest age group with no changes for older age groups, and diastolic blood pressure was 62 mm Hg for the youngest age group with no changes for older age groups. For Indigenous men with urbanised lifestyles, systolic blood pressure changed from 117·3 mm Hg to 124·9 mm Hg between the youngest and the oldest age groups, and diastolic blood pressure changed from 72·7 mm Hg to 76·4 mm Hg. For Indigenous women with urbanised lifestyles, systolic blood pressure changed from 110·0 mm Hg to 116·0 mm Hg between the youngest and the oldest age groups, and diastolic blood pressure changed from 68·3 mm Hg to 74·0 mm Hg. For the years 1997 and 2019, the cardiovascular mortality rate in individuals living in the southeast region (the most urbanised) was 2·5 times greater than that observed in the north. Conversely, the incremental rise in cardiovascular mortality in the past two decades among Indigenous Brazilians living in the north or northeast (2·7 times increase) stands in stark contrast to the stable rates in those living in already urbanised regions. The macrosocial changes of Indigenous peoples' traditional ways of living consequent to urbanisation are associated with an increased prevalence of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. These data highlight the urgent need for environmental policies to ensure the conservation of the natural ecosystem within Indigenous territories, as well as the development of socio-health policies to improve the cardiovascular health of Indigenous Brazilians peoples living in urban areas. None.

Regional analysis of the sustainable development of two Mediterranean countries: Spain and Italy

AbstractThe 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require the implementation of 167 targets aimed at eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and improving the quality of life of humankind. The United Nations calls for uniform sustainable development at the global, local and individual levels. This research pursues a twofold objective: first, to obtain evidence on the extent to which the achievement of the (SDGs) may be uniform across territories; second, to identify the socioeconomic characteristics that contribute to sustainable development. The empirical analysis has been carried out using clustering, cross efficiency and contingency tables applied to statistical information from 101 municipalities in Spain and Italy. The results provide evidence of inequalities between territories, revealing that only in the dimensions People (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) and Prosperity (SDGs 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11) has the desired homogeneity been attained. Notable differences are found in the degree of compliance with the other SDGs. Furthermore, it is shown that the socioeconomic characteristics associated with the geographical location contribute substantially to the gap between municipalities. In order to ensure countries' sustainable development, there is a need for environmental policies adapted to the specific features of each region.

Analysing the relationship between CO2 emissions and GDP in China: a fractional integration and cointegration approach

This paper examines the relationship between the logarithms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in China by applying fractional integration and cointegration methods. These are more general than the standard methods based on the dichotomy between stationary and non-stationary series, allow for a much wider variety of dynamic processes, and provide information about the persistence and long-memory properties of the series and thus on whether or not the effects of shocks are long-lived. The univariate results indicate that the two series are highly persistent, their orders of integration being around 2, whilst the cointegration tests (using both standard and fractional techniques) imply that there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between the two variables in first differences, i.e. their growth rates are linked together in the long run. This suggests the need for environmental policies aimed at reducing emissions during periods of economic growth.

Social Science and the Analysis of Environmental Policy

AbstractAs much as environmental problems manifest themselves as problems with the natural environment, environmental problems—and their solutions—are ultimately social and behavioral in nature. Just as the natural sciences provide a basis for understanding the need for environmental policy and informing its design, the social sciences also contribute in significant ways to the understanding of the behavioral sources of environmental problems, both in terms of individual incentives and collective action challenges. In addition, the social sciences have contributed much to the understanding of the ways that laws and other institutions can be designed to solve environmental problems. In this review article, we distill core intellectual frameworks from among the social sciences that scaffold modern environmental policy in industrialized country contexts—focusing on key contributions principally from political science, economics, psychology, and sociology to the analysis of environmental problems and their solutions. These frameworks underlie how environmental problems are defined at multiple scales and the conceptualization and empirical testing of policy solutions that seek to shape human behavior in ways that improve environmental quality and promote sustainable economic growth. With the planet facing continued environmental threats, improving environmental policy decision‐making depends on the insights and frameworks of social science research in addition to those of the natural sciences.

Relationships between eco-innovation and financial performance – evidence from publicly traded companies in Poland and Hungary

While the analysis of the linkages between eco-innovative activities and financial performance is a popular topic in the existing body of literature, many questions about these relationships, especially in transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), remain unanswered. In this paper, we explore four types of eco-innovation (product, process, market and sources of supply) and their impact on accounting-based measurers of financial performance using the data on Polish and Hungarian publicly traded companies from the years 2006–2013. Our results indicated that eco-innovators were generally characterized by higher returns on assets and equity and lower earnings retention. Additionally, companies that introduce eco-innovation were also significantly larger, more likely to face lower financial risk exposure and more likely to possess greater free cash flow than conventional firms. The findings suggest that strong asset and financial capabilities are relevant pre-conditions for the development of eco-innovativeness and that there is a need for environmental policy to create clear incentives for SMEs to increase activities in that area. Overall, this study extends the understanding of financial performance implications of innovation by focussing on the area of environmental innovation.

Production management model on the principles of environmental safety and results of its testing

The substantiation of the need for environmental policy in the management of industrial activity was proposed. There were proposed the model and the basic tools of enterprise management on the principles of environmental safety. Comparative assessment indicators were summarized, system for calculating environmental and economic efficiency was identified. All the results work when starting a new production and during subsequent modernization. Recommended innovations were tested at industrial plant. Analysis of the results confirmed the effectiveness of the use of innovative methods of management. Numerical indicators that determine economic impact by improving manufacturing operations in the monetary and material terms are shown.

Environmental costs of shrimp culture in the rice‐growing regions of the Mekong Delta

In the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta, many farmers have adopted the practice of shrimp farming in the dry season, when severe saline intrusion makes it impossible to grow rice. These extensive and semi‐intensive culture methods include integrated rice‐shrimp and shrimp monoculture systems. The adoption of shrimp farming has raised incomes for many farmers in the region, but a number of environmental issues are emerging. These are the potential salinization of rice‐shrimp fields and neighbouring rice monoculture fields, and the build‐up of sediment in rice‐shrimp fields. In this paper, the costs associated with salinization and sedimentation are quantified using farm survey data, and the net private and social benefits of alternative farming systems are compared. The divergence between the private and social values implies a need for environmental policy, and some suggestions for policy are discussed.

The methodological and conceptual basis of environmental policies for children

Abstract The literature on environmental effects on children is pervaded by value‐laden statements. This article stresses careful examination of the factual basis of such statements. Selected research findings on children's health, play behavior, social interactions, and school behavior indicate a need for environmental policies for children. This need is further augmented by children's characteristics regarding their level of development, their decision‐making authority, and their economic position. Four approaches to child‐environment congruence are distinguished. A fable then underscores the importance of basing environmental policies for children on a certain and integral conception of how children's development over time relates to the environment. Space‐time methodology is discussed as one such framework, elucidating contexual considerations that surround research and policies regarding children's environments.