This text traces the evolution of sustainable development and climate change from the time it emerged in international consultations and agreements. The three sections of the book, focusing on the framework, climate change and sustainable development, seek to cover the essentials of the politics of natural resource usage at the global level. The book explores the evolution of sustainable development and climate change within the framework of the United Nations, and the way the concept has been defined through intergovernmental meetings, agreements and consensus within the multilateral system. It also explores the best ways of reducing the risk to the planet while enabling societies to pursue sustainable development paths. The challenges call for a transformation of social systems to facilitate a broadly acceptable change. The book also explores the adoption of low-carbon models different from the high-carbon socio-technical systems and related social practices.
The Sustainable Development Goals are an ongoing focus around the world as the needs of people and society continue to evolve at a rapid pace. The need for a more sustainable future has never been more pressing as issues such as climate change, natural disasters, and overpopulation present unique difficulties for the decision makers of the world. In order for them to make the best decisions regarding current priorities and strategies, up-to-date and detailed research regarding where we currently are as a society, where we want to be, and the many challenges that stand in the way is crucial. The Research Anthology on Measuring and Achieving Sustainable Development Goals is a comprehensive assessment of the current innovative research and discussions on the challenges to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the measures that have already been put in place to achieve them. Covering topics such as green consumer behavior and peace promotion, this book is vital for academicians, scientists, researchers, students, postdoctoral students, specialists, practitioners, businesses, governmental institutions, decision makers, environmentalists, and policymakers.
This book serves the purpose of documenting and promoting African experiences on sustainable development, which encompasses both, formal and non-formal education. Sustainable development is very important to Africa, but there is a paucity of publication which documents and promotes experiences from African countries. Due to their complexity, the interrelations between social, economic and political factors related to sustainable development, especially at universities, need to be better understood. There is also a real need to showcase successful examples of how African institutions are handling their sustainability challenges. It is against this background that this book has been produced. It is a truly interdisciplinary publication, useful to scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies and private companies, undertaking research and/or executing projects focusing on sustainability from across Africa. As African nations strive to pursue the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative to cater for the information needs seen across the continent and foster the dissemination of experiences and case studies, which may support both, on-going and future efforts. The scope of the book is deliberately kept wide, and we are looking for contributions across the spectrum of sustainable development from business and economics, to arts and fashion, administration, environment, languages and media studies.
The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2018 is built around World Development Indicators--the World Bank's compilation of statistics from over 200 economies about global development and the quality of people's lives. For each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, selected indicators have been identified and visualized to anaylze trends and challenges, and to catalyze discussion on measurement issues. -- From back cover.
There is a great deal of rhetoric and no shortage of ideas about sustainable development. However, note Cooper and Vargas (both of the U. of Vermont), there has also been an implementation gap. Saying that implementation is the art of the feasible, they present a feasibility framework for profes
In Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, over one hundred and eighty states assumed a collective responsibility to advance and strengthen the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development economic development, social development, an environmental protection at the local, national, regional and global levels. This remarkable collection of papers, sponsored by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), demonstrates that sustainable development serves as a unifying concept with the potential to facilitate much-needed respect for international law and timely implementation of diverse and overlapping international commitments. It builds on the substance of a rich and complex debate at the intersections among economic, social, and environmental law, bringing together a broad cross-section of viewpoints and voices. The authors review recent developments in WTO discussions and negotiations, and in the recent decisions of the WTO Appellate Body, from a sustainable development law perspective. They also survey relevant new developments in trade and economic agreements at regional, inter-regional and bi-lateral levels. The various essays focus on sustainable development aspects of key issues in recent trade negotiations such as the Singapore Issues (investment, competition, trade facilitation, and government procurement), intellectual property rights, investment arbitration and the linkage between the WTO and multilateral environmental accords, (MEAand¿s).. Among the specific topics covered are the following: Emerging areas of law and policy in trade and sustainable development, The underlying development agendas in global trade law negotiations, Cooperation and potential negotiation on international competition law, Sustainable development aspects of intellectual property rights negotiations, Overlaps between multilateral environmental accords (MEAand¿s) and the WTO, Recent developments in WTO dispute settlement procedures and proceedings, Human rights and environmental opportunities from trade liberalisation and increased market acces, Human rights and environment impact assessment techniques used to analyse trade agreements, Recent developments in bi-lateral and regional trade agreements. Trade, investment, and competition law practitioners and negotiators in developed and developing countries will find this book of great value, as will development and environment law professionals with responsibility for trade and WTO law related matters. With rich contributions from leading trade law practitioners, academics, and WTO panel and appellate body roster members, Sustainable Developments in World Trade Law offers a constructive, timely and accessible expert analysis of recent discussions and advances in the field, providing an integrated and essential guide to some of the most important issues in international economic law today.
Resilience is a term that is gaining currency in conservation and sustainable development, though its meaning and value in this context is yet to be defined. Searching for Resilience in Sustainable Development examines ways in which resilience may be created within the web of ecological, socio-economic and cultural systems that make up the world in. The authors embark upon a learning journey exploring both robust and fragile systems and asking questions of groups and individuals actively involved in building or maintaining resilience. Through a series of wide ranging interviews the authors give voice to the many different approaches to thinking of and building resilience that may otherwise stay rooted in and confined by specific disciplinary, professional or spatial contexts. The book documents emerging trends, shifting tactics and future pathways for the conservation and sustainable development movement post Rio+20, arriving at a set of diverse but connected conclusions and questions in relation to the resilience of people and planet. This book is ideal for students and researchers working in the fields of conservation, sustainable development, education, systems thinking and development studies. It will also be of great interest to NGOs and government officers whose interests and responsibilities focus on conserving or reconstructing biodiversity and system resilience.
Sustainable development, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development, is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." More specifically, sustainable development is a process of change that seeks to improve the collective quality of life by focusing on economically, socially, and environmentally sound projects that are viable in the long-term. Sustainable development requires structural economic change and the foundation of that change is investment. In developing nations with low levels of domestic savings, investment predictably comes from abroad in the form of foreign direct investment. A large and ever expanding number of international investment agreements are in place to govern these transactions. While these accords seek to foster development while mitigating the risk involved in these types investments, many questions remain unresolved. This highly insightful book reflects the contributions of a variety of world renowned experts each of which is designed to provide the reader with valuable perspective on recent developments in investment law negotiations and jurisprudence from a sustainable development law perspective. It offers answers to pertinent questions concerning advancements in investment law, including the negotiation of numerous regional and bilateral agreements as well as the increasing number of disputes resolved in the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), from different developed and developing country perspectives. It lays out future directions for new treaty negotiations and dispute settlement proceedings, as well as ongoing investment promotion efforts, against a background of rapidly evolving international relationships between economic, environment and development law. It focuses on key issues in investment laws which have emerged as priorities in the negotiation of bilateral and regional investment agreements, and have been clarified through recent decisions of the ICSID and other arbitral panel awards.
This book documents the influence of nongovernmental organizations on the rise of the sustainable development movement in international politics. It adds to the body of scholarly research on non-governmental organizations, by examining their political influence during the first two decades of international environmental politics - from the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 to the establishment of the World Conference on Environment and Development in 1982. NGOs wielded their rational moral authority to achieve their goals in attending environmental mega-conferences. In turn, these successes gave rise to a symbiotic relationship with the United Nations Environment Program and secured a seemingly permanent position at not only the negotiating table, but also the inner hallways and back rooms of the United Nations.
