Air pollution is a critical issue in Thailand and, while the government regularly announces new measures to combat it, enforcement remains a key issue. This paper presents a comprehensive desk review of
A European Eco-efficient Economy has been prepared as a background report for the 2009 Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It forms a common basis for discussions at the informal ministerial meetings of the Council dealing with energy, environment and competitiveness .
In order to strengthen cooperation on and deepen analysis of issues related to sustainable development, the Swedish Government has set up an advisory Commission on Sustainable Development. The Commission serves as a forum for discussion, analysis and
This paper presents a conceptual framework that turns the mainstream adaptation discourse upside down, with understanding and respect for autonomous adaptation as the starting point for a new agenda to manage the human dimensions of climate change.
This report contains a list of key messages that together can effectively improve the conditions for food productions and poverty alleviation. There is a large potential to improve water productivity through improved and known water and land management practices, says co-author Jennie Barron. Water productivity is a measure of the amount of water needed to generate an amount of produce.
Ecosystem services are fundamental for human well-being, and are the basis of rural livelihoods, in particular for the poor. Rainwater harvesting can serve as an opportunity to enhance ecosystem productivity, thereby improving livelihoods, human well-being and economies. Rainwater harvesting has been shown to create synergies in landscape management and human well-being.
The report, entitled "Sea Change: US Climate Policy Prospects Under the Obama Administration", provides an analysis of climate policy prospects under the Obama administration and was produced for the Swedish Government's Sustainability Commission in preparation for the upcoming Swedish EU Presidency and the Swedish leadership of the COP15 EU delegation in December 2009.
Carbon or greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets have long been promoted as an important element of a comprehensive climate policy approach. Offset programs can reduce the overall cost of achieving a given emission goal by enabling emission reductions to occur where costs are lower.
An impasse threatens the international climate negotiations. This impasse
Global climate change has resulted primarily from the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere over the last 150 years. However, recent studies indicate that, on average, 40 per cent of the potential warming by GHGs is being masked by certain aerosols (and aerosol-cloud interactions) that increase the reflection of sunlight.
Current day concentrations of ground level ozone (O3) are commonly reducing crop yields by between 5 and 35 % at agriculturally important locations across South Asia. O3 induced economic crop losses could be in the region of $4 billion per annum for staple crops in South Asia; such losses are likely to impact more on poor and vulnerable people.
