Environment and Development Conundrum

Environment and Development Conundrum PDF Author: Kumar Bar Das
Publisher: Discovery Publishing House
ISBN: 9788171411788
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Book Description
Contributed papers.

The Conundrum

The Conundrum PDF Author: David Owen
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101560134
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Book Description
Look out for David Owen's next book, Where the Water Goes. The Conundrum is a mind-changing manifesto about the environment, efficiency and the real path to sustainability. Hybrid cars, fast trains, compact florescent light bulbs, solar panels, carbon offsets: Everything you've been told about living green is wrong. The quest for a breakthrough battery or a 100 mpg car are dangerous fantasies. We are consumers, and we like to consume green and efficiently. But David Owen argues that our best intentions are still at cross purposes to our true goal - living sustainably and caring for our environment and the future of the planet. Efficiency, once considered the holy grail of our environmental problems, turns out to be part of the problem. Efforts to improve efficiency and increase sustainable development only exacerbate the problems they are meant to solve, more than negating the environmental gains. We have little trouble turning increases in efficiency into increases in consumption. David Owen's The Conundrum is an elegant nonfiction narrative filled with fascinating information and anecdotes takes you through the history of energy and the quest for efficiency. This is a book about the environment that will change how you look at the world. We should not be waiting for some geniuses to invent our way out of the energy and economic crisis we're in. We already have the technology and knowledge we need to live sustainably. But will we do it? That is the conundrum.

African Cities and the Development Conundrum

African Cities and the Development Conundrum PDF Author: Carole Ammann
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004387943
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Book Description
This 10th thematic volume of International Development Policy presents a collection of articles exploring some of the complex development challenges associated with Africa’s recent but extremely rapid pace of urbanisation that challenges still predominant but misleading images of Africa as a rural continent. Analysing urban settings through the diverse experiences and perspectives of inhabitants and stakeholders in cities across the continent, the authors consider the evolution of international development policy responses amidst the unique historical, social, economic and political contexts of Africa’s urban development. Contributors include: Carole Ammann, Claudia Baez Camargo, Claire Bénit-Gbaffou, Karen Büscher, Aba Obrumah Crentsil, Sascha Delz, Ton Dietz, Till Förster, Lucy Koechlin, Lalli Metsola, Garth Myers, George Owusu, Edgar Pieterse, Sebastian Prothmann, Warren Smit, and Florian Stoll.

India’s Contemporary Urban Conundrum

India’s Contemporary Urban Conundrum PDF Author: Sujata Patel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 0429656939
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
This book lays out the different and complex dimensions of urbanisation in India. It brings together contributors with expertise in fields as varied as demography, geography, economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, architecture, planning and land use, environmental sciences, creative writing, filmmaking and grassroots activism to reflect on and examine India’s urban experience. It discusses various dimensions of city life—how to define the urban; the conditions generating work, living and (in)security; the nature of contemporary cities; the dilemmas of creating and executing urban policy, planning and governance; and the issues concerning ecology and environment. The volume also articulates and evaluates the way Indian urbanism promotes and organises aspirations and utopias of the people, whilst simultaneously endorsing disparities, depravities and conflicts. The volume includes interventions that shape contemporary debates. Comprehensive, accessible and topical, it will be useful to scholars and researchers of urban studies, urban sociology, development studies, public policy, economics, political studies, gender studies, city studies, planning and governance. It will also interest practitioners, think tanks and NGOs working on urban issues.

South Asia and Climate Change

South Asia and Climate Change PDF Author: Mausumi Kar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000409805
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the diverse aspects of climate change in South Asia. The region, home to almost 4% of the world’s population, is under serious threat from climatic disasters. The volume underscores the urgency of addressing cataclysmic events related to climate change and their ramifications on the economy, agriculture and livelihoods of the region. The book discusses the reasons causing climate change as well as highlights normative and ethical considerations involved in the battle against climate change. With case studies from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it explores issues such as extreme climatic events; energy use, fossil fuels, non-renewable resources and carbon dioxide emission in South Asia; internal migration and climate refugees; the ethical dilemma of sustainable development; technological advancements for extreme weather forecast; and responses to climate change in South Asia. Highlighting the need for striking a balance between developmental imperatives and environmental sustainability, the chapters also show the North-South divide in the research agenda and policies on climate change and the global politics that underlie climate policies. The volume juxtaposes a scientific analysis of factors responsible for climate change with an analysis of the human cost of climate change from the perspective of social sciences. It discusses the challenges faced by developing countries while also offering recommendations and solutions. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of climate studies, geography, public policy and governance, sustainable development, development studies, environmental studies, political studies, international relations, political economy, economics and sociology. It will also be useful to practitioners, thinktanks, policymakers and civil society organisations working on environmental management.

How Green is the City?

How Green is the City? PDF Author: Dimitri Devuyst
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231118031
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 486

Book Description
This book deals with practical ways to reach a more sustainable state in urban areas through such tools as strategic environmental assessment, sustainability assessment, direction analysis, baseline setting and progress measurement, sustainability targets, and ecological footprint analysis.

Ecologically Unequal Exchange

Ecologically Unequal Exchange PDF Author: R. Scott Frey
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319897403
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Book Description
At a time of societal urgency surrounding ecological crises from depleted fisheries to mineral extraction and potential pathways towards environmental and ecological justice, this book re-examines ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) from a historical and comparative perspective. The theory of ecologically unequal exchange posits that core or northern consumption and capital accumulation is based on peripheral or southern environmental degradation and extraction. In other words, structures of social and environmental inequality between the Global North and Global South are founded in the extraction of materials from, as well as displacement of waste to, the South. This volume represents a set of tightly interlinked papers with the aim to assess ecologically unequal exchange and to move it forward. Chapters are organised into three main sections: theoretical foundations and critical reflections on ecologically unequal exchange; empirical research on mining, deforestation, fisheries, and the like; and strategies for responding to the adverse consequences associated with unequal ecological exchange. Scholars as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from the spirited re-evaluation and extension of ecologically unequal exchange theory, research, and praxis.

The Cardamom Conundrum

The Cardamom Conundrum PDF Author: Timothy J. Killeen
Publisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9971696142
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
A "conundrum" is a puzzle whose solution requires the resolution of a paradox. In this instance, the paradox lies in two widely held and conflicting assumptions: that the pathway to a modern economy requires exploiting and monetizing a country's natural resources, and that the long-term prosperity of a nation depends on the conservation of those same resources. This book consciously seeks to avoid the mentality of "trade-offs", where pro-development advocates view conservation efforts as impediments and conservationists are convinced that development inevitably leads to a loss for nature. Instead, through an evaluation of opportunities in the still pristine forests of the Cardamom Mountains and surrounding landscapes, the author seeks to demonstrate that wise management of a nation's renewable natural resources will facilitate economic growth. Resolving the Cardamom Conundrum demands an economic model that provides robust growth, and that alleviates poverty over the short term and eradicates it over the medium term. Any other solution is impractical and morally unacceptable. The author points the way by indentifying innovative options linked to climate finance and low carbon development strategies that span the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The Conundrum of Corruption

The Conundrum of Corruption PDF Author: Michael Johnston
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000317579
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 138

Book Description
This book argues that it is time to step back and reassess the anti-corruption movement, which despite its many opportunities and great resources has ended up with a track record that is indifferent at best. Drawing on many years of experience and research, the authors critique many of the major strategies and tactics employed by anti-corruption actors, arguing that they have made the mistake of holding on to problematical assumptions, ideas, and strategies, rather than addressing the power imbalances that enable and sustain corruption. The book argues that progress against corruption is still possible but requires a focus on justice and fairness, considerable tolerance for political contention, and a willingness to stick with the reform cause over a very long process of thoroughgoing, sometimes discontinuous political change. Ultimately, the purpose of the book is not to tell people that they are doing things all wrong. Instead, the authors present new ways of thinking about familiar dilemmas of corruption, politics, contention, and reform. These valuable insights from two of the top thinkers in the field will be useful for policymakers, reform groups, grant-awarding bodies, academic researchers, NGO officers, and students.

Handbook on Growth and Sustainability

Handbook on Growth and Sustainability PDF Author: Peter A. Victor
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1783473568
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 593

Book Description
This Handbook assembles original contributions from influential authors such as Herman Daly, Paul Ekins, Marina Fischer-Kowalski, Jeroen van den Bergh, William E. Rees and Tim Jackson who have helped to define our understanding of growth and sustainability. The Handbook also presents new contributions on topics such as degrowth, the debt-based financial system, cultural change, energy return on investment, shorter working hours and employment, and innovation and technology. Explorations of these issues can deepen our understanding of whether growth is sustainable and, in turn, whether a move away from growth can be sustained. With issues such as climate change looming large, our understanding of growth and sustainability is critical. This Handbook offers a broad range of perspectives that can help the reader to decide: Growth? Sustainability? Both? Or neither?