Streetwise Provocations: The Global Justice Movement's take on sustainable development

An examination of the role of the global justice movement in advancing core elements of the sustainable development agenda.

The Fourteenth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development: The Energy Session

A review of the Fourteenth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, focusing on international energy issues.

���It ain���t easy being green���: Sustainable Development between Environment and Economy in Northern Ireland���

Given the relative lack of research on sustainable development in Northern Ireland, this paper focuses on the tensions between environmental governance and regulation on the one hand, and the ���post-conflict��� imperative for Northern Ireland to compete and grow as a regional economy without continued British state subvention and subsidisation. The paper outlines how this ���trade-off��� between ���environment��� and ���economy��� is essentially misplaced. It argues that this trade-off can be avoided if there is a shift in focus from an ���environment versus the economy��� policy position to one in which the ���triple bottom line��� (social, economic and environmental) of sustainable development becomes the over-arching policy agenda. Sustainable development, unlike either orthodox environmental or economic policy, also connects centrally with the unique ���post-conflict transformation��� agenda of Northern Ireland. For example, promoting a human rights civic culture, tackling socioeconomic inequality and social exclusion, and building a shared future based on supporting sustainable communities and an innovative model of a ���green(ing) economy��� goes beyond orthodox economic growth. However, it is clear from the Executive���s Programme for Government, failure to support the creation of an independent Environment Protection Agency, and above all the prioritisation of orthodox economic growth based on foreign direct investment that neither environmental protection nor sustainable development is or will be high on the political or policy agenda in Northern Ireland.

What Happened to the ���Development��� in Sustainable Development? Business Guidelines Two Decades After Brundtland

Over twenty years ago ���Our Common Future��� presented a conceptualization and explanation of the concept of sustainable development. Since then numerous alternative definitions of the concept have been offered, of which at least some are exclusive to each other. At the same time, the role of business in the transition to sustainable development has increasingly received attention. Bringing these two trends in sustainable development together, this paper returns to the Brundtland version of the concept to examine to what extent the original principles of sustainable development are still embedded within key business guidelines, namely the UN Global Compact, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development, the CAUX Principles, the Global Sullivan Principles and the CERES Principles. The findings suggest that these business guidelines tend to emphasize environmental rather than social aspects of sustainable development, in particular to the detriment of the original Brundtland prioritization of the needs of the poorest. Furthermore, the attention to environmental aspects stresses win-win situations and has a clear managerialist focus; whereas more conceptual environmental issues concerning systems interdependencies, critical thresholds or systemic limits to growth find little attention. The normative codes and principles targeted at the private sector thus not only add another voice to the multiple discourses on sustainable development but also contribute to a reinterpretation of the original agenda set by Brundtland towards conceptualizations of sustainable development around the needs of industrialised rather than developing countries. Copyright �� 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Evidence and Spatial Planning for Sustainable Development: A Model for Spatially Allocating Material Flows

The aspiration the spatial planning should act as the main coordinating function for the transition to a sustainable society is grounded on the assumption that it is capable of incorporating both a strong evidence base of environmental accounting for policy, coupled with opportunities for open, deliberative decision-making. While there are a number of increasingly sophisticated methods (such as material flow analysis and ecological footprinting) that can be used to longitudinally determine the impact of policy, there are fewer that can provide a robust spatial assessment of sustainability policy. In this paper, we introduce the Spatial Allocation of Material Flow Analysis (SAMFA) model, which uses the concept of socio-economic metabolism to extrapolate the impact of local consumption patterns that may occur as a result of the local spatial planning process at multiple spatial levels. The initial application the SAMFA model is based on County Kildare in the Republic of Ireland, through spatial temporal simulation and visualisation of construction material flows and associated energy use in the housing sector. Thus, while we focus on an Ireland case study, the model is applicable to spatial planning and sustainability research more generally. Through the development and evaluation of alternative scenarios, the model appears to be successful in its prediction of the cumulative resource and energy impacts arising from consumption and development patterns. This leads to some important insights in relation to the differential spatial distribution of disaggregated allocation of material balance and energy use, for example that rural areas have greater resource accumulation (and are therefore in a sense ���less sustainable���) than urban areas, confirming that rural housing in Ireland is both more material and energy intensive. This therefore has the potential to identify hotspots of higher material and energy use, which can be addressed through targeted planning initiatives or focussed community engagement. Furthermore, due to the ability of the model to allow manipulation of different policy criteria (increased density, urban conservation etc), it can also act as an effective basis for multi-stakeholder engagement.

Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development

This article attempts a broad characterization of environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD), and includes a short overview of the history of the field, key debates, the main approaches to ESD and EE, and a look toward the future. However, such a brief account should not be considered to be fully comprehensive, and can only be considered to provide a broad overview of the field from the authors��� perspectives

Promoting Dignity for All: Human Rights Approaches in the Post-2015 Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development Frameworks

This article takes as its starting point the potentially negative human rights implications that the effects of climate change, disasters and development practices can have on individuals and communities. It argues that key international instruments, including the post-2015 successors to the Kyoto Protocol, Hyogo Framework for Action on disaster risk reduction and the Millennium Development Goals, appear to be moving towards an express acknowledgment of the relevance of international human rights law as an important mechanism to minimise potential harms that may arise. This raises the question as to the appropriate role of the UN human rights monitoring and accountability mechanisms in identifying the relevant rights-holders and duty-bearers. The article therefore provides an examination of the linkages between climate change and international human rights law, as well as discussion of the human rights considerations and accountability mechanisms for disasters and sustainable development. The article concludes by arguing that despite differential understandings between disciplines as to the meaning of key terms such as ���vulnerability��� and ���resilience���, international human rights law provides a comprehensive basis for promoting international and national accountability. It follows that a greater level of coordination and coherence between the human rights approaches of the various post-2015 legal and policy frameworks is warranted as a means of promoting the dignity of those most affected by climate change, disasters and developmental activities.

Methodologies for a sustainable development of estuarine ecosystems

As zonas costeiras, estuarinas e lagunares s��o consideradas ��reas muito produtivas e dotadas de grande biodiversidade sendo, por isso, consideradas de elevado valor ecol��gico e econ��mico. No entanto, nas ��ltimas d��cadas tem vindo a verificar-se um aumento da contamina����o destes ecossistemas como resultado de diversas actividades antr��picas. As abordagens actualmente dispon��veis para avalia����o do impacto da polui����o em ecossistemas estuarinos e lagunares apresentam diversos tipos de lacunas, pelo que �� importante desenvolver metodologias mais eficazes com organismos aut��ctones. Neste contexto, o objectivo central desta disserta����o consistiu em desenvolver e validar m��todos ecologicamente relevantes para avalia����o da contamina����o estuarina e dos seus efeitos, utilizando o g��bio-comum (Pomatoschistus microps), quer como organismo-teste quer como esp��cie sentinela, devido �� importante fun����o que desempenha nas cadeias tr��ficas de diversos estu��rios da costa Portuguesa. A Ria de Aveiro foi seleccionada como ��rea de estudo principalmente pelo facto de possuir zonas com diferentes tipos de contamina����o predominante e de haver conhecimento cient��fico de base abundante e de elevada qualidade sobre este ecosistema. Na primeira fase do estudo, foram investigados os efeitos agudos de dois hidrocarbonetos arom��ticos polic��clicos (HAPs) (benzo[a]pireno e antraceno), de um fuel-��leo e de dois metais (cobre e merc��rio) em P. microps, utilizando ensaios laboratoriais baseados em biomarcadores e em par��metros comportamentais, os quais foram avaliados utilizando um dispositivo expressamente desenvolvido para o efeito, designado por speed performance device (SPEDE). Como biomarcadores foram utilizados par��metros envolvidos em fun����es fisiol��gicas determinantes para a sobreviv��ncia e desempenho dos animais (neurotransmiss��o, obten����o de energia, destoxifica����o e defesas anti-oxidantes), nomeadamente a actividade das enzimas acetilcolinesterase, lactato desidrogenase, CYP1A1, glutationa S-transferases, glutationa reductase, glutationa peroxidase, super��xido dismutase, catalase, tendo ainda sido determinados os n��veis de peroxida����o lip��dica como indicador de danos oxidativos. De forma global, os resultados indicaram que os agentes e a mistura testados t��m a capacidade de interferir com a fun����o neurol��gica, de alterar as vias utilizadas para obten����o de energia celular, induzir as defesas antioxidantes e, no caso do cobre e do merc��rio, de causarem peroxida����o lip��dica. Foram ainda obtidas rela����es concentra����o-resposta a n��vel dos par��metros comportamentais testados, nomeadamente a capacidade de nadar contra a corrente e a dist��ncia percorrida a nadar contra o fluxo de ��gua, sugerindo que os agentes testados podem, por exemplo, diminuir a capacidade de fuga aos predadores, as probabilidades de captura de presas e o sucesso reprodutivo. Na segunda fase, tendo sido j�� adaptadas t��cnicas para determina����o de v��rios biomarcadores em P. microps e estudada a sua resposta a dois grupos de poluentes particularmente relevantes em ecossistemas estuarinos e lagunares (metais e HAPs), foi efectuado um estudo de monitoriza����o utilizando P. microps como bioindicador e que incluiu diversos par��metros ecol��gicos e ecotoxicol��gicos, nomedamente: 20 par��metros indicativos da qualidade da ��gua e do sedimento, concentra����o de 9 metais em sedimentos e no corpo de P. microps, 8 biomarcadores e 2 ��ndices de condi����o na esp��cie seleccionada. A amostragem foi efectuada em quatro locais da Ria de Aveiro, um considerado como refer��ncia (Barra) e tr��s com diferentes tipos predominantes de contamina����o (Vagueira, Porto de Aveiro e Cais do Bico), sazonalmente, durante um ano. Os resultados obtidos permitiram uma caracteriza����o ecotoxicol��gica dos locais, incluindo informa����o sobre a qualidade da ��gua, concentra����es de contaminantes ambientais priorit��rios nos sedimentos e nos tecidos de P. microps, capacidade desta esp��cie para bioacumular metais, efeitos exercidos pelas complexas misturas de poluentes presentes em cada uma das zonas de amostragem nesta esp��cie e poss��veis consequ��ncias para a popula����o. A an��lise multivariada permitiu analisar de forma integrada todos os resultados, proporcionando informa����o que n��o poderia ser obtida analisando os dados de forma compartimentalizada. Em conclus��o, os resultados obtidos no ��mbito desta disserta����o indicam que P. microps possui caracter��sticas adequadas para ser utilizado como organismoteste em ensaios laboratoriais (e.g. abund��ncia, f��cil manuten����o, permite a determina����o de diferentes tipos de crit��rios de efeito utilizando um n��mero relativamente reduzido de animais, entre outras) e como organismo sentinela em estudos de monitoriza����o da polui����o e da qualidade ambiental, estando portanto de acordo com estudos de menor dimens��o previamente efectuados. O trabalho desenvolvido permitiu ainda adaptar a P. microps diversas t��cnicas bioqu��micas vulgarmente utilizadas como biomarcadores em Ecotoxicologia e valid��-las quer no laborat��rio quer em cen��rios reais; desenvolver um novo bioensaio, utilizando um dispositivo de teste especialmente concebido para peixes epibent��nicos baseado na performance natat��ria de uma esp��cie aut��ctone e em biomarcadores; relacionar os efeitos a n��vel bioqu��mico com par��metros comportamentais que ao serem afectados podem reduzir de forma dr��stica e diversificada (e.g. aumento da mortalidade, diminui����o do sucesso reprodutivo, redu����o do crescimento) a contribui����o individual para a popula����o. Finalmente, foi validada uma abordagem multidisciplinar, combinando metodologias ecol��gicas, ecotoxicol��gicas e qu��micas que, quando considerada de forma integrada utilizando an��lises de estat��stica multivariada, fornece informa����o cient��fica da maior relev��ncia suscept��vel de ser utilizada como suporte a medidas de conserva����o e gest��o em estu��rios e sistemas lagunares.

Tourism in Timor Leste: contributions to a sustainable development

The main goal of this thesis is to analyse tourism as a contributor to sustainable development, from a supply and demand perspective, in Timor-Leste, a destination not only ���young��� but also framed in an early stage of touristic development. From the supply side, studies 1 and 2 present a literature review on the concept of sustainable development, in small islands destinations, its weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and whose attractiveness lies in an integrated set of natural resources (attractive beaches, biodiversity, the coral triangle, a rich fauna and flora), its geographic location, tropical climate, socio cultural tradition and a Luso-Timorense cultural mix, that can meet the needs of important segments of the tourist demand. In these studies, the focus is on the residents��� attitudes in relation to sustainable development and, in particular, on the perceptions of local leaders about the importance of the operationalization of the concept. As Timor-Leste is a ���young��� destination, it is travel industry is still faced with several problems in order to be able to satisfy the demand and to meet the tourists��� motivations, preferences and requirements. In this perspective, the study 3 examines diaspora tourism, while a niche market, allowing for not only the entry of Timor-Leste in the international tourism market, but also an articulation between the people of Timor-Leste in the diasporas and the development of sustainable tourism . In general, the results show that the development of sustainable tourism cannot be successfully implemented without the involvement of all stakeholders such as residents, public sector (local government, policy makers, planners), private sector (tourism operators), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that include civil society, religious institutions, the academic community (the supply side), and Timorese diasporas tourists as consumers (the demand side).