China has become a leading source of outward foreign direct investment (FDI), and the Chinese state exercises a unique degree of influence over its firms. We explore the patterns of political ...influence over FDI using a comprehensive firm-level data set on Chinese outward FDI from 2000 to 2013. Using six country-level measures of affinity for China, we find that state-owned and globally diversified firms appear to conform most closely to official guidance. Official investment directives and state visits link investments to state policies; Taiwan recognition and Dalai Lama meetings anchor our political interpretations; and UN General Assembly voting and temporary UN Security Council membership suggest that this intervention may be systematic. The results are robust to country, year, and sector fixed effects, and most do not hold for private or small firms. The results suggest that China uses FDI by prominent state-owned enterprises as an instrument to promote its foreign policy.
The increasing scale and interconnection of many environmental challenges - from climate change to land use - has resulted in the need to collaborate across borders and boundaries of all types. ...Traditional centralized, top-down and sectoral approaches to governance of single-issue areas or species within social-ecological systems often have limited potential to alleviate issues that go beyond their jurisdiction. As a result, collaborative governance approaches have come to the forefront. A great deal of past research has examined the conditions under which collaborative efforts are likely to achieve desired outcomes. However, few studies have analyzed how the means to achieve successful collaborative outcomes differ based on context when examined across multiple studies. In this research, we begin to chart a means for doing this. Building onto a Context-Mechanism-Outcome (CMO) Framework, we provide a coding manual to analyse how contextual variables mediate the effects of mechanism variables on outcomes of the collaborative governance of social-ecological systems. Through the examination of four cases, we provide a proof-of-concept assessment and show the utility of the CMO framework and coding manual to draw comparisons across cases for understanding how collaborative outcomes are contingent on the social-ecological context in which they occur.
Arsenic (As) contamination is a well-recognized environmental and health issue, threatening over 200 million people worldwide with the prime cases in South and Southeast Asian and Latin American ...countries. Rice is mostly cultivated under flooded paddy soil conditions, where As speciation and accumulation by rice plants is controlled by various geo-environmental (biotic and abiotic) factors. In contrast to other food crops, As uptake in rice has been found to be substantially higher due to the prevalence of highly mobile and toxic As species, arsenite (As(III)), under paddy soil conditions. In this review, we discussed the biogeochemical cycling of As in paddy soil-rice system, described the influence of critical factors such as pH, iron oxides, organic matter, microbial species, and pathways affecting As transformation and accumulation by rice. Moreover, we elucidated As interaction with organic and inorganic amendments and mineral nutrients. The review also elaborates on As (im)mobilization processes and As uptake by rice under the influence of different mineral nutrients and amendments in paddy soil conditions, as well as their role in mitigating As transfer to rice grain. This review article provides critical information on As contamination in paddy soil-rice system, which is important to develop suitable strategies and mitigation programs for limiting As exposure via rice crop, and meet the UN's key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs: 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 12 (responsible consumption and production), and 13 (climate action)).
Display omitted
•This review describes occurrence and geochemistry of arsenic (As) in paddy soil-rice system.•Impact of biotic and abiotic factors on As (im)mobilization in paddy soil is elucidated.•As interaction with organic/inorganic amendments, and mineral nutrients is discussed.•Updated and key scientific information for limiting As uptake by rice is presented.
The U.S. food supply system relies heavily on vertically-integrated food supply chains (FSCs), which leverage large-scale production, streamlined operations, and centralized planning and control to ...provide consumers with a consistent supply of food. However, these FSCs were seriously disrupted upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. During the height of the crisis, they were slow to respond to production system failures and sudden and widespread changes in consumer demand. By contrast, many regionalized food supply chains (RFSCs) proved to be adaptive and responsive to changes in demand and delivery requirements, quickly pivoting to distribute products directly to consumers safely.
The objective of this research is to explore how RFSCs can improve the resilience of the U.S. food supply system in the face of large-scale disruptions like the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, this research seeks to gain a greater understanding of how RFSCs can leverage logistics best practices for efficient and reliable distribution to consumers in normal times and during disasters.
This study presents seven case studies of RFSCs in Texas and Iowa that adopted logistics best practices to enable them to provide their customers with convenient and safe purchasing mechanisms during the COVID-19 emergency. A description of how the strategies adopted by each participant promote the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals is provided.
The successes experienced by these farmers and distributors at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic were a consequence of their willingness to adopt new distribution and logistics strategies. Collaboration among RFSC actors was a particularly effective strategy, as well as the adoption of scale-appropriate information and communication technologies, which helped to facilitate collaboration. Further, these case studies demonstrate how improved logistics performance allowed RFSCs to contribute to the health and well-being of their communities in a time of need.
These case studies demonstrate the potential of RFSCs to support a resilient and socially-sustainable food system that communities can rely on, even in the face of a major disruption like COVID-19. The adoption of logistics best practices helped these RFSCs to develop new organizational strengths that will likely support sustainable development in their communities after the crisis ends.
Display omitted
•Case studies demonstrate regional food system resilience during the COVID-19 crisis.•Regional food system alignment with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals is described.•Farmers rapidly pivoted to new market channels using logistics best practices.•The importance of offering consumers convenient delivery options is emphasized.•Recommendations for maintaining sustainability in the long term are discussed.
The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) want to have a peaceful world where human life will be in a safe, healthy, sustainable environment without any inequalities. However, the year ...2020 experienced a global pandemic due to COVID-19. This COVID-19 created an adverse impact on human life, economic, environment, and energy and transport sector compared to the pre-COVID-19 scenario. These above-mentioned sectors are interrelated and thus lockdown strategy and stay at home rules to reduce the COVID-19 transmission had a drastic effect on them. With lockdown, all industry and transport sectors were closed, energy demand reduced greatly but the time shift of energy demand had a critical impact on grid and energy generation. Decreased energy demand caused a silver lining with an improved environment. However, drowned economy creating a negative impact on the human mind and financial condition, which at times led to life-ending decisions. Transport sector which faced a financial dip last year trying to coming out from the losses which are not feasible without government aid and a new customer-friendly policy. Sustainable transport and the electric vehicle should take high gear. While people are staying at home or using work from home scheme, building indoor environment must specially be taken care of as a compromised indoor environment affects and increases the risk of many diseases. Also, the energy-efficient building will play a key role to abate the enhanced building energy demand and more generation from renewable sources should be in priority. It is still too early to predict any forecast about the regain period of all those sectors but with vaccination now being introduced and implemented but still, it can be considered as an ongoing process as its final results are yet to be seen. As of now, COVID-19 still continue to grow in certain areas causing anxiety and destruction. With all these causes, effects, and restoration plans, still SDGs will be suffered in great order to attain their target by 2030 and collaborative support from all countries can only help in this time.
Display omitted
•Social distancing, lockdown, sewage management implemented to combat COVID-19.•Education sector affected in rural areas due to lack of internet during lockdown.•Psychological difficulties and negative behaviour during lockdown and isolation.•Energy demand in transport sector was low while revenue loss was prominent.•Residential sector consumed higher energy with growing demand of renewable energy.
In the summer of 1938, the situation of the monuments at Dintr-un Lemn Monastery was worrying. They all required works of reparation, preservation and modernization. The aid was to come from General ...Paul Teodorescu (1888-1981), from 1938, the head of the Ministry of Air and Marine.
PDF
