Food security is high on the global policy agenda. Demand for food is increasing as populations grow and gain wealth to purchase more varied and resource-intensive diets. There is increased ...competition for land, water, energy, and other inputs into food production. Climate change poses challenges to agriculture, particularly in developing countries (1), and many current farming practices damage the environment and are a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG). In an increasingly globalized world, food insecurity in one region can have widespread political and economic ramifications (2).
While climate change action plans are becoming more common, it is still unclear whether communities have the capacity, tools, and targets in place to trigger the transformative levels of change ...required to build fundamentally low-carbon, resilient, healthy communities. Evidence increasingly supports the finding that this transformation is not triggered by climate policy alone, but rather is shaped by a broad array of decisions and practices that are rooted in underlying patterns of development. Even so, these findings have rarely penetrated the domain of practice, which often remains squarely focused on a relatively narrow set of climate-specific policies. This article builds a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of community-level development path transformations that may both dramatically reduce GHG emissions and significantly enhance community resilience. This framework illuminates eight critical enablers of innovation on climate change, each of which is illustrated by compelling examples of community-level experimentation on climate change across the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is concluded that community-based climate (or sustainability) policy might be more likely to trigger development path shifts if it employs a longer time horizon, recognition of adaptability and feedbacks, integrated decision making, and systems thinking.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as immigration and asylum processes were delayed or interrupted, migrants and asylum seekers were stranded at Mexico's northern border. In-transit migrants and asylum ...seekers are an underserved population, and pandemic preparedness has seldom taken their needs into account. In this article we analyze public health policies developed in Mexico in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and describe how these policies have largely overlooked the needs of vulnerable mobile populations. We reviewed eighty publicly available documents issued by federal, state, and municipal authorities in Mexico between January and September 2020. Only seven policy documents explicitly considered in-transit migrants and asylum seekers and their health care needs. In addition, we identified six major gaps in these policies that, if addressed, would promote greater inclusion of persons in mobility in future pandemic response plans, to protect the health of migrant populations.
The Green Economy Post Rio+20 Barbier, Edward B.
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
11/2012, Letnik:
338, Številka:
6109
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Sustainable development, a focus at the June United Nations meeting, requires critical endorsement and action by the G20.
The distinguishing theme of the June 2012 United Nations (UN) Rio+20 ...conference was the “green economy” or, more precisely, how economies can achieve “green growth” (
1
). Although many green economy policies were endorsed in Rio, no new international commitments emerged. I outline steps that could be taken in the aftermath of Rio to salvage the momentum in support of green growth.
In Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America, Dr. Richard Allen Williams assembles the very best scholars on healthcare disparities to raise the public consciousness of this issue. These experts ...provide the benefits of their experience and expertise as a resource for helping others to make judicious determinations about how to proceed in efforts to improve the disparities in American healthcare. Arranged into discrete categories, this volume contains comprehensive coverage, both historical and current, of the healthcare disparity crisis currently plaguing our country in hopes of leading us all to a brighter future. The volume includes chapters of examples that are currently working and concludes with recommendations on how to move forward. The text is not intended to be one in which all of the answers are given to the multitude of problems. Instead, Eliminating Healthcare Disparities in America is intended to raise the readers level of consciousness and concern and to increase the knowledge base about the issues. This groundbreaking text will be an initial spark that ignites the fire that may one day eliminate healthcare disparities in communities around the country.
To develop a simulation framework for assessing how combinations of taxes, nutrition warning labels and advertising levels could affect purchasing of ultra-processed foods (UPF) in Latin American ...countries and to understand whether policies reinforce or reduce pre-existing social disparities in UPF consumption.
We developed an agent-based simulation model using international evidence regarding the effect of price, nutrition warning labels and advertising on UPF purchasing.
We estimated policy effects in scenarios representing two stages of the 'social transition' in UPF purchasing: (1) a pre-transition scenario, where UPF purchasing is higher among high-income households, similar to patterns in Mexico; and (2) a post-transition scenario where UPF purchasing is highest among low-income households, similar to patterns in Chile.
A population of 1000 individual agents with levels of age, income, educational attainment and UPF purchasing similar to adult women in Mexico.
A 20 % tax would decrease purchasing by 24 % relative to baseline in both the pre- and post-transition scenarios, an effect that is similar in magnitude to that of a nutrition warning label policy. A 50 % advertising increase or decrease had a comparatively small effect. Nutrition warning labels were most effective among those with higher levels of educational attainment. Labelling reduced inequities in the pre-transition scenario (i.e. highest UPF purchasing among the highest socio-economic group) but widened inequities in the post-transition scenario.
Effective policy levers are available to reduce UPF purchasing, but policymakers should anticipate that equity impacts will differ depending on existing social patterns in UPF purchasing.
This scoping review sought to describe the policy actions that urban local governments globally have implemented to facilitate healthy and environmentally sustainable diet-related practices.
Urban ...local government authorities.
Five databases were searched to identify publications which cited policies being implemented by local governments within the 199 signatory cities of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) that targeted at least one healthy and sustainable diet-related practice. Grey literature was then searched to retrieve associated policy documentation. Data from both sources were charted against the MUFPP's monitoring framework to analyse the policy actions included in each overarching policy.
From 2624 screened peer-reviewed studies, 27 met inclusion criteria and cited 36 relevant policies amongst signatory cities to the MUFPP. Most were from high income countries (n 29; 81 %), considered health (n 31; 86 %), equity (n 29; 81 %) and the broader food system beyond dietary consumption (n 34; 94 %). Of the 66 policy actions described, the most common involved food procurement within public facilities (n 16; 44 %) and establishing guidelines for school-feeding programs (n 12; 33 %).
This review has demonstrated that urban local government authorities are implementing policies that consider multiple phases of the food supply chain to facilitate population-wide uptake of healthy and sustainable diet-related practices. Opportunities exist for local governments to leverage the dual benefits to human and planetary health of policy actions, such as those which discourage the overconsumption of food including less meat consumption and the regulation of ultra-processed foods.
Generation from renewable energy sources in Germany has experienced a considerable uptake in recent years. Mainly responsible for this development is the German Renewable Energy Sources Act ...(Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz, EEG). This paper considers redistributive implications of the EEG for different electricity consumers. Using time-series regression analysis, we show that electricity generation by wind and PV has reduced spot market prices considerably by 6€/MWh in 2010 rising to 10€/MWh in 2012. We use these results to build a near-term forecasting tool for merit order effects, projected to reach 14-16€/MWh in 2016. On the other hand, the costs of the EEG are passed forward to consumers in the form of a surcharge. Our findings highlight significant redistributive transfers under the current design of the EEG. In particular, some energy-intensive industries are benefiting from lower wholesale electricity prices whilst being largely exempted from contributing to the costs of the scheme. We also highlight implications of our results for other areas for reform of the EEG, such as adequate remuneration mechanisms that ensure efficient operation and investment decisions are made under the scheme. More generally, these findings suggest that policy makers need to integrate distributional assessments into policy design and implementation.
•The German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has important distributional impacts on different electricity consumers.•Likely wealth transfers from households and small business to energy-intensive industry.•Merit order effects of around 10€/MWh in 2012 are set to rise to 14–16€/MWh in 2016.•These effects likely overcompensate exempt industry for contribution to cost of the EEG.•Implications for short- and long-term reform of the EEG and the design of renewable energy policy in general.
Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration ...(Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.
A climate-positive COVID-19 recovery can accelerate the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Yet, current assessments of recovery stimulus programs suggest that the most fossil fuel producers ...are more likely to take on a 'dirty' recovery path out of the pandemic than a 'green' one. Such a path will postpone climate action and entrench fossil fuel dependence. To change course, fossil fuel producers have to get on board of a 'green recovery'. For this, cooperative international efforts mobilizing both fossil fuel consumers and producers need to promote 'just transition' policies that increase support for a green shift among fossil fuel companies and producing countries, including fossil fuel exporters. In turn, fossil fuel producers should leverage the opportunity of stimulus packages to reduce their fossil fuel production dependence and help accelerate an energy transition through supply-side measures. A combination of 'green' investments and 'just' transition reforms could help enroll fossil fuel producers into a climate-friendly post-COVID recovery.
Fossil fuel producers have mostly promoted 'dirty' rather than 'green' recovery paths from the COVID-19 pandemic
A green recovery agenda requires a 'just' transition component to entice and support fossil fuel producers
Both demand and supply-side strategies are required to advance a 'just transition' agenda throughout the post-COVID 19 recovery
The post-COVID-19 transition requires energy policies responding to the constraints of consumer and producer countries to address climate and equity challenges
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