The Global Resource Book

"The concept of grasslands as a global resource is not new. Indeed many recognised authorities have been canvassing for a global approach to understanding, managing and exploiting this resource for many years. This is the first book that gathers together leading experts from around the world to outline our current understanding of this complex ecosystem, the ways in which it can be enhanced and utilised and where the research challenges are for the future. The following themes unite the book: - Efficient production from grassland; - Grassland and the environment; - Delivering the benefits from grassland. The reader is given an in depth understanding of the biology of the system and how grasslands are crucial for soil stabilisation and water quality. Secondly, much attention is given to how grasslands offer the possibility of increasing food supply and income generation, which is a hugely important but often ignored facet in today’s climate of extensification and biodiversity. Current advances in the grassland sciences have a proven potential to promote the economic development and environmental stability of regions, nations and peoples, particularly in some of the most resource-limited areas of the world. Approaches for achieving the most effective development and adoption of new technology are reviewed."

A common perception of global resource scarcity holds that it is inevitably a catalyst for conflict among nations; yet, paradoxically, incidents of such scarcity underlie some of the most important examples of international cooperation. This volume examines the wider potential for the experience of scarcity to promote cooperation in international relations and diplomacy beyond the traditional bounds of the interests of competitive nation states. The interdisciplinary background of the book’s contributors shifts the focus of the analysis beyond narrow theoretical treatments of international relations and resource diplomacy to broader examinations of the practicalities of cooperation in the context of competition and scarcity. Combining the insights of a range of social scientists with those of experts in the natural and bio-sciences—many of whom work as ‘resource practitioners’ outside the context of universities—the book works through the tensions between ‘thinking/theory’ and ‘doing/practice’, which so often plague the process of social change. These encounters with scarcity draw attention away from the myopic focus on market forces and allocation, and encourage us to recognise more fully the social nature of the tensions and opportunities that are associated with our shared dependence on resources that are not readily accessible to all. The book brings together experts on theorising scarcity and those on the scarcity of specific resources. It begins with a theoretical reframing of both the contested concept of scarcity and the underlying dynamics of resource diplomacy. The authors then outline the current tensions around resource scarcity or degradation and examine existing progress towards cooperative international management of resources. These include food and water scarcity, mineral exploration and exploitation of the oceans. Overall, the contributors propose a more hopeful and positive engagement among the world’s nations as they pursue the economic and social benefits derived from natural resources, while maintaining the ecological processes on which they depend.

Written from a global perspective, this book reviews sharing of library resources on a global scale. With expanded discovery tools and massive digitization projects, the rich and extensive holdings of the world’s libraries are more visible now than at any time in the past. Advanced communication and transmission technologies, along with improved international standards, present a means for the sharing of library resources around the globe. Despite these significant improvements, a number of challenges remain. Global Resource Sharing provides librarians and library managers with a comprehensive background in and summary of the issues involved in global resource sharing. Analyses current and future environments for international resource sharing, including past research and discussions Provides an international perspective on a global library issue Includes examples of successful and innovative global resource sharing initiatives

In addition to environmental change, the structure and trends of global politics and the economy are also changing as more countries join the ranks of the world’s largest economies with their resource-intensive patterns. The nexus approach, conceptualized as attention to resource connections and their governance ramifications, calls attention to the sustainability of contemporary consumer resource use, lifestyles and supply chains. This book sets out an analytical framework for understanding these nexus issues and the related governance challenges and opportunities. It sheds light on the resource nexus in three realms: markets, interstate relations and local human security. These three realms are the organizing principle of three chapters, before the analysis turns to crosscutting case studies including shale gas, migration, lifestyle changes and resource efficiency, nitrogen fertilizer and food systems, water and the Nile Basin, climate change and security and defense spending. The key issues revolve around competition and conflict over finite natural resources. The authors highlight opportunities to improve both the understanding of nexus challenges and their governance. They critically discuss a global governance approach versus polycentric and multilevel approaches and the lack of those dimensions in many theories of international relations.

The complex and dynamic interlinks between natural resource management (NRM) and development have long been recognized by national and international research and development organizations and have generated voluminous literature. However, much of what is available in the form of university course books, practical learning manuals and reference materials in NRM is based on experiences from outside Africa. Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa: A Resource Book provides an understanding of the various levels at which NRM issues occur and are being addressed scientifically, economically, socially and politically. The book's nine chapters present state-of-the-art perspectives within a holistic African context. The book systematically navigates the tricky landscape of integrated NRM, with special reference to Eastern and Southern Africa, against the backdrop of prevailing local, national, regional and global social, economic and environmental challenges. The authors' wide experience, the rich references made to emerging challenges and opportunities, and the presentation of different tools, principles, approaches, case studies and processes make the book a rich and valuable one-stop resource for postgraduate students, researchers, policymakers and NRM practitioners. The book is designed to help the reader grasp in-depth NRM perspectives and presents innovative guidance for research design and problem solving, including review questions, learning activities and recommended further reading. The book was developed through a writeshop process by a multi-disciplinary team of lecturers from the University of Nairobi, Egerton University, Kenyatta University, the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Malawi, Makerere University and the University of Dar es Salam. In addition, selected NRM experts from regional and international research organizations including the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Africa Forest Forum, RUFORUM, IIRR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) participated in the writeshop and contributed material to the book.

This book examines the multiple scales at which the inequities of climate change are borne out. Shangrila Joshi engages in a multi-scalar analysis of the myriad ways in which various resource commons – predominantly atmosphere and forests – are implicated in climate governance, with a consistent emphasis throughout on the justice implications for disenfranchised communities. The book starts with an analysis of North-South inequities in responsibility, vulnerability, and capability, as evidenced in global climate treaty negotiations from Rio to Paris. It then moves on to examine the ways in which structural inequalities are built into the conceptualization and operationalization of various neoliberal climate solutions such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Drawing on qualitative interviews conducted in Delhi, Kathmandu, and the Terai region of Nepal, participant observation at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15), and textual analysis of official documents, the book articulates a geography of climate justice, considering how ideas of injustice pertaining to colonialism, race, Indigeneity, caste, gender, and global inequality intersect with the politics of scale. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental justice, climate justice, climate policy, political ecology, and South Asian studies.

In "Islamic Family Law in a Changing World," Abdullahi A. An-Na'im explores the practice of the Shari'a, commonly known as Islamic Family Law. An-Na'im shows that the practical application of Shari'a principles is often modified by theological differences of interpretation, a country's particular customary practices, and state policy and law.

This EU-funded project examines the dynamics of conflict, collaboration and competition in relation to access to oil, gas and minerals. It involves 12 different institutions from across the EU and examines oil, gas and other minerals - spanning geology, technology studies, sociology, economics and political science.