Towards Cop27

Due to its low adaptability to climate change, the MENA region has become a "hot spot". Water scarcity, extreme heat, drought, and crop failure will worsen as the region becomes more urbanized and industrialized. Both water and food scarcity are made worse by civil wars, terrorism, and political and social unrest. It is unclear how climate change will affect the MENA water-food-energy nexus. All of these concerns need to be empirically evaluated and quantified for a full climate change assessment in the region. Policymakers in the MENA region need to be aware of this interconnection between population growth, rapid urbanization, food safety, climate change, and the global goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions (as planned in COP27). Researchers from a wide range of disciplines have come together in this SI to investigate the connections between water, food, energy, and climate in the region. By assessing the impacts of climate change on hydrological processes, natural disasters, water supply, energy production and demand, and environmental impacts in the region, this SI will aid in implementation of sustainable solutions to these challenges across multiple spatial scales.

This book treats different themes which are intrinsically linked and of extreme significance for the entire global community such as the necessity to cut emissions and transit toward a more sustainable and green economy. The content extends to the urgency to shape a new multilateralism and reinforce cooperation to achieve global goods, where the environment comes first, to the green finance which will play a fundamental role for the green transition paying particular attention to the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.A particular emphasis is given to the so-called 'Dual Circulation Strategy' (DCS) which is presently becoming the priority not only for China but also for the rest of the global community. Due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic and other external factors, China has substituted GDP growth with the so-called six guarantees (liù bǎo 六保) which represent the six fundamental aspects of the economy and society that according to the central government must receive priority attention, and protection in economic policy to ensure economic recovery. China also introduced the concept of an 'ecological civilization' (shēngtài wénmíng 生态文明) through green, low-carbon economic development. One of the targets is to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, though the rest of the global community and in particular the European Union with its Green Deal, and the US with its renewed climate policies, are pushing to reach this objective in 2050.In order to grant all these developments, 'green finance' plays a fundamental role for the success of this green transition. Therefore, a substantial part of this book explores the many aspects surrounding this theme. Due to renewables playing a very important role in the green transition, the final part of this book explores investment opportunities related to the development of these alternative sources of energy.

Published annually since 1972, the Historic Documents series has made primary source research easy by presenting excerpts from documents on the important events of each year for the United States and the World. Each volume pairs 60 to 70 original background narratives with well over 100 documents to chronicle the major events of the year, from official reports and surveys to speeches from leaders and opinion makers, to court cases, legislation, testimony, and much more.

This report identifies LAC countries’ main climate change policy priorities, which were discussed through a series of Regional Policy Dialogues and Expert Workshops and complements these with findings of recent analyses by the OECD and other international partners. It explores issues related to their implementation on climate adaptation, mitigation, and cross-cutting policy areas.

This book pulls literature together to examine the quality of climate governance based in the experience of Global South regions—Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean. While these regions are resilient, the IPCC 2022 Report indicates that the effects of climate change are crippling their thinly structured governance systems and limited capacities. For example, in addition to environmental devastation, loss of life, and livelihoods, these regions have endured most of the “loss and damage” due to climate change impacts. How are they responding? What are the outcomes? And where do they go from here? Given this background, the book’s goal is to question assumptions about climate governance patterns, systems, institutions, and processes in these regions, using comparative analytical techniques while distilling information about policy outcomes that other approaches do not provide. It argues that these regions and individual countries within them have a lot to learn from and about each other rather than look to the Global North and wealthy countries for economic, political, and administrative models that hardly match their lived experience and ontological outlooks. In doing so, it aspires to promote a fruitful South-South policy-related dialogue via scholarly exchanges and also contribute to advance the study and practice of international and comparative public administration. From this perspective, scholars, researchers, educators, public managers, and practitioners will find the book relevant to and useful for their respective endeavors.

Quality of Life and Climate Change: Impacts, Sustainable Adaptation, and Social-Ecological Resilience delves into the pressing concerns surrounding climate change and its profound impacts on the quality of life (QoL) experienced by individuals and communities worldwide. This book explores the intricate relationship between climate change, variability, and QoL in both rural and urban settings. It undertakes a detailed review of QoL assessments to examine the extent to which climatic changes and livability conditions are incorporated into existing evaluations. By shedding light on the critical need to consider climatic factors in measuring and comparing QoL, especially in the context of creating aging-friendly and climate-neutral cities, this publication addresses a significant research gap. This book presents prospective themes, including sustainable solutions, mitigation strategies, and models to enhance socio-ecological resilience. The chapters within the book cover a wide range of topics including climatic variations and future projections, technological advancements in climate change mitigation, implications for residential and non-residential areas, industrial solutions, SDG attainment, mitigation strategies, QoL measurement instruments, and urban QoL models. By addressing these themes, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the complex interactions between climate change, QoL, and the pursuit of sustainable development. This book serves as a valuable resource for researchers, academicians, policymakers, civil society groups, think tanks, government and non-government organizations, international agencies, and other interested parties seeking to deepen their knowledge and capacity in the field of climate change and its impacts on QoL and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attainment.

The book analyzes socioeconomic through the lens of a lawyer. In the past decade the world has witnessed some severe financial and economic crises, especially the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The author states that the socio-economic order has in the past four to five decades been thoroughly redesigned, generally favouring models that prioritize the free market over the public interest or even, more generally, government operation. He works out that during four to five decades, globalized, capitalist societies are facing a multiplicity of fundamental problems, such as: (1) increasing debt that severely burdens both the private and public sectors; (2) persistent poverty and an ever-increasing polarization between rich and poor, in addition to (3) intractable environmental problems that, fifty years after the Club of Rome's report entitled ‘Limits to growth’ (1972), has dragged the world into what in recent years has been referred to as "climate change." The book explains why all this is the direct result of value choices made from the late Middle Ages onwards, when in the Western world the societal models of that time were increasingly abandoned for a societal model that came to rely on the primacy of economic interests. The book not only subjects the ethical choices but also examines various problems it has caused and probes for possible ways out. This is an open access book.

The first edition of A Better World, Inc. showed how companies can profit by solving global problems. Increasingly, companies and investors are capitalizing on these opportunities. The three factors necessary for success were revealed to be effective corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration. Racial equity and justice, and gender equity, were also themes in the original edition. By drawing on new research and case studies, this updated edition shows that inclusion and sustainability are in fact fundamental prerequisites for prosperity for companies and society. Specifically, racial inequity and injustice, and gender inequity, are systemic problems that impede businesses from achieving their greater potential in the global marketplace; in the meantime, society suffers as well. The second edition of A Better World, Inc. builds on the first by showing that companies have the power and incentives – and their boards of directors have the responsibility and the authority – to drive solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges. Readers will learn how companies and their boards, together with nonprofits and governments, can drive prosperity by centering equity and sustainability. This edition is organized to address environmental, social, and governance practices, which are priority interests for investors, media, the public, government, and others to assess company practices and profitability.