Suchergebnisse

Purpose
With climate change and environmental degradation being major issues in the world today, it is imperative for governments within a regional setting to collaborate on initiatives, harmonize their policies and develop strategies to counter threats. In South Asia, several attempts have been made to create a common framework for action in implementing synchronized policies. However, both political and technical deterrents have thwarted moves to accommodate priorities and interests of collaborating states. The purpose of this paper is to assess these issues and existing policies/strategies in selected South Asian countries and evaluate integrated plans of action based on collaborative partnerships.


Design/methodology/approach
Using a broad exploratory and interpretive approach, this paper evaluates how harmonization of environmental principles and synergies among countries can help reduce the effect of climate change and environmental hazards. Based on a review of ideas and concepts as well as both primary and secondary sources, including official records, legislation, inter-state and regional agreements, evaluation reports, impact studies (social, economic and ecological), and commentaries, it highlights several initiatives and processes geared to creating environmental protection standards and practices for the South Asian region.


Findings
Climate change has resulted in devastating impacts on people. It contributed to the proliferation of climate refugees and high incidence of poverty in South Asia. The region faces both political and technical obstacles in developing a sustainable approach to combat climate change. This is exacerbated by non-availability of information as well as reluctance to acknowledge the problem by key actors. The best strategy will be to integrate policies and regulations in the various countries of the region to develop strategic plans. The approach of prevention and protection should replace the existing emphasis on relief and rehabilitation.


Originality/value
The paper provides a critical overview of the climatic and environmental problems encountered in the South Asian region and provides pointers to resolving shared problems through the use of policy instruments for regulating the problems within the gamut of regional environmental governance. It attempts to identify solutions to offset regulatory and institutional barriers in achieving preferred results by emphasizing the need for redesigning regulatory structures and policy approaches for ecological well-being.

To sign the treaty creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) the foreign ministers of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands met in Paris in April 1951. In a solemn Joint Declaration they stressed that through the newly created organisation, 'the Contracting Parties have given their determination to set up the first supranational institution and thus lay the real foundations of an organised Europe'. The ministers represented the ECSC as a radical rupture with history, as if Europe had been completely disorganised until the new organisation's creation. In a similar vein, the ECSC Treaty emphasised the member states' resolution 'to substitute for historic rivalries a fusion of their essential interests; to establish, by creating an economic community, the foundation of a broad and independent community amongst peoples long divided by bloody conflicts'. Since 1951 official European Union (EU) documents and other sources have forged a similar image, one which has been undergirded by assumptions about the creation of the 'core Europe' of the ECSC as a collective 'supranational' break with a past characterised by severe ideological divisions and extreme nationalism.

Governments in the Asian region have been taking actions in the form of voluntary targets and policy commitments to improve the production and use of low carbon goods (LCG). However, these commitments are often challenged by many constraints, such as technological barriers and financial deficiencies. Within this context, the main objective of this study is to measure the potential of major emerging Asian economies for exports in LCG under the grand regional coalition, partial regional coalition, and standalone scenarios. The analysis indicates that emerging Asian economies will increase their export potential in LCG more under the grand coalition scenario.

Governments in the Asian region have been taking actions in the form of voluntary targets and policy commitments to improve the production and use of low carbon goods (LCG). However, these commitments are often challenged by many constraints, such as technological barriers and financial deficiencies. Within this context, the main objective of this study is to measure the potential of major emerging Asian economies for exports in LCG under the grand regional coalition, partial regional coalition, and standalone scenarios. The analysis indicates that emerging Asian economies will increase their export potential in LCG more under the grand coalition scenario.

State and local governments are in the midst of trying times. Revenues have not kept up with the demands for public services. Governments across the country are cutting back services and in some cases laying off public employees and contracting out their responsibilities. This exploratory study looks at the strategies used to balance budgets and the relationship between elected officials and appointed managers during times of fiscal distress. Adapted from the source document.