Suchergebnisse

This is a conference paper. ; The cholera outbreak in August 2000 focused the government's attention on addressing sanitation in South Africa as a matter of urgency. This led to a policy review, the promulgation of the National Sanitation Policy (2001) and finally to the development of a national strategy to eliminated the sanitation backlog over the next ten years. The cholera outbreak, together with the Millennium Development Goals for water supply and sanitation, have highlighted an urgent need for sustainable service delivery in this country.In Durban, the eThekwini Municipality (EM) is attempting to ensure an effective barrier against the spread of disease among the newly incorporated, under-serviced rural communities of the Municipality. These challenges are being addressed through an innovative, sustainable approach in the provision of free basic water supply (200 litres/household/day), and a urine diversion toilet, together with health and hygiene education that promotes hygienic behaviour practices. According to the Strategic Framework for Water Services, Water Service Authorities (WSAs) should not only provide the water services necessary for basic health and hygiene. The municipalities are also required to provide services, which support sustainable livelihoods and economic development. This paper reflects the process followed in meeting the above challenges as well as the lessons learned.

This book emerges from the recognition that energy, environment and ecosystems are dynamically and inextricably connected. The energy environment system must be addressed in its totality, so that we can devise sustainable solutions that incorporate both economic growth and environmental conservation. No single clean energy source will sustain long-term energy security, and fossil fuels will remain prominent in the mix of energy sources for several decades to come. Energy solutions, therefore, must employ a broad and diverse range of approaches, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies, and an affordable transition to greener power generation employing waste, water and renewable resources. Moreover, adapting to this changing global energy picture will require a transformational shift in the ways we use and deliver energy services. The authors begin with a broad introductory chapter on sustainable energy and the environment, classifying energy resources, cataloging environmental degradations, and outlining the concepts and practices of sustainability. In Chapters Two and Three, they summarize the basic constituents of the environment, the biosphere and its natural cycles, and offer a model of Earth's planetary temperatures and the greenhouse effect. Chapters Four and Five outline conventional energy and power systems, and related environmental degradations. The next several chapters cover clean coal technologies for power generation, and discuss sustainable energy and power technologies based on both thermal and photovoltaic solar energy, along with biomass and wind. The final chapters examine in depth the management of waste and water, pollution control and energy conservation. The book introduces a unique approach to sustainability and energy conservation which emphasizes the relationships between underlying scientific principles and practical applications employed in engineering solutions. All this is offered in a form that matches the requirements of college-level environmental science and engineering courses

The COVID-19 and the resulting global energy crises highlighted the importance of decarbonization and the necessity of shifting the economy from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. Sustainable energy transition is also a key element of circular economy, social welfare and justice. In this paper we developed an indicator set and we compiled a composite indicator to measure the performance of the EU Member States regarding the sustainable energy transition between 2007 and 2019. Our results show significant differences which do not follow the usual East-West division of the integration. Both convergence and divergence can be revealed.

This volume uses a theoretical framework that centers on norm evolution and change to study norms that underpin some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its chapters are written by authors with diverse backgrounds and in-depth knowledge of different areas of sustainable development.

Despite efforts to address the global forest crisis, deforestation and degradation continue, so we need to urgently revisit possible solutions. A failure to halt the global forest crisis contributes to climate change and biodiversity loss and will continue to result in inequalities in access to, and benefits from, forest resources. In this paper, we unpack a series of powerful myths about forests and their management. By exposing and better understanding these myths and what makes them so persistent, we have the basis to make the social and political changes needed to better manage and protect forests globally.

This handbook takes stock of the African Union's Vision 2020 to rid the African continent of wars, civil conflicts, human rights violations, humanitarian disasters including violent conflicts and the prevention of genocide, and to provide recommendations on how to address contemporary threats to peace and security in Africa. It explores the continent's current peace and security landscape, including new actors, emerging threats, and the prospects for achieving sustainable peace. With contributions from highly respected experts in the field, both academics and practitioners, the volume unpacks the sources of conflict, instability and the challenges of peace and development, and provides research-based policy advice to guide and inform African governments, policy makers, practitioners, as well as scholarly audiences on the continent and beyond. Dan Kuwali serves as Chief of Legal Services in the Malawi Defence Force and Judge Advocate General. He is also Extraordinary Professor of International Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa and Adjunct Professor of Strategic Stadues,Malawi University of Science and Technology, Malawi.

Abstract. The fast pace of urbanisation in Southeast Asia has undermined the sustainability of the social, economic and environmental infrastructure of many cities across the region. Urban resilience in Southeast Asian cities is being further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. While cities and national governments across the region have developed policies, strategies and programs to re-orient their cities towards more sustainable and resilient development pathways, many cities continue to struggle with the uncontrolled nature of urban development and compounding impacts of crisis events. This article provides an overview of major trends and challenges with urbanisation in Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as the regional, national and sub-national policies and strategies established to address these trends and challenges. Given the current policy implementation gaps and ongoing challenges of urbanisation in Cambodia and Vietnam, the article makes the case for trans-disciplinary research to understand the potential for strengthening urban governance capacities for urban sustainability transformations.

Department of Chemistry, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Government College, BA-1, Action Area-I, New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata-700 156, India E-mail: pranabes_bhattacharyya@yahoo.co.in Manuscript received online 09 July 2020, accepted 25 August 2020 Amazing advancement and development of molecular biology and biotechnology has opened up new avenues in synthetic chemistry where biological systems can be efficiently mimicked in laboratory and intra as well as extra cellular enzymatic catalysis can be utilized in chemical transformations. Apart from known natural biological protocols modern day protein engineering enabled chemists to design artificial enzymatic reactions to efficiently suit predefined features of a reaction. Use of preferential solvents, substrate, reaction-container and reaction condition can further enhance the width and depth of biocatalysis application. Utilization of nanotechnology in tandem with catalyst immobilization helps in improving catalyst efficacy and reusability of such catalysts. More attempts are being successfully carried out to apply this greener technology in industrial procedures towards sustainable growth.

The fast pace of urbanisation in Southeast Asia has undermined the sustainability of the social, economic and environmental infrastructure of many cities across the region. Urban resilience in Southeast Asian cities is being further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. While cities and national governments across the region have developed policies, strategies and programs to re-orient their cities towards more sustainable and resilient development pathways, many cities continue to struggle with the uncontrolled nature of urban development and compounding impacts of crisis events. This article provides an overview of major trends and challenges with urbanisation in Southeast Asia, focusing in particular on Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as the regional, national and sub-national policies and strategies established to address these trends and challenges. Given the current policy implementation gaps and ongoing challenges of urbanisation in Cambodia and Vietnam, the article makes the case for trans-disciplinary research to understand the potential for strengthening urban governance capacities for urban sustainability transformations.

In about 15 years, there is likely to be urban air mobility (UAM) in larger cities across the globe. Air taxis will provide on-demand transportation for individual needs. They will also connect important transportation nodes, such as airports and city centers, as well as providing quick transfers between train stations or a convenient option for crossing rivers and lakes. It is hoped that UAM will help meet today&rsquo ; s political targets of sustainability and decarbonization. However, there are certain threats that could impede the sustainable and thus successful introduction of UAM to our cities, with noise being a prominent limitation. This paper argues that citizens have to be viewed as stakeholders in urban air transportation, regardless of whether they or not intend to use it, and that a concept of resident participatory noise sensing (PNS) will be beneficial to the implementation of UAM. Web-based services and smartphones facilitate the access and updating of current information about local noise distributions, thus enabling them to be used to foster UAM in smart cities.

This paper examines, based on certain criteria, the most feasible sustainable energy technology (SET) for rural Bangladesh. The criteria used for the appropriateness of SET for rural Bangladesh are: (a) availability of energy resources, (b) degree of technological complexity of the proposed technology, (c) cost effectiveness, (d) balance between supply of and demand for energy, (e) contribution of the particular energy technology to reducing greenhouse gas emission, and (f) major constraints associated with accepting the recommended technology. The paper describes the theoretical part of the author's Ph.D. thesis where fundamental work has been done. The study applies the criteria to three main energy technologies‐ biomass, solar and wind‐ and finds that none of these technologies are suitable on their own. However, among the three proposed energy technologies, biomass might be the best possible option which can make a positive contribution to alleviate energy poverty in rural Bangladesh. Findings of this study are useful for development policy makers and researchers.