Suchergebnisse

Energy transformation toward 100 percent renewable energy is desirable and inevitable. New energy systems, based on efficiency, renewables, storage and smart management, are cheaper to build, run and maintain. They harvest free environmental flows, often for self-consumption. Fossil fuel extraction and commodity trade will end, as fossil asset values erode in a shrinking sector that loses its role in capital formation, international trade, economic activity and government revenue. Energy transformation is beneficial overall, and yet it may produce misleading signals in outdated statistics. International organizations and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures should address this paradox in joint reports to the Group of Twenty leaders, ministers of finance and central bank governors.

The global governance of displaced and trapped populations, forced migration and refugees is not prepared for the numbers likely to manifest under climate change. The Group of Twenty has a responsibility to prepare, push for reform and initiate annual reviews to enhance humanitarian responses to aid climate mobility. International policy and law build on the false assumption that displaced people and refugees can return to their place of origin when conditions improve, conflicts subside or homes are rebuilt. This cannot hold for many of those affected by climate change. Governance reform is needed to strengthen rights and obligations of peoples and governments in countries of origin, transit and destination, recognizing the special circumstances and needs of "climate refugees" or migrants.

UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan hatte im Februar 2003 ein Panel von 12 Persönlichkeiten unter dem Vorsitz des ehemaligen Präsidenten von Brasilien, Fernando Enrique Cardoso, eingesetzt, das herausfinden sollte, wie die Beziehungen zwischen den Vereinten Nationen und nichtstaatlichen Organisationen (Privatwirtschaft, Zivilgesellschaft, Parlamente) verstärkt und dafür entsprechende Vorkehrungen getroffen werden könnten. Im Juni 2004 legte das Panel seinen Bericht "We the Peoples: Civil Society, the United Nations and Global Govewrnance" vor, der unter dem Namen "Cardoso-Bericht" bekannt wurde. Er enthält 30 konkrete Vorschläge und wurde von Kofi Annan der Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen vorgelegt. Der Bericht enthält eine Reihe von Argumenten für eine stärkere Einbindung von nicht-staatlichen Organisationen in der Arbeit der UN. Eine Typologie von NGOs, UN-Einrichtungen oder länderspezifischen Situationen wurde allerdings nicht vorgenommen. (GB)

Throughout the world, privatization of water supply and the sewerage services is a controversial topic of political debate. Any nationalization, privatization, municipalization, or alteration in the regulatory regime constitutes a significant change of the institutional mechanism of water management. This article, based on a comparative analysis of water management institutions in selected member states of the European Union, addresses water supply and sewerage services in conurbations with centralized supplies. A brief characterization of water services and the water industry is provided in the context of global water policy developments. Three typical regulatory models are described: the British, based on centralized public policy and surrogate competition by statistical comparison; the French, based on competition for temporary monopolies; and the German or middle-European, based on competition for goods and services and control of limited operational monopolies. A typology of privatization is also presented. This article does not seek to argue that one model is better than another.

GERMAN WATER POLICY-MAKING DEFIES EASY CATEGORIZATION. POLICY PROCESSES ARE HIGHLY COMPLEX, FRAGMENTED, AND DIVERSE. CONCENTRATING ON THE AREAS OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND WATER POLLUTION, THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE IS THE ENORMOUS IMPORTANCE OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT IN BOTH THE FORMULATION ND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY. THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND OF MUNICIPAL WATER UTILITIES, IS ALSO CRUCIAL. THE VARIOUS FORMS OF HORIZONTAL COOPERATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL MUNICIPALITIES AND BETWEEN THE LANDER ARE IMPORTANT, THE LATTER HAVING BECOME PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT AS THE LANDER TRY TO PRESERVE THEIR STRONG INFLUENCE IN THE FACE OF INCREASING POLICY ACTIVISM BY THE EU. HISTORICALLY, COOPERATIVE SOLUTIONS HAVE DOMINATED MUCH OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT SINCE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. IN THE FACE OF POWERFUL AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS, THE CREATION OF NETWORKS OF COOPERATION IS STILL AT THE HEART OF POLICY, BUT THE STATE RELIES LESS ON AUTHORITY OR COMMON INTEREST THAN ON EXCHANGE, WITH FINANCIAL POLICY INSTRUMENTS COMING TO DOMINATE. WHILE WATER POLICY HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY REFRAMED AS PART OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS HAVE PLAYED A RELATIVELY MARGINAL ROLE, ALTHOUGH CONFLICTS CONCEIVED IN TERMS OF LOCAL VERSUS CENTRALISED WATER SUPPLY HAVE GAINED SOME PROMINENCE IN PARTICULAR REGIONS.

"Für Unterfangen mit globalen Auswirkungen braucht es internationale Regeln. Die bestehenden reichen für die Governance von Geo-Engineering nicht aus. Deshalb muss die Staatengemeinschaft einen multilateralen Rahmen schaffen der die Großtechnologie legitimiert und politische Konflikte verhindert." (Autorenreferat)