Indicators for sustainable energy development in Mexico

This article presents a summary of a study on the application to the Mexican energy sector of a core set of indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED), developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The study focused on the elaboration of socio‐economic and environmental indicators related to energy production and use, and was aimed at assessing Mexico's existing energy policies and identifying strategies and possible policies that could bring about improvements in major priority areas: energy intensity, atmospheric emissions, energy import dependency and use of renewables. While positive trends have been observed in relation to energy intensity and atmospheric emissions, Mexico is becoming more dependent on imports of gasoline, natural gas and other high‐value secondary energy sources, while exporting significant amounts of primary fuels, such as crude oil. Also, no significant increase has been observed in the use of renewable sources of energy. Social, economic and environmental policies need to be formulated for the energy sector and related investments (public and private) reinforced so that all economic sectors have access to energy from cleaner and more diverse sources.     

The vertical integration of Lisbon and sustainable development strategies across the EU: How different governance architectures shape the European coherence of policy documents

In Europe, sustainable development (SD) is pursued with not one but two overarching strategies, i.e., the so-called Lisbon and SD strategies. While the Lisbon Strategy is a genuinely European response to global economic and social pressures, SD strategies are national efforts corresponding with international (mainly United Nations) guidance to better coordinate and integrate economic, social and, in particular, environmental policies. The present paper explores the vertical coordination and coherence of the two pan-European strategies. After reviewing the international background of SD strategies and the EU origins of the Lisbon strategy, the paper characterizes and compares the governance architectures of the two strategies. With a solid background on how vertical policy integration functions in the two processes, the paper then shows how this affects the coherence of respective strategy structures and monitoring indicators. Based on an extensive empirical stocktaking study of the objectives and indicators in Lisbon and SD strategies across Europe it is shown that, despite the stronger European coordination through the Open Method of Coordination, the Lisbon process entailed only slightly more coherent national strategies than international guidance did in the context of SD strategies. Thus, the paper concludes that the influence international organizations such as the UN and the OECD have on national policy-making must not be underestimated.     

对我国生态市(县)建设的几点思考

通过对我国生态市(县)的建设现状、建设指标的修订情况及建设意义进行深入分析,从组织领导、建设规划、建设机制等方面提出了建设生态市(县)的可行性措施。     

面向可持续发展目标的中国生态环境领域指标评估研究

联合国《2021年可持续发展报告》旨在支持各国识别实现17项可持续发展目标（SDGs）的优先行动事项,明确重要的执行挑战,对目标实施进展进行评估,并进行国家间的比较分析,保证各国以可持续的方式使用自然资源和环境成本,使人类的发展控制在地球承载能力之内,从而推动实现2030年可持续发展目标。2021年评估结果显示中国是全球落实SDGs进展较好的国家之一,生态环境领域仍是制约中国实现可持续发展2030战略目标的短板,中国亟须加快推进补齐补强指标短板,积极参与全球环境治理,加强环保领域多边双边合作,为世界环境治理和可持续发展提供“中国智慧”和“中国方案”。本文通过分析《2021年可持续发展报告》评估结果,探讨评估方法学及指标体系变化情况,分析中国生态环境领域SDGs评估结果,发现在国际评估框架下中国生态环境领域的短板问题,并提出推进SDGs指标体系本土化、补齐SDGs短板等针对性的对策建议。     

Water Nakba in Palestine: Sustainable Development Goal 6 versus Israeli hydro-hegemony

This Viewpoint article argues that Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, cannot be achieved for the Palestinian people under the current political situation of Israeli occupation. Through the practice of hydro-hegemony, Israel controls all water resources in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, thus denying water sovereignty to the Palestinians. This is demonstrated through three case studies: The Jordan Valley; the West Bank settlements; and Gaza. The politics of water in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is best understood as part of the dynamics of settler colonialism, in which ethnic cleansing is achieved through the dispossession of essential resources. The authors discuss what role the international scientific community can play in supporting Palestinian water sovereignty and therefore SDG 6.     

重庆新型工业化的必由之路--生态工业园区

随着全球保护环境、实现可持续发展的呼声日益高涨,由此出现了一种新型的工业组织形态--生态工业园区,它通过一个区域内的物流和能源的正确设计模拟自然生态系统,形成企业间共生网络,达到减少废物,实现园区污染"零排放"的目标,从而成为各国可持续发展的主要模式之一.目前重庆地区已经规划建立了40多个特色工业园区,但没有一个是真正意义上的生态工业园区,因此结合相关构建理论,在重庆建立生态工业园区很有必要.     

Exploring corruption in fisheries

This paper explores corruption in global fisheries. While reducing corruption is critical for the effective management of the fisheries sector and the fulfilment of the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs, and SDGs14 and 16 in particular), to do so, it is necessary to first have a systematic and comprehensive understanding of what corruption is and how it is manifested in the sector. There is literature on illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, but not much on corruption. The paper proposes an analytical framework and applies it with six revelatory cases to improve the conceptual clarity of corruption in fisheries. Specific corruption problems found in licensing, negotiating access agreements, lax enforcement, extortion, political corruption, money laundering and tax manipulation, human trafficking, etc. can therefore be better identified through this analysis, which lays a base for systematic responses to tackling corruption in fisheries and accordingly furthering the sustainable development of the sector.     

Indicators for sustainable energy development: Brazil's case study

This article summarizes the results of the project on indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED) in Brazil. The project's aim was to present energy related economic, social and environmental data to policy makers in a coherent and consistent form, showing interlinkages, time‐series and cross‐sectoral analyses and assess energy policy. Two priority areas assessed by these indicators, regarding the country's energy supply and demand, helped in the identification of a number of energy policy options that focused on specific aspects of the country's energy sector. On the supply side, these options include the development and stimulation of renewable energy, such as small‐scale hydroelectric, wind, solar photovoltaic power and bagasse cogeneration; stimulation of programmes for ethanol use as automotive fuel and sugarcane bagasse cogeneration; and implementation of natural gas‐fired, combined heat and power (CHP) plants. On the demand side, policy options include: the full implementation of the law on efficiency standards for appliances; expansion of utility investment in end‐use energy efficiency; adoption of targets and protocols to reduce energy intensity in the industrial sector; improvement of passenger transport efficiency; and the creation of a fund to improve energy affordability for the poor.