Assessing of Environmental Quality in Six Areas in India,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

Environmental quality for environmental health has been examined visually by describing general conditions and drinking water supply, sanitation and solid waste treatment conditions and practices in six South-East Asian villages with a dense population. The environmental review was supplemented by discussions with local people and political and administrative decision makers. Some drinking water analyses were done in order to show the water quality to the local people. The quality of the general conditions and the conditions and practices of drinking water supply, excreta disposal and solid waste treatment practices have been graded with the grading system presented below. The grading could be done in 1 or 2 days in each area by two persons, of which one was an environmental scientist and the other a social scientist, who also knew the local culture and worked as a translator.     

Barriers Beyond the Partners: Bureaucratic and Political Constraints to Implementing Joint Forest Management in Tamil Nadu,India

Whereas past research has treated co-management of common pool resources as if villagers and project implementing authorities were the only relevant actors, numerous external factors beyond the control of these two partners create barriers to successful co-management. This paper draws on discussions with Forest Department officials to examine the influence of these forces on the outcomes of Joint Forest Management (JFM) in Tamil Nadu, India. An empirical inquiry into the operational aspects of JFM indicates the important roles of political parties, powerful people, and other state institutions and functionaries as well as the flow of foreign funding. Further, the strong demand by local people for socio-economic development interventions as opposed to improvement of degraded forests belittles the role of the Forest Department relative to other departments. Numerous other conditioning factors and relationships are explored. The authors call for reforms in public governance to allow better participation of all the actors involved for this participatory management approach to succeed and sustain.     

VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS IN WATERSHED PROTECTION EXPERIENCES FROM COSTA RICA

This article analyses the application of voluntary environmental agreements (VEAs) in watershed protection in Costa Rica. Next to an involvement of private energy firms, the Costa Rican state, and farmers, the participation of NGOs is a remarkable feature. From an analysis of these multi-stakeholder arrangements, it is concluded that these arrangements bring benefits to all actors involved. VEAs have been able to grow as powerful policy instruments, generating positive environmental effects. Essential is their embedded ness in a broader set of environmental policies, especially related to forest management Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Understanding the fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbons from coal tar within gasholders

Coal tars have been identified as posing a threat to human health due to their toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic characteristics. Workers involved in former gasholders decommissioning are potentially exposed to relevant concentrations of volatile and semi-volatile hydrocarbons upon opening up derelict tanks and during tar excavation/removal. While information on contaminated sites air-quality and its implications on medium-long term exposure is available, acute exposure issues associated with the execution of critical tasks are less understood. Calculations indicated that the concentration of a given contaminant in the gasholder vapour phase only depends on the coal tar composition, being only barely affected by the presence of water in the gasholder and the tar volume/void space ratio. Fugacity modelling suggested that risk-critical compounds such as benzene, naphthalene and other monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may gather in the gasholder air phase at significant concentrations. Gasholder emissions were measured on-site and compared with the workplace exposure limits (WELs) currently in use in UK. While levels for most of the toxic compounds were far lower than WELs, benzene air-concentrations where found to be above the accepted threshold. In addition due to the long exposure periods involved in gasholder decommissioning and the significant contribution given by naphthalene to the total coal tar vapour concentration, the adoption of a WEL for naphthalene may need to be considered to support operators in preventing human health risk at the workplace. The Level I fugacity approach used in this study demonstrated its suitability for applications to sealed environments such as gasholders and its further refining could provide a useful tool for land remediation risk assessors.     

The effect of natural and anthropogenic disturbance in forest canopy and its effect on species richness in forests of Uttarakhand Himalaya,India

Pinus roxburghii (chir-pine) and Quercus leucothchophora (banj-oak) are dominant forests of mountainous part of the Uttarakhand Himalaya. The continued anthropogenic disturbance is opening the canopy, forming canopy gaps and as a result forest fragments are developing. Thus, the present study aims to analyze variations in species richness and vegetational parameters in relation to canopy gaps in forests. Total species richness was greater in open canopied forest compared to moderate and close canopied forests. In comparison between oak and pine forest, it was greater in oak forest while the proportion of common species was low between oak—pine forests. Mean species richness did not significantly vary from one canopy gap to another as well as in oak and pine dominated forest. This indicated that dominant forest types played an important role to form the community structure. The shrubs richness were greater in closed canopy and between the forests it was greater in pine forest. Tree and shrub density was low in open canopy while herb density was high in moderate canopy. Thus, this study indicated that the dominant canopy species play an important role in deciding the community structures especially the distribution of under canopy species. These parameters should be considered for conservation and maintenance of plant biodiversity of a region.     

Relationship between carbon emissions and economic development: case study of six countries

There is much discussion within the sustainable development community regarding climate stabilization and particularly, finding environmentally equitable ways to address emission reductions. Knowing the current level of emission is only one variable in this complex picture. While the rate of emissions is clearly a problem, the overall increase in GHG concentration in the atmosphere is ultimately the main driver of anthropogenic warming. Therefore, it is also important to understand the cumulative emissions, those which have taken us to the current condition. This research presents a case study of six countries to compare the emissions per capita and cumulative emissions during the past 200 years. It is known that carbon emissions are closely related to economic activities, but here we show that some countries have reached per capita emissions plateaus at different levels while others are still rising. Specifically, one approach toward socioeconomic development, in terms of energy–economy, reaches a plateau at 10 Mt carbon per person, which the United Kingdom and South Korea have attained. The US occupies another emission regime at 20 Mt carbon per person. Developing economies such as India and China are considerably below these levels, and unless they follow other integrated economic/environmental solutions, they will continue to increase their per capita emissions during development.     

Comparison of marginal abatement cost curves for 2020 and 2030: longer perspectives for effective global GHG emission reductions

This study focuses on analyses of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, from the perspective of interrelationships among time points and countries, in order to seek effective reductions. We assessed GHG emission reduction potentials and costs in 2020 and 2030 by country and sector, using a GHG emission reduction-assessment model of high resolution regarding region and technology, and of high consistency with intertemporal, interregional, and intersectoral relationships. Global GHG emission reduction potentials relative to baseline emissions in 2020 are 8.4, 14.7, and 18.9 GtCO₂eq. at costs below 20, 50, and 100 $/tCO₂eq., corresponding to +19, −2, and −7 %, respectively, relative to 2005. The emission reduction potential for 2030 is greater than that for 2020, mainly because many energy supply and energy-intensive technologies have long lifetimes and more of the current key facilities will be extant in 2020 than in 2030. The emission reduction potentials in 2030 are 12.6, 22.0, and 26.6 GtCO₂eq. at costs below 20, 50, and 100 $/tCO₂eq., corresponding to +19, −2, and −7 %, respectively, relative to 2005. The emission reduction potential for 2030 is greater than that for 2020, mainly because many energy supply and energy-intensive technologies have long lifetimes and more of the current key facilities will be extant in 2020 than in 2030. The emission reduction potentials in 2030 are 12.6, 22.0, and 26.6 GtCO₂eq. at costs below 20, 50, and 100 /tCO₂eq., corresponding to +33, +8, and −3 %, respectively, relative to 2005. Global emission reduction potentials at a cost below 50 $/tCO₂eq. for nuclear power and carbon capture and storage are 2.3 and 2.2 GtCO₂eq., respectively, relative to baseline emissions in 2030. Longer-term perspectives on GHG emission reductions toward 2030 will yield more cost-effective reduction scenarios for 2020 as well.     

ASSESSMENT OF ANTHROPOGENIC LOADS ON LANDSCAPES AS A TOOL TO DETERMINE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CASE STUDY FROM AZERBAIJAN

In order to determine the potential for sustainable regional development of the Caspian coastal zone, a study was made for the Khachmaz–Absheron zone of Azerbaijan. An evaluation was performed to assess the anthropogenic load on landscapes. Using the 8-point scale offered by Isachenko [2001, Ecological Geography of Russia, Saint Petersburg University Press, Saint Petersburg] for the indicators of agricultural, industrial, urban and integral anthropogenic loads, we did a preliminary ranking of the provinces in the Khachmaz–Absheron zone of Azerbaijan for the each indicator taken separately. Vital statistics were used as a supplementary indicator of environmental conditions in the region. By comparing the data for provinces with each other and the data on Azerbaijan average, we have classified the provinces into 4 groups according to specific combinations of the indicators. Each group of provinces has distinctive environmental conditions and features for sustainable development. The classification makes it possible to develop certain recommendations for the regional sustainable development. Measures to be implemented within the Azerbaijan State Program on Social and Economic Development of Regions are also discussed. In the Khachmaz province, production of ecologically pure products is highly recommended. Special attention should be given to the development of tourism and recreational institutions in the Khachmaz, Khizi and Devechi provinces. Recommendations for these provinces include further development of industry on the basis of modern safe technologies. The irrigation and drainage networks should be reconstructed. The reconstruction will make it possible to reduce water loss and to increase the productivity of agriculture. In the Absheron province, Baku and Sumgait cities environmental systems are overloaded, and so the works at highly polluting enterprises must be stopped, the enterprises have to be re-equipped (old filters must be changed first of all) or relocated from the area (a decrease of environmental risk should be in the focus of attention). For improving of air quality, green areas should increase. There is a need to reduce urban traffic density and to reconstruct highways. Use of old vehicles must be forbidden or restricted, and transition to environmentally friendly fuel should be supported in every way possible. It is necessary to bring the waste management system and sanitary landfills up to international standards, and to improve the water supply and sewerage systems.     

A “measurable” definition of sustainable development based on closed cycles of resources and its application to energy systems

Human society consumes resources that it is not able to reproduce. Human activities are still based on “open cycles,” starting from a condition of natural environmental balance and reaching an environmental imbalance. The challenging scope of scientific and technological research towards sustainability appears clear if it is based on this analysis: to find development systems based on “closed cycles” of resources. The challenging objective of realizing closed cycles leads to a definition of sustainability that indicates the path to sustainable development, as well as stating the general principle. It also provides a key to the qualitative measurement of sustainability. This means that the sustainability level of a system can be measured by measuring its capacity to avoid the consumption of resources. Zero consumption is a necessary condition for sustainability, and brings about as a side effect the highly desired “zero-waste” result. Materials entering the proposed endless scheme pass through the process of usefulness without losing their capacity to feed the system again after being used. Thus, the concept of “consumption” itself is replaced by one of “use” when resources are inserted into closed loops capable of feeding human development. The application of the closed cycle sustainability criterion particularly displays its feasibility, and a theoretical guiding role, in the energy sector. Energy vectors such as hydrogen and electricity enable the closure of the energy resources loop by effectively approaching the objective of “zero consumption” (and the side result of “zero waste”) through already demonstrated technological solutions.