Articles

NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?

Elsevier, World Development, Volume 66, February 01, 2015
Serious questions remain about the ability of NGOs to meet long-term transformative goals in their work for development and social justice. We investigate how, given their weak roots in civil society and the rising tide of technocracy that has swept through the world of foreign aid, most NGOs remain poorly placed to influence the real drivers of social change.
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SDG:

Goal 1: No poverty; Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions; Goal 17: Partnership for the goals

Tags:

Access to justice; Capacity Building; Human rights; Multi-stakeholder partnerships, Global

The relationship between leaf area index and microclimate in tropical forest and oil palm plantation: Forest disturbance drives changes in microclimate

Elsevier, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 201, February 05, 2015
One mechanism by which land use change influences biodiversity and ecological processes is through changes in the local climate. Here, the relationships between leaf area index and five climate variables - air temperature, relative humidity, vapour pressure deficit, specific humidity and soil temperature - are investigated across a range of land use types in Borneo, including primary tropical forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation.
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SDG:

Goal 15: Life on land

Tags:

Biodiversity and ecosystems, Global

Climate change and foodborne transmission of parasites: A consideration of possible interactions and impacts for selected parasites

Elsevier, Food Research International, Volume 68, February 01, 2015
A changing climate alters the living conditions for almost every species on earth. We recognise that these changes may threaten our environment, our water and food supply, and our health; predicting the likely changes and impacts we try to prepare for different weather conditions. A complicated and perhaps underestimated threat is how climate change may affect foodborne parasites - a subject that tends to be neglected among infectious diseases under any climatic conditions.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 2: Zero hunger; Goal 13: Climate action

Tags:

Sustainable consumption and production; Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture, Global

Food standards, certification, and poverty among coffee farmers in Uganda

Elsevier,

World Development, Volume 66, February 01, 2015

Voluntary standards are gaining in importance in global markets for high-value foods. We analyze and compare impacts of three sustainability-oriented standards - Fairtrade, Organic, and UTZ - on the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Using survey data and propensity score matching with multiple treatments, we find that Fairtrade certification increases household living standards by 30% and reduces the prevalence and depth of poverty. For the other two certification schemes, no significant impacts are found.

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SDG:

Goal 1: No poverty; Goal 2: Zero hunger

Tags:

Employment decent work for all and social protection; Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture; Sustainable consumption and production; Coffee Production, Africa

Removal of hazardous organics from water using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs): Plausible mechanisms for selective adsorptions

Elsevier, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 283, January 01, 2015
Provision of clean water is one of the most important issues worldwide because of continuing economic development and the steady increase in the global population. However, clean water resources are decreasing everyday, because of contamination with various pollutants including organic chemicals. Pharmaceutical and personal care products, herbicides/pesticides, dyes, phenolics, and aromatics (from sources such as spilled oil) are typical organics that should be removed from water.
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SDG:

Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation; Goal 14: Life below water

Tags:

Chemicals and waste; Health and population; Science; Water and sanitation, Global

The Neighbourhood Effects on Health and Well-being (NEHW) study

Elsevier, Health and Place, Volume 31, January 01, 2015
Many cross-sectional studies of neighbourhood effects on health do not employ strong study design elements. The Neighbourhood Effects on Health and Well-being (NEHW) study, a random sample of 2412 English-speaking Toronto residents (age 25-64), utilises strong design features for sampling neighbourhoods and individuals, characterising neighbourhoods using a variety of data sources, measuring a wide range of health outcomes, and for analysing cross-level interactions.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and population, North America

APSIM - Evolution towards a new generation of agricultural systems simulation

Elsevier, Environmental Modelling and Software, Volume 62, December 01, 2014
Agricultural systems models worldwide are increasingly being used to explore options and solutions for the food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation and carbon trading problem domains. APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator) is one such model that continues to be applied and adapted to this challenging research agenda.
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SDG:

Goal 2: Zero hunger; Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 15: Life on land

Tags:

Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture, Global

Governing the design of national REDD +: An analysis of the power of agency

Elsevier, Forest Policy and Economics, Volume 49, 1 December 2014
This paper investigates how three aspects of governance systems, namely the policy context, the influence of key agents and their discursive practices, are affecting national-level processes of policy design aimed at REDD. +, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. We conducted analysis in six REDD. + countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam).
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SDG:

Goal 15: Life on land; Goal 17: Partnership for the goals

Tags:

Biodiversity and ecosystems; Institutional Frameworks and international cooperation for Sustainable Development; National Sustainable Development Strategies (NSDS)

The future of automotive lithium-ion battery recycling: Charting a sustainable course

Elsevier,

Sustainable Materials and Technologies, Volume 1, December 01, 2014

This paper looks ahead, beyond the projected large-scale market penetration of vehicles containing advanced batteries, to the time when the spent batteries will be ready for final disposition. It describes a working system for recycling, using lead-acid battery recycling as a model. Recycling of automotive lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is more complicated and not yet established because few end-of-life batteries will need recycling for another decade. There is thus the opportunity now to obviate some of the technical, economic, and institutional roadblocks that might arise.

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SDG:

Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

Tags:

Chemicals and waste; Industry; Sustainable consumption and production; Sustainable transport; Sustainable Lithium-ion Batteries, Global

Intra-urban vulnerability to heat-related mortality in New York City, 1997-2006

Mortality Rate Ratios for seniors age 65 and older (MRR65+) by New York City Community District (n=59). The MRR65+ compares mortality rates during very hot days (maximum heat index=100 °F+) to all May through September days, 1997–2006.
Elsevier, Health and Place, Volume 30, November 01, 2014
The health impacts of exposure to summertime heat are a significant problem in New York City (NYC) and for many cities and are expected to increase with a warming climate. Most studies on heat-related mortality have examined risk factors at the municipal or regional scale and may have missed the intra-urban variation of vulnerability that might inform prevention strategies.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 13: Climate action

Tags:

Health and population, North America

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