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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 8th, 2008 The World Values Survey is available at: www.worldvaluessurvey.org www.happyplanetindex.org
See the Global HPI map: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 7th, 2008 From: munekata at iges.or.jp Call for Abstracts: Climate-Friendly Transportation Strategies in Asia: Overcoming Obstacles to Co-benefits. Selected authors will be invited to contribute full-length papers for a multi-chapter book project. Selected authors will also be sponsored to attend the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand and present their findings at a pre-event panel scheduled for 11 November 2008. Due Date: 1 September 2008 Rising rates of motorization in developing Asia have become a source of concern outside and inside the region. Outside the region this concern stems from projections that carbon emissions from Asia’s transport sector could triple by 2025. Inside the region it stems from projections that urban air pollution levels, fuel costs, and commuting times could increase just as sharply over the same period. The key to altering these projections may lie in integrated transportation policies. Integrated transportation policies are so named because, rather than focusing on either developmental or climate goals, they pursue both objectives simultaneously. Integrated policies therefore have the potential to be more cost-effective than isolated climate or developmental policies. A number of studies have demonstrated this potential by estimating the developmental benefits of integrated policies. These benefits are commonly referred to as co-benefits. The values of co-benefits are often found to be significant in developing Asia, which would presumably draw interest from regional policymakers. But while the influence of this research seems likely to expand, thus far its impacts on policies have been limited. This book project seeks to determine why these potentially sizable impacts have yet to materialize in developing Asia’s transport sector. More concretely, the project’s main goal is to understand the opportunities for and obstacles to maximizing the co-benefits of transportation policies in developing Asia. A second goal is to propose countermeasures based on that assessment. Abstracts should focus on one of the following three themes. Analytical Framework: Papers should identify categories of transportation policies with significant co-benefits and barriers to realizing those benefits. Papers may focus on technical, financial, political, and social barriers. Analytical frameworks offering explanations for why some categories of policies are more likely to succeed than others are encouraged. Case Studies: Papers should examine specific projects/programmes/ policies where the co-benefits have or have not materialized in developing Asia. Submissions should highlight the actors, interests and institutions that contributed to the case’s performance. Comparative case studies are encouraged. Co-benefits in the Post-2012 Climate Regime: Papers should explore opportunities for recognizing and rewarding transportation co-benefits in the post-2012 climate regime. Insights into how the post-2012 climate regime could strengthen the design and implementation of integrated transportation policies are encouraged. The IGES Climate Policy Project will acknowledge receipt of all submissions by email. Notification of selected abstracts will be made by 15 September 2008. The authors of selected abstracts will be asked to submit the draft version of full paper by 5 November 2008. This call for abstracts is open to policy practitioners, scholars, and students from both developed and developing countries. The focus of study should be Asia; cases outside the region can be used for comparative purposes. About the Climate Policy Project at IGES The mission of the project is to recommend effective climate policies for sustainable development in Asia in this era of evolving global climate regime. In Phase 4 of its research (April 2007-March 2010), the project is conducting research on four sub-themes: market mechanisms, adaptation, climate regime beyond 2012, and co-benefits. This call for papers is specifically designed to assist the work of the sub-themes of climate regime beyond 2012 and co-benefits. For additional details of the project, please refer to http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cp. For additional details regarding this call for abstracts, please contact: Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 7th, 2008 Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008 Nissan shows off prototypes of electric, hybrid vehicles. By HIROKO NAKATA, Staff writer, Japan Times online. YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — Nissan Motor Co. unveiled prototypes Wednesday of electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles it plans to launch in Japan and the United States in business 2010. an AP photo is titled Silent speed: A prototype of Nissan Motor Co.’s new gasoline-electric hybrid speeds along the automaker’s test course Wednesday in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. The prototype is Nissan’s first rear-wheel drive hybrid. The electric vehicle is its second original model since 2000. Both prototypes are powered by improved lithium-ion batteries that are twice as powerful as conventional nickel-metal hydride batteries and half the size of its previous cylindrical batteries. In 2007, Nissan tied up with NEC Corp. and established the joint venture Automotive Energy Supply Corp. to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries. Laminated to reduce heat, the batteries are installed under the floor of the interior to leave sufficient space for the cabin and cargo areas. Electric and hybrid prototypes are each modeled after the Cube minivan, sold only in Japan, and the Infiniti sedan. However, “the design will be totally different” when Nissan launches the final versions in business 2010, Nissan Executive Vice President Mitsuhiko Yamashita told reporters. MMC batteries near. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and two other firms said Wednesday they will start mass producing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles at a new factory in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, in business 2009. The new plant, to be completed by March 31, will produce 200,000 lithium-ion cells a year, enough to equip 2,000 of MMC’s next-generation electric vehicle, the iMiEV, according to a joint statement by the automaker, battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. Output will soon be quintupled to 10,000 cells a year, due to growing demand for lithium-ion batteries, they said. Kyoto-based Lithium Energy Japan is building the facilities in Kusatsu. The joint firm was set up in 2007 by the two Mitsubishi firms and GS Yuasa Power Supply Ltd. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 6th, 2008 Libya Preaches to Durban II on Racism Against Maids, as Qaddafi Jr. Arrested for Beating Maids The Incident The conflict began after Hannibal, the youngest son of Libyan dictator Col. Muammar Qaddafi, and his wife Aline were arrested by Geneva police in their luxury hotel, which is situated next to the UN human rights office. Two of their servants, a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman, had complained of being beaten with a belt and coat hanger, causing hotel staff to call in the authorities. (The desert despot’s 32-year-old son has a long record of violent run-ins with the law across European capitals.) The couple were charged with assault. Hannibal spent two evenings in detention while his wife, who came to Geneva to give birth, was transferred to a maternity unit. Released on $500,000 bail, they flew back to Libya escorted by doctors from Geneva’s main hospital. Retaliation was swift. Aisha Qadaffi, sister of the accused, warned that her country would respond on the principle of “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” The Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution halted all oil shipments to the Helvetic confederation. Swiss companies in Libya, including Nestlé, were shut down or padlocked, and diplomats sent packing. Two Swiss nationals were seized as hostages. “Spontaneous” demonstrations against the Swiss aggressor erupted in the capital. The outrage has ebbed, but the crisis remains. Today’s Tribune de Geneve reports that Foreign Minster Micheline Calmy-Rey may head on a special mission to Libya. Which bring us to the irony of it all. Of all Western democracies, the current Swiss government must be the last to ever have imagined being targeted by mad Middle East dictators, who have always felt so at home at Geneva’s hotels, boutiques and banks — so much so, that their spoiled progeny jet over to have their babies born there. Some say Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey stumbled in her early handling of the current crisis. No wonder. She must have been in a state of shock. After all, was it not she who, to seal a $28 billion gas deal, recently visited with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a time when no other self-respecting democratic leader would do the same? Did she not go the extra mile to pose smilingly with the world’s most dangerous fomentor of racist hatred, even donning the Islamic headscarf, for added measure? Did she not keep silent over the brutal human rights situation in Iran, despite being asked to speak out by Shirin Ebadi, the renowned women’s rights advocate? But it’s more. The current Swiss government has always profited from special ties with Qaddafi – the extent to which the current episode has highlighted as never before. It turns out that half of Switzerland’s oil comes from Libya. That Libyan company Tamoil owns one of Switzerland’s two oil refineries and runs 320 filling stations in the country. The Libyans also threatened to withdraw their assets from Swiss banks. And how much is that? Some $6 billion. But it’s more, more than just oil, investments and trade. It’s political and moral support. In the past year, Calmy-Rey and her diplomats worldwide waged a massive campaign to elect her Geneva friend Jean Ziegler — the 1989 co-founder of the “Muammar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize” — as a senior adviser to the UN Human Rights Council. When the vote was won, Swiss UN ambassador Blaise Godet literally embraced his colleague from Cuba’s Castro regime, Ziegler’s other favorite government, thereby revealing another unholy alliance.
However, the newspaper noted, “the sociologist categorically refuses to comment on the current crisis between Switzerland and Libya.” Nor did Ziegler ever say a word — or lift a finger – over all the years that the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor were cruelly held hostage in Libyan jails. Durban II: Libya Pledges to Confront “New Form of Racism Related to Maids” Perhaps the greatest unspoken irony is that of Libya’s role. The country currently chairs the planning of the April 2009 Durban Review Conference, the UN’s next world conference against racism and intolerance. In advance of an African preparatory session later this month, Libya has just submitted a UN questionnaire on its policies and practices. Here we learn that the sixth principle of Qaddafi’s Green Charter “defines Libya’s society of non-discrimination.” And that the penal code “does not discriminate between local or foreign workers in Libya.” And that Article 420 prohibits “all forms of slavery” and “forced labor.” Finally, “Libya does not only not practice racism but we combat the practice of regimes against the African people.” How? By confronting — get this — a “new form of racism related to house helpers (maids).” No less. Yes, over the next year the world shall look to the Guide of the Revolution to guide us all on how to treat foreigners, how to practice tolerance, and — as its most shining example — how to treat house helpers and maids. Meanwhile, in Libya, the mother of the abused Moroccan servant has been thrown into jail, and his brother forced into hiding. Eventually, a deal will be struck, Calmy-Rey will kowtow before Qaddafi, the criminal case will be closed. Hannibal will then be free to return to his beloved Lake Geneva playground. As Libya’s leading expert on how to address what it calls a new form of racism — how to treat house helpers — why not have Hannibal Qaddafi take the place of the current Libyan represenative and personally head the UN’s Durban II process? More than anyone, he will appreciate the job’s diplomatic immunity. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 6th, 2008
Building a Greener San Francisco. LUEL Briefing, August 6, 2008 The San Francisco green building ordinance incorporates standards from both the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and Build It Green’s GreenPoint Rated system. According to the City, its measures will save 220,000 megawatt hours of electricity and 100 million gallons of drinking water through the year 2012 alone. Key Program Features: In general, the ordinance applies to commercial development over 5,000 square feet, residential buildings 75 feet in height or taller, and renovations over 25,000 square feet. The requirements will be phased in through 2012, becoming more stringent during that time. For example, while new large commercial buildings will need to demonstrate compliance with a LEED Silver rating starting in 2009, the requisite rating level will become Gold in 2012. (Smaller residential developments will be required to demonstrate compliance with certain GreenPoint Rated levels, but will not be subject to the more stringent requirements described below.) Beyond conformity with existing rating systems, the ordinance will impose additional unique requirements on developers in the City. Notably, where a project involves demolition of an existing historical resource and construction of a new building in its place, the various requirements for the new construction become more stringent than they would be if no building were demolished. Additionally, developers will be required to demonstrate compliance with particular “performance standards” for all covered projects: commercial development and high-rise residential projects must meet specified reductions in potable water used for landscaping and overall water use, and construction debris diversion; mid-size and large commercial buildings, beginning in 2012, must submit documentation to verify on-site renewable energy generation or purchase of green energy credits. Although its scope is broader, the new ordinance is not San Francisco’s first effort to promote green building. Since 2004, all new construction or major remodels (over 5,000 square feet) by the City must achieve a LEED Silver rating, and since 2006, expedited permitting incentives have been available for private projects meeting LEED Gold rating criteria. The City has long maintained that a strong green building ordinance will promote not only environmental sustainability, but also economic development. However, the City’s own Office of Economic Analysis predicted in May that, primarily by increasing building costs, the ordinance could result in an adverse economic impact within the City of between $30 million and $700 million each year (although the long-term energy and water savings would likely create a net economic benefit). The assumptions behind this analysis have been vigorously debated, and still the ordinance received support from some high-profile players such as the Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco. Once the ordinance becomes operative, a project applicant will have to demonstrate compliance with the above requirements before a building permit is issued. The failure to build in accordance with approved plans will result in the project being subject to City procedures concerning abatement of unsafe structures, and the Director of Building Inspection will be authorized to require other reasonable measures to mitigate the failure to fully comply with the requirements. However, exemptions could be granted by the Director for hardship or infeasibility. 2008 has seen a great deal of new green building legislation in California. In April, the City of Los Angeles became the largest U.S. city to enact mandatory green building standards for private development. Although that program is also ambitious, it applies to a smaller portion of projects than San Francisco’s, and has less stringent requirements. By comparison, L.A.’s program applies generally to new development and remodels of non-residential development over 50,000 square feet, or 50 residential units, and requires compliance with the criteria for a LEED Certified rating. Additionally, in July, the California Building Standards Commission approved voluntary statewide green building regulations, many of which are expected to become mandatory by 2010. (See http://www.mofo.com/news/updates/files/1… for Morrison & Foerster’s recent update on these standards). As the San Francisco program ramps up, it will be critical for developers to proactively incorporate the new requirements to avoid increased costs and delays for new projects. If you are interested in learning more about green building regulation in San Francisco or elsewhere, contact one of our attorneys with expertise in the field of green building regulation: Zane Gresham (415-268-7145), David Gold (925-295-3310), Mitch Randall (925-295-3377), Tom Ruby (650-813-5857), or Miles Imwalle (415-268-6523). Other Offices in: Beijing Denver London Los Angeles New York Palo Alto Tokyo Walnut Creek Washington DC Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 5th, 2008
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff, Staff Writer of The Christian Science Monitor / July 22, 2008 Overall, people around the world have grown happier during the past 25 years - this according to the most recent On average, people describing themselves as “very happy” have increased by nearly 7 percent. The findings seem to contradict the view, held by some, that national happiness levels are more or less fixed.
Could a wrong-headed approach to seeking happiness, then, be exacerbating some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems? And could learning to be truly content help mitigate them? In the past decade, a cadre of psychologists has directed its attention away from determining what’s wrong with the infirm toward quantifying what’s right with the healthy. They’ve christened this new field “positive psychology,” and what they’re discovering perhaps shouldn’t be all that surprising. At the core, humans are social beings.
“The pursuit of engagement and the pursuit of meaning don’t habituate,” he says, whereas trying to feel good is like eating French vanilla ice cream: The first bite is fantastic; the tenth tastes like cardboard. By definition, happiness is subjective. And yet, scientists find measurable differences in people who describe themselves as happy. They’re more productive at work. They learn more quickly. Strong social networks – a large predictor of happiness – also have health effects, researchers say. One study found that belonging to clubs or societies cut in half members’ risk of dying during the following year. Another found that, when exposed to a cold virus, children with stronger social networks fell ill only one-quarter as often as those without. For psychologists, social networks explain one of the seeming paradoxes of WVS findings: While relatively rich Denmark took the top spot, much less wealthy Puerto Rico and Colombias are second and third. In fact, relatively poor Latin America countries often score high on WVS rankings. This may underline the value of community, family, and strong social institutions to well-being. Scientists say this need for community may be a result of humanity’s long evolution in groups. Living together conferred an advantage, they say. In the hunter-gatherer world, relatedness, autonomy, curiosity, and competence – the very things that psychologists find make people happy – “had payoffs that were pretty clear,” says Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester in New York. “Aspiring for a lot of material goods is actually unhappiness-producing,” he says. “People who value material good and wealth also are people who are treading more heavily on the earth – and not getting happier.” High consumption fails to make us happy, and it comes at a cost. According to the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) 2006 Living Planet Report, humanity’s ecological footprint now exceeds earth’s capacity to regenerate by about 25 percent. Worse, so-called “extrinsic” values (wealth, power, fame), as opposed to “intrinsic” values (adventure, engagement, meaning), seem to go hand-in-hand with more environmentally destructive behavior. Tim Kasser, an associate professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., has found that people who are more extrinsically oriented tend to ride bikes less, buy second-hand less, and recycle less. Nations with more individualistic and materialistic values also tend to be more ecologically destructive. The idea that what’s good for humanity is also good for the planet is central to environmentalist Bill McKibben’s book “Deep Economy.” His prescriptions for lowering carbon emissions – living closer together, relocalizing food production, consuming less – line up with what psychologists say promotes happiness. For their part, psychologists are advocating that policymakers use indicators other than the Gross National Product (GNP) to make decisions. What’s the purpose of an economy, they ask, if not to enhance the well-being of its citizenry? “It’s because growth for growth sake” says Nic Marks, founder of the Centre for Well-beong at the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in London. It’s got its own internal logic, but it’s not serving humanity. So why are we doing it?” Bhutan uses Gross National Happiness as a measure of its success. Although small and undeveloped, the largely Buddhist nation is the happiest in Asia, according to BusinessWeek.
Kasser has more ideas: Limit – and tax – advertising, he says. To promote consumption, ads foster insecurity, he says. That hinders self-acceptance, which is another predictor of lasting well-being. How The HPI is calculated: The HPI reflects the average years of happy life produced by a given society, nation or group of nations, per unit of planetary resources consumed.
HPI = [ (Life satisfaction x Life expectancy) /(Ecological Footprint + α) ] x ß (For details of how alpha and beta are calculated, see the appendix in the full Happy Planet Index report) The World Values Survey is available at: www.worldvaluessurvey.org www.happyplanetindex.org
See the Global HPI map: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm The article appeared in The Christian Science Monitor - http://features.csmonitor.com/environmen…
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 5th, 2008 WRI Digest: World Resources 2008, China. From: Laura Lee Dooley <lauralee@wri.org> WRI Digest, August 2008, Volume 4, Number 6
Today, 2.6 billion people live on less than $2 a day. 75 percent of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid live in rural areas and are dependent on natural resources for some or all of their subsistence. The rural poor face even tougher challenges ahead, as climate change threatens to destroy the ecosystems and natural resources on which they depend. But well-designed, community-based sustainable enterprises can improve the way the rural poor draw from their area’s natural resources. Ultimately, these programs can make their communities more resilient against climate change and the other economic, social, environmental challenges they will face.
- Community ownership and self-interest: Legitimate ownership of local resources and a sense of self-interest must be granted to the community. - Help from intermediary organizations: Governments and development agencies need to provide the rural poor with the technical and business skills they need to become more resilient. - Formation of formal and informal networks: Support networks among communities and the organizations working with them must be present for the rural poor to sustainably manage natural resources and generate income. When these three elements are present, communities can begin to unlock the wealth potential of ecosystems in ways that actually reach the poor. In so doing, they can build a base of competencies that extends beyond nature-based enterprises and supports rural economic growth in general, including the gradual transition beyond reliance on natural resource income alone.” Further links: Read more about World Resources 2008 Permalink | |