Assessment of sustainable development in the EU 27 using aggregated SD index

In the European Union the sustainable development is a fundamental and overarchingobjective enshrined in the Treaty and measuring progress towards sustainable development is an integral part of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Eurostat produce a monitoring report every two years based on the EU set of sustainable development indicators (SDIs). The main objective of this paper is to create an aggregated index of the sustainable development from EU set of SDIs for each 27 EU country based on the PCA. The headline indicator economic growth was not involved because its increase is not expressly followed by positive change in other SDIs from social, economic and environmental fields. The aggregated SD index enables to get an overall picture about the position of each of the 27 EU countries and its development in terms of the sustainability over time as assumed in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Sweden, Denmark, Netherland, and Great Britain have repeatedly reached the highest value of aggregated SD index. The highest positive change in the aggregated SD index has occurred in countries with the lowest value of aggregated SD index. Moreover, we put this new aggregated index in relation with economic growth and found that there is a negative correlation between aggregated SD index and the economic growth for most of the 27 EU countries.     

Working conditions in hydrogen production: A social life cycle assessment

Social impacts of novel technology can, parallel to environmental and economic consequences, influence its sustainability. By analyzing the case of hydrogen production by advanced alkaline water electrolysis (AEL) from a life cycle perspective, this paper illustrates the social implications of the manufacturing of the electrolyzer and hydrogen production when installed in Germany, Austria, and Spain. This paper complements previous environmental and economic assessments, which selected this set of countries based on their different structures in electricity production. The paper uses a mixed method design to analyze the social impact for the workers along the process chain. Appropriate indicators related to working conditions are selected on the basis of the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The focus on workers is chosen as a first example to test the relatively new Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database version 2.0. The results of the quantitative assessment are then complemented and compared through an investigation of the underlying raw data and a qualitative literature analysis. Overall, advanced AEL is found to have least social impact along the German process chain, followed by the Spanish and the Austrian. All three process chains show impacts on global upstream processes. In order to reduce social impact and ultimately contribute to Sustainable Development, policymakers and industry need to work together to further improve certain aspects of working conditions in different locations, particularly within global upstream processes.     

后疫情时代全球可持续发展目标加速行动的推动

“SDGs加速行动”是国际组织、政府部门、私营机构和其他利益攸关方为加快落实2030年可持续发展议程采取的全球行动。2019年联合国可持续发展目标峰会后,政府、国际组织、私营部门等提出了214项SDGs加速行动。2019年爆发的新型冠状病毒肺炎（Corona Virus Disease 2019,COVID-19）对实现可持续发展目标带来了系列影响,后疫情时代如何推动全球SDGs加速行动的实施成为重要的问题。对可持续发展评估报告（2019）和可持续发展目标加速行动等政策文件进行信息提取,建立加速行动匹配性指数模型和各国应对新冠疫情的恢复力指数模型,根据匹配性-恢复力分类体系将各国按照17项可持续发展目标分为9类,为推动后疫情时代全球可持续发展目标加速行动提供支撑。研究发现：（1）现有可持续发展目标加速行动的实施与区域需求不匹配,且这种不匹配的情况在COVID-19爆发前已经出现;（2）加速行动的实施受限于现有可持续发展水平和国家经济基础,区域关注的可持续发展目标与其自然地理位置和社会发展水平有着密切的关系,多边组织机构和其他利益攸关方需要在发展中国家大力推动可持续发展加速行动;（3）下一步实施加速行动需要加强国际间的合作,根据分类框架和可持续发展目标的关联关系,分重点推进加速行动的实施,完善可持续发展指标监测体系,分类设立后疫情时代不同时期的阶段目标,分阶段循序渐进,定期反馈追踪,以在2030年促进17项可持续目标的实现。     

The rising tide of fisheries instruments and the struggle to keep afloat

Since agreement was reached in 1982 on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and particularly since the conclusion of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, the rate of development of global instruments impacting on fisheries has escalated considerably and is apparently continuing to do so. A flood of global and regional instruments relevant to fisheries has been generated, including, for example, the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which pre-dates the UN Convention, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development, the 1993 FAO Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, the 1995 UN Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its four international plans of action and strategy, and the 2001 FAO Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem reflecting the growing international interest in ecosystem approaches to fisheries. Most recent has been the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development's Plan of Implementation. These instruments have been motivated by real problems associated with environmental degradation and living resource depletion, in several cases specifically in connection with fisheries. They have attempted to address these problems, and each instrument is recognized as being a positive contribution towards the sustainable use of resources and ecosystems. However, taken collectively they form a large, often confusing and potentially overwhelming set of recommendations and requirements that is putting many fishery management agencies under severe pressure as they seek to implement them. This paper provides a brief overview of the range of recent instruments and their implications for sustainable fisheries management, considers the progress being made in implementing them, identifies general problems being encountered and how they might be ameliorated in the future. A key problem is a lack of political will, or political ability, to address effectively the problems facing fisheries and marine ecosystems. One consequence of this is that the agencies charged with fisheries management are not provided with adequate technical and financial capacity to implement the instruments in most, if not all, countries. The problem is especially acute in developing countries where they are strained by the full effects of "instrument implementation fatigue".     

Developing the methodology for determining the relative weight of dimensions employed in sustainable building assessment tools for Brazil

The fundamental differences between the dimensions of sustainable development have been identified by researchers and many assessment tools have been developed in several countries. This paper introduces the development of a methodology for determining the weight of each dimension employed in sustainable construction assessment through the use of assessment tools that use the Brazilian indicators of sustainable development in accordance with the Commission on Sustainable Development, and also through the utilization of a database provided by the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE). Firstly, the Sustainability Panel tool was employed to reveal separately the status of dimensions in sustainable development (environmental, social and economic) and then it was made a statistical analysis of the results for each region in Brazil (north, northeast, midwest, southeast and south). The solution presented in this paper aims to reduce the inconsistencies found in the adjustments of the assessment tools considering regional differences based on political actions included in governmental agencies.     

加速推进可持续发展目标,开启未来十年的行动和成就——联合国可持续发展目标峰会介评

联合国可持续发展目标峰会于2019年9月24、25号在纽约召开,各国政府的高层人员就加速推进2030年可持续发展议程进行了全面审议和讨论。目前就全球而言,因为致命冲突、气候危机、经济增长不平衡等原因,人类在推动实现可持续发展目标的道路上已经偏离了既定轨道。为此,大会通过了一项政治宣言,联合国成员国承诺在未来十年筹措资金,努力在2030年之前实现17项可持续发展目标（SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals）,并且不让任何人掉队。同时,多国政府和组织结合自身情况,提出了126项SDGs加速行动（SDG Acceleration Actions）。我国代表在峰会上发表演讲指出,中国政府将可持续发展作为基本国策,全面深入落实2030年可持续发展议程,中国目前在脱贫、医疗、教育等方面进展明显,有望提前实现多项可持续发展目标。     

助推2030可持续发展议程环境目标落实——第二届联合国环境大会会议简述

第二届联合国环境大会于2016年5月23日—27日在肯尼亚内罗毕举行,来自174个国家的2500多名代表参加了此次会议。其主题是"落实《2030年可持续发展议程》中的环境目标"。会议聚焦于最新的全球、区域和国家环境问题,审视可持续发展议程及其环境目标的落实情况,并最终达成了25项具有里程碑意义的决议,推动落实2030年可持续发展议程。对于中国而言,应该在落实2030议程环境目标的过程中,加快经济转型和生态文明建设,推动实现建设美丽中国和可持续发展的目标。     

中国可持续发展政策试点文献计量研究——以可持续发展实验区和可持续发展议程创新示范区为例

可持续发展实验区（以下简称"实验区"）是一项地方试点示范工作,倡导实验区基于自身特点设计实验主题,自行探索可持续发展的典型做法,依靠科技创新解决制约可持续发展的问题。作为可持续发展领域建设时间最长、覆盖规模最广、实验主题最为多样的政策试点,实验区已经积累了一定的研究,现有文献多集中于对发展理念的概念和框架探讨、可持续发展水平综合评估、区域发展耦合度和协调度计算、以及可持续发展投入产出效率差异等,为实验区理论研究和政策实践打下基础。为了系统梳理实验区研究的整体演进情况,为未来研究提供一个较为全面的参考,从文献计量的视角,对实验区和可持续发展议程创新示范区（以下简称"创新示范区"）为主题的研究进行科学知识图谱分析,厘清实验区研究的阶段性特点、研究领域、核心问题、前沿热点和科学合作网络结构,基于此提出未来可能的研究方向。研究结果表明实验区主题的发文量总体上呈波动趋势,研究者和研究机构的局部性合作较强;研究的核心问题始终围绕可持续发展在实验区的政策实践;研究前沿与宏观经济社会发展背景相呼应,其中可持续发展战略实施一直都是热点问题;经历了从可持续发展理念普及到可持续发展实践模式的历程。在可持续发展目标（SDGs）这一全球新形势下,为了更好地发挥实验区和创新示范区作为政策试点的作用,提出未来的研究方向：一是加强与SDGs研究的衔接;二是增加科技创新驱动可持续发展的研究;三是推进可持续发展典型问题和解决方案的系统研究。     

Climate change,demographic pressures and global sustainability

This article emphasizes the need for broader approaches for formulating policies for mitigating the effects of climate change especially in the contexts of agricultural decisions, and population health and migration. Constraints imposed by rapid population growth in developing countries for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals are discussed and evidence is presented on “unwanted” fertility from India. Second, comparisons are made for India during 2002–2016 for average well depths in 495 districts and terrestrial water storage anomalies assessed via GRACE satellites for 274 1° × 1° grids using estimated parameters from dynamic random effects models. Lastly, migration patterns especially of the highly educated from 39 sending countries to OECD countries during 2000–2010 are analyzed using dynamic random effects models and total fertility rates were significantly associated with higher migration rates for the highly educated. Implications of the empirical evidence for enhancing global sustainability are discussed.     

The Dynamics of Democracy,Development and Cultural Values

Over the past decades many countries have experienced rapid changes in their economies, their democratic institutions and the values of their citizens. Comprehensive data measuring these changes across very different countries has recently become openly available. Between country similarities suggest common underlying dynamics in how countries develop in terms of economy, democracy and cultural values. We apply a novel Bayesian dynamical systems approach to identify the model which best captures the complex, mainly non-linear dynamics that underlie these changes. We show that the level of Human Development Index (HDI) in a country drives first democracy and then higher emancipation of citizens. This change occurs once the countries pass a certain threshold in HDI. The data also suggests that there is a limit to the growth of wealth, set by higher emancipation. Having reached a high level of democracy and emancipation, societies tend towards equilibrium that does not support further economic growth. Our findings give strong empirical evidence against a popular political science theory, known as the Human Development Sequence. Contrary to this theory, we find that implementation of human-rights and democratisation precede increases in emancipative values.     

The Mason-Pfizer monkey virus internal scaffold domain enables in vitro assembly of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag

The Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) Gag protein possesses the ability to assemble into an immature capsid when synthesized in a reticulocyte lysate translation system. In contrast, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Gag protein is incapable of assembly in parallel assays. To enable the assembly of HIV Gag, we have combined or inserted regions of M-PMV Gag into HIV Gag. By both biochemical and morphological criteria, several of these chimeric Gag molecules are capable of assembly into immature capsid-like structures in this in vitro system. Chimeric species containing large regions of M-PMV Gag fused to HIV Gag sequences failed to assemble, while species consisting of only the M-PMV p12 region, and its internal scaffold domain (ISD), fused to HIV Gag were capable of assembly, albeit at reduced kinetics compared to M-PMV Gag. The ability of the ISD to induce assembly of HIV Gag, which normally assembles at the plasma membrane, suggests a common requirement for a concentrating factor in retrovirus assembly. Despite the dramatic effect of the ISD on chimera assembly, the function of HIV Gag domains in that process was found to remain essential, since an assembly-defective mutant of HIV CA, M185A, abolished assembly when introduced into the chimera. This continued requirement for HIV Gag domain function in the assembly of chimeric molecules will allow this in vitro system to be used for the analysis of potential inhibitors of HIV immature particle assembly.     

Modelling the European Farmland Bird Indicator in response to forecast land-use change in Europe

The European Farmland Bird Indicator (EFBI) has been adopted as a Structural and Sustainable Development Indicator by the European Union. It is an aggregated index integrating the population trends of 33 common bird species associated with farmland habitats across 21 countries. We describe a modelling method for predicting this indicator from land-use characteristics. Using yearly historical land-use data of crop areas derived from the FAO databases (1990–2007) and published population data of farmland birds at the national level for the same period, we developed a series of multiple regression models to predict the trend of the EU state specific indicator, and the EFBI. These models incorporated up to 4 parameters and were selected based upon the significance (p < 0.05) of the model inputs with respect to the predictive variable. 17 separate models were developed in total for each of 14 EU countries plus Norway and Switzerland, and a separate model for the EU level indicator. The selected models were then implemented to predict the EFBI in the year 2025, using scenarios of land-use change generated by the CAPRI agricultural model. The uncertainty of using the regression models is discussed with respect to predicting the likely impacts of land-use change on bird populations. This work lays the framework for future modelling of farmland birds at the international scale.     

Life Cycle Management in Developing Countries: State of the Art and Outlook

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/lca2006.04.020

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UNEP DTIE, through its Life Cycle Initiative, aims to enhance the skills of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries on Life Cycle Management (LCM). This is part of its contribution to the 10-year framework of program on Sustainable Consumption and Production as a follow-up of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). Apart from the potential of improving their environmental performance, life cycle thinking and the use of LCA can be a business opportunity for SMEs. The development of environmental management expertise may help them to position themselves as reliable suppliers. The Life Cycle Initiative has promoted and facilitated the establishment of regional life cycle networks, and UNEP has started a training program on LCM targeted at National Cleaner Production Centers (NCPCs) and other national institutes that are able to pass on the information to the target groups. Some multinational companies have started to provide capacity building on life cycle management for suppliers in developing countries. More companies could use this approach to help developing countries to tackle environmental requirements in the supply chain and thus the private sector may contribute significantly to eco-efficiency, cost savings and finding new markets for sustainable products and services in developing countries. Life cycle thinking applied to basic services such as water, waste and energy could be another way to directly contribute with life cycle management to human development.

     

Reengineering an Information System: A Case Study in Risk Reduction

Business-process reengineering (BPR), like computer information systems development (ISD), deals primarily with process and contains only weak facilities for addressing structure and culture. Manufacturing and ISD have strong roots in the functionalist traditions of natural science, and in a cultural environment their engineering stance deals poorly with obstacles to change. While the structured, or “hard,” engineering approaches have given rise to successful developments, they have not always proved effective. In ISD, the hard engineering methods have a tendency to redefine information systems problems as problems of technical development, and similarly in engineering contexts, BPR risks becoming too focused on technical processes. However, failure to gain commitment and a sense of ownership in new processes is a cause of failure in both BPR and ISD. This article explores a case study where both technical and human issues must be addressed—the extension of student record processing within a university. In this study, the BPR requirement is seen to arise from the users of the information system rather than as an imposed managerial imperative. The use of total systems intervention (TSI) and interactive planning (IP) enabled the immediate technical problems to be separated from underlying BPR requirements and from the need to gain commitment to change. Thus, unnecessary technical effort and the risks of failure from resistance to change were avoided. From the findings of this intervention, it is argued that the wider application of TSI provides a framework within which managerially perceived needs can be translated into a grassroots commitment.     

The Geography of Gender Inequality

Reducing gender inequality is a major policy concern worldwide, and one of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, our understanding of the magnitude and spatial distribution of gender inequality results either from limited-scale case studies or from national-level statistics. Here, we produce the first high resolution map of gender inequality by analyzing over 689,000 households in 47 countries. Across these countries, we find that male-headed households have, on average, 13% more asset wealth and 303% more land for agriculture than do female-headed households. However, this aggregate global result masks a high degree of spatial heterogeneity, with bands of both high inequality and high equality apparent in countries and regions of the world. Further, areas where inequality is highest when measured by land ownership generally are not the same areas that have high inequality as measured by asset wealth. Our metrics of gender inequality in land and wealth are not strongly correlated with existing metrics of poverty, development, and income inequality, and therefore provide new information to increase the understanding of one critical dimension of poverty across the globe.     

Unravelling urban sustainability.: How the Flemish City Monitor acknowledges complexities

In this article we argue that the City Monitor for Sustainable Urban Development in the Flanders (Belgium) acknowledges two kinds of complexities. Firstly, the set of almost 200 SDIs (Sustainable Development Indicators) is positioned in complex and strategic decision-making processes in Flemish cities. In this respect, this learning instrument contains actor-exceeding and policy-exogenous information, which is relevant for governance settings involved in the urban (sustainable) development of their city. The City Monitor is meant to enhance and sharpen the quality of strategic urban debates and, as a consequence, it has to be regarded as only one single element in complex urban decision-making processes. Secondly, the design methodology of the City Monitor also aims at addressing typical tensions brought about by such catch-all terms as urban sustainability. Because of the complex and normative character of the concept we opted for an intensive co-design approach with hundreds of urban stakeholders. The case of the City Monitor shows that this ‘complexity-acknowledging’ perspective and approach can be complementary to more traditional monitoring approaches.     

基于可持续发展目标的资源型城市可持续发展评价技术及应用——以湖南省郴州市为例

资源型城市作为我国重要战略保障基地,面临较为突出的不可持续问题,定量化开展可持续发展水平监测评估是推动其绿色转型发展、激活再生动力的重要途径。基于联合国可持续发展目标体系(SDGs),结合行星边界理论,从资源型城市可持续发展特征出发,建立了由2个系统、4个支柱、12个领域和48项指标组成的资源型城市可持续发展评价指标体系。借鉴全球SDGs监测评估实践经验,考虑指标属性,综合确定各指标的阈值,并采用改进的离差标准化、障碍度分析及耦合协调度分析等方法建立综合评价技术体系。以拥有“有色金属之乡”称号的郴州市国家可持续发展议程创新示范区为评价对象,对其2005—2019年连续15年的可持续发展水平进行实证分析。结果表明：(1)郴州市可持续发展水平整体上呈现稳步上升趋势,得分由0.398上升到0.610。(2)4个支柱中,自然资源支柱的得分进步幅度最大,高达71.3%,说明郴州市已经逐步提高对资源利用效率的重视,同时意识到挖掘替代资源的重要性,资源保障与利用能力不断提升;而发展动力支柱得分始终处于较弱或中等水平,已成为制约郴州市可持续发展和绿色转型的主要因素,其中科技创新驱动是该支柱发展关键障碍...     

Using systems thinking and open innovation to strengthen aquaculture policy for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In a world of 9 billion people and a widening income gap between the rich and poor, it is time to rethink how aquaculture can strengthen its contribution to the second UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger in our generation. The disparity in the level of sustainable aquaculture development at present, between and within countries, especially regarding human access to farmed aquatic food remains highly variable across the globe. This paper offers a fresh look at the opportunities from using systems thinking and new open innovation measuring tools to grow sustainable aquaculture. Political will in many nations is the main constraint to aquaculture in realising its potential as an: accessible source of micronutrients and nutritious protein; aid to meeting conservation goals; economic prosperity generator where benefits extend to locals and provider of indirect social benefits such as access to education and well-being, among others. Resources to enable strong partnerships (SDG 17) between academia, civic society, government and industry should be prioritised by governments to build a sustainable aquatic food system, accessible to all, forever.     

The index of sustainable economic welfare in the energy-growth nexus for American countries

Our paper is an empirical study on the comparison between the conventional energy- growth nexus and the energy-ISEW (Index for Sustainable Economic Welfare) growth nexus. We use a sample of American countries in a multivariate panel framework for a data span from 1990 to 2013, with variables such as labor, capital, carbon emissions, energy use, renewable energy, rents and trade. Results from this paper are critical for governments and institutional investors who are nowadays concerned with sustainable economic growth and welfare and not only the short-sighted GDP growth. An additional contribution of this paper is the calculation of the ISEW index for American countries, based on data availability.     

平顶山市区域性环境资源可持续发展能力研究

依据平顶山市l2年环境质量检测及评价的相关资料,提出了环境资源可持续发展能力综合评价的指标体系,并应用这一指标体系,运用主成分分析的方法．提取累计贡献率达94．75％的前4个主成分进行变量回测,定义并计算可持续发展度,建立了可持续发展度的时间数列模型,为环境资源可持续发展能力的量化研究提供了可行的方法．