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In many Latin American countries, the state is to inform communities about proposed large-scale development that affects them, often in a public hearing on the environmental impact study (estudio de impacto ambiental, EIA). This article explores the role of the EIA public hearing in environmental governance, specifically in terms of local community participation in extractives. Analysis of nine mining and hydrocarbon conflicts in Colombia and Peru reveals that sometimes the public hearing is a space for project opponents alone to participate intensively, with a focus on altering development outcomes; in other cases, activists and project supporters compete at hearings; and, finally, some communities eschew the hearing entirely. The study points to two factors to explain this variation: first, whether the public hearing is a mandatory stage in environmental licensing, and second, the cohesion of impacted communities. Running counter to existing criticisms of the structures that govern public hearings in Colombian environmental licensing, the article finds that the hurdle for Colombian communities of requesting the hearing has contributed to effective organizing by movements opposed to large-scale development.

The Shadows of Consumption gives a hard-hitting diagnosis: many of the earth's ecosystems and billions of its people are at risk from the consequences of rising consumption. Products ranging from cars to hamburgers offer conveniences and pleasures; but, as Peter Dauvergne makes clear, global political and economic processes displace the real costs of consumer goods into distant ecosystems, communities, and timelines, tipping into crisis people and places without the power to resist. In The Shadows of Consumption, Peter Dauvergne maps the costs of consumption that remain hidden in the shadows cast by globalized corporations, trade, and finance. He traces the environmental consequences of five commodities: automobiles, gasoline, refrigerators, beef, and harp seals. In these fascinating histories we learn, for example, that American officials ignored warnings about the dangers of lead in gasoline in the 1920s; why China is now a leading producer of CFC-free refrigerators; and how activists were able to stop Canada's commercial seal hunt in the 1980s (but are unable to do so now). Dauvergne's innovative analysis allows us to see why so many efforts to manage the global environment are failing even as environmentalism is slowly strengthening. He proposes a guiding principle of \"balanced consumption\" for both consumers and corporations. We know that we can make things better by driving a fuel-efficient car, eating locally grown food, and buying energy-efficient appliances; but these improvements are incremental, local, and insufficient. More crucial than our individual efforts to reuse and recycle will be reforms in the global political economy to reduce the inequalities of consumption and correct the imbalance between growing economies and environmental sustainability.

This volume assembles a group of eminent scholars to look at the problem of growth and environment from the perspective of environmental regulation. The questions addressed are: How does economic growth interact with regulation, and what are the best approaches to regulation in use today? The context for the volume is the current situation in China, where twenty years of rapid growth have created a situation in which there are both demands for environmental regulation and needs for choosing a future development path.

This timely new book uses historical data from 1980 and alternative scenarios through 2020 to assess China's future energy requirements and the resources available to meet them. Current trends are putting China on an unsustainable and insecure energy growth path, characterized by the use of enormous quantities of \"dirty\" coal and an alarming oil import dependence. The authors find that what is urgently needed is a high-level commitment to an integrated, coordinated, and comprehensive policy that is set in the framework of the energy law currently being prepared.

The people of the Mashreq have seen more than their share of deaths, economic losses, and instability over the past decade. As the decade-long conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic created new challenges and worsened the existing ones, economic activity declined, labor markets deteriorated, and poverty increased. These trends would overwhelm even the most advanced economies in the world. The Fallout of War: The Regional Consequences of the Conflict in Syria identifies the impact of the Syrian conflict on economic and social outcomes in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. It combines a large number of data sources, statistical approaches, and a suite of economic models to isolate the specific impact of the Syrian conflict from that of global and regional factors, and it explicitly analyzes the mechanisms through which such an impact is manifested. The analysis suggests that a persistent short-termism in policy making has so far propagated the shock emanating from the Syrian conflict, which led to costly and ineffective service provision, lost economic opportunities, and underfunded programs. The report advocates for a fundamental shift from the short-term mitigation policies to a medium-term regional strategy to address pertinent structural problems. Moreover, as the countries in the Mashreq look toward recovery, a policy approach that takes into account the region’s interconnectedness and seeks to build on it provides better prospects for the people. Such a regional approach that addresses cross-boundary issues—including migration, trade, and infrastructure—will require local, regional, and international commitments

C1; C2; Contents; Foreword; Acknowledgments; About the Author and Contributors; Abbreviations; Overview; Congo Basin Forests at a Glance; What Will Drive Deforestation in the Congo Basin? A Multisectoral Analysis; Boxes; Box O.1 Hunger in a Land of Plenty; Figures; Figure O.1 Land, Dense Forest, and Logging Areas in the Congo Basin; Tables; Table O.1.1 Key Development Indicators for Congo Basin Countries; Figure O.2 Average Annual Net Deforestation and Net Degradation Rates, Congo Basin, 1990-2000 and 2000-05; Box O.2 An Interactive Modeling and Awareness-Raising Exercise

Zehn Jahre nach dem 11. September 2001 ist es Zeit, Bilanz zu ziehen: Stellt der 11. September tatsächlich eine historische Wende dar? Die zehn Beiträge zu den Themen Weltmacht, Recht, Umwelt, Wirtschaft, Religion, Patriotismus, Verschwörung, Männer, Kunst und Anti-Amerikanismus zeichnen ein um-fassendes Bild der politischen, gesellschaftlichen und kultu-rellen Entwicklungen in den USA seit dem 11. September 2001. Sie zeigen, dass sich an diesem Tag die Welt nicht grundlegend geändert hat, wie oft behauptet wird, sondern dass 9/11 lediglich länger andauernde Entwicklungen verstärkt und sichtbar gemacht hat. Um dem 11. September als dem zentralen Medienereignis der Jahrtausendwende und seiner visuellen Präsenz in der vergangenen Dekade gerecht zu werden, entwickelt jeder der Autoren sein Argument zur Katalysatorfunktion von 9/11 aus der Diskussion einer zur Ikone gewordenen Fotografie.

Climate change is a lived experience of changes in the environment, often destroying conventional forms of subsistence and production, creating new patterns of movement and connection, and transforming people's imagined future. This book explores how people across the world think about environmental change and how they act upon the perception of past, present and future opportunities. Drawing on the ethnographic fieldwork of expert authors, it sheds new light on the human experience of and social response to climate change by taking us from the Arctic to the Pacific, from the Southeast Indian Coastal zone to the West-African dry-lands and deserts, as well as to Peruvian mountain communities and cities. Divided into four thematic parts - Water, Landscape, Technology, Time - this book uses rich photographic material to accompany the short texts and reflections in order to bring to life the human ingenuity and social responsibility of people in the face of new uncertainties. In an era of melting glaciers, drying lands, and rising seas, it shows how it is part and parcel of human life to take responsibility for the social community and take creative action on the basis of a localized understanding of the environment. This highly original contribution to the anthropological study of climate change is a must-read for all those wanting to understand better what climate change means on the ground and interested in a sustainable future for the Earth.