Explore the vast range of titles available.

In the past 30 years, economic inequality has increased to unprecedented levels, and is generating widespread public concern among orthodox, as well as leftist and feminist, thinkers. This article explores the gender dimensions of growing economic inequality, summarises key arguments from feminist economics which expose the inadequacy of current mainstream economic analysis on which 'development' is based, and argues for a 'gender and equality' approach to economic and social policy in both the global North and South.

Education conceptualised in terms of the broader project of socially sustainable development (SSD) makes cooperative learning (CL) valuable in realising the former. Cooperative learning emphasises cooperation as integral to learner success, and because of this CL strategies have been found to be successful in fostering positive intergroup attitudes in classrooms, multicultural and otherwise. Social sustainable development concerns those aspects of human life and human relations which are necessary for the survival of society. Apart from it being particularly instrumental in improving learners' academic performance, CL is equally valuable in promoting positive social relations amongst group members. Such relations are important for achieving social sustainable development. Therefore, CL could particularly be valuable to develop in learners, and the broader society, the social dispositions required for a socially sustainable South African society. My argument centres on the potential of CL as a practical strategy towards the development of a social sustainable South African society. In an attempt to demonstrate that CL holds the potential to contribute towards a social sustainable South African society, I'll be focusing on the core tenets of SSD. These tenets are explored in relation to the principles and social outcomes of CL in order to establish the extent the latter could be instrumental in promoting SSD.

In this paper authors review the issue of relationship between economy, society and environmental protection. This could not be done without the three sustainability principles being incorporated in the concept of sustainable development and later in the concept of green economy. Many defnitions of both concepts refer to the fact that these relationships are complex, as economic well-being and environmental protection cannot \"reconcile\" in the short run. The aim of green economy is to even economy, society and environment. Green fnance was developed within this new economic concept. One instrument of green fnance, i.e. socially responsible fnance is the Equator principles. This thesis shows the mechanism of action of fnancial institutions which accepted these new principles, but also points out disadvantages that must be removed over time so that these principles could have a positive impact on society and environment.

Services are failing poor urban and rural people in the developing world, and poverty remains concentrated in rural areas and urban slums. This state of affairs prevails despite prolonged efforts by many governments to improve rural and urban services and development programs. This book focuses on how communities and local governments can be empowered to contribute to their own development and, in the process, improve infrastructure, governance, services, and economic and social development, that is, ultimately, the broad range of activities for sustainable poverty reduction. Countries and their development partners have been trying to involve communities and local governments in their own development since the end of Second World War, when the first colonies gained independence in South Asia. Pioneers in both India and Bangladesh (then a part of Pakistan) developed a clear vision of how it will be done: local development should be planned and managed by local citizens, their communities, and their local governments within a clearly defined decentralized framework that devolves real power and resources to local governments and communities. Capacity support will be provided by technical institutions and sectors and nongovernmental institutions.

Environmental impact assessment, or EIA as it is known, is a procedures for evaluating the impact, proposed activities may have on the environment. In recent years, significant strides have been made to build a legal foundation for EIAs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas EIAs typically used to be carried out only to meet requirements of foreign donors, they are now mandated in twenty two Sub-Saharan countries, as an important element of domestic environmental law, and policy. This publication traces the development of EIA, both in terms of national policies, and international law, and, analyzes EIA-related laws and regulations in those countries. The substantive components of EIA requirements, as well as the similarities, and differences of the various national statutes, are noted and commented upon. Special attention is paid to the role, and degree of public participation, for the further development of law, and policy with respect to environmental impact assessments in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Around the world, it is increasingly being recognized that for sustainability goals to be reached, efforts need to go beyond complying with standards and mitigating adverse impacts, to identifying environmental sustainability as an objective of the development process. This approach requires the integration of environmental, sustainability, and climate change considerations into policy and sector reform. Because sector reform brings about significant policy change involving adjustments in laws, policies, regulations, and institutions, it is a sensitive political process often driven by strong economic interests. Policy makers are subject to a number of political pressures that originate in vested interests. The recommendations of environmental assessment are often of little relevance unless there are constituencies that support them and have sufficient political power to make their voices heard in the policy process. While strong constituencies are important during the design of sector reform, they are even more important during implementation. It follows that effective environmental assessment in policy and sector reform requires strong constituencies backing up recommendations, a system to hold policy makers accountable for their decisions, and institutions that can balance competing and, sometimes, conflicting interests.

Corruption is a multidimensional phenomenon that rears its head in many places. For this reason, it is difficult and challenging to assess how well a country is doing in addressing it. This title provides guidance to practitioners and policymakers in the design of anticorruption reforms.

Dealing with the relationship between environment and economic development is the core issue of China’s sustainable development. At present, China’s economic transformation is urgent, and green finance is being widely concerned. This paper measured the development level of China’s green finance from the perspective of green credit, green securities, green investment, and green insurance. Then, it used a spatial dynamic panel model to empirically test the mechanism of the impact of green finance on carbon emissions with panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2018. The following can be seen from the results: (1) The development of green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. (2) The spatial spillover effect of green finance is significant. Specifically, the development of green finance can not only reduce the carbon emissions of the local region but also inhibit that of adjacent areas. (3) The development of green finance indirectly leads to a decrease in carbon emissions by reducing financing constraints and boosting green technology innovation. In order to stimulate the carbon emission reduction effect of green finance to a greater extent, we should further support the development of green finance, reduce the financing constraints of energy-saving and environmental-protection enterprises, and encourage the research and development of green innovative technologies.

Facilitating the coordinated and effective progress of green finance (GF) and ecological efficiency (EE) stands as a potent approach to support our nation in attaining sustainable development goals. This paper Utilized panel data encompassing 84 cities in Western China spanning from 2007 to 2021, this paper empirically analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics and driving factors of the coupling coordination degree between green finance and ecological efficiency (CCD-GFEE) in western cities. The findings indicate that: (1) The level of GF demonstrates a rising trajectory, with significant regional disparities. Besides, the high level area progressively moves from the northwest to the southwest. (2) On the whole, urban EE demonstrates a relatively elevated level, but it still fails to reach DEA effectiveness. Compared to the northwest region, the southwest region has poorer efficiency. (3) The CCD-GFEE in western China showing a slight growth trend. The coupling coordination degree (CCD) in Northwest China is higher than that in Southwest China, and cities with higher CCD are primarily found in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan Province and Shaanxi Province. Within them, the CCD of Chengdu is the highest, Chongqing has achieved the largest stage leap. (4) The global Moran’s I consistently remained positive and exhibited a tendency of initially rising and subsequently falling, indicating that the spatial aggregation effect of CCD-GFEE first increased and then decreased. (5) The CCD-GFEE driving factors are examined using the spatial econometric model, and it has been observed that the impact of population size and government intervention on CCD-GFEE is negative, while the impact of industrial structure, technological progress and economic level on the coupling and coordination of CCD-GFEE is positive. Finally, the paper presents certain policy enlightenments to guide the coordinated development of GF and EE from the aspects of GF system formulation, economic construction and technological progress.

This paper seeks to initiate a conversation between degrowth (DG) and postdevelopment (PD) frameworks by placing them within the larger field of discourses for ecological and civilizational transitions and by bridging proposals emerging from the North with those from the Global South. Not only can this dialogue, it is argued, be mutually enriching for both movements but perhaps essential for an effective politics of transformation. Part I of the paper presents a brief panorama of transition discourses (TDs), particularly in the North. Part II discusses succinctly the main postdevelopment trends in Latin America, including Buen Vivir (BV), the rights of Nature, civilizational crisis, and the concept of ‘alternatives to development’. With these elements in hand, Part III attempts a preliminary dialogue between degrowth and postdevelopment, identifying points of convergence and tension; whereas they originate in somewhat different intellectual traditions and operate through different epistemic and political practices, they share closely connected imaginaries, goals, and predicaments, chiefly, a radical questioning of the core assumption of growth and economism, a vision of alternative worlds based on ecological integrity and social justice, and the ever present risk of cooptation. Important tensions remain, for instance, around the critique of modernity and the scope for dematerialization. This part ends by outlining areas of research on PD that could be of particular interest to degrowth scholars. The conclusion, finally, envisions the dissolution of the very binary of ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’ by adopting a pluriversal perspective.