Currently, we are producing some 50 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and releasing it into the atmosphere. If this continues, then the world’s average temperature will increase by 4 degrees centigrade by about the year 2040 and, if that happens, the extent of change will be so enormous it is possible that human society will no longer be recognizable afterwards.
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Far, far away and a long time in the future, space travel has enabled humanity to spread throughout the cosmos and come into contact with all kinds of unusual manifestations of alien life. Few aliens, however, are as unusual as the Ariekei, who have formed a complex society based on a dualistic form of language that they call, well, Language. Language differs from ordinary language in requiring two component parts which must be spoken simultaneously: fortunately for the Ariekei themselves, they each have two speaking orifices which can be used for this purpose.
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One quite successful approach to enlisting local community support for anti-climate change initiatives has been the concept of Tree Banks here in Thailand. Organised by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, this project encourages local communities to create collaborations among nine or more people to plant trees which may then be used as collateral for loans, with additional funding used for expanding the scheme or other entrepreneurial activities.
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‘Green jobs’ is a concept that has a number of different possible meanings and these are not always consistent with each other. For some people, ‘green jobs’ are those which are created within industries broadly defined as being part of the green economy; for others, they are jobs which have been designed or engineered to ensure that workplace activities are not overly damaging to the environment.
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Doing small things can make a difference, especially if enough people do those small things and the people involved are part of the minority of people who use the majority of energy. If we do not take responsibility for these small changes in our own life, then we can hardly criticize others for not doing so – whether they are individual people, organisations or governments.
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In order for government to achieve change in a more or less democratic society, it is necessary to combine good policies, education and social solidarity. While authoritarian governments can simply impose policies on the population and enforce their provisions with the threat of violence if required, democratic governments must enroll the citizens in the process. If there is large-scale resistance to a policy, whether it is active resistance or passive resistance, then the goals of the policy will not be achieved.
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The high oil costs that seem likely to persist for the foreseeable future are causing companies around the world seriously to re-examine their energy usage. Most factories and office spaces have been built with a view to the convenience of their occupants and the production process: in many cases, factory managers have changed the nature of the use of the facility as old products become obsolescent and new products acquire demand.
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Public transport systems, whether they are buses, trains, light trains, trams or free bicycles, offer comparatively low-energy cost mobility solutions for people in cities and also in rural areas. In the large urban areas in which many of us live, public transport systems not only provide convenient means of negotiating crowded city streets but can also be oases of relative quiet and air-conditioned cool (or warmth for those in cold climates).
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Announcing: Southiseng, Nittana and John Walsh, “Cross-Border Trading Experiences Before and After the Construction of the Second Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge,” in Kyoko Kusakabe, ed., Gender, Roads and Mobility in Asia (Rugby: Practical Action Publishing, 2012), pp.109-20.
Abstract: This empirical study investigated local entrepreneurs’ use of the Second Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge for cross-border trade in comparison with their use of boats. Cross-border trading by boat involved crossing from Savannakhet in Laos to Mukdahan in Thailand and vice versa and appeared less efficient due to limited crossings and limited loading capacity. After the official opening of the Friendship Bridge in early 2007, women and men entrepreneurs in Savannakhet Province realised that it provided benefits for consumers, enhanced efficiency of cross-border business, increased opportunities for new entrants, flexibility to entrepreneurs and supported local economic development and expansion. However, it also made existing economic activities more competitive and benefited non-local entrepreneurs who could leverage economies of scale. Women’s business has been less affected as compared to men’s, since they cater to the daily needs of people in Lao.
Available from Amazon, publisher’s website (practicalactionpublishing.com) and all good bookshops. Actually, it looks like a really interesting collection and congratulations to editor Prof Kyoko Kusakabe.
Millions of tons of food are wasted around the world every year. It is wasted in households and it is wasted in shops and supermarkets. In the developed world in particular, people live in households with refrigerators, freezers and other white goods – all of these appliances offer opportunities to store food for longer than used to be the case.
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