Bio-Kraftstoff, Nachhaltigkeit, Boden- und Naturschutz

Um ihr Klimapaket und die damit verbundenen Ziele im Bereich der erneuerbaren Energien umzusetzen, hat die Europ?ische Kommission eine Richtlinie zur F?rderung der Nutzung von Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen vorgeschlagen. Um den Richtlinienentwurf rankt sich – auch noch zur Zeit – eine breite noch nicht abgeschlossene Diskussion, in deren Rahmen unter anderem Bedenken gegen die F?rderung von Energiepflanzen, die als nachhaltig deklariert wird, ge?u?ert werden, da blühende Kulturlandschaften dadurch verschandelt werden. Der Beitrag besch?ftigt sich mit der politischen und rechtlichen Diskussion des Richtlinien-Entwurfs.     

Intertemporal regulatory tasks and responsibilities for greenhouse gas reductions

Jurisdictions are in the process of establishing regulatory systems to control greenhouse gas emissions. Short‐term and sometimes long‐term emissions reduction goals are established, as California does for 2020 and 2050, but little attention has yet been focused on annual emissions targets for the intervening years. We develop recommendations for how these annual targets—which we collectively term a “compliance pathway”—can be set, as well as what flexibility sources should have to adjust in light of cost uncertainties. Environmental effectiveness, efficiency, equity, adaptability, and encouraging global participation are appropriate criteria by which these intertemporal policy alternatives should be judged. Limited but useful knowledge about costs leads us to recommend a compliance pathway characterized by increasing incremental reductions along it. This can be approximated by discrete linear segments, which may fit better with global negotiations. Although the above conclusion applies to any long‐term GHG regulatory program, many jurisdictions will rely heavily on a cap‐and‐trade system, and the same pathway recommendation applies to its time schedule of allowances. Furthermore, borrowing constraints in cap‐and‐trade systems can impose substantial unnecessary costs. To avoid most of these costs, we recommend that sources be allowed early use of limited percentages of allowances intended for future years. We also find that a three‐year compliance period can have substantial benefit over a one‐year period. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The impact of governance on education inequality: Evidence from Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in increasing education access in the last 20 years. However, substantial inequalities in educational attainment remain even though equity in education is a central government objective. The article argues that weaknesses in education sector governance are crucial to understanding these persistent inequalities. At the level of the budget, anti‐poor biases in allocation decisions are shown to be the result of the budget's role in political management and the lack of effective accountability mechanisms. The spearhead of government attempts to address education inequality at the primary level has been the conditional cash transfer programme for poor children. The article shows that the programme has failed to target the poor and suggests that this has been due to the weaknesses and contradictions in the governance of the programme. Strengthening the links between policy and implementation through improvements in the governance of the sector are crucial if inequality is to be addressed and national education goals achieved. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rethinking global governance: a China model in the making?

This paper examines Chinese perspectives on global governance, an area in which China has increased substantially the depth and breadth of its participation. The paper attempts to draw a mainstream perspective to inform our understanding of some key aspects of China's foreign policy. It demonstrates that while China's statist preference appeals to some Third World countries, such a preference leads the country to clash with the West over how to tackle global issues collectively, particularly over humanitarian intervention. While the Chinese perspective is in the process of evolving and far from reaching maturity, it is questionable whether the global community led by the West would find the Westphalian practice that China embraces admirable.     

A methodology based on NMR spectroscopy for the forensic analysis of condoms.

Both solution and solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques have been used to determine differences in commercially available condoms. Whilst solid state NMR is useful for determining the polymer backbone, it is not useful for forensic analysis due to the commonality of the latex condom. However solution NMR spectra obtained following a simple extraction procedure using hexane, provides a fingerprint of the additives in the lubricants. Following the development of a flow chart, basing decisions on the presence of particular peaks present in the solution spectra, 33 of 38 condoms could be individualized. Samples were also analyzed after having the lubricant manually removed and soaking the condom in water for 3 to 24 h. These experiments were performed to simulate a case of the sample having been used and disposed of by flushing down the toilet, as may be experienced in a case of a sexual assault. The results indicated that the only significant water soluble component was polyethylene glycol. The overall results suggest that the method developed may be a quick and useful technique in characterizing condoms. The information obtained can be used to provide associative evidence between suspect and crime, and so be useful in sexual assault cases.