Fairly sharing 1.5: national fair shares of a 1.5 °C-compliant global mitigation effort

The problem of fairly distributing the global mitigation effort is particularly important for the 1.5 °C temperature limitation objective, due to its rapidly depleting global carbon budget. Here, we present methodology and results of the first study examining national mitigation pledges presented at the 2015 Paris climate summit, relative to equity benchmarks and 1.5 °C-compliant global mitigation. Uniquely, pertinent ethical choices were made via deliberative processes of civil society organizations, resulting in an agreed range of effort-sharing parameters. Based on this, we quantified each country’s range of fair shares of 1.5 °C-compliant mitigation, using the Climate Equity Reference Project’s allocation framework. Contrasting this with national 2025/2030 mitigation pledges reveals a large global mitigation gap, within which wealthier countries’ mitigation pledges fall far short, while poorer countries’ pledges, collectively, meet their fair share. We also present results for individual countries (e.g. China exceeding; India meeting; EU, USA, Japan, and Brazil falling short). We outline ethical considerations and choices arising when deliberating fair effort sharing and discuss the importance of separating this choice making from the scholarly work of quantitative “equity modelling” itself. Second, we elaborate our approach for quantifying countries’ fair shares of a global mitigation effort, the Climate Equity Reference Framework. Third, we present and discuss the results of this analysis with emphasis on the role of mitigation support. In concluding, we identify twofold obligations for all countries in a justice-centred implementation of 1.5 °C-compliant mitigation: (1) unsupported domestic reductions and (2) engagement in deep international mitigation cooperation, through provision of international financial and other support, or through undertaking additional supported mitigation activities. Consequently, an equitable pathway to 1.5 °C can only be imagined with such large-scale international cooperation and support; otherwise, 1.5 °C-compliant mitigation will remain out of reach, impose undue suffering on the world’s poorest, or both.     

The longmont community justice partnership: Restorative justice practice as collaboration

This paper documents the application of restorative justice principles using a model which was developed by the Longmont Community Justice Partnership (LCJP) and is being used in other communities in Colorado. It explains the structure and operation of this model as well as addresses some of the challenging issues program participants faced during the startup, development, and maintenance phases of the program. Among other issues we consider community support, team development, evaluation, restorative language, funding, and the limitations of the model. Finally we discuss the way in which this program has potential for other communities which seek to implement restorative justice practices.     

Ethical Issues of Bioterror

Bioterrorism has global implications, especially with regard to the use of contagious bio agents or “epidemic generators” with a high potential for causing epidemics. The grave medical implications of a bioterror attack are obvious, but some of the related ethical issues are often overlooked. Moral issues associated with the threat and with the attack may carry long-term consequences, which may shake the rudiments of democratic societies. Some of these efforts may be aided by regulations, laws, and enforcement. The best results will be achieved by a sense of responsibility and understandings of the public.     

Land-based negative emissions: risks for climate mitigation and impacts on sustainable development

This paper focuses on the risks associated with “negative emissions” technologies (NETs) for drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and storing it in land-based sinks or underground. Modelled mitigation pathways for 1.5 °C assume NETs that range as high as 1000 Gt CO₂. We argue that this is two to three times greater than the amount of land-based NETs that can be realistically assumed, given critical social objectives and ecological constraints. Embarking on a pathway that assumes unrealistically large amounts of future NETs could lead society to set near-term targets that are too lenient and thus greatly overshoot the carbon budget, without a way to undo the damage. Pathways consistent with 1.5 °C that rely on smaller amounts of NETs, however, could prove viable. This paper presents a framework for assessing the risks associated with negative emissions in the context of equity and sustainable development. To do this, we identify three types of risks in counting on NETs: (1) that NETs will not ultimately prove feasible; (2) that their large-scale deployment involves unacceptable ecological and social impacts; and (3) that NETs prove less effective than hoped, due to irreversible climate impacts, or reversal of stored carbon. We highlight the technical issues that need to be resolved and—more importantly—the value judgements that need to be made, to identify the realistic potential for land-based NETs consistent with social and environmental goals. Given the critical normative issues at stake, these are decisions that should be made within an open, transparent, democratic process. As input, we offer here an indicative assessment of the realistic potential for land-based NETs, based on a precautionary assessment of the risks to their future effectiveness and a provisional assessment of the extent to which they are in conflict with sustainable development goals related to land, food and climate.     

Adolescents and Sexual Violations Online

The article describes and discusses sexual violations online using the recent Danish case law and legislation as an example and drawing upon the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is argued that the legislation does not provide a sufficient solution to the problems connected to digital violations of the physical integrity of the victim.     

Trust in Government and Subsidy Reform: Evidence from a Survey of Indian Farmers

What accounts for the persistence of inefficient subsidies? What are the obstacles to their reform? We examine the role of trust in government among farmers in explaining support for reforming India’s energy subsidies. The subsidies under study hold back efforts to provide a reliable supply of agricultural power and contribute to the unsustainable extraction of groundwater. This water-energy nexus in rural India represents both a poverty-perpetuating policy equilibrium and a crisis in environmental governance. Informed by interviews and focus groups, we conduct an original survey of 2010 farmers in Bihar, Gujarat, and Rajasthan and analyze this data on the preferences of “vested interests”—those most affected by potential reform—to demonstrate the crucial role of political trust, especially trust in the national government, in predicting farmers’ political support for reforms. Our findings have practical implications for environmental governance and rural development and contribute to understanding the political economy of social policy reform in a developing democracy.     

Violence in the family: An analysis in terms of interpersonal resource-exchange

Spouse abuse is viewed within the general framework of interpersonal relationships and is analyzed in terms of resource-exchange. Gelles' exchange/social control theory is expanded by incorporating Foa's interpersonal resource theory. This dynamic theoretical proposition classifies interpersonal resurces involved in interpersonal transactions. Based on Gelles' theory and Foa's classification of interpersonal resources, predictions are made with regard to situations in which violence, as a mode of exchange, is more likely to occur and suggestions regarding various modes of interventions are offered.     

Effective representation of children by the guardian ad litem: an empirical investigation

Guardians ad litem (GALs), designated to represent children's best interests in civil abuse and neglect proceedings, fulfill the role with little direction. This project was designed to develop guidelines for GALs based on the available legal and social science literature as well as empirical surveys of both GALs and persons working closely with them. Data from interviews, questionnaires, and literature reviews were analyzed, and a comparison of the practice of GALs in Iowa with norms derived from the literature survey was made. A training manual was developed to help insure effective representation of children by GALs. This research represents one of the first to examine empirically the behavior of GALs and to make such a comparison with literature and statutes.     

Competence and ambiguity in electoral competition

The level of competence that voters attribute to different candidates is an important determinant of election results. In addition, it is observed that some candidates tend to be more ambiguous in their campaigns regarding future plans, while others commit to specific policies. We offer a model where politicians who vary in their level of competence compete by making costly campaign declarations. We show that a separating equilibrium exists in which the ambiguity of a candidate’s campaign declaration reveals her level of competence. The model explains how politicians may use an “issue”-based campaign to create a competent image, and provides an additional explanation for different levels of campaign ambiguity.