The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution

The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution
Author: Maria Ivanova
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262362236

The past, present, and possible future of the agency designed to act as "the world's environmental conscience." The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 as a nimble, fast, and flexible entity at the core of the UN system--a subsidiary body rather than a specialized agency. It was intended to be the world's environmental conscience, an anchor institution that established norms and researched policy, leaving it to other organizations to carry out its recommendations. In this book, Maria Ivanova offers a detailed account of UNEP's origin and history. Ivanova counters the common criticism that UNEP was deficient by design, arguing that UNEP has in fact delivered on much (though not all) of its mandate.

The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution

The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution
Author: Maria Ivanova
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262542102

The past, present, and possible future of the agency designed to act as "the world's environmental conscience." The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 as a nimble, fast, and flexible entity at the core of the UN system--a subsidiary body rather than a specialized agency. It was intended to be the world's environmental conscience, an anchor institution that established norms and researched policy, leaving it to other organizations to carry out its recommendations. In this book, Maria Ivanova offers a detailed account of UNEP's origin and history. Ivanova counters the common criticism that UNEP was deficient by design, arguing that UNEP has in fact delivered on much (though not all) of its mandate.

They Knew

They Knew
Author: James Gustave Speth
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-08-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262542986

A devastating, play-by-play account of the federal government's leading role in bringing about today's climate crisis. In 2015, a group of twenty-one young people sued the federal government for violating their constitutional rights by promoting the climate catastrophe, depriving them of life, liberty, and property without due process of law. They Knew offers evidence for their claims, presenting a devastating, play-by-play account of the federal government's role in bringing about today's climate crisis. James Speth, tapped by the plaintiffs as an expert on climate, documents how administrations from Carter to Trump--despite having information about climate change and the connection to fossil fuels--continued aggressive support of a fossil fuel based energy system. What did the federal government know and when did it know it? Speth asks, echoing another famous cover up. What did the federal government do and what did it not do? They Knew (an updated version of the Expert Report Speth prepared for the lawsuit) presents the most compelling indictment yet of the government's role in the climate crisis, showing a forty-year failure to take action. Since Juliana v. United States was filed, the federal government has repeatedly delayed the case. Yet even in legal limbo, it has helped inspire a generation of youthful climate activists. An Our Children’s Trust Book

Nature's Keepers

Nature's Keepers
Author: Bill Birchard
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2005-02-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780787979232

With more than $3.7 billion in assets and annual revenue of $800million, the Nature Conservancy has generated staggering growththat would be the envy of any business. Incorporated in 1951 by a small circle of concerned ecologists, theConservancy has grown financially into the world's largestenvironmental organization. It has one million members--up from500,000 in 1990--and 3,500 employees operating in 50 states and 28countries across the world. Nature's Keepers offers readers an inspirational leadershiptale and management chronicle, as it goes behind the scenes anddetails the inner workings of the Nature Conservancy. Highlightingthe efforts of nine extraordinary leaders, Nature's Keepersexamines the organization's culture and management, strategy anddecisions, and courageous and ingenious individuals who havededicated their lives to conservation. Author Bill Birchard reveals how the Conservancy's sometimescontroversial business practices--entrepreneurial approaches topreserving ecosystems while meeting human needs--have earned thepraise of management gurus such as Peter Drucker. The Conservancy'sway of operating, though not free of failings, is both widelyemulated in the nonprofit community and greatly respected bybusiness scholars and CEOs nationwide.

Earth Odyssey

Earth Odyssey
Author: Mark Hertsgaard
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Total Pages: 385
Release: 1999
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0767900596

Based on his extensive investigation of the global environmental crisis, in which he explored five continents, "Earth Odyssey" recounts Hertsgaard's search for the answer to the essential question of our time: Is the future of the human species at risk?

Agrobiodiversity

Agrobiodiversity
Author: Karl S. Zimmerer
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2023-10-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0262549697

Experts discuss the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and conservation, integrating disciplines that range from plant and biological sciences to economics and political science. Wide-ranging environmental phenomena—including climate change, extreme weather events, and soil and water availability—combine with such socioeconomic factors as food policies, dietary preferences, and market forces to affect agriculture and food production systems on local, national, and global scales. The increasing simplification of food systems, the continuing decline of plant species, and the ongoing spread of pests and disease threaten biodiversity in agriculture as well as the sustainability of food resources. Complicating the situation further, the multiple systems involved—cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, and technological—are driven by human decision making, which is inevitably informed by diverse knowledge systems. The interactions and linkages that emerge necessitate an integrated assessment if we are to make progress toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series offers insights into the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and sustainability and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research, scholarship, policy, and practice. The contributors offer perspectives from a range of disciplines, including plant and biological sciences, food systems and nutrition, ecology, economics, plant and animal breeding, anthropology, political science, geography, law, and sociology. Topics covered include evolutionary ecology, food and human health, the governance of agrobiodiversity, and the interactions between agrobiodiversity and climate and demographic change.

South Sudan

South Sudan
Author: Hilde F. Johnson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2016-06-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1786730057

In July 2011, South Sudan was granted independence and became the world's newest country. Yet just two-and-a-half years after this momentous decision, the country was in the grips of renewed civil war and political strife. Hilde F. Johnson served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan from July 2011 until July 2014 and, as such, she was witness to the many challenges which the country faced as it struggled to adjust to its new autonomous state. In this book, she provides an unparalleled insider's account of South Sudan's descent from the ecstatic celebrations of July 2011 to the outbreak of the disastrous conflict in December 2013 and the early, bloody phase of the fighting. Johnson's frequent personal and private contacts at the highest levels of government, accompanied by her deep knowledge of the country and its history, make this a unique eyewitness account of the turbulent first three years of the world's newest - and yet most fragile - country.

Uneasy Alchemy

Uneasy Alchemy
Author: Barbara L. Allen
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2003
Genre: Environmental justice
ISBN: 9780262511346

How coalitions of citizens and experts have been effective in promoting environmental justice in Louisiana's Chemical Corridor.

Markets and the Environment, Second Edition

Markets and the Environment, Second Edition
Author: Nathaniel O. Keohane
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2016-01-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1610916077

"A clear grasp of economics is essential to understanding why environmental problems arise and how we can address them. ... Now thoroughly revised with updated information on current environmental policy and real-world examples of market-based instruments .... The authors provide a concise yet thorough introduction to the economic theory of environmental policy and natural resource management. They begin with an overview of environmental economics before exploring topics including cost-benefit analysis, market failures and successes, and economic growth and sustainability. Readers of the first edition will notice new analysis of cost estimation as well as specific market instruments, including municipal water pricing and waste disposal. Particular attention is paid to behavioral economics and cap-and-trade programs for carbon."--Publisher's web site.