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Despite numerous published writings on China's regional role, the world still knows very little about Beijing's perception and strategy. This article seeks to make an intellectual contribution in understanding China's foreign policy and its efforts to participate in East Asian integration. This article argues that under the rhetoric of peaceful development and community building, China's foreign policy is pragmatic and changes with the tide of events in international relations. China's participation in regional integration serves as a good case for examining changes in Beijing's strategy. In the past two decades, China has moved from a reluctant participant of regional affairs to an active participant and potential future leader. China's adjusting role is a consequence of Beijing's pragmatism in policy and its growing economic confidence. Pragmatism has led China to ‘hide its light under a bushel’ and wait for the proper timing to step onto the world stage. | sdg16 |
Figure 9.1 shows the current position of the Nordic regions in relation to their relative performance on the RIS index as compared to that of other European regions. Main groups are leader, strong, moderate, modest: a more detailed breakdown of the performance is indicated by splitting each group into a top 1/3 (♦, most innovative), a middle 1)3, end a bottom 1/3 (-, least innovative). ** | sdg9 |
About three-quarters of the funding is directly used for disaster prevention. The rest is used to cover a variety of areas, including indirect provision for disaster preparedness (e.g. providing equipment to fire departments and funding early-warning systems), and to provide partial indemnities for the costs of natural disasters. In addition, some smaller funding sources are available. This is due partly to improved reporting systems, but predominantly to increases in the value of assets located in high-risk areas. The Federal Disaster Fund allows both the Lander (responsible for land-use planning) and individuals and businesses to avoid bearing the full cost of their exposure to risks. | sdg13 |
Moreover, the welfare system suffered from poor administration and unequal standards and provisions across social funds. Even the traditionally resilient heads of households category (proxied by prime-age males of 25-54 years old) was hit hard, with the unemployment rate climbing from 6% per cent in early 2009 to over 20% in 2013 (second quarter). Until the onset of the crisis, labour market institutions (such as firing and hiring rules) protected primary earners, often at the expense of workers with a more marginal attachment to the labour market, such as women and young people (Matsaganis, 2012). | sdg10 |
Thailand is a representative case in Asia. More than 100,000 indigenous peoples in Thailand officially referred to as hill tribes had no access to the public health system. The National Commission on Human Rights of Thailand noted that for the hill tribes who have not yet received legal status, the public health service is elusive. | sdg3 |
The nature and extent of due diligence depend on the circumstances of a particular situation. Avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on matters covered by the Guidelines, through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur. Seek to prevent or mitigate an adverse impact where they have not contributed to that impact, when the impact is nevertheless directly linked to their operations, products or services by a business relationship. | sdg12 |
Each of these stations makes it possible to save 1 300 litres of fuel per year, and in addition to powering the radio station they produce 25 per cent surplus power that can be used, for example, to make up for the lack of electricity networks in the vicinity of each station. This surplus is used, for example, to power schools or health centres serving the surrounding villages. This surplus energy is used in a multitude of ways. | sdg15 |
Specialised education is associated with better child outcomes and improved staff competences to provide suitable pedagogical learning opportunities. When trained on matters related to early development and care, staff can better develop a child’s perspective (Sommer et al., Additionally, staff with higher education and specialised training engage in more positive teacher-child interactions including praising, comforting, questioning and being responsive to children (Howes et al., | sdg4 |
Finally, I will also survey available evidence on policies that have affected the gender balance in educational attainment. In the next section, I document the trends in gender gaps in educational attainment. I will mostly focus on industrialized countries and put particular emphasis on the comparison of Nordic countries and the United States, which is the country that has traditionally led trends in educational attainment. | sdg5 |
The low population density explains the low level of illness in humans. In Mongolia, transmission to humans occurs primarily from direct contact with animals through injury while handling them or during slaughtering and, to a lesser extent, from drinking contaminated milk. According to the 2003 study on emerging infectious diseases",18 as of 2001, approximately 8,000 cases of chronic brucellosis were reported. | sdg3 |
Article 3.3 states: ‘States have the duty to co-operate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development. States should realize their rights and fulfil their duties in such a manner as to promote a new international economic order based on sovereign equality, interdependence, mutual interest and co-operation among all States, as well as to encourage the observance and realization of human rights’. See, for example, Fukuda-Parr 2012. There should, however, be a presumption against actions that impair exports from least developed countries to either emerging markets or developed countries, or from emerging markets to developed countries. | sdg10 |
Ideally, no manufacturer should use an excess of raw materials in the production of a good if the same good could be made with fewer raw materials and thus at a lower cost. Vet instances abound of products which are designed in a manner where replacement is intrinsic to the product - for example disposable razors or cigarette lighters. The sustainable use of resources must be considered during all the stages of a product’s life-cycle: in its design, its manufacture, its usage and even at the end of its life, where the possibility of reusing or recovering scarce materials used in its production becomes a distinct and often profitable issue. Resource efficiency is only possible if consumers - individuals and institutional buyers alike - demand sustainable products. | sdg12 |
The world’s fifth-largest country, it covers 47% of the South American continent’s surface and extends about 7 500 km along the Atlantic coast. Owing to its size, its physical characteristics vary enormously, as do climate, vegetation and land-use patterns. Accordingly, it is typically divided into six large terrestrial ecosystems, or biomes:14 Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal and Pampa (Box 4.1). The Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes are two of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots (Chapter 4). Brazil also has vast coastal and marine areas: it hosts rich coral reef ecosystems and has the world’s largest contiguous area of mangroves. Extension of agriculture and cattle farming, natural resource extraction, and infrastructure and development are the most significant causes of habitat loss (Figure 1.13). | sdg15 |
Countries with significant vulnerabilities, such as large macroeconomic imbalances and high levels of external debt, are particularly susceptible to such disruptions. As policy space has narrowed considerably across the world, any external shock could have severe and long-lasting implications for global growth and socioeconomic conditions. | sdg9 |
Understanding these different aspects of social capital and their evolution can help to determine the degree of cohesiveness in Vietnamese society and the way and extent to which these various dimensions of social capital facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for mutual benefits. Interpersonal trust and tolerance for diversity are found to strengthen the sense of belonging, reduce social discontent and lower crime rates (Wilkinson, Kawachi and Kennedy, 1998). In fragmented societies, the level of trust is usually lower (Alesina and La Ferrara, 2002, Glaeser et al., | sdg10 |
Furthermore, a tax on biofuels was eliminated in 2007 and a new energy law that promotes renewable energy was adopted in 2008 and is being implemented. The government is promoting the installation of solar thermal systems for public, commercial, household and industrial buildings, as well as a subsidy for the construction and retrofitting of energy-efficient public housing. Reflecting a recommendation from the 2005 OECD Environmental Performance Review of Chile, cost-benefit assessments of the policies being used or proposed to reduce emissions and incentivise the development of renewable energy capacity would be useful to ensure that emissions reductions are achieved at the lowest cost. | sdg6 |
Examples include making better use of the experience of older employees, building an ‘ageless workforce’ through lifelong learning, increasing collaboration within or across industries, and creating partnerships with public institutions and the education sector.147 It is also necessary to consider the balance between public and private provision of vocational training, especially given current limits on public resources for education and the increasing variety of education services provided by the private sector. Publicly funded vocational training is not always successful, particularly when centralized systems create bureaucratic constraints. Private TVET providers have emerged as an alternative to increase the quality and responsiveness of training institutions, particularly in cases of vulnerable or unreliable government financing for such education and training. The challenges in creating such systems are even greater in times of technological disruption, which reshape the private sector. | sdg9 |
Good co-ordination between services and sensitivity to the need for different intensities of treatment are very important. In addition, it is increasingly recognised that sub-threshold mental disorders (where the symptoms fall below the diagnostic criteria for the disorder) can be distressing and disabling, particularly if persistent, and low-intensity treatment for such cases is often appropriate. Those mental disorders with the most severe symptoms are relatively rare, affecting only small proportions of the population (see Chapter 3). | sdg3 |
Cloud-based computing services and tools for offline or real-time analysis may also be used. Smart city initiatives have been applied in many sectors around the world, including pollution and emissions monitoring, energy projects, such as smart grids and metering, flood management and other water-related projects, the management of public transportation system and of road use, solid waste collection, sorting and management, improving governance and transparency with open data and other projects, disaster preparedness and resiliency, and addressing crime and security (OECD, 2016b). In Indonesia, smart city activities include the smart city strategy for Bandung included in the 2013-2018 ICT Master Plan, which emphasises e-government and digital infrastructure. The city also plans a new district designed to attract investment from the technology industry. Efforts to reform transportation are also being perused as smart city initiatives in Medan. | sdg11 |
By 2014, more than 1,000 microhydro systems had been installed, with total generating capacity of 22 MW, providing off-grid electricity access to 20 per cent of the population. Credible long-term policy commitment, with flexible approach to implementation and reduced administrative burdens, is essential to sustaining mini-grid deployment. In this respect, the availability of a potential anchor load — i.e., a consumer of a large and possibly stable proportion of the power generated (for instance a small factory, hospital or farmer cooperative) — supplementing households’ electricity demand is usually critical to support mini-grid profitability and increase capacity utilization. | sdg7 |
This includes, for example, policy reforms such as helping phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which in turn increases the profitability of clean energy investment and the potential for instruments such as feed-in tariffs to promote renewable energy technologies. More broadly, this support also goes towards building much needed institutional and technical capacity in partner country governments and institutions, which enables governments to mobilise and sustain green investment. Emerging approaches by development partners take a 'market systems' approach to promote green growth by encouraging the development of green value chains and markets for green products and services. | sdg13 |
Technological change is path-dependent: the current set of available choices depends on past policies and actions, just as the available technological options in the future will depend on our policies and actions today. In such cases, an early market leader can become “locked in”, whether or not it represents the ideal technology, as occurred with the Windows operating system for computers, for example.66 The current style of industrialization has been described as “carbon lock-in", meaning that carbon-intensive technologies gained an early lead at a time when fossil fuels were cheap and concern about global warming was not yet on the horizon (Unruh and Carrillo-Hermosilla, 2006). Today, the economic benefits of standardization and the low costs of imitating and replicating existing technologies keep the world locked into that same undesirable path. Research on wind power, for example, has found reductions in unit costs as great as 20 per cent from a doubling of production (Junginger, Faaij and Turkenburg, 2005), which made it competitive in the marketplace under many conditions. | sdg7 |
The wider and more cohesive the network, the greater its capacity to adapt to crises such as caring for children whose biological parents are absent for some reason (ibid.). Mothers and female relations are increasingly responsible for daily provision, while mothers and fathers are increasingly looked to for guidance around sexual relationships and morality, though their provision is usually judged inadequate, as described below. Further discussion of these structural determinants is provided under research question 2 below. For example, research using life-history interviewing over three generations of families in Cape Town found that young mothers are increasingly emphasising the achievement of personal goals and "working on 'the project of the self"'(Moore, 2013).This newer conception of motherhood sits alongside aspirations to be a good provider and source of care to children. Unlike their own mothers and grandmothers, young mothers' commitment to motherhood is vested in their sense of self as "educated, employed, self-respecting and responsible" adults, rather than in the sole social identity of 'mother' (ibid., | sdg5 |
There are considerable wind, tidal, ocean, thermal and wave energy resources available in some ECOWAS countries. The region also has vast solar energy potential with very high radiation averages of 5 to 6 kWh/m2 throughout the year. The share of new renewable energy such as wind, solar, small scale hydro and bioelectricity (excluding large hydro) will increase to around 10 per cent by 2020 and 19 per cent by 2030. These targets translate to an additional 2.425 MW of renewable electricity capacity by 2020 and 7.606 MW by 2030. | sdg7 |
Focusing on institutional aspects of effectiveness will also be crucial in creating the conditions and capacities necessary for transformational changes within countries. Even when interventions are targeted towards similar aims, assessments of effectiveness may differ due to a number of internal and external variables. This can include national, institutional or local/site-specific issues. | sdg13 |
However, there is great diversity among them, ranging from 10 952 000 in Ile-de-France to 710 000 in Limousin. The central government is represented by a regional prefect in parallel to the elected regional council. Following changes from the Law NOTRe in 2015 which involved new competences for regions, there was a merger from 22 regions to 13 in 2016 (Charbit and Romano, 2017[nj). More specifically, the region’s responsibilities can be described as follows: regional planning, co-ordinating economic development, vocational training, high schools (OECD, 2007, p. 75[isi). | sdg11 |
Similarly, tailored accreditation standards for specific sectors (such as elderly care and palliative care facilities) previously existed, but have fallen into disuse. Until 2008, the Ministry of Health ran a programme with the CCSS to evaluate primary care services, including patient satisfaction, with results made public at facility level. This too, was abandoned, although the primary care performance framework described earlier has rectified this. | sdg3 |
China and India’s GDP are projected to grow by nearly 8%and 6.6% per annum, respectively. Agricultural trade is estimated to have declined sharply in 2009, along with general merchandise trade, and is expected to bounce back sharply from the beginning of the Outlook in 2010 and continue to grow in following years. Only slow population growth of 0.4% per annum is expected in the OECD area. Higher growth is expected in the developing countries, with the population of Africa as a whole growing at over 2% per annum. Continuing urbanisation trends and rising per capita incomes, emerging large middle classes and underlying population demographics collectively reinforce higher food demand in these countries. | sdg2 |
Source: Garroway and de Laiglesia (forthcoming) based on PovcalNet and Ravallion, Chen and Sangraula (2009). This higher standard demands greater effort in social and economic policies. In those countries where extreme, “dollar-a-day” poverty persists alongside rising relative poverty, it is not a question of choosing to address the latter at the expense of the former. Both are complementary objectives of social and economic policy. Action that addresses extreme poverty should address the multiple deprivations that extreme poverty causes in food security, health, basic education, access to water and sanitation, etc. Poverty reduction programmes addressing these problems should aim to move people out of poverty (with the ultimate goal of eliminating extreme poverty) and require focused efforts with significant transfer components, be they cash or in-kind. | sdg10 |
For example, some programmes may allow unemployment benefit recipients to combine benefits with work or provide benefits to inactive individuals. For the purposes of this section, where possible, unemployment assistance programmes as well as temporary extensions to UB are presented separately from standard first-tier UB, so as to highlight the separate contributions of each. For a smaller group of countries, 4-6% of the working-age population was in receipt of unemployment benefits. This group included countries providing UA to a considerable number of unemployed persons (e.g. Finland, Germany and Ireland, as well as Spain on a temporary basis) and those with more comprehensive unemployment insurance programmes covering “longer” unemployment spells (e.g. Belgium, France, Portugal). | sdg10 |
Emigrant women tend to return less to their country of origin, partly because migration facilitates their empowerment. They also tend to use networks in destination countries more extensively and their networks tend to be more developed and active than those used by men. Highly educated” refers to those who have attained tertiary education. | sdg5 |
Currently, around half of older adults in the world receive no pension benefit (ILO 2014:73). In many low- and middle-income countries, pension coverage remains limited and unequally distributed and most people continue to rely on income from work and/ or family help during later life. Substantial inequalities in pension coverage and benefits are found around the world based on region of residence, ethnic group, occupational sector and gender. | sdg5 |
The INDC is intrinsically linked to the country's ambitious renewable energy strategy that envisages a massive expansion of its hydropower sources as well as an increase in the share of geothermal, wind and solar in the national energy matrix. The adaptation section of Ethiopia's INDC highlights the importance to: a) diversify the energy mix, and b) develop a strong and climate resilient hydropower sector, in order to respond to the challenges related to renewable energy in a context of increasing water scarcity (GoE, 2015a). Additional private investment is primarily needed to meet the non-hydro renewable energy targets and to spur relevant innovation for hydroelectric adaptation. Currently, a number of key barriers inhibits the private sector from developing its full potential. These barriers include an insufficient and slowly evolving policy framework for renewables and a lack of detailed roadmaps and strategies on the institutional side, as well as prevailing high risk perceptions, a lack of capital and a lack of local experts and entrepreneurs on the financial and economic side. | sdg13 |
Through this reform, teachers can receive a salary increase of about EUR 566 to EUR 1 132. Approximately one in six teachers qualifies for a position (Utbildningsdepartementet (Ministry of Education and Research), 2013[i3ij, OECD, 2015(132]). In 2014, the government introduced a special grant for schools in the most deprived urban areas to introduce career positions for the most qualified teacher with a salary increase of SEK 5 000 per month (EUR 500). While only between 150 and 180 positions per year have been covered by this grant, they have been difficult to fill. | sdg4 |
This can also include reluctance in pursuing claims against family members due to inheritance law'. A primary' reason for their reluctance may be the social unacceptability of being seen at a police station or any other legal institution, particularly when the matter concerns family or private matters. The fear of social ostracism often prevents women from reaching out for help from institutions and for reporting cases of discrimination, abuse and violence. | sdg5 |
This situation entails a financial loss for producers and additional pressure on natural resources. However, of the 70 per cent of harvested food that reaches the marketplace, 30-50 per cent is wasted at home by the final consumer (Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 2013). Insufficient purchase planning and conservative expiration dates on labelling, as well as significant discounts when food is purchased in higher quantities, are the main factors explaining the large degree of waste at the consumer level. At the producer level, premature harvesting of crops usually causes a loss in nutritional value and, as a result, a significant portion is wasted as it is not suitable for consumption. | sdg2 |
Many of these define her subordinate position at home and elsewhere (Population Reference Bureau, 2016). Harmful norms result in parents thinking that school is not for girls, in educators steering girls into low-paying “feminine” jobs, in health-care providers refusing to provide reproductive health information and services, in police choosing to believe a parent who claims not to be abusing a girl over the testimony of the girl herself. Failing to recognize the power of norms to shape behaviour can undercut the effectiveness of all interventions otherwise aimed at greater well-being for the 10-year-old girl. | sdg5 |
It also depends on whether they have access to livelihood strategies such as access to agricultural assets and inputs. Between 2003 and 2007, remittance inflows grew by 74 per cent in the Kyrgyz Republic and 84 per cent in Tajikistan. The level of remittance inflows in these countries exceeds other capital inflows. | sdg1 |
Six countries stand out with ratios significantly over the OECD average. Of these, Mexico, Italy, and Japan are also relatively large users. Portugal also presents important irrigation intensity, but without specific information for "groundwater irrigation area", not being the reference values (national statistics) comparable to the present study.15 The United States, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Australia, on the other hand, despite being among the largest users, have a groundwater irrigation intensity under the estimated OECD average of 5 194 m3/ha in 2010. | sdg6 |
Australian energy providers delivered another USD 100 million in spending (Crossley et al 2012), while Brazilian energy providers spend about USD 250 million each year (Mauer 2012). Energy providers have a strategic position in energy markets, often serving as middleman between energy producers and energy consumers. Energy providers have long-standing commercial relationships with even the smallest end-use customers, allowing them to influence energy saving activities in diffuse markets. | sdg7 |
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and which structure is most relevant will depend on the specifics of the country. It is also important to ensure the connection between the coordinating body and the highest political authorities, since without a strong visible political commitment, short-term urgent priorities in other areas can displace attention and resources. In theory, the government would finance public goods, such as infrastructure and possibly education, and leave the rest to the private sector. | sdg7 |
The NRHDP guidelines indicate that forested areas are to remain intact, developments on steep slopes are to be controlled, and residential settlements are to be regulated. The previous paragraph states what are the NRHDP guidelines on the use of private lands. Hillside slopes are very attractive sites for high-income households that place a premium value on the scenic views of the valleys of the Northern Range, although the engineering costs are quite exorbitant. Moreover, the increasing pressure of limited land space, which is common in small and island states, has pushed built development onto the hillsides of the Northern Range. | sdg6 |
However, rural as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations have lower academic performance and less access to tertiary education than the national average. A high proportion of children are enrolled in early childhood education, and school is comprehensive until age 16. School choice is widely available compared to the OECD area. Secondary and tertiary pathways aim to prepare students for social integration and entry into the labour market. Attainment rates in upper secondary education are at the OECD average. | sdg4 |
For example they may obstruct fish migration and affect populations. For example, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Austria -measured in kilograms per USD of gross domestic product (GDP), purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted - were 0.1 kg per PPP USD of GDP in 2014. In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia the respective C02 emissions were 0.2, 0.6, 0.3, 0.2 and 0.4 kg per PPP USD of GDP (World Bank, n.d ). There is considerable scope to increase both the security of supply and the sustainability of the energy sector by diversifying fuel sources. However, installed capacity of these technologies is practically non-existent at present (see Table 12.1). Renewables are promoted through a range of policy initiatives including rules for grid connection of renewable generation, obligations for the purchase of renewable power specified in secondary legislation such as grid codes and rule books, and subsidies to generation from renewables. | sdg7 |
As the result of trials for harmonization, the joint initiative on standards developing organization (SDO) global health informatics standardization [6] was established among six SDOs: ISO/TC 215[7], HL7 [8], CEN/TC 251 [9], CDISC [10], IHTSDO [11] and GS1 healthcare [12] to address and resolve long-term accumulated issues concerning gaps, overlaps, and counterproductive efforts. The ITU and World Health Organization (WHO) are strengthening coordination in technical areas for e-health standardization and uses of e-health protocols [17]. They also have gaps, overlapping, and counterproductive efforts, even in the case of joint collaboration groups. | sdg3 |
The high yield variability/export availability from this region has already demonstrated its impact on world commodity price volatility. Agriculture consumes about 70% of the world’s freshwater withdrawals (45% in OECD countries). Water use projections to 2050 suggest that the water supply to some 47% of the world’s population, mostly in developing countries, will be under severe stress, largely because of developments outside of agriculture. In some instances, supporting agricultural production may not be regarded as the most socially or economically desirable use for scarce water supplies. | sdg2 |
Prepared for the UNDP/GEF Project Expansion and Improved Management Effectiveness of the Ajara Region’s Protected Areas. This is due to their upstream/downstream geographical status, and their sharing of river basins and water bodies with common problems. Downstream water pollution from Georgian WWTPs sited close to the border. Specifically, untreated and partly-treated wastewater effluent from the Georgian Gardabani WWTP is a serious source of pollution in the Kura River dowmstream in Azerbaijan, w'hich flows into Mingecevir Reservoir. | sdg6 |
There are very few economically valuable forests in the karst region (about 22,000 ha) of which only 3,617 ha are accessible in high forests. According to the Law on Forests, karst is managed on the basis of a long-term, 10-year programme of management. In order to develop forestry in the area of karst, as well as to improve the condition of the forest fund, a special organizational unit, the "Centre for management of the karst" was established at the Public Enterprise "Sume RS" in Trebinje. The work of this Centre is based primarily on raising new cultures and providing maximum protection of the forest fund in the karst areas. | sdg15 |
There should be a code of conduct that obliges them to discuss all matters with the sector that they represent, obtaining their points of view and conveying them to the council or committee at stake. Inclusiveness and equity: Map who does what, core motivations and interactions across all those having a stake in the outcome or likely to be affected. Attention should be paid to newcomers, out of the water box players, and traditionally marginalised groups to ensure that all stakeholders involved are identified and included throughout the decision-making cycle. | sdg6 |
Consequently, the relative disparities have not only persisted over time —in half of the countries examined, they have become more pronounced (see table II. Inequalities with regard to timing may also exist, such as lower contraceptive prevalence in the first sexual encounter among less-educated women compared with those with more years of schooling. An extreme case is Haiti, where the general prevalence is very low but the rate is as high as 40% for more-educated women versus only 25% for those with no formal schooling. This suggests that they have more limited access to family planning services. In Guatemala and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, only 40% of women with no education who live in a union use contraception, compared with 70% of educated women. In Ecuador, contraceptive prevalence ranges from 50% to 80%. | sdg5 |
Whether caused by necessity or desire, the increased flexibility of women is also evident in the increased proportion of women starting up their own businesses. In 1990, 11% of all new business owners were women, in 1998 this increased to 17% and in 2008, 21% of new business owners were women (Rafnsdottir and Styrkarsdottir 2009:168). Across these differences, Julfusdottir et al. | sdg5 |
In at least some respects risks may differ from those associated with ‘substitute’ projects (i.e. fossil fuel plants), and we discuss instances in which this is the case. Investment is partially or totally irreversible when some or all of its costs are sunk. What makes investment expenditure in a power plant a sunk cost? | sdg7 |
For example, raising labour income taxes would improve equity in the short term, given their progressivity. This, however, could have adverse effects on longterm growth as income tax hikes are among the most distortive tax instruments, in view of their sizeable effects on labour utilisation, productivity, and human capital accumulation 0ohansson et al., Confining the increases only to top incomes would reduce the trade-off between equity and growth, but the budgetary impact can be small due to tax avoidance, unless measures to reduce tax evasion are implemented (Rawdanowicz et al., | sdg10 |
The environment is protected as it has traces from human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day. The Swedish Environmental Code sets the general frame for protection but the single sites often have specific regulations. Thus, there is a variation regarding what is allowed and what is prohibited. | sdg15 |
The proposed plurilateral on services - the so-called TISA - is symptomatic of this trend, but plurilaterals might also be initiated in areas such as environmental goods and services or IT. This is both because such agreements tend to be exclusive, and because removing certain elements from the Doha equation would result in fewer trade-off opportunities for LDCs to advance their priorities in areas such as food security or market access. Under such a scenario, the risk is therefore high that LDCs’ specific concern will retain less attention and become increasingly marginalised, as larger trading powers focus their attention on their own priority issues. While the LDCs are not in a position to stop plurilaterals from happening, they should use their limited influence to ensure that such agreements remain as much as possible under the purview of the WTO, while devising strategies to advance their priorities under the new negotiating configuration. | sdg10 |
In effect, the Ministry of Health and Welfare currently determines the overall budget for health insurance when it negotiates fees through the National Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee. A more proactive effort is needed to design health care policies which meet Korea’s future needs. Theoretically, a single insurer should have a strong bargaining position in negotiations with provider groups, enabling it to drive change in the way private providers deliver health care. With no risk that patients can move to another fund, a single insurer has an economic incentive to focus on prevention and early intervention - investing in a person’s good health today leads to fewer claims (and payouts) in the future. | sdg3 |
No changes were made to the lists of goods and services subject to price stabilisation or price registration. Further, price registration requirements have been restricted to the time when price stabilisation is enacted which in turn has been limited to no more than six months. However, the conditions for implementing price stabilisation measures remain at the discretion of officials. | sdg2 |
Abstract Defects in the corporate governance of government-owned enterprises tempt opportunistic officials to breach duties of public stewardship. Corporate-governance theory suggests that incentive-based deferred compensation could intensify the force that common-law duties actually exert on regulatory managers. In principle, a forfeitable fund of deferred compensation could be combined with provisions for measuring, verifying, and rewarding multiperiod performance to make top regulators accountable for maximizing the long-run net social benefits their enterprise produces. Because government deposit-insurance enterprises are purveyors of credit enhancements for which private substitute and reinsurance markets exist, their performance could be measured accurately enough to make employment contracts for deposit-insurance CEOs a promising place to experiment with this kind of accountability reform. | sdg16 |
In spite of these advances, however, there remain areas in which telecommunications access is sparsely distributed, and continued efforts are therefore needed to connect the poor in remote rural areas to national and global networks. Affordability is as important as connectivity in enabling the poor to gain from new technology (chapter II). In addition, to benefit fully from improved access, users need relevant content, the capabilities to make use of it, and the power and transport infrastructures that facilitate connectivity and stimulate wider economic activity. | sdg9 |
This chapter addresses the philosophical underpinnings for, and future of, non-intervention in East Asia in the face of solidarist claims and pressures from internal and external constituencies. The first explicit reference to human security was by the former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in his 1992 Agenda for Peace . In this report, the concept was used in relation to preventative diplomacy, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict recovery. With regard to Myanmar, China has provided diplomatic support for the use of the Secretary-General's good offices, securing a visa for the Special representative, Ibrahim Gambari, and China remains open to the idea of ASEAN playing a leading role in addressing Myanmar. Furthermore, not even China is immune to the penetration and diffusion of universal/solidarist interpretations of human rights among its own population. Keywords:ASEAN, China, East Asian values, human rights, humanitarian intervention, international law | sdg16 |
Strengthened preparation of college leaders is also very important, as effective leadership is a powerful means of driving improvements in the overall quality of the system. Career guidance provision remains patchy. It may be very difficult to realise expansion of the TVET system unless it is seen that students are likely to complete their studies. Evidence from different countries shows that, as part of a wider package of youth employment measures, effective vocational programmes can smooth the passage from school to work. | sdg4 |
The 2006 evaluation found that “much of the information about UNDP resource allocation to gender is missing, incomplete or inconsistent. There is no accurate way to estimate exact expenditures on programmes which pay attention to gender mainstreaming”. In 2011, the midterm review also concluded that “UNDP should demonstrate its commitment through allocation of adequate resources from its core budget and better track resources for gender mainstreaming.” | sdg5 |
They interact with each other and their customers through the electricity grid as well as with the wider economic, social and natural environment. This means that electricity production generates costs beyond the perimeter of the individual plant. Such external costs or system costs can take the form of intermittency, network congestion or greater instability but can also affect the quality of the natural environment or pose risks in terms of the security of supply. | sdg7 |
‘Following the money’ has become a popular strategy for many NGOs trying to change corporate and institutional practice. Individual shareholders, pension funds, banks, and other investors capitalize projects that cause ecological degradation or social injustice. Pressuring shareholders to divest, invest responsibly, or encourage executives to alter undesirable practices has become de rigueur for civil-society groups working for social change. Such strategies produce value or norm change, greater accountability, activist networks across national boundaries, and improvements in environmental management. Disinvestment helped bring down apartheid in South Africa. But how far can these ‘disciplining’ strategies go in terms of significantly ameliorating ecological destruction and violations of human rights? I explore this question using the case study of the campaign by Friends of the Earth against the operations of Freeport – McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. in Irian Jaya (West Papua). | sdg16 |
In conjunction with tight fiscal policies, austere monetary policy has reduced demand for productive loans, and consequently, investments and growth, thus adding to global employment problems. At the same time, exchange rates appreciate due to high short-term capital inflows, adversely affecting employment-intensive export-oriented sectors. Governments are compelled to reduce fiscal expenditures to keep down inflation and to retain the confidence of foreign investors, even in the presence of underutilized capacity and large-scale unemployment. Policies tend to be deflationary, prompting reductions in consumption and hindering employment creation. | sdg8 |
This way, women who are unable to hold traditional jobs can pursue local and international business opportunities, e-commerce and creative entrepreneurial projects, including their own start-ups. The Afghan girls robotics team, which recently took part in the First Global competition, is an example of initiatives we hope to promote for girls and women in Afghanistan and other conservative areas. Many families now allow their daughters to attend secondary school, but fewer accept university studies or employment outside of the home once girls graduate from high school. It also empowers women by breaking down physical and socio-cultural barriers and providing a safe space where they can voice their opinions, learn, and find support among the digital community. | sdg9 |
In the argot of the contemporary Commonwealth, groups of buzzwords have been assembled to highlight the values that member countries strive to uphold. Democracy, human rights, good governance and the rule of law are seen as the concomitants of sustainable development, free trade, the role of the market economy, equal opportunities and consensus building. Each of these phrases has the superficial quality of a slogan, but, on definition and analysis, they sum up the endeavours and aspirations of a quarter-of-a-century and they were restated at the start of the 1990s to signify a minor revolution. | sdg16 |
It depends on a country’s geographical position, its own energy endowment, the state of its physical infrastructures for transport and storage, the diversification of its supplies, the willingness of its population to trade lower average long-term prices for higher volatility and a host of other issues. Free and global energy trade through smoothly functioning competitive markets would guarantee timely delivery of all necessary energy resources. But then again in such an ideal world, energy supply security would not exist as an issue. But even while reality often diverges drastically from the ideal of a global world of competitive markets, the concept of security of energy supply very clearly includes not only the notion of energy independence but also the notion of energy interdependence. Most countries are relying at least partially on the international trade of energy and will continue to do so. | sdg7 |
Other relevant organizations include the Slovak Environmental Agency, and the State Geological Institute of Dionyz Stiir. Tasks are delegated to departments within the Ministry, to the Environmental Agency and to the Inspectorate for the Environment and Spatial Planning. Expert assignments arc carried out by the Institute for Water (for surface waters) and the Geologic Survey (for groundwaters). Water quality management is performed by different administrations — state, local or central — depending on whether it is an intra- or inter-community basin. | sdg6 |
To secure sustainable development gains and build resilience in the region, there is an urgent need to undertake climate mitigation and adaptation action. Despite an estimated $391 billion in climate finance flows internationally in 2014, the gap between available climate finance and the financing required to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius and adapt to unavoidable impacts of climate change is growing. The present paper offers an overview of the climate finance landscape with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, and of finance flows from international climate funds, multilateral development banks and subregional and national climate finance initiatives. | sdg13 |
Domestic shocks, stemming chiefly from production shortfalls, are typically more frequent than international shocks, so market openness may help reduce the frequency of shocks. But such a policy may not be sufficient to contain rare but severe international shocks. The worst case scenario is one where domestic and international shocks reinforce each other, for example when the domestic harvest fails and the government needs to purchase large amounts of imports, and there is a price spike on the world market. | sdg2 |
Working poor can be defined as individuals with an income below the poverty line and who are living in households whose head is of working age (15 to 64 years old) (OECD, 2015b). The working poor often hold non-standard jobs, which typically pay less than traditional permanent work. Temporary workers in particular face many adverse economic consequences, such as wage penalties, earnings instability and slower wage growth compared to permanent workers (OECD, 2015b). | sdg4 |
Although it operates mainly on the demand side, through the provision of a monetary transfer and the implementation of psychosocial support, its success in improving household conditions has been favoured by the state's ability to supply adequate supporting services to its citizens. Moreover, the achievements in terms of educational and health outcomes could be related to the approach involving the intense collaboration between beneficiary households and the social worker, who emphasizes the importance of being enrolled in school and the health system for the physical and cognitive development of their children. While in the case of universality there are major concerns over the cost of the interventions, problems of inclusion/exclusion arise when the programme is targeted. | sdg1 |
This article examines the relationship between national varieties of capitalism and firm engagement with the norms and best practices promoted within the global organisational field for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a content analysis of the CSR reports of US and European firms, we show that firms from the coordinated market economies (CME) of Europe engage more substantively with labour and human rights than their US counterparts that operate in a liberal market economy (LME). The environmental commitments of firms in both regions, however, are more developed than practices related to these social issues. These findings support the view that CSR is more developed in CMEs than LMEs, but limit this support to social CSR issues. We posit that firms’ higher levels of engagement with environmental CSR likely reflect the extent to which environmental norms have become embedded in global markets rather than how CSR is promoted by national capitalist systems. | sdg16 |
Today, NGOs cover most facets of social development: reducing poverty and exclusion, improving access to basic services, preventing conflicts, fostering democracy, and influencing public policies (Fowler, 2000). Besides migration itself, remittance and the informal economic sector also play significant roles in social security and protection. However, the social protection system of traditional and informal sector is breaking away. | sdg1 |
Teachers have financial and career-based incentives to participate in short training courses. They can also participate in activities organised by the subject-specific pedagogical advisor in each region, but they hardly ever receive direct support in the classroom as there is only one advisor for 800 teachers. Further tests of teachers’ knowledge of science and mathematics are planned for 2017. The appraisal is expected to look at teachers' professional development, attitudes, human relations, and discipline. High success rates suggest that the appraisal is largely seen as an administrative requirement rather than a process to improve teachers' performance (MEP, 2016). In 2015, virtually all teachers (98%) received an excellent or very good appraisal, and less than 0.1% (15 teachers in Costa Rica) received a regular or unsatisfactory performance appraisal. | sdg4 |
So absolute poverty lines calculated in this way already encompass part of relative needs. The extent to which the results differ will depend on how, and how often, the thresholds are updated. Poverty is deprivation in dimensions that are indispensable for meeting basic needs and for enabling people to function. | sdg1 |
Overall the paucity of awareness-raising measures means that opportunities to reduce emissions and improve the welfare of large numbers of households are being missed. It is obvious from the average score of 1.7 for this sub-dimension that the development of Third Energy Package-complaint polices and action plans is a significant challenge for several of the assessed economies. For those with compliant policy framew'orks, renewed emphasis on full implementation of existing policies and revision of those which are not delivering is the only way that they can achieve the transition to a sustainable energy sector. | sdg7 |
Two examples of such ambitious national policies, in France and in the United States, offer particularly interesting insights (Box 5.6). At city level, innovative approaches can also help pursue co-ordinated investments in housing and other sectors (such as mobility, basic services, public spaces, public safety and green areas), based on local institutional and financial partnerships. The experience of Santiago de Chile provides a compelling illustration in this sense (Box 5.7). Maximising accessibility for all thus needs to be at the core of urban transport planning. Disadvantaged communities often have less well-maintained infrastructure - notably roads, lesser access to reliable public transport services, and are less likely to own a private car. | sdg11 |
In 2005, more than half the region’s 388 000 employees between the ages of 18 and 64 had only 12 years or less of schooling (see figure 1.6.). In 2005, 52.8% of 12th grade pupils in the Galilee (Northern District) earned a matriculation certificate, compared with the national average of 55.1%. Due to limited accessibility of higher education, in 2004 only 39% school graduates from the Galilee enrolled in the first year of post-secondary studies in one of Israel’s higher education institutions, compared with the national average of 43.9%. | sdg4 |
However, this need not be a necessary condition. As was seen in the case study, New Zealand’s experience with reforming agricultural subsidies shows that it is possible to take significant unilateral action without suffering any long-term loss of competitiveness (Vitalis, 2006). Failure to address these concerns early in the policy process can fuel opposition (OECD, 2006b). | sdg6 |
Hie present report gives an overview of progress and some of the remaining challenges under each of the three pillars. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines extended electricity service to between five and nine million people. Countries of the region arc working to bring electricity to their growing populations in order to support social development and economic growth. In recent years countries have established clear policy targets that arc increasingly backed by supportive programmes and economic measures. During the period 2012-2014, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Marshall Islands and Nepal reported some of the region’s most rapid progress in raising their electrification rates. | sdg7 |
Productivity improvements can be achieved by applying existing knowledge and existing practices, moving sequentially from marginally profitable to industry average practice and to world best practice. Equally, or even more important is the introduction of long-term improvements in the capability of Slovenia’s innovation system to generate and apply new knowledge. When choosing both short-term and long-term approaches, international examples of successful smaller countries should be studied and adapted. | sdg9 |
If economic growth rates observed during those 10 years prevail for the next 15, the global rate for extreme poverty will likely fall to 4 per cent by 2030, assuming that growth benefits all income groups equally. Poverty remains widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 40 per cent of people lived on less than 1.90 US dollars a day in 2012. | sdg1 |
For purposes of this paper the definition will focus on ‘forced marriage’ and ‘early marriage.’ The reason for this is that by definition, ‘child’ marriages7 can be considered ‘forced marriage’, or a form thereof, because children especially those under the age of 15 are not able to make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to be married. Most often this decision is influenced by a parent or family member. | sdg5 |
Companies with appropriate certification can register as diverse suppliers in a Supplier Diversity Registration Portal. Its global Supplier Inclusion and Diversity programme started in 2002 in the United States and now spans more than 16 countries and three regions. The focus is to integrate more women-owned businesses into supply chains. | sdg5 |
Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models. | sdg16 |
Overall, half of men have contribution densities lower than 47.5%, and half of women have densities of less than 12.8%. These low contribution are associated with work histories that include periods of self-employment, informal employment, unemployment or professional inactivity, and are particularly a problem for women and individuals in low income brackets. The recommendations of the commission will be examined by a special council of minister which will analyse which of the different recommendations could be implemented. | sdg5 |
This rendered the water unsuitable for artificial recharge of groundwater, and the plant had to be closed. Thus, opposite meteorological extremes had the same practical impact, highlighting the potential implications of climate change for the control and management of artificial groundwater recharge with river water. Rising temperatures may result in the northward extension of cultivation of a whole range of crops. Hotter and drier summers are likely to increase the demand for seasonal supplementary irrigation, both within and beyond existing irrigated lands. Modelling studies in the Guadalquivir River Basin suggested an increase in seasonal irrigation requirements of 15% to 20% by the 2050s, and even in the United Kingdom irrigation demand is likely to increase,20 These substantial demands may be difficult to predict and plan for. Policy choices to mitigate impacts are important, and some promising efforts are already being made in several of the major transboundary basins - the Rhine, Meuse and Danube. | sdg6 |
One immediate course of action would be to develop collection systems since these systems are often viewed as the backbone of any successful e-waste management system. In fact, informal collection systems were found to be rather efficient in countries like India and China because the daily informal collectors were able to penetrate each community and collect e-waste from house to house.57 The collectors were also able to earn reasonable pay, this in turn promoted a high collection rate. The box below depicts the results of this analysis. | sdg12 |
For instance, increased spending on education may help increase schooling levels among poor children, but will not raise future income if broader economic policies fail to generate sufficient employment and if there are no complementary policies that address idiosyncratic determinants of economic vulnerability which keep wage returns to some of the poor low. Nor will social investments raise incomes if the poor cannot accumulate physical and financial capital, or if recurrent economic downturns force periodic rundowns of their limited assets. Social policy alone cannot change the economic environment or elements in the structure of the economy that contribute to poverty and volatile employment and income conditions. In a review of social policy making in developing countries, Grindle (2010, p. 12) notes that China’s current growth spurt is supported “by the ready availability of a literate and healthy labour force” and yielded a longer-term pay-off to early investment in social development. | sdg1 |
Statistically, most of this decline has been due to the rapid growth of China. Several factors played a role in this, particularly declining incomes in Latin America during the Tost decade’ of the 1980s and the prolonged economic implosion of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the economic collapse of transition countries in the late 1980s and 1990s. Accessed between 15 and 30 July 2012, and World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. | sdg10 |
Further, the Abu Dhabi Declaration1 adopted by the High Level Event on the Blue Economy in January 2014 stressed the contribution that an oceans economy can make towards the alleviation of hunger, poverty eradication, creation of sustainable livelihoods, and mitigation of climate change. Oceans and marine ecosystems have also been discussed in the Open Working Group set up by the UN General Assembly to prepare the sustainable development goals. Oceans matter for the environment. They also matter for the economy and for humans. | sdg14 |
In addition, given the often limited budget available for biodiversity, information that can help to target and prioritise biodiversity interventions to areas where they will have most impact is also important. Ideally, investments should be prioritised towards areas with highest biodiversity and ecosystem benefits and with highest risk of loss/degradation. Cost-effectiveness is also enhanced by prioritising areas with lower opportunity costs (Wunscher, Engel and Wunder, 2006, OECD, 2010). | sdg15 |
Environment Agency Austria contributed technical expertise to the design and implementation of the NAS. It also established an adaptation website4 and managed the stakeholder participation process (see below). In the late 1990s, the government created two groups addressing mitigation policies. Their remit was later expanded to encompass adaptation policy as well. | sdg13 |
These forward looking analyses suggest that new approaches may be needed to improve safety for all road users. The SRA and its partners have established databases to identify and monitor final and intermediate outcomes against targets and the results are published annually. The SRA uses the Euro NCAP and European Road Assessment Programme for monitoring the safety quality of vehicle fleet and aspects of road network safety. | sdg11 |
According to different sources, collection of medicinal plants growing either in the wild (over 60 plant species) or cultivated in special forestry farms (some 22 species) yields revenue between 2.5 million and 5.6 million somoni per year. However, if immoderate and not effectively controlled, this activity can lead to the extinction of these valuable species (as has happened to at least two rare plant species included in the Red Book). Each year, the Committee on Environmental Protection receives requests submitted by hunting organizations and makes enquiries of the Academy of Sciences for scientific opinion on the number of animals that could possibly be removed without harming the viability of the species population. | sdg15 |
However, there has also been historical provision made for SMEs to receive a separate contribution towards the costs of developing and implementing their IP strategies, with patenting costs reclaimable at 80%, up to a maximum of EUR 140 000. This may be viewed as a more explicit acknowledgement of the contribution intellectual property may make to business growth. In addition, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) sponsored research into the issues around IP-backed finance with its Banking on IP report (Brassell and King, 2013). | sdg8 |
But as more people attained higher levels of education, skills have become less scarce and skill premiums have declined accordingly (Figure 12). The wage premium for a completed tertiary education, for example, fell to 31% in 2012. Concretely, this meant that even people that were not able to improve their educational attainments personally saw their earning opportunities rise with the emergence of more skilled labour. In other words, improving access to education has had positive externalities on low-educated individuals. | sdg10 |
The Kiva-school programme aims to prevent and decrease bullying in schools. The programme consists of general measures where information is disseminated through various means with proactive material (assessment of school environment, classes, online games, booklets for parents, etc.), The first evaluation of the Kiva-school programme showed that the programme has reduced self- and peer-reported bullying and victimisation. As a result, the Kiva-school model is being progressively implemented in schools within the country' (Kama et al., Reviewing 53 different anti-bullying school programme evaluations in developed countries, researchers found that the effectiveness of initiatives is generally associated with the intensity and duration of the interventioa Moreover, some programme components were also found more effective than others in reducing bullying, most important being parent involvement, or the use of disciplinary' methods (ibid.). Whole-school initiatives involve introducing, and integrating, typically non-traditional educational and information services to all actors (teachers, students and support staff) in the school. | sdg3 |