Yale’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has emerged as the premier framework of national-scale metrics for global environmental policy analysis. Data and indicators from 180 countries gauge progress on 20+ environmental public health and ecosystem vitality goals. The framework offers a policy-relevant scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance, gives insight on best practices, and provides guidance for countries that aspire to be leaders in sustainability. The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (YCELP) is looking for research assistants to contribute to the 2018 release of the next EPI report. For more information, visit epi.yale.edu.
Climate change poses escalating threats to coastal ecosystems through sea-level rise, intensified storms, and rising ocean acidification, placing global sustainability at risk. Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in coastal protection, biodiversity conservation, and climate mitigation stabilizing shorelines, filtering pollutants, and acting as major carbon sinks. Sustainable mangrove management offers livelihood opportunities for local communities, such as fishing, shellfish gathering, and beekeeping. Despite their importance, mangroves have experienced significant decline, particularly in countries with extensive coastlines. This paper examines how legal frameworks and policy initiatives address mangrove protection in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, with a focus on the role of law in mitigating coastal ecosystem degradation. Using a comparative legal analysis, the paper reviews mangrove-related legislation, regulatory approaches, and national initiatives in these three jurisdictions. The analysis finds that the United States employs more developed legal mechanisms for mangrove protection, including marine protected areas and scientific monitoring, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt rely more heavily on large-scale restoration initiatives and broader environmental laws rather than mangrove-specific legal frameworks. The paper concludes that strengthening targeted legal measures for mangrove protection, informed by comparative legal experience, can enhance coastal ecosystem resilience and support long-term environmental sustainability in regions vulnerable to climate change.
Tahseen Bashir, Angela Stefania Bergantino, Gianmarco Troiani
et al.
The vulnerability and resilience of road networks are important and widely discussed properties in the literature, providing insights into the behaviour and response of road networks when faced with disruptive natural or anthropogenic phenomena. The goal of this study was to provide an extensive literature review of scientific articles in the field of vulnerability and resilience of transportation road networks. To this aim, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was carried out investigating road network vulnerability and resilience by selecting all articles published between 2003-2023 and analyze 594 papers collected from Web of Science (WoS) using Bibliometrix-R software. The study identified the most influential scholars and their high-impact contributions, analyzed the influential institutions and countries most contributing to this field, and examined countries with the strongest international research collaborations. Resilience, vulnerability, and road network have been the research keywords in this study as shown in the word cloud. Moreover, the objectives of this review are: i) to identify the evolution and geographic distribution of the analysis of resilience and vulnerability of road networks; ii) to highlight which aspects of vulnerability and resilience have been mostly studied; iii) to report the most used quantitative methods and research gaps to study vulnerability and resilience. The result of this study will be beneficial in developing infrastructure resilience, ensuring sustainable and efficient transportation network resilience, and providing a future guide for both researchers and practitioners.
Background Institutional quality is a critical determinant of development outcomes, yet the role of social attitudes in shaping institutions remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of public attitudes toward gender equality, environmental protection, and immigration on institutional strength and socioeconomic development. Method Using data from Wave 7 of the World Values Survey, we apply a classification of attitudes based on a combination of set theory and ordinal preference logic. Respondents are grouped into 27 attitude combinations and then aggregated into eight categories. Country-level proportions are computed. We apply Bayesian Network Analysis (BNA) to uncover complex dependencies, identifying relationships and central institutional nodes such as the rule of law, democratic stability, and market organisation. Latent institutional quality and development outcomes variables are derived using Principal Component Analysis. We then use Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test a mediation model, estimating direct and indirect effects of attitudes on development outcomes. Bootstrapping with 5,000 replications ensures statistical robustness. Results BNA reveals that institutional quality is a key bridge between social attitudes and development outcomes. SEM confirms that institutional quality mediates these effects in most cases. Neutral-positive and mixed-neutral attitudes yield the most potent positive indirect effects, underscoring their role in consensus building. Negative attitudes are associated with institutional weakening and lower development performance. Interestingly, moderately negative views may drive democratic reform when linked to institutional accountability. Conclusion Social attitudes affect development primarily through their influence on institutions. Contrary to common assumptions, moderate and neutral positions are not passive; they foster institutional adaptability and stability. These findings underscore the importance of targeting centrist groups in policy design to reinforce inclusive governance and long-term development.
Josep Maria Argiles-Bosch, Josep Garcia-Blandon, Diego Ravenda
This study examines the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores and labor costs per employee (LCE) in firms operating under different legal traditions, specifically comparing civil law (France) and common law (United Kingdom) countries. Utilizing data from the Orbis database for the period 2020–2022, the study employs random-effects estimations with robust standard errors. Results indicate that while the relationship between ESG and LCE is not significant in common law, it is positively significant in civil law. Results are robust to alternative ESG measures, such as the social pillar score (SOCP) estimations methods and samples. The findings suggest that the legal tradition moderates the ESG-LCE relationship, with stronger positive effects observed in civil law countries. The study highlights the importance of legal frameworks in shaping the economic impacts of ESG initiatives on labor costs. While ESG concerns may result in higher LCE, and thus increased employee compensation, implementing appropriate regulations to protect workers’ rights can foster a more effective ESG-LCE relationship than relying solely on market-based regulatory systems driven by stakeholder influence.
Purpose: The main purpose of this article was to identify and evaluate selected aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of ICT companies in Poland, such as CSR-related standards and norms, socially responsible activities in the area of employees, and mechanisms to prevent violations of the law and unethical behaviour.
Methodology: the CAWI-type survey was conducted in July-August 2022. The subject of the survey were software houses (Polish and international) operating in Poland.
Results: The survey showed that issues such as human capital development, business ethics and compliance, and risk and crisis management are of key importance to the operation of the surveyed companies now and in the future.
Conclusions and recommendations: Most of the surveyed entities equated CSR with philanthropic responsibility, and few ICT companies linked CSR with economic responsibility. The analysis of engagement in the employee area showed the high importance given to diversity, equality and inclusion. A limitation of the study was its focus on a few selected aspects of CSR, which did not provide a complete picture of ICT companies’ socially responsible activities. It is worth investigating pro-environmental activities in the future.
Originality/value: The rationale for the study was that ICT companies operating in Poland are poorly diagnosed in terms of their CSR. The results of the study may be of value to ICT companies in the context of diagnosing their CSR maturity.
O desenvolvimento de tecnologia junto ao Sistema Único de Saúde demonstrou ser essencial para se atender aos preceitos da integralidade, igualdade e universalidade, estabelecidos no artigo 196, Constituição (Brasil, 1988), uma vez que, a partir dessa estratégia, almeja-se aperfeiçoar atendimentos e demais serviços ligados a tal política pública. Para tanto, verificou-se que o programa institucional do Complexo Econômico-Industrial da Saúde (CEIS) é um instrumento objetivo para desenvolver maquinários e softwares, por exemplo, a partir da estrutura de Estado (instrumento de política pública), a fim de se alcançar autonomia (soberania nacional) em relação a empresas privadas (especialmente internacionais) e nações desenvolvidas. Nesse contexto, buscou-se verificar se o CEIS possui o adequado estímulo (financiamento) para se desenvolver a ferramenta tecnológica da telemedicina e inseri-la no SUS. Constatou-se, mediante as estratégias metodológicas de pesquisa qualitativa e dedutiva, além da análise crítico-reflexiva das fontes indiretas de produções teóricas, bem como da pesquisa empírica na modalidade análise de dados, que houve a redução do direcionamento de investimentos ao setor, segundo os preceitos econômicos do contexto do Neoliberalismo de Austeridade, o que ocasiona a dependência em relação a países desenvolvidos. Esses, por sua vez, encontram na saúde setor fundamental para o fomento ao neocolonialismo.
Environmental sciences, Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
Charlotte E. Chong, Thi Mui Pham, Megan E. Carey
et al.
The Antimicrobial Resistance - Genomes, Big Data and Emerging Technologies Conference explored key topics including measuring the burden of AMR, global public health pathogen genomics infrastructure and surveillance, translation and implementation of genomics for AMR control, use of techniques such as wastewater surveillance, mathematical and statistical modelling, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to aid understanding of AMR. This report describes research presented during plenary sessions and discussions, keynote presentations and posters.
Sumegha Asthana, Sanjana Mukherjee, Alexandra L. Phelan
et al.
Summary: Background: Decision-making during health crises differs from routine decision-making and is constrained by ambiguity about evolving epidemiological situations, urgency of response, lack of evidence, and fear. Recent analyses of governance and decision-making during COVID-19, focusing on leadership qualities, involvement of specific stakeholders, and effective resource management, do not adequately address a persisting gap in understanding the determinants of decision-making during health crises at the national level. Methods: We undertook a study to understand the processes and characteristics of decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. We used a case study approach and collected empirical evidence about public health decision-making, using a combination of key informant interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders from government, academia and civil society organizations. Findings: We argue that administrative centralization and political legitimacy played important roles in agile governance and decision-making during the pandemic in Singapore. We demonstrate the role of the Singapore government's centralization in creating a unified and coherent governance model for emergency response and the People's Action Party's (PAP) legitimacy in facilitating people's trust in the government. Health system resilience and financial reserves further facilitated an agile response, yet community participation and prioritization of vulnerable migrant populations were insufficient in the governance processes. Interpretation: Our analysis contributes to the theory and practice of crisis decision-making by highlighting the role of political and administrative determinants in agile crisis decision-making. Funding: This study is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a Cooperative Research Agreement (NU2HGH2020000037).
This article examines the collaborative governance strategy implemented by the Batu Bara Regency Government in restoring Sejarah Beach. Beaches are critical assets that represent the identity of a region, provide economic benefits, and support the surrounding environmental ecosystem. Unfortunately, many beaches experience environmental degradation and other socio-economic problems. Pantai Sejarah in Batu Bara Regency is no exception, which faces issues such as prostitution, environmental degradation, and local poverty. Using a qualitative methodology, this research explores the collaborative approach used in the revitalization of Pantai Sejarah. In-depth interviews were conducted with various key stakeholders, including representatives from local government agencies (Environmental Agency, Forestry Agency, and Regional Development Agency), PT Inalum's HR management, and local community members. The findings of this study show that the implementation of the collaborative governance approach by the local government has transformed Sejarah Beach into an integrated tourist attraction. In addition, this collaborative initiative also created economic opportunities, including small businesses, new jobs, and revenue for the government. The collaborative effort also addresses social issues such as prostitution through coordinated action between law enforcement, government, and the local community. Furthermore, the collaborative governance approach provides a comprehensive solution to coastal area management by addressing social challenges alongside environmental conservation and economic development.
Political institutions and public administration (General)
Charles Sims, Paul R. Armsworth, Julie Blackwood
et al.
Abstract Managing social‐ecological systems (SES) requires balancing the need to tailor actions to local heterogeneity and the need to work over large areas to accommodate the extent of SES. This balance is particularly challenging for policy since the level of government where the policy is being developed determines the extent and resolution of action. We make the case for a new research agenda focused on ecological federalism that seeks to address this challenge by capitalizing on the flexibility afforded by a federalist system of governance. Ecological federalism synthesizes the environmental federalism literature from law and economics with relevant ecological and biological literature to address a fundamental question: What aspects of SES should be managed by federal governments and which should be allocated to decentralized state governments? This new research agenda considers the bio‐geo‐physical processes that characterize state‐federal management tradeoffs for biodiversity conservation, resource management, infectious disease prevention, and invasive species control. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Yuni Dwi Setyaningsih, Endang Hilmi, Roy Andreas
et al.
Industrial waste is considered to have a higher economic value. The cigarette industry is a large industry that involves thousands of workers, so it is necessary to carry out good waste/garbage management so as not to pollute the surrounding environment. The Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS in collaboration with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and supported by the Government of Denmark, launched a new concept on the development of a Circular Economy in Indonesia. The circular economy encourages a business model oriented to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recovery and Repair (5R). The implementation of 5R concept approach can reduce the consumption of new materials by up to 30% in 2035 and 50% in 2050. This study aims to find out how to implement a sustainable waste management strategy using the 5R concept in the Cigarette Industry. The data were collected by means of observation and interviews with cigarette factory PT. X, The Department of Housing and Settlements and Environment Kebumen Regency and academics. The method used is descriptive analysis quantitative, and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results of this study show that during 2020, the average amount of waste generated in the cigarette factory of PT. X 1405.21 kg/month with the composition of waste in January 2021 consisting of 5.3% of category A waste; 5.5% category B; 51.3% category C; 1% category D; 36.5% category E; and 0.5% category F. Waste management in the cigarette factory of PT. X is broadly in accordance with Presidential Regulation No. 97 of 2017 regarding Indonesian National Strategy Policy on Managing Domestic Waste and Domestic Waste Equivalents. The suggested main alternative strategy is by using good/raw material in accordance with the procedure.
O presente artigo, alicerçado no método dedutivo, examina a origem, conceitos e modelos de compliance enquanto mecanismo de autorregulação de empresas, debruça-se sobre a ideia de ética da convicção e ética da responsabilidade e avança para tratar especificamente do compliance empresarial ambiental, discorrendo sobre suas oportunidades e dilemas no tocante à sua utilidade na preservação do meio ambiente. Para tanto, foi realizada pesquisa bibliográfica que, além de amparar as considerações realizadas sobre o instituto do compliance, inclusive ambiental, confirmou a natureza de direito humano do direito ao meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado, assim como a sua eficácia nas relações privadas. Por fim, concluiu-se que o compliance ambiental empresarial desponta como um valioso instrumento de concretização do direito humano fundamental ao meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado, obtendo-se como resultado a confirmação da hipótese suscitada. O objetivo deste artigo é demonstrar que o compliance ambiental apresenta-se como uma importante oportunidade para que as corporações satisfaçam seus compromissos éticos e se desincumbam do seu dever constitucional e global atinente à preservação ambiental.
Environmental sciences, Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
Trans-boundary environmental impact occurs where development projects in one country or state have extra-territorial effect on neighbouring state and this aspect of environmental law falls squarely within the purview of international environmental law. This paper examines the prevention of trans-boundary environmental impact, legal framework and challenges of implementation in Nigeria and generally. The paper adopts a doctrinal approach. The paper discusses trans-boundary environmental impact and its origin in Nigeria. The paper notes that the first trans-boundary environmental impact in Nigeria happened in 1988 and prior to that there was no substantive environmental legislation in place. The paper evaluates the existing domestic and international legal frameworks and discovers that the substantive domestic law in Nigeria, lacks the necessary impetus to address environmental impact of a trans-boundary nature. The paper further finds that the international framework are not complemented by strong, substantive international law. Some of these treaties are married by vague language and weak enforcement mechanisms. The paper notes that there are several challenges preventing implementation of trans-boundary EIA and includes cost of trans-boundary EIA, limited access to document in the affected areas and unwillingness of the public to participate with an activity in another state. The paper recommends that the existing legal frameworks both at the national and international fora should be supported by strong substantive laws to enable implementation and concludes that the challenges can be overcome by specifying the parameters for determining the significance of effects, encourage public participation and dispute resolution mechanisms. Key Words: Environment, Assessment, Impact, Prevention, Challenges, Implementation
This paper discusses the interplay between domestic law and international law taking the example of transboundary environmental assessment. Tracing historical evolution of environmental assessment at domestic and international planes and analyzing legal frameworks that regulate environmental assessment as applied to transboundary waters in the Aral Sea basin, the paper demonstrates how international law and domestic law interact and influence each other in various instances, including norm formation, interpretation, implementation and application. The obligations to conduct transboundary environmental assessment deserve a special attention in the context of the current large scale hydropower development in the Aral Sea basin, shared by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. While the countries’ economies and livelihoods of their population depend profoundly on the availability and quality of the basin’s waters, such dependency exacerbated a delicate ecological balance in the region and put under stress its environmental integrity.