A response to “Unraveling the Enigma: Western Expert Community Seeks to Explain Russian Policy” by Dr. Igor Istomin
Climate change and environmental disasters are already challenging the traditional paradigms of constructivism, liberalism and realism. With respect to Dr. Istomin, Ukraine is the least of our worries. Climate action demands a new call for international cooperation and effective use of diplomacy to protect lives, global economies, environments, resources and peace.
At the heart of...
Interview with Alejandro Litovsky, CEO of the Earth Security group
Recently the
Earth Security Group
launched its annual
Earth Security Index 2015 report
, which outlines the resource security risks that countries and multinational companies face from a deepening of economic and political inter-dependencies at regional and global levels. The report presents an innovative visual tool to assess how the complexity of sustainability pressures may evolve into country risks. It applies it to seven...
... also more acute water shortages. If the temperatures markedly increase, disastrous effects like the melting of the Himalayan glaciers and changes in the Indian Ocean monsoon pattern appear likely.
The Indian government is hardly underestimating the ecology-generated damage to the national economy, but rather regards the solution of the ecological problems as unfeasible. According to the World Bank, lowering the atmospheric discharge of pollutants by 30 percent would cost India only 0.7 percent of ...
... Chamber of Commerce. 2011.
28
. Cf for example: Fostering Innovation for Green Growth. OECD Publishing. OECD. 2011.
29
. Cf for example: From Green Economies to Green Societies. UNESCO. 2011.
30
. Cf for example: Mulligan S. Reassessing the Crisis: Ecology and Liberal International Relations. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political. Sage publications. April 2010, No. 35: pp. 137–162.
31
. For example: Huebert R., Exner-Pirot H., Lajeunesse A., Gulledge J. Climate Change & International Security: ...
The modern world is characterized by change and development, which leads to a growth in global energy consumption, primarily on the part of developed countries and developing countries with rapidly growing economies.
The economic crisis of 2008–2009 brought chaos to the global energy market, which resulted in an even more intense struggle for electrical power supply and energy resources between countries. Global competition, national and international interests, the North–South divide...
On October 30-November 2, 2014, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov visited Menaggio, Italy, to attend the 2nd Global Table "Limited Resources – Opportunities without Borders" devoted to issues of global resource management.
Co-sponsored by the BMW Foundation and Earth Security Group, the event attracted experts, diplomats and business and civil society representatives from Europe, Asia and Latin America, who focused on optimization of international and national mechanisms for managing...
Inteview with Igor Makarov
On September 23, 2014 New York hosted the UN Climate Summit, which was accompanied by massive demonstrations by environmentalists in the United States, Europe and Australia. Although the regulation of harmful carbon emissions and deforestation are central on the climate agenda, the establishment of a new international regime is still underway as countries markedly differ on the issue. RIAC expert
Igor Makarov
, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor of the World Economy...
The ongoing degradation of world’s forests is currently a second-largest reason for growing global greenhouse gas emissions. This destruction is being driven by increased demand for forestry products and poor law enforcement. So far the world has not come up with any effective mechanisms for reversing this trend. Existing international agreements and plans aimed at protecting forests have had little impact. The world is looking to market mechanisms to encourage businesses and other users of...
Developed countries’ transition to postindustrial society in the late 20th century entailed the reevaluation of the role different factors play in economic growth. Natural resources ceased to be regarded as a significant prerequisite for economic development, due to the emergence of service industries and the virtual economy. Furthermore, the idea that natural riches could even hinder economic development gained ground.
It is now becoming increasingly clear that the conclusions drawn about...
On April, 22 which is Earth Day established to draw the world’s attention to environmental protection, we asked our experts about one of the most urgent problems facing the modern world: how to deal with the increasing quantities of waste. Sigitas Rinkevičius, Head of the Waste Management Projects Department at COWI Lietuva, and Alexander Solovyaninov, Director of the Higher School of Economics’ Institute for Economics of Natural Resource Use and Environmental Policy, spoke about the...
