Suchergebnisse

Access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services is the primary aim of Sustainable Development Goal 7 and underpins other SDGs for improving health and welfare. In keeping with the SDG objectives, national governments and development agencies have been advocating reduction of households' dependency on traditional sources of energy and encourage the transition to clean energy. Whilst policy interventions for this have had some success, a large proportion of households, especially in the rural areas of developing countries still continue to face energy shortages and lack of access to clean energy continues to be a major developmental challenge. This study investigates the energy use of 295 rural households in three rural villages in central Nepal. Results demonstrate that households continue to depend on traditional sources of energy with limited access to clean energy. Furthermore, access to clean energy amongst households in rural Nepal is determined by households and community socio-economic status. The paper argues that much more needs to be done to enhance households' access to clean energy and reduce their dependency on traditional sources of energy and the distributional implications of such measures need to be properly considered.

Water sourced from Asian mountains is vital to the survival of an estimated 1.4 billion people, but by 2050 anticipated changes in snow and ice cover may threaten these supplies and, in turn, the food security of tens of millions of people. Despite the severity of this developing environmental hazard, the relative importance of glacier and snow-derived water needs more detailed study so that those communities who will experience the greatest shortages can be identified. Specifically, data showing how the contribution of meltwater varies with increasing distance downstream are lacking for many mountain catchments, as are robust hydrological models to simulate extreme scenarios of glacier loss as well as rainfall runoff events. Imprinted on regional-scale hydroclimatological controls of water availability are local-scale cultural beliefs and practices that have evolved over centuries, which determine who is able to access water supplies, for how long, and for what purpose. Building the resilience of human populations and the environment to future water shortages therefore depends on effective interdisciplinary team working to develop an understanding of the complex interactions between physical, socio-economic, cultural and historical factors. Developing simple and practical methods for water management, storage and societal adaptation that are appropriate to the socio-economic and political conditions of mountain-dwelling communities will only be sustainable if they are built on this integrated knowledge-base.