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The last major UNFCCC COP Agreement — the so-called Paris Agreement of COP21 in 2015 — emphasised international cooperation through market-based instruments. International carbon trading was insisted on, so as to (seemingly) allow mitigation, rather than reduction/cessation, of emissions from industrial production. Repeated utterances of the positive impacts of carbon markets in terms of reducing emissions and speeding the transition to a low-carbon economy, however, were also met with equally repetitive and forceful claims that carbon markets have failed. The polarised disagreement between these positions and the numbers supporting them demonstrates that climate management and carbon markets are not merely technical problems that can be fixed by measurement, modelling and technocratic solutions. They are political problems representing highly divergent values and worldviews. This essay asks questions about how anthropogenic climate change is understood, and which responses are promoted as appropriate for this systemic predicament. It argues that ontological dimensions are at play here, arising from different ways of seeing and knowing the world.

In his Lectures on Biopolitics (1978-79) Foucault highlighted the contemporary intensification of neoliberal arts of government, by which economic incentive structures are designed to control human behaviour and 'life itself ' through market transactions framed as enhancing efficiency in the distribution of goods and bads. The human subject of this 'truth game of the market' seems critically disempowered: conceived as a machine-like agent, responding predictably to expert manipulations constructing a governmentality that simultaneously disavows the amplifications of inequity and ecological damage with which it is associated. In the last works of his life, especially 'The Hermeneutics of the Subject' (1981-82) and 'The Courage of Truth' (1983-84), Foucault turned again towards the possibility of seeking other rules of subjectification so as to play the games of power 'with as little domination as possible'. His encouragement was to remember the philosophical strategy associated with Socrates, namely to attend to oneself through activating the soul's contemplation of the actions of the self: thereby composing an ethical subject whose actions, through practices of freedom and truth-telling, are not enslaved by appetites; and whose ethos of care becomes extended through the conduct of relationships with others, including life (bios) itself. This paper extends Foucault's expositions on 'the care of the self ' and 'the courage of truth' to affirm animist and affective activations of the soul silenced through the consolidated colonial universality of so-called western knowledge. In doing so, the paper advocates a refraction of the games of truth infusing practices of domination in socio-ecological relations and 'biodiversity conservation', as a gesture towards amplifying an ethics of consideration for both human and beyond-human others.

We examined and analyzed methods used to create numerical equivalence between sites affected by development and proposed conservation offset sites. Application of biodiversity offsetting metrics in development impact and mitigation assessments is thought to standardize biodiversity conservation outcomes, sometimes termed yield by those conducting these calculations. The youth of biodiversity offsetting in application, however, means little is known about how biodiversity valuations and offset contracts between development and offset sites are agreed on in practice or about long-term conservation outcomes. We examined how sites were made commensurable and how biodiversity gains or yields were calculated and negotiated for a specific offset contract in a government-led pilot study of biodiversity offsets in England. Over 24 months, we conducted participant observations of various stages in the negotiation of offset contracts through repeated visits to 3 (anonymized) biodiversity offset contract sites. We conducted 50 semistructured interviews of stakeholders in regional and local government, the private sector, and civil society. We used a qualitative data analysis software program (DEDOOSE) to textually analyze interview transcriptions. We also compared successive iterations of biodiversity-offsetting calculation spreadsheets and planning documents. A particular focus was the different iterations of a specific biodiversity impact assessment in which the biodiversity offsetting metric developed by the U.K.'s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was used. We highlight 3 main findings. First, biodiversity offsetting metrics were amended in creative ways as users adapted inputs to metric calculations to balance and negotiate conflicting requirements. Second, the practice of making different habitats equivalent to each other through the application of biodiversity offsetting metrics resulted in commensuration outcomes that may not provide projected conservation gains. Third, the pressure of creating value for money diminished projected conservation yields.

Biodiversity offsetting (BDO) is presented as capable of mitigating development-related harm to populations of species while simultaneously enhancing economic development. The technique involves constructing such harm as a result of market failures, which can be resolved through market solutions. BDO is contentious, attracting outspoken proponents and opponents in equal measure. We examine competing perspectives of interested non-governmental actors through a structured discourse analysis, using qualitative data coding, of 24 written evidence submissions to the UK Parliament׳s Environmental Audit Committee׳s 2013 Inquiry into Biodiversity Offsetting in England. Nuanced positions and areas of agreement notwithstanding, we find that there is a discernible oppositional pattern producing core polarities between organisations favouring and resisting BDO. In interpreting these oppositional dynamics we observe that it is unlikely that this impasse can be resolved since although the debate is framed in terms of differences of view regarding the effectiveness or desirability of specific technical aspects of BDO policy, these differences arise from fundamentally divergent value framings. Struggles over offsetting involve irresolvable value struggles, and negotiations over the assumed (ir)rationality of biodiversity offsetting are thus located firmly within political and ideological arenas.

The effects of religion, population sub-division and geography on the prevalence of deaf-mutism were investigated using information collected in the 1921 Census of Punjab. The total sample size was 9·36 million, and comprised data on thirteen Hindu castes, seventeen Muslim biraderis and two Sikh castes. A two-way analysis of variance comparing males in Hindu castes in which consanguineous marriage was prohibited, with males in Muslim biraderis which favoured first cousin marriage, indicated major differences with respect to the patterns of deaf-mutism within each religion. In the Muslim population 9·1% of the relative variation in the prevalence of deaf-mutism was inter-biraderi, 36·8% between geographical regions, and 48·8% an interaction between biraderi and region, whereas among Hindus 46·8% of the observed variation was inter-caste, 12·8% inter-region and 33·6% due to caste–region interaction. From a wider disease perspective the results obtained with the Hindu community indicate the significant genetic differentiation associated with caste endogamy. As the overwhelming majority of Hindu marriages continue to be within-caste, it can be predicted that similar levels of inter-caste differences in disease frequency currently exist. By comparison, the lower level of inter-biraderi variation among Muslims is probably indicative of the dissolution of pre-existing caste boundaries and the resultant gene pool mixing that followed the large-scale conversion of Hindus to Islam during Muslim rule in North India from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

Context
In Queensland, the management of estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) by the government is important for ensuring public safety, especially along the populated east coast, where there is a large human population.

Aims
The present study aimed to determine historical, temporal and spatial patterns of human–crocodile conflict in Queensland.

Methods
The study used Queensland Government records of estuarine crocodile attacks (1971–2015), sightings by the general public (2003–2015), and removals and relocations for management purposes (1985–2015) to develop General Linear Models describing historical, temporal and spatial patterns.

Key results
The highest number of attacks, sightings, removals and relocations occurred along the populated east coast between Townsville and the Daintree during wet season months (November–February). There have been 35 crocodile attacks in Queensland since 1971 (total 0.8 per year; fatal 0.3 per year), mostly involving local people or regular visitors (77.1%), specifically adult males (71.4%; mean age 44). There has been an increase in the rate of crocodile attacks over time, with an average of 1.3 per year since 1996, most of which were non-fatal (84%). The number of crocodile sightings has been increasing annually (with a mean of 348 per year since 2011), while the number of crocodiles removed or relocated for management purposes (n = 608) has fluctuating widely each year (range 1–57).

Conclusions
The level of human–crocodile conflict in Queensland is increasing, and this is likely to be a consequence of increasing human and crocodile populations. While conflict is highest during the wet season, estuarine crocodiles pose a threat to public safety year round.

Implications
With the increase in conflict, the ongoing management of estuarine crocodiles, through targeted removals in and around areas of higher human habitation and through education, is essential for ensuring public safety into the future.

Data were pooled from three Australian sentinel general practice influenza surveillance networks to estimate Australia-wide influenza vaccine coverage and effectiveness against community presentations for laboratory-confirmed influenza for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. Patients presenting with influenza-like illness at participating GP practices were swabbed and tested for influenza. The vaccination odds of patients testing positive were compared with patients testing negative to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) by logistic regression, adjusting for age group, week of presentation and network. Pooling of data across Australia increased the sample size for estimation from a minimum of 684 to 3,683 in 2012, from 314 to 2,042 in 2013 and from 497 to 3,074 in 2014. Overall VE was 38% [95% confidence interval (CI) 24-49] in 2012, 60% (95% CI 45-70) in 2013 and 44% (95% CI 31-55) in 2014. For A(H1N1)pdm09 VE was 54% (95% CI-28 to 83) in 2012, 59% (95% CI 33-74) in 2013 and 55% (95% CI 39-67) in 2014. For A(H3N2), VE was 30% (95% CI 14-44) in 2012, 67% (95% CI 39-82) in 2013 and 26% (95% CI 1-45) in 2014. For influenza B, VE was stable across years at 56% (95% CI 37-70) in 2012, 57% (95% CI 30-73) in 2013 and 54% (95% CI 21-73) in 2014. Overall VE against influenza was low in 2012 and 2014 when A(H3N2) was the dominant strain and the vaccine was poorly matched. In contrast, overall VE was higher in 2013 when A(H1N1)pdm09 dominated and the vaccine was a better match. Pooling data can increase the sample available and enable more precise subtype- and age group-specific estimates, but limitations remain. ; The Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network and the Melbourne WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza are supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. The Sentinel Practitioners Network of Western Australia is funded by the Western Australian Department of Health. The Victorian Sentinel Practice Influenza Network is funded by the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services.

Since the construction of Missoula's first waste water plant in 1962, the plant has undergone many upgrades. The primary treatment system was upgraded to secondary treatment in 1974. The plant's capacity grew from 9 MGD in 1998 to 12 MGD by 2007. Over the past 30 years, loads to the river of nitrogen and phosphorus have been reduced by 70 and 85% respectively, even as the number of households and businesses served have increased by 14%. Surprisingly, despite the increasing number of people served by the plant, influent water to the plant has been dropping recently, thanks to water conservation efforts. The most recent major upgrade to the Missoula WWTP involved the installation of a Biological Nutrient Removal system (using the Modified Johannesburg Process) in 2004. And starting in 2014, some of the effluent is being used to irrigate a hybrid poplar plantation. The city of Missoula is exploring using all of the effluent during the irrigation season. A recent nutrient budget constructed for the WWTP showed that over 90% of the phosphorus entering the plant is captured as biosolids that is made into compost by Ekocompost. About 30% of the nitrogen is captured as biosolids, 20% enters the river, and almost 50% is apparently removed by denitrification. While the plant and the nearby plantation greatly reduce nutrient loading to the river, the plant does use a lot of energy. The plant's energy use accounted for about 36% of Missoula city government's greenhouse gas emissions in 2008. The plant does capture about 50% on an annual basis of the methane generated by the digesters and uses it to heat digesters. The city is now studying capturing 100% of the methane to generate electricity to run pumps at the plant.