Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is considered one of the most water scarce in the world. Two new books look closely at the prospects for water policy reform in two MENA countries. In Water Politics in Turkey: Structural Change and EU Accession, Vakur Sumer assesses the impacts that harmonizing Turkey's water-management efforts with broader EU legal standards might have on the country's water management. In her new book, Social Capital and Local Water Management in Egypt, Dalia M. Gouda emphasizes the importance of water-management reforms undertaken at the village level. One offers a look at top-down efforts to reform water policy and water management, while the other emphasizes the need for bottom-up efforts that rely on nongovernmental organizations. Presumably, the two together would be sufficient. This review suggests they are not.

'Environmental Problem-Solving' presents short excerpts from carefully selected readings, expert commentaries on those readings, assignments, and the best MIT student responses to the assignments and exam questions with excellent student response. The book presents four main models of environmental policy-making: competing theories of environmental ethics; tools for environmental assessment and environmental decision-making; and techniques for public engagement and group decision-making. The book covers the material presented in the semester-long course required of all students enrolled in MIT's Environmental Policy and Planning Specialization.

'Environmental Problem-Solving' presents short excerpts from carefully selected readings, expert commentaries on those readings, assignments, and the best MIT student responses to the assignments and exam questions with excellent student response. The book presents four main models of environmental policy-making: competing theories of environmental ethics; tools for environmental assessment and environmental decision-making; and techniques for public engagement and group decision-making. The book covers the material presented in the semester-long course required of all students enrolled in MIT's Environmental Policy and Planning Specialization.

Environmental Problem-Solving - A Video-Enhanced Self-Instructional e-Book from MIT' offers an online, self-paced curriculum for college and university students who want to learn the basic techniques government agencies, citizen action groups, corporations and research institutions use to solve pressing environmental problems. The e-book includes links to short videos showing the best MIT student responses to weekly assignments and exam questions.

Malaysia has made an ambitious commitment to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions, notably a 40% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2020 and a 45% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030. As with other developing countries, Malaysia's challenge is to decarbonize its energy-centric economy in the face of population growth pressures and substantial levels of poverty. Drawing on extensive interviews with both public and private stakeholders, we examine how Malaysia has launched its transition to a decarbonized development path. Based on our multi-year analysis, we identify key breakout factors, including behavioral transformations, institutional shifts, and action by a broad network of actors that have allowed Malaysia to begin decarbonizing its economy. At the same time, we note that federal-state friction, limited government capacity, the absence of a centralized management agency, the lack of international funding, incipient environmental awareness, and numerous barriers to investment in renewable energy reinforce carbon lock-in. Our analysis suggests ways in which other rapidly developing countries can learn from Malaysia's initial successes and challenges. ©2020