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China and India are the world's largest developing economies and also two of the most populous countries. China, which now has more than 1.3 billion people, is expected to grow to more than 1.4 billion by 2050, and India with a population of I billion will overtake China to be the most populous country with about 1.6 billion population. These two countries are home to 37% of the world's population today. In addition, China and India have achieved notable success in their economic development characterised by a high rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the last two decades. Together the two countries account already for almost a fifth of world GDP. The most direct and significant result of economic growth in India and China is the amazing improvement in quality of life (or at least spending power) for an increasing share of the population. The populations of both the countries have experienced a transition from 'poverty' to 'adequate food and clothing',- today growing parts of the population are getting closer to 'well to do lifestyles'. These seLyments of the society are not satisfied any more with enough food and clothes, but are also eager to obtain a quality life of high nutrient food, comfortable living, health care and other quality services. The theme of this paper is to analyse how the major drivers contributed to the environmental consequences in the past, and to take a forward look at the environmental impacts of these driving forces in China and India. The paper identifies population, affluence and technology to be the major drivina forces in environmental pollution for these two countries then applies the simple equation of Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology, or I = PAT to evaluate the effects of changes in these drivers on CO, emissions. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recent theoretical literature in social policy argued that climate change posed a new risk to the states and called for transformation from a traditional welfare state to an ‘eco’ state. From a theoretical point of view, different welfare regimes may manage environmental/climate change risks in a similar way to social risks. However, not much has been done to explore the issue empirically. To this end, this paper aims to investigate public attitudes towards environmental and traditional welfare policies given that environmental change is a new social risk the welfare states have to address. Do individuals that care for one area also care for the other? That is, do the preferences in these two policy spheres complement or substitute one another? We test these hypotheses both at the individual- and country-level, using data from 14 countries included in all three waves (1993, 2000, and 2010) of the environmental module in the International Social Survey Programme. Specifically, we investigate the relationship between attitudes towards income redistribution (indicator of support for welfare policy) and willingness to pay for environmental protection (indicator of support for environmental policy). Our findings suggest that attitudes in the two areas are substitutes in the total sample, but that the relationship is very small and only statistically significant in some specifications. When we explore country differentials, we observe clear heterogeneity in the relationship, which can be explained by differences in political and historical contexts across countries.

A medida que las ciudades de África Oriental sigan creciendo, también lo hará la demanda de carbón vegetal, el combustible urbano preferido de la región, lo que ejercerá una presión cada vez mayor sobre los paisajes rurales donde se produce. ¿Cómo se puede hacer sostenible la producción y el suministro de carbón vegetal? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones de las políticas y prácticas sostenibles de carbón vegetal para lograr una vía baja en carbono y proteger el medio ambiente? Este documento presenta una investigación de estudio de caso centrada en el condado de Kitui, una de las principales zonas de producción de carbón vegetal en Kenia. El riesgo y la incertidumbre de las políticas sostenibles de carbón vegetal en Kitui se evaluaron utilizando métodos complementarios de talleres con las partes interesadas, entrevistas con informantes y modelos basados en agentes. Este enfoque interdisciplinario combinó la investigación de políticas y el modelado de simulación, donde las perspectivas y los datos locales se incluyeron directamente en el modelado. Estos métodos facilitaron la crítica del comportamiento relacionado con la agencia y la corrupción. Las partes interesadas valoraron la capacidad de acceder a información detallada sobre microinteracciones y considerar el desempeño de las políticas con respecto tanto a los flujos financieros como a la extracción de biomasa. Alors que les villes d'Afrique de l'Est continuent de croître, la demande de charbon de bois – le carburant urbain préféré de la région – exercera une pression croissante sur les paysages ruraux où il est produit. Comment rendre la production et l'approvisionnement en charbon durables ? Quelles sont les implications des politiques et des pratiques de charbon de bois durable pour parvenir à une voie à faible émission de carbone et protéger l'environnement ? Cet article présente des études de cas axées sur le comté de Kitui, l'une des principales zones de production de charbon de bois au Kenya. Les risques et l'incertitude des politiques de charbon de bois durable à Kitui ont été évalués à l'aide de méthodes complémentaires d'ateliers avec les parties prenantes, d'entretiens avec les informateurs et de modélisation basée sur les agents. Cette approche interdisciplinaire combinait la recherche sur les politiques et la modélisation par simulation, où les perspectives et les données locales étaient directement incluses dans la modélisation. Ces méthodes ont facilité la critique des comportements concernant l'agence et la corruption. Les parties prenantes ont apprécié la possibilité d'accéder à des informations détaillées sur les micro-interactions et d'examiner les performances des politiques en matière de flux financiers et d'extraction de la biomasse. As cities in East Africa keep growing, so too will demand for charcoal – the region's preferred urban fuel – placing increasing pressure on rural landscapes where it is produced. How can charcoal production and supply be made sustainable? What are the implications of sustainable charcoal policies and practices for achieving a low-carbon pathway and protecting the environment? This paper presents case study research focusing on Kitui County, one of the main charcoal production areas in Kenya. Risk and uncertainty of sustainable charcoal policies in Kitui were assessed using complementary methods of stakeholder workshops, informant interviews and agent-based modelling. This interdisciplinary approach combined policy research and simulation modelling, where local perspectives and data were included directly in the modelling. These methods facilitated critique of behaviour concerning agency and corruption. Stakeholders valued the ability to access detailed information on micro-interactions and consider policy performance regarding both financial flows and biomass extraction. ومع استمرار نمو المدن في شرق أفريقيا، فإن الطلب على الفحم – الوقود الحضري المفضل في المنطقة – سيزيد من الضغط على المناظر الطبيعية الريفية حيث يتم إنتاجه. كيف يمكن جعل إنتاج الفحم وتوريده مستدامين ؟ ما هي الآثار المترتبة على سياسات وممارسات الفحم المستدامة لتحقيق مسار منخفض الكربون وحماية البيئة ؟ تقدم هذه الورقة بحث دراسة حالة يركز على مقاطعة كيتوي، واحدة من مناطق إنتاج الفحم الرئيسية في كينيا. تم تقييم المخاطر وعدم اليقين في سياسات الفحم المستدامة في كيتوي باستخدام طرق تكميلية لورش عمل أصحاب المصلحة ومقابلات المخبرين والنمذجة القائمة على الوكيل. جمع هذا النهج متعدد التخصصات بين أبحاث السياسات ونمذجة المحاكاة، حيث تم تضمين وجهات النظر والبيانات المحلية مباشرة في النمذجة. سهلت هذه الأساليب نقد السلوك المتعلق بالوكالة والفساد. وقدر أصحاب المصلحة القدرة على الوصول إلى معلومات مفصلة عن التفاعلات الصغيرة والنظر في أداء السياسات فيما يتعلق بكل من التدفقات المالية واستخراج الكتلة الحيوية.

In the global context of reducing carbon emissions and shifting towards sustainable modes of urban infrastructure, strategies that provide decentralized access to renewable energy technologies for the urban poor are increasingly promoted. However, while innovative energy technologies are introduced in order to support global targets for sustainability and service-delivery while also directly benefiting low-income households (e.g. by reducing the monetary costs of energy), there is widespread evidence that low-income urban dwellers do not always readily accept these technologies. Typically, the urban poor are blamed for failing to adopt new technologies, with little consideration for underlying socio-cultural causes. Using examples drawn from qualitative research in low-income settlements in Mumbai and Cape Town, this paper demonstrates the role of socio-cultural attitudes and practices in affecting social acceptance of domestic solar energy interventions. Focusing specifically on perceptions of normality and practices of social capital, both of which are connected to collective social influence, the paper reveals how these concepts affect the socio-cultural acceptance of new energy technologies amongst low-income urban dwellers in the global South. Furthermore, we argue that adopting a socio-cultural perspective is a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of scholarly and policy analyses of, and strategies for, energy transitions in the global South.

Economists have confined the concept of 'sustainability' to intertemporal distributional equity. We propose a broader definition, combining dynamic efficiency and intergenerational equity, and relate it to two concepts from neoclassical economics: potential Pareto-improvements and inter-personal compensation.

The substrate specificity, pH activity curves, inhibition characteristics and in vitro stabilities of the human ADH isozymes characteristic of the structural loci, ADH1, ADH2 and ADH3, have been investigated using crude tissue extracts and partially purified material. Alcohol substrates: Seventeen different alcohols were tested. The products of the three loci showed differences in their relative activities with the different substrates. Thus ADH1 isozymes were most active with ethanol, allyl alcohol, sec propanol and cyclohexanol; the 'usual' ADH2 were most active with ethanol, butanol, octanol and sec butanol; the 'atypical' ADH2 isozymes were most active with ethanol and octanol, but showed relatively low activity with butanol and Ronicol; the ADH3 isozymes were relatively very active with long straight chain primary alcohols. Aldehyde substrates: Six different aldehydes were tested. No significant differences between the isozyme products of the three loci were detected except in the case of chloral hydrate. The ADH1 and 'usual' ADH2 isozymes showed activity with chloral hydrate but this was a very poor substrate for the ADH3 and 'atypical' ADH2 isozymes. pH activity profiles: With ethanol as substrate the pH optimum for the ADH1, 'usual' ADH2 and the ADH3 isozymes was around pH 11.5 and for the 'atypical' ADH2 isozymes was about pH 8.8. With acetaldehyde as substrate the pH optima for the ADH1, 'usual' ADH2, 'atypical' ADH2 and ADH3 isozymes were about pH 8.8, 6.0, 7.0-7.5 and 6.5, resp. Inhibitors: Trichloroethanol was found to be a potent inhibitor of the ADH1 isozymes; isobutyramide an inhibitor of ADH3; and pyrazole and thiourea were shown to be powerful inhibitors of the 'atypical' ADH2 isozymes. In vitro stability: The ADH1 isozymes appeared to be relatively less stable than the 'usual' ADH2 and ADH3 isozymes. The 'atypical' ADH2 isozymes were found to be relatively very labile and particularly susceptible to freezing and thawing or storage at 10° C. The ADH 1;3 and ADH 2;3 isozymes were not demonstrably different in the properties tested.

Orphan crops are those crops that did not receive the same attention of the research community as in the case of staples such as wheat, maize, or rice despite their regional and nutritional importance. A relatively recent trend has been promoting their research to improve their productivity and resilience to environmental shocks. However, their impact on consumers’ nutrition has been analysed only considering the crops individually and not in the context of the diet. This is important because an increase in the consumption of one product may trigger changes in the other products that conform to the diet. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential impact, in terms of food choices and nutrition, of increasing the consumption of orphan crops (represented by millet) in the Kenyan diet. This is carried out using a microeconomic-based methodology, which augments the original consumer problem with a constraint regarding the amount of the orphan crop on the diet. To compute the required elasticities for the method, three demand systems—i.e., for rural, less affluent urban, more affluent urban households—were estimated using the 2015–16 Kenyan Integrated Household Survey and the two-step approach to address the zero consumption for some food categories; the second step was modelled using the Linquad demand model. The results indicate that although the orphan crops have the capacity to improve some of the nutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals), in net terms, as measured by the aggregated nutritional indicator the improvement is somewhat limited, the improvements occur in the rural and the less affluent population.