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Insights into Social and Institutional Innovations for Enhancing Energy Decentralisation and Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries
Get PDFThe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require state and non-state actors to reduce the vulnerability of communities to climate related extreme events, and other economic, social and environmental shocks; and for universal access to modern energy by 2030. Achieving this will require implementing new radical approaches to accelerate decen¬tralised energy services provision. Through an analysis of data from various research articles, policy briefs and project reports, the paper discovered that polycentric governance systems can enhance Africa's renewable energy institutional capacity and create new social systems to facilitate successful climate change mitigation and energy transitions for universal energy access. Moreover, despite the presence on various climate finance mechanisms to promote transitions towards low carbon development, in the absence of restrictive supply-side policy instruments targeting fossil fuels, Africa will be locked-in fossil fuel energy supply systems rather than directly leapfrogging from little or no energy infrastructure directly to low carbon energy supply systems
Essentials of Indigenous Knowledge towards Sustainability and Development: A Nigerian Experience
Get PDFThat African states confront multi-dimensional challenges is obvious. In recent times, so much has been said about Sustainable development. However, no serious attention has been paid to the issue of solving the problems by tapping from our indigenous knowledge in the schemes of ensuring sustainability and development. This paper, therefore, investigates certain aspects of indigenous knowledge for the purpose of reducing poverty, corrupt practices, crimes and other related social vices. The paper aims at exposing us to native African conceptual skills/knowledge, building good moral, promoting and preserving our cultural heritage and core values, not only for entertainment but also for economic values using indigenous knowledge as a platform. We adopt field study as our methodology and sociological literary theory as our theoretical framework. This theory is applied because it considers the relationship between arts in general and the society, which produced such arts. The study reveals that there is the need to revisit and reinvest in the indigenous knowledge, as foreign cultures cannot guarantee our sustainability as Africans. This paper concludes that individuals, scholars, institutions, corporate organizations and government at various levels have roles to play in making indigenous knowledge a veritable tool for a happy living
Solar PV Transfer Strategy in Malawi for Sustainability
Get PDFThis paper aimed at developing a sustainable strategy for the transfer of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies to the rural areas in Malawi. The paper evaluated two strategies used to transfer solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies to rural Malawi namely the centralised systems strategy and the decentralised systems strategy. More attention was paid to analysing the PV transfer strategies in terms of management, financing, community participation, skills transfer, and marketing systems. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the needed data. The study has revealed that the centralised systems strategy, which is based on solar villages, is unsustainable. On the other hand, the decentralised systems strategy, which promotes small-systems, has potential to be sustainable as long as the systems are not given out to the people as donations. Therefore, a new sustainable policy strategy, for the transfer of solar PV technologies to the rural areas in Malawi, named ‘the commercialisation and entrepreneurship development strategy’ was suggested
Pollution and the Urban Aesthetics in the Industrial Districts of Lagos, Nigeria; Any Correlation?
Get PDFThe paper examines the reciprocal tendencies between the environmental pollution and the urban aesthetics in the industrial districts of Lagos, Nigeria. A total of two hundred and forty questionnaires were randomly administered in twelve industrial districts of the Lagos region. Data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed. Also, secondary sources of data were adopted. The study posits that urban aesthetics could be understood from the perspective of industrial pollution. The paper reveals the following types of pollution as potent and influencing on the urban aesthetics; air, water and land pollution. The research bewrays the pertinence of the following indices to urban aesthetics; clean water and air, infrastructures, housing, health and sanitary environment. The canonical correlation analysis between the industrial pollution and the urban aesthetics revealed a value 3.6358 which was significant at 0.05 levels. The paper recommends a massive public enlightenment campaign to educate the masses; especially the entrepreneurs on the essence of curtailing pollution; while developmental activities should be carried out in a way that will make the cities livable and sustain urban aesthetics. Finally governments should strictly enforce the environmental laws
Redefining Benefits and Beneficiaries of Duty and Tax Waiver on Imports of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies: The Case of Malawi
Get PDFThis paper is about the taxation of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies in Malawi. It analyses and expose the reality about the benefits and beneficiaries of customs and excise duty waiver on these technologies. The principal aim for taxation is to raise revenue for the government, local authorities and other similar bodies. Taxes are also used to redistribute wealth whereby higher rates of income tax transfer wealth from the better-off to the state and the latter uses the resources to provide services to everyone. Sometimes, taxes are used to protect local industries from foreign competition. In such cases, the government levies duty on imported goods, which translates into higher prices. As a result of the high prices of the imports, people are forced to buy locally manufactured goods as substitutes. However, this analysis appears to be biased towards the end users of the technologies and completely ignores the suppliers, without whom there would be no solar PV market at all. This paper is therefore aimed at highlighting the shortcomings of this perspective and redefining the benefits and beneficiaries of such exemption
Assessing Household Vulnerability to Climate Variability in Far-West Nepal
Get PDFThis study analyzed the trends of climatic parameters (temperature and precipitation) over the last three decades (1977-2008) and assessed vulnerability of households to climate variability, i.e., extreme weather events, using two sets of indicators, (1) livelihood assets as indicators of adaptive capacity, and (2) indicators of sensitivity and exposure. The study was carried out in two communities of Kailali district, Nepal, one susceptible to floods and the other to droughts. A vulnerability index, computed from livelihood assets indicators developed in consultation with local people, was used to categorize the surveyed households into three vulnerability groups. Indicators of adaptive capacity and indicators of sensitivity and exposure differed significantly across these groups. The rising trend of extreme rainfall events and drought conditions have increased the vulnerability of agriculture based livelihoods in the study area. Adaptation measures were adopted by households depending on their endowment with key livelihood assets. Annual income, training and land holding size were identified as major adaptive capacity indicators, while distance of households from rivers was the key sensitivity and exposure factor. The findings suggest that programs aimed at facilitating adaptation to climate change and variability have to be integrated with disaster risk management and need to incorporate strategies for improving local livelihoods
The Underlying Reasons of the Low Rate of Criminal Witness Testifying in China
Get PDFTo ensure that witnesses testify in court, the National People's Congress (NPC) created large-scale modifications in witnesses testifying system when amending the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C) (1996 Revision) in 2012. Theoretical circles generally believe that a perfect witness testifying system can help witnesses to testify in court. China’s witnesses testifying system has made remarkable progress from the legal text in 2012. However, judging from the judicial practice in recent years, the proportion of criminal witnesses appearing in court has not been significantly improved. The underlying cause of the unexpected situation is not the various defects of witness testifying system in China itself, but the operating environment of witness testifying system. Further speaking, whether high or low, the proportion of criminal witnesses appearing in court has no substantive impact on the criminal trial. Especially in cases where criminal trial become formalistic, many people’s courts do not need witnesses to testify in court
A Review of the Phenomenon of Left-behind Children in China from the Perspective of Historicism with Discussion and Analysis of the Relevant Research Literature
Get PDFThe rapid industrialization and uneven regional development of China over the past few decades have forced a large number of young and middle-aged people in rural areas and small towns to leave their hometown and undertake burdensome manual jobs in urban areas. Many of them have become parents. The long separation with their children contributes to the widespread Chinese left-behind children phenomenon. This review article explains further the Chinese left-behind child phenomenon, identifies and discusses the relevant research literature, and analyzes research approaches and findings with attention to the concept of ‘historicism’ (attributing meaningful significance to elements of space and time). Arguably, it would provide a clear picture and guidelines such as research status, gaps, and depicts for underlying researchers
The Mueller Report: More Questions Than Answers
Get PDFThis paper considers three major points of the Mueller Report, namely: Was the entire matter of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election a “hoax”? Did the Trump Campaign conspire with, coordinate with, or collude with Russia? And, did the President obstruct justice? The paper also includes our conclusions and commentary relating to Special Counsel Mueller’s decision-making and choices, many of which we argue were flawed, leaving more questions than answers for the American people
Origin and Evolution of Theatre: A Biological Interpretation
Get PDFThis article tried to find the resemblances between theatrical and biological evolution and analogise them. In the evolution of art and culture, theatre was proposed to be considered as a subvariety while street theatre as form. It was showed that in theatrical evolution several traits can be distinguished which can be analogised with the gene. All forms of theatre have some of the traits inherited unaltered and some traits have been modified due to recombination and mutation like biological evolution. Thus each type of theatre has its definite evolutionary lineage and finding this lineage is necessary to analyse theatrical evolution. Focus was given to street theatre as a case study to trace the evolutionary lineage, selection and status in evolutionary tree to justify the proposed hypothesis. Article proposed that theatre originated from an archetype (prototheatre) where from classical and folk theatre originated. Street theatre was originated through a recombination of these two forms. It also intended to focus that survival of any form depends on two environmental selection factors, viz. rulers’ choice and peoples’ choice. Hegemony or dominance in cultural environment is a detrimental phenomenon and article recommended that variations should be conserved for future