eterna. Open Access Serials
Not a member yet
1093 research outputs found
Sort by
Working Paper 50: Seedlings of hope: Addressing corruption linked to crimes that impact the environment in line with UNCAC Resolution 8/12
No full textAt the 8th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), in December 2019, States parties adopted a resolution recognising the relationship between corruption and environmental crimes.
Resolution 8/12 – Preventing and combating corruption as it relates to crimes that have an impact on the environment – is a landmark Resolution. With its 23 operative paragraphs (OPs), it underlies the importance of addressing corruption linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment. It urges States parties to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption offences where they may be linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment.
This Working Paper report presents a concise overview of prevention and enforcement actions, initiatives and measures implemented by UNCAC States parties between 2019 and 2023 to combat corruption as it pertains to crimes that have an impact on the environment. Section 2 focuses on prevention and Section 3 on enforcement actions.
Section 4 underscores the valuable contributions made by non-state actors, in particular civil society, academia and the media in this collective endeavour.
The conclusion includes a list of promising initiatives for corruption prevention and enforcement
Working Paper 49: Dirty deals – Case studies on corruption in waste management and trade
No full textWaste management is a huge industry at the local, national and international levels. Public services play a key role in dealing especially with waste generated by households. Getting waste management right is essential if we are to achieve a circular economy and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Complex legal frameworks and their weak implementation open up spaces for criminals to profit from illegally managing or trading in waste. The consequences on the environment and human health can be severe. The role of corruption in crimes involving waste is unexplored.
An initial analysis shows the potential for corruption to play a role in:
influencing policy decisions involving waste management;
corrupt deals involving the selection of waste management companies linked to powerful elites;
schemes to gain lucrative waste management contracts through systematic bribery;
illegal imports of hazardous substances for profit, avoiding or suppressing formal controls.
The report explores five case studies (Albania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Canada–Philippines, US–South America) and proposes a typology of corruption patterns in crimes involving waste management and trade
Working Paper 48: A collaborative approach to improve business integrity in ASEAN: Case studies of anticorruption Collective Action in the region
Full text linkThis working paper provides an overview and analysis of anti-corruption Collective Action case studies in the ASEAN region. It builds on the 2014 paper: Collective Action against Corruption: Business and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in ASEAN, which was published by the ASEAN CSR Network and the Asian Institute of Management.
This 2023 paper reviews the initiatives featured in the 2014 paper and highlights new initiatives that have emerged in the region since then. It covers:
Indonesia: Indonesia Business Links
Malaysia: Corporate Integrity System Malaysia
Philippines: Integrity Initiative and project SHINE
Thailand: Collective Action Against Corruption
Thailand: Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand
Vietnam: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry and its Office for Business
The analysis identifies several success factors, while noting that Collective Action is a flexible approach that can and must be tailored to different contexts
Policy Brief 13: Catalysing the private sector for disaster response and resilience – Case study of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation
No full textExtreme weather events, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and epidemics cause the loss of countless lives and bring disruption to many countries. Governments and humanitarian aid agencies are expected to be at the forefront of preparing for and responding to such disasters.
However, occasionally the scale and impact of some natural disasters are so large that additional resources beyond what governments can provide become necessary. In such cases, efforts may be perceived as insufficient and slow. Resources and efforts need to be augmented in order to provide relief and support to those who need it most.
Could the private sector take a more leading role in pre- and post-disaster efforts? How could a structured, long-term engagement reduce the inevitable integrity risks in high-stress disaster situations involving numerous government, business and international actors?
This Policy Brief looks at how the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) has emerged as a leading private-sector coordinator for disaster risk reduction and management.
It illustrates the important role that the private sector can play in responding to – and building resilience to – natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. It also showcases how vital it is for good governance, integrity and transparent collaboration to be at the heart of those efforts
Policy Brief 12: De-risking of Russian clients: best intentions, unintended consequences
Full text linkAfter the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the wide-reaching sanctions which ensued, many Western financial institutions began to de-risk Russian clients. Dealing with Russian clients, in many cases, has become expensive from a compliance point of view and toxic from the reputational side.
However, the de-risking of unsanctioned Russian individuals may have a significant impact on the fight against financial crime by potentially causing:
an increase in the use of shadow/unregulated channels of moving money;
a withdrawal of funds away from the European zone to sanctioned countries or non-cooperative jurisdictions;
severe burdens on the investigation of financial crimes (especially in relation to Russian assets and investments) and on international cooperation in criminal matters;
increased opportunities for enablers, such as unscrupulous lawyers and accountants, to take advantage of the situation.
This Policy Brief outlines the current situation and suggests how to better manage risk without having a negative impact on the fight against financial crime
From Brunfels to Bauhin – The first 100 years of „botany” in the German-speaking area
Full text linkThis article examines how Caspar Bauhin (1560–1624) became famous as a scientific author and University teacher in Basel focusing on the evolution of scientific practices such as botanizing and herbarizing in the German-speaking world. In the early 16th century German-speaking publishers were the first to sell well-illustrated books that would be of great help to readers in identifying plants. After 1550, Swiss and German physicians such as Felix Platter, Leonhard Rauwolf, Kaspar Ratzenberger and Johann and his brother Caspar Bauhin began collecting plants for their herbaria, some of which are among the oldest still preserved today. The Rauwolf herbarium, with its most „scientific” design, shows how plant identification was done in practice. Rauwolf also was the first to leave behind a comprehensive report of his fieldwork in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, written in German. In Basel, Caspar Bauhin was to become a particularly influential academic teacher in the German-speaking world and beyond when he took over the newly established chair for Botany and Anatomy in 1589. He trained a total of nearly 800 students during his University career. Moreover, Bauhin’s extensive correspondence comprises over 2500 letters and provides insights into the lively discussions among the fellow botanists with whom Bauhin corresponded
Looking into 16th-century botanical history to understand the complex taxonomy of Tulipa sylvestris in Europe
Full text linkTulipa sylvestris is a small yellow tulip that was introduced to northern Europe in the 16th century. Unlike the tulips that came from the Ottoman empire and gave birth to modern cultivars, T. sylvestris came from the Mediterranean and became a garden escapee that successfully naturalized across Europe. Its taxonomy is complex due to morphological diversity, polyploidy and naturalization of cultivated plants. Two subspecies are provisionally accepted in Europe: subsp. australis, a diploid native in the Mediterranean (up to Central Asia) that grows on mountainous rocky grasslands, on poor soils; and subsp. sylvestris a tetraploid that is naturalized across Europe and grows in rich soils at low altitudes, mainly at field margins, vineyards and gardens. Sometimes these two subspecies are regarded as distinct species, but their taxonomic delimitation is unclear
Flora of the Canary Islands – revised checklist to a classic arena of botany
Full text linkThe Canary Islands are a popular location for botanical collections that resulted in a series of seminal works, including the description and documentation of many endemic plant species (Fig. 1, 2, 3) in herbaria. Viera y Clavijo, Christ, Webb, Berthelot, Sventenius, Pitard, Kunkel, or Bramwell, to name but a few, majorly contributed to the knowledge about the flora of the Canary Islands. Alexander von Humboldt’s botanical description of Tenerife during his stay in 1799 also motivated Charles Darwin to explore the island. Unfortunately, Darwin was not allowed to set foot on land during his voyage with the Beagle due to quarantine restrictions. In recent years, a number of data bases containing detailed information about the plants of the Canary Islands emerged. This botanical legacy evokes the expectation that detailed information about the flora of the archipelago is available, with high agreement about taxa and status between different sources. To test this expectation, we elaborated an extensive floral checklist for the Canary Islands, documented which taxa are accepted in global taxonomic reference systems, and additionally checked their coverage in databases that are a common sources in biogeographical and ecological research
Decision-Shaping or Decision-Making? The Role of the Federal Assembly in Swiss Foreign Policy Using the Example of the Negotiation of the Institutional Framework Agreement with the European Union
Full text linkThis article addresses the questions of the foreign policy competencies of the Federal Assembly and how it made use of them in the negotiation of the institutional framework agreement with the EU. After a historical classification and a discussion of the relevant legal basis, the author undertakes a computer-aided content analysis of the parliamentary debates on the agreement in the Official Bulletin of the Federal Assembly. The results are then analyzed with recourse to previous insights. In doing so, he shows that there is an interplay between the expansion of parliamentary powers and diminishing opportunities for shaping them and that the Federal Assembly strives to fulfill its partial responsibility for foreign policy. In his conclusions, the author states that the increasing internationalization challenges the cooperation between the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council and that the rights to information and consultation play a key role in this debate.This article addresses the questions of the foreign policy competencies of the Federal Assembly and how it made use of them in the negotiation of the institutional framework agreement with the EU. After a historical classification and a discussion of the relevant legal basis, the author undertakes a computer-aided content analysis of the parliamentary debates on the agreement in the Official Bulletin of the Federal Assembly. The results are then analyzed with recourse to previous insights. In doing so, he shows that there is an interplay between the expansion of parliamentary powers and diminishing opportunities for shaping them and that the Federal Assembly strives to fulfill its partial responsibility for foreign policy. In his conclusions, the author states that the increasing internationalization challenges the cooperation between the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council and that the rights to information and consultation play a key role in this debate
