Pursuing Environmentally Sustainable Public Policies and Economic Activities: The EU Taxonomy Regulation
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 6, November 2021
Pages:
130-139
Received:
23 October 2021
Accepted:
16 November 2021
Published:
23 November 2021
Abstract: The effective and integrated response to critical contemporary global challenges, including sustainable recovery from the adverse effects of the pandemic crisis, depletion of natural resources, climate change and green transition, requires the adoption of coherent and forward-looking public policies and comprehensive implementing means and criteria. It necessitates the establishment of sustainable financing instruments and the reorientation of economic activities and investments into projects and actions that promote sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth. The utmost objective of this article is to highlight the fundamental principles, primary objectives and key financial aspects of the regulatory regime established by the EU Taxonomy Regulation, governing the classification of the environmentally sustainable economic and investment activities within the European Union. A detailed examination of the EU Taxonomy Regulation allows useful conclusions to be drawn about the form, content and multi-dimensional nature of the criteria and conditions on the basis of which the degree of environmental sustainability of public policies which set environmentally sustainable standards and requirements, and economic activities and investment projects based on them, are laid down and determined. Particular emphasis is placed on capturing and sketching the contribution a uniform system for classifying environmental economic activities can make to meeting a set of critical environmental goals and priorities set at global and EU level, relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation, protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, sustainable use of natural resources, and the circular economy. Drawing methodologically on the examination of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and its consistency and interlinkages with the primary objectives and principles of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the article seeks to enrich the scholarly debate and explore the extent and the degree to which key environmentally sustainable criteria, standards and requirements, are reflected and integrated in the process of designing, formulating and assessing structural reforms and public investments to be embedded in the national recovery and resilience plans of the EU Member States.
Abstract: The effective and integrated response to critical contemporary global challenges, including sustainable recovery from the adverse effects of the pandemic crisis, depletion of natural resources, climate change and green transition, requires the adoption of coherent and forward-looking public policies and comprehensive implementing means and criteria...
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Protected Areas and Management Practices: Evidence in Southwest Nigeria
Mayowa Fasona,
Adedoyin Bello,
Agbor Ruth
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 6, November 2021
Pages:
140-152
Received:
15 September 2021
Accepted:
22 November 2021
Published:
9 February 2022
Abstract: Forests are important plant communities that consist of trees and other woody vegetation that perform life supporting functions on earth. Forest reserves are areas protected from use mainly by the government in order to preserve this resource. With the phenomenal increasing population globally and in particular Nigeria and over dependence on forest resources, it is crucial to be aware of the rate of deforestation and how to curb it. In view of this, the paper assessed the conditions of the forest reserves and management systems by government officials and communities in south-western Nigeria, particularly Ekiti and Ondo states. Remote sensing techniques and social surveys were employed in carrying out this task. Landsat imagery of 1984, 2000 and 2016 and the Nigerian topographic map of 1960 were the spatial datasets used. Two sets of questionnaires were also used for the study covering community leaders (10), and government agencies (26) to further explain the observed changes and management systems. Results show that there has been a general decline in the area of heavy forests in most of the forest reserves. This decline was as much as 48%, and 54% of its base year size in Ekiti, and Ondo state respectively; which has given way to the emergence of light forests and the underlying rock outcrops. Forests are mainly in care of government officials who widely accepted the reality of deforestation within their jurisdiction while also acknowledging excessive lumbering and forest clearance for agriculture as their main challenges. The need for more aggressive forest regeneration efforts by agencies in charge of the protected areas; urgent delimiting of these reserves, increased capital investment in forest monitoring, and improvement in agricultural system efficiency were recommended.
Abstract: Forests are important plant communities that consist of trees and other woody vegetation that perform life supporting functions on earth. Forest reserves are areas protected from use mainly by the government in order to preserve this resource. With the phenomenal increasing population globally and in particular Nigeria and over dependence on forest...
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