What drives policy change for REDD+? A qualitative comparative analysis of the interplay between institutional and policy arena factors

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a comparative analysis across 13 countries with a focus on both institutional context and the actual setting of the policy arena. The evaluation of REDD+ revealed that countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are showing some progress, but some face backlashes in realizing the necessary transformational change to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) undertaken as part of the research project showed two enabling institutional configurations facilitating progress: (1) the presence of already initiated policy change; and (2) scarcity of forest resources combined with an absence of any effective forestry framework and policies. When these were analysed alongside policy arena conditions, the paper finds that the presence of powerful transformational coalitions combined with strong ownership and leadership, and performance-based funding, can both work as a strong incentive for achieving REDD+ goals.

Key policy insights

• The positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress.

• Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive.

• When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual.

     

Measuring,mapping and quantifying the effects of trust and informal communication on transboundary collaboration in the Great Lakes fisheries policy network

Ecosystem-based management of fisheries and other transboundary natural resources require a number of organizations across jurisdictions to exchange knowledge, coordinate policy goals and engage in collaborative activities. Trust, as part of social capital, is considered a key mechanism facilitating the coordination of such inter-organizational policy networks. However, our understanding of multi-dimensional trust as a theoretical construct and an operational variable in environmental and natural resource management has remained largely untested. This paper presents an empirical assessment of trust and communication measures applied to the North American Great Lakes fisheries policy network. Using a scale-based method developed for this purpose, we quantify the prevalence of different dimensions of trust and in/formal communication in the network and their differentiated impacts on decision-making and goal consensus. Our analysis reveals that calculation-based ‘rational trust’ is important for aligning mutual goals, but relationship-based ‘affinitive trust’ is most significant for influencing decision-making. Informal communication was also found to be a strong predictor of how effectively formal communication will influence decision-making, confirming the “priming” role of informal interactions in formal inter-agency dealings. The results also show the buffering and interactive functions of these components in strengthening institutional resilience, with procedural trust undergirding the system to compensate for a lack of well-developed relationships. Overall, this study provides evidence to suggest that informal communication and multi-dimensional trust constitute a crucial element for improving collaboration and reducing conflict in the networked governance of transboundary natural resource systems.     

Evaluation of policy options for the live reef food fish trade in the province of Palawan,Western Philippines

The live reef food fish (LRFF) trade has an estimated annual retail value of US$1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region and at least US$30 million in the Philippines. Palawan Province is the trade's center accounting for as much as 55% of the commodity's total export. Concern about the LRFF trade has caused the Palawan Provincial government to take action to regulate the trade. Four key policy options to address the short-term policy objective of developing a sustainable LRFF industry through the reduction of threats associated with destructive fishing and overfishing were proposed. These four policy options and associated analyses were presented to stakeholders at three separate policy consultations. The stakeholders reached a consensus that a regulated LRFF trade was the most sensible option. As a result, the Provincial Government of Palawan took action to enact “The Palawan Live Reef Fish Ordinance of 2006”, which provides for the sustainable and integrated regulation of the LRFF industry. This provincial ordinance will assist in crafting a national policy for the LRFF trade and may also be useful in revising the 1998 Philippine Fisheries Code. The key challenge is how to translate the ordinance provisions into effective on-the-ground actions.     

地缘政治视角下中亚“颜色革命”易发程度分析

基于地缘政治视角,分析本世纪初发生在原苏联地区“颜色革命”的诱发因素,认为美国根据其地缘战略格局对“颜色革命”发生地存在一定程度的主观选择性,国家内部经济、政治、社会等层面的矛盾也同样作为发生背景。在中亚地缘格局动态分析的基础上,结合中亚五国形势,从时间和空间双重维度对中亚地区未来发生“颜色革命”的可能性进行识别与评判,得出1) 整体来看,中亚近期内爆发“颜色革命”可能性较小,但从长远来看不能掉以轻心。2)土、乌未来稳定可期,塔、吉、哈需谨防“颜色革命”卷土重来。     

The Relationship between Narratives,Wildlife Value Orientations,Attitudes, and Policy Preferences

Overabundance of white-tailed deer is a pervasive problem across the United States. Deer are blamed for increased risk of auto accidents, tick-borne diseases, and overbrowsing of native species. Lethal management techniques, cited as cost-effective and humane, are commonly employed for herd management. However, the approach frequently sparks outrage among various stakeholders who feel killing of animals is unjustified and prefer nonlethal measures. Wildlife managers then face the challenge of communicating with the public to build policy support for lethal management. The Narrative Policy Framework was used to test the effects of differing narratives on public opinion for lethal deer management. Results indicated narratives were influential in shifting attitudes toward and support for a proposed sharpshooting policy even in some cases where respondents were already familiar with the issue and held a previous opinion. This study also supported the utility of the Narrative Policy Framework for examining human dimensions of wildlife issues.     

关联演化视角下地理学区域韧性分析的新思考

区域韧性是一个区域应对发展进程中短期冲击与长期变化、积极进行自我调适与转型的能力,表征了区域的适应性、创新性与可持续性,作为新兴理念反映了地理学可持续发展与区域研究的新需求。本研究综述了区域韧性研究进展,基于关联演化视角,探索构建区域韧性认知框架,将情境分析与过程分析并重,思考并总结区域韧性分析的方法论,尝试建立区域韧性评估方程,从经济、社会、环境及制度四个维度进行区域韧性评估,将区域韧性应用于中国地理学研究,分析中国区域韧性研究的一般性与特殊性,将区域韧性研究对接中国实际问题,以期对区域韧性研究做出理论贡献,助推地理学区域发展研究及相关认知领域的跨学科讨论、知识集成与学术交流,为国家制定相关区域政策提供参考,并为国家及区域可持续发展提供科学指引。     

Fisheries traffic: The poor relation of port devolution. Lessons from Spanish state ports of general interest

The fisheries sector is currently contending with the hectic development of its own political economy framework being convulsed by the dynamics of decentralisation. This process is enshrouded in an environment of economic globalisation, taking place against the backdrop of the governance approach. With this situation as the starting point, the main goal of this paper is to quantify the effects that the Spanish port devolution process might have on the Spanish fisheries sector through the use of a transfer function model; the volumes of landings at State ports of general interest and their cash value are taken as dependent variables.     

Sustainable development: Social outcomes of structural adjustments in a South Australian fishery

The assessment of sustainable development is a relatively recent advent in policy and the evaluation of industry structural adjustments. Although the elements of economic and environmental assessment have been relatively well developed and accepted, the effective inclusion of ‘social’ aspects in assessments of sustainable development are still being grappled with.     

Dysfunctions in common fishing regulations

One of the main concerns of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) lies in guaranteeing consistency among the different implemented actions. The main concern is establishing a relationship between the levels of compliance with the Multi-annual Guidance Programme (MAGP), the adoption of total allowable catches (TACs), and the levels of compliance with rules by producers.     

韩国“新北方政策”对接“一带一路”倡议：机遇与挑战

韩国“新北方政策”与“一带一路”倡议的对接合作为中韩两国带来了重要发展机遇。文章主要探讨韩国“新北方政策”的内涵及其与“一带一路”倡议对接的进展、机遇与挑战,得出双方对接的合作机遇主要在政策沟通、设施联通、贸易投资和资金融通4个方面,同时也存在着制度性风险、地缘风险和投资合作风险的三大挑战。在具体对接过程中,产业、金融、物流3个领域可能成为突破口。