The Commonwealth, ‘development’ and post-colonial responsibility

One important (though often neglected) part of the ‘development business’ committed to principles of partnership is the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 independent countries, almost all of which were formerly under British rule. This paper focuses on the Commonwealth’s contemporary sense of ‘responsibility’ for shaping African development through ‘partnership’ and by promoting ‘good governance’ and examines the particular example of Mozambique, which joined the Commonwealth in 1995. In exploring exactly what membership of this post-colonial ‘family’ has meant for Mozambique the paper explores the neocolonial paternalism and sense of trusteeship that the Commonwealth has articulated in its often very apolitical vision of African development which seems to lock the continent into a permanent stage of tutelage and to repetitively reduce Africa to a set of core deficiencies for which externally generated ‘solutions’ must be devised. More generally, the paper also examines the wider context of the Commonwealth’s involvement in Africa by looking at the connections it has made to British industry, British charities and the British Department for International Development (DFID). The paper concludes with an assessment of the ‘showcase’ potential of Mozambique and its importance to Commonwealth and DFID narrations of an African ‘success’ story of peace, stability and growth since the end of the country’s devastating civil war in 1992.     

后遥感应用技术研究与地质实践——以东胜-神木地区铀资源勘查为例

介绍了后遥感应用技术提出的背景及技术构成,阐述了该技术的研究内容及取得的地质成果。实践表明,在地质勘查领域,后遥感应用技术比单一遥感技术具有更大的实用价值和更好的应用效果。     

长江三峡工程库区生态环境遥感动态监测

长江三峡工程库区人类活动频繁,生态系统脆弱,三峡工程对库区生态环境的影响一直是人们关注的焦点。运用遥感、地理 信息系统、全球卫星定位系统、计算机网络技术,采用DEM 、影像正射校正、多源影像数据融合、多层次信息提取等技术方法,对整 个库区20世纪80年代中期、90年代末期生态环境、草地资源进行了全面的动态监测,并在此基础上利用ArcGIS软件开发完成了“长江 三峡工程库区生态环境遥感动态监测GIS系统”。     

UDEC软件对矿山采空区崩塌过程进行应力分布的研究

为了研究矿山采空区坡体的应力(裂隙)分布情况,并对崩塌过程分析进行检验,本文采用离散元数值软件(UDEC)对纳雍县张家湾镇普洒煤矿采煤过程中覆岩裂隙发生、发展及其变化过程进行模拟。结果表明:随着煤层开采的推进,覆岩裂隙向上发展且密度逐渐增多;由于采空区范围过大时,部分被重新压实,裂隙发育至地表形成开切眼;最后在外力作用下整条裂缝垂直贯通,形成危岩体的发展规律,可为类似的矿山地质灾害防治提供基础依据。     

薄杖子钾长石矿地质特征及开发应用前景

通过对薄杖子钾长石矿地质特征分析,阐述了该矿床的成因类型,为中酸性侵入岩型。钾长石矿严格受沿断裂侵入的燕山期碱性正长岩小岩株控制,通过岩浆结晶分离作用而形成,区内矿体基本裸露于地表,地表出露体呈零星分布,矿体形态均不规则。矿体的主要矿物为钾长石,次要矿物为石英、条纹长石、绢云母、黑云母、角闪石,副矿物为黄铁矿、磁铁矿。矿石自然类型为碱性正长岩型,工业类型为玻璃及建筑陶瓷用钾长石矿,开发利用方向为玻璃及建筑陶瓷工业原料。     

城市和城市群可持续发展指数研究进展

21世纪是城市的世纪,城市的高质量发展对区域和全球可持续发展至关重要。中国城市化发展迅速,城市化率从1978年的17.9%增加到2019年的60.6%,2030年将达到70%,大部分人口居住在城市。城市是中国经济发展的引擎,以全国近7%的土地面积生产了70%的国内生产总值(GDP),而城市群更是集聚了全国大部分城镇人口和GDP。因此,城市和城市群的健康与可持续性将决定中国未来发展的质量与进程。识别城市和城市群发展的程度、存在的问题以及国内外差距,亟需进行城市可持续发展的评价。本研究系统综述了城市可持续发展评价的思想与指标体系的发展历程,重点基于联合国可持续发展目标(SDG)框架考察了开展城市可持续发展评价的方法,提出了构建城市和城市群可持续发展指数的途径,并从平台构建、大数据基础、跟踪发布等方面提出了推进城市可持续发展指数评价建立城市发展“仪表盘”的思路。基于联合国SDG框架的城市和城市群可持续发展指数可为目标城市对标其他城市、开展不同区域城市的对比、找准发展目标与识别存在问题等方面提供重要支撑。     

A digital earth platform for sustainability

ABSTRACT

Based on the experience of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE), this paper describes some challenges foreseen in order to develop a Digital Earth platform that can support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The use of ready-to-use derived geospatial information is essential. Future Earth’s methodology of ‘co-design’ aims to bring together natural, social scientists and decision makers to plan and carry out research for sustainability. Sustainability implies transdisciplinary research, but in order for scientists of different disciplines to work together, they will need to be able to share, access and use common data. This is by far not simple! While the good will to share data might exist, the associated technological, ethical and privacy issues are difficult to solve. An adequate e-infrastructure will be required. ISDE could consider to use the SDGs is the basis to develop the desired Digital Earth platform. This paper, by no means, covers everything for a Digital Earth platform, it aims to trigger research discussions and to have a good view about a starting point.     

我国地理科学跨世纪发展的五点意见

今后20年是我国地理科学跨世纪发展的奠基期和开拓期。就端正学科发展认识、建立地理科学体系、加强系统分析能力、巩固城市—区域发展研究领域和地理学工作者本身的调整等五个方面的问题发表了意见。     

岩土勘察与盐湖卤水矿产开发

通过对盐湖地区岩土类型复杂性及特性的叙述,分析了盐湖矿产开发中不良地质现象产生的原因和岩土条件对开发规模、工程布局、工程安全、经济效益等方面产生的影响。论述岩土工程勘察在盐湖矿产开发中的特殊地位和重要价值,总结出岩土勘察与盐湖卤水矿产开发的关系,提出盐湖岩土勘察方案的相关建议。     

Learning from CDM SD tool experience for Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement (PA) emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between climate change and sustainable development (SD) and welcomes the 2030 agenda for the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, there is a lack of assessment approaches to ensure that climate and development goals are achieved in an integrated fashion and trade-offs avoided. Article 6.4 of the PA introduces a new Sustainable Mitigation Mechanism (SMM) with the dual aim to contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and foster SD. The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has a similar objective and in 2014, the CDM SD tool was launched by the Executive Board of the CDM to highlight the SD benefits of CDM activities. This article analyses the usefulness of the CDM SD tool for stakeholders and compares the SD tool’s SD reporting requirements against other flexible mechanisms and multilateral standards to provide recommendations for improvement. A key conclusion is that the Paris Agreement’s SMM has a stronger political mandate than the CDM to measure that SD impacts are ‘real, measurable and long-term’. Recommendations for an improved CDM SD tool are a relevant starting point to develop rules, modalities, and procedures for SD assessment in Article 6.4 as well as for other cooperative mitigation approaches.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Research findings are relevant for developing the rulebook of modalities and procedures for Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which introduces a new mechanism for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable development. Lessons learnt from the CDM SD tool and recommendations for enhanced SD assessment are discussed in context of Article 6 cooperative approaches, and make a timely contribution to inform negotiations on the rulebook agreed by the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.