In this era of international supply chains where Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are exporting to Developed Countries (DCs), concerns about economic growth that is environmentally benign has meant that LDC factories are taking environmental upgrading measures to meet standards set by DC customers. This thesis looks at the applicability of ecological modernisation theory (EMT) to this situation by examining the Bangladeshi readymade garments (RMG) sector that is part of the global apparel value chain. EMT suggests that economic growth can continue while providing environmental protection in the long run due to proactive environmental actions by the market actors, civil society and the nation state. This thesis tests the tenets of EMT by looking at the apparel value chain in three parts (management networks within firms, economic networks of the supply chain, and policy networks) and then as a whole (EM network). Evidence from Bangladeshi garment factories (corporate culture, organisational change and environmental learning) suggests significant problems: factories are compliant with buyer codes only on paper and not in reality. Firms have a mixture of proactive and reactive greening measures and enjoy only an indirect competitive advantage from greening. The absence of "win win" gains can be pinned to buyer behaviour along the chains, coupled with their reluctance for closer collaboration and weak green customer pressures for clothing sourced in Bangladesh. Policymaking by the state has also been problematic: issue cognition and conflict, closed hierarchical networks, mistrust, political bargaining and prioritising national economic interests hampered the EM vision of the modern nation state. Overall, this thesis questions the adequacy of EMT for investing international supply chains. EMT needs to reconceptualise itself with hierarchical relationship realities, LDC cultural contexts, LDC growth trajectories, actor heterogeneity, "no win" situations, and the suitability of EM tools.

using an environmental justice approach. This research comprises three parts: first, the nature of radioactive waste; second, the theory of environmental justice; and third, the case study of nuclear waste siting policy in Taiwan. In the first part, background information is provided to understand what nuclear waste is; how it has been managed in different countries; and the difficulties and uncertainties of nuclear waste management. In the second part of this research, the idea of environmental justice is employed as a theoretical framework to interpret nuclear waste policy and the policy process in Taiwan. Environmental justice is derived from the environmental justice movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Environmental justice issues are two-fold: distributive justice refers to the distribution of environmental risks among different communities, and procedural justice refers to the access of citizens to decision-making processes that affect their environment. Finally, the case study of nuclear waste management and politics in Taiwan serves as the third part of this project. Through the lens of principles of environmental justice, the historical development of nuclear waste in Taiwan is examined. The process and progress of protracted attempts to site a new nuclear waste repository in Taiwan is investigated in considerable detail by conducting interviews with government officials, NGOs, and members of local communities. Particular attention was paid to the decision-making process and to the involvement of minority and low income iii communities in that process. The overall purpose of this project is to determine how far the ideas and principles of environmental justice have informed the nuclear waste management policies of Taiwan. By examining how consistent nuclear waste management in Taiwan complies with the idea of environmental justice, this project contributes to the growing literature on an urgent policy issue, and helps members of local communities, government officials and politicians to develop a greater awareness of the problems and issues of nuclear waste.

This thesis explores the strengthening of multi-level government in the management of the Lake Victoria region’s environment and natural resources. It observes that the historic problem of state-centralism continues to significantly contribute to environmental degradation in the Lake region, which has of late escalated to a level that requires urgent attention, if the already devastating consequences are to be mitigated and avoided in the future. It is particularly observed that while the issues of insufficient local participation and regional coordination standout prominently among the major underlying causes for resource degradation in the Region, the concept of multi-level government has not been given the attention that it deserves. Owing to its local importance and trans-boundary status, the Lake region requires concerted management involving the local, national and regional levels. Unfortunately, the synergy among those levels of government is still weak despite the tremendous opportunities offered by several recent developments, including a significant review of local government and various environmental laws. Also, despite its potential and achievements so far, the recently revived East African Community (EAC), whose mandate includes natural resources management, is yet to position itself as an effective supra-national institution. Much as the current legal and institutional frameworks tend to suggest an increasing level of engagement with other levels of government, this development tends to be drawn back by several inhibitions, both in design and at a practical level. The thesis concludes that unless, the institutional structures for natural resources management are reviewed and strengthened in a manner that logically distributes powers and functions at the local, national and regional levels, the other positive measures so far in place are likely not to achieve their desired outcomes.

No description available.

In dense urban areas, micro-meteorological processes are closely entangled with human activities. This study of the central business district (CBD) analyses an extended (3.5 years) dataset of surface-atmosphere energy exchanges in London. The focus is on the controls on radiation, anthropogenic heat and the turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes. The impact of the composition and three-dimensional structure of the urban surface, plus the associated anthropogenic activities, are investigated using remote sensing techniques, in-situ observations and modelling at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Radiative properties of urban surfaces are shown to significantly influence the radiation balance. Spectroscopy measurements of a variety of impervious materials illustrate that spectral features, often used to identify materials, are more distinct in the long-wave compared to the short-wave region. The impact of surface geometry and atmospheric conditions on the radiation balance is investigated based on local-scale measurements of broadband radiation components. Long-term radiative and turbulent heat flux measurements suggest a significant amount of energy is supplied by the anthropogenic heat flux, which is affirmed by model results. Micro-scale anthropogenic sources of heat, moisture, and carbon dioxide are addressed by a new filtering technique for the processing of local-scale eddy covariance (EC) fluxes. Surface characteristics and anthropogenic activities influence the energy partitioning of sensible and latent heat: substantial heat storage and additional anthropogenic energy enhance sensible heat exchange, while impervious surfaces restrict moisture availability. Given the limited vegetation in the source area, evaporation is mainly driven by rainwater. The dominant sensible heat and high momentum fluxes favour unstable and neutral atmospheric conditions. This work demonstrates how, even in the complex setting of a CBD, observations provide useful information about processes governing surface-atmosphere exchange that have to be understood in the context of global urbanisation and climate change adaptation strategies.

Effects of climate change on the welfare of human and natural systems in developing countries will not be determined by the changes in climate alone; the sensitivity of these systems to the changes will also determine how impacts are experienced. Human systems are characterised by their adaptability, evidenced throughout human existence. However, climate change presents a new challenge, not only because of the expected rise in temperature and sea-level, but also due to current context of failure in addressing the causes of poverty adequately. As a result, policy supporting adaptation has recently been cast as a necessary strategy for responding to climate change and supporting development, making adaptation the focus of much scholarly and policy research. This thesis addresses this new adaptation discourse, by bringing together examinations of adaptation in theory, policy and practice. Thus, it traces adaptation within climate change and development discourses and assesses empirical evidence of adaptation in El Salvador, in order to inform both policy and theory. To this end, it explores the role of adaptation in the context of development, and questions the meaning of policy-driven adaptation. This work contributes a new interpretation of adaptation policy aimed at the UNFCCC negotiating community. It suggests an adaptation paradigm for sustainable development processes, where the objective is reduction of vulnerability and risk. This views adaptation as an existing and necessary practice that should be facilitated by development processes, rather than as the ultimate objective of explicit policies, which may not be incorporated into other planning and development processes. This allows non-climatic causes of risk, such as those identified in El Salvador, to be addressed, rather than circumvented. It requires a paradigm shift from the existing separation of discourses on climate change adaptation from risk and disaster discourses, in order to confront the root causes of vulnerability in an integrated and holistic manner. In turn, this will ensure sustainability of the adaptation process.

Soils and road-deposited sediments (RDS) are ubiquitously present in the urban environment and may act as sinks or sources for potentially harmful elements (PHE), namely trace metals, with possible deleterious human health effects. Their proximity to human populations in urban centres evokes the need to fully characterise the occurrence of PHE and their dynamics within and between these media. This research has provided a detailed characterization of Manchester’s soils and RDS in terms of geochemistry, mineralogy and spatial variability by using the quantification and statistical comparison of the presence of PHE in soils and RDS; and by exploring their spatial, geochemical and mineralogical linkages. Soil and RDS geochemical analysis shows that maximum PHE concentrations are often well above the dataset median values and established guidelines, indicating that contamination is present at many locations especially for Cr (max. soil 1238, RDS 544 mg/kg), Ni (max. soil 148, RDS 82.4 mg/kg), Cu (max. soil 2073, RDS 493 mg/kg), Zn (max. soil 1763, RDS 1325 mg/kg) and Pb (max. soil 2758, RDS 2027 mg/kg). RDS contamination is closely related to the proximity of present-day sources; whereas soil contamination derives mainly from historical sources and the accumulation of trace metals over long periods of time. SEM-EDS analysis of soil and RDS grains reveal the presence of natural and anthropogenic-related grains in different proportions, and the detailed characterization of PHE-bearing grains shows that these, by their morphology of size, are likely to impact human and ecosystem health. In RDS, grain size and speciation analyses provided a further insight on the availability and summer/winter variations of PHE in this media - whereas total extractable concentrations are higher in winter RDS, also due to their generally small grain size, exchangeable and reducible concentrations are higher in summer, when coarse fractions are predominant. Multivariate and spatial statistical analyses reveal that element associations in soils and RDS are diverse and attributed to a plethora of sources (e.g. industry; vehicle-related sources such as automotive electronics, the wear and tear of tyres and car parts, and car servicing and repair businesses; wastewater treatment plants; historical industry and coal-related sources) through the mapping of component scores and the modelling of PHE concentrations by OLS and GWR. These techniques evidence the differences and similarities between element groupings for soils and RDS and are a powerful tool to aid source apportionment. This research has contributed to a better understanding of the complex controls on PHE dynamics in urban systems, adding vital information to the assessment of risks posed by PHE exposure on human health.

Geoengineering is 'the deliberate large-scale intervention in the earth's climate system, in order to moderate global warming' (Royal Society 2009) and is currently unregulated. Owing to foreseeable political, ethical and legal difficulties associated with this deliberate intervention, the Royal Society has called for geoengineering, and its research, to be governed. By adopting a critical socio-legal approach, this thesis claims that regulatory frameworks must be legitimate in order to be justified. It suggests a model of institutional design called situation-centred communicative proceduralism (SCCP) that maximises the possibility of securing legitimacy in nonstate, or transnational, settings. It explores the regulation of risky scientific research using a case-study of agri-biotech research in the EU/UK and US. It concretises SCCP, suggesting that in scientifically risky research fields, regulatory frameworks should comprise institutions that are able to respond flexibly to different types of risk assessment and procedures that facilitate direct participation. The thesis applies the concretised seep to the field of politically sensitive, subscale geoengineering research, suggesting that in order to maximise the possibility of securing legitimacy, regulatory frameworks should be 'deliberative' in the way that rules are created and implemented and 'technocratic' in the way they feedback through accountability mechanisms. Being deliberative means that institutions such as university ethics review bodies, should be inclusive; be able to treat scientific information alongside other types of information (such as ethical or political information); and be fully transparent. Procedures should be built into regulatory frameworks that allow for direct participation (in addition to representative forms of participation, if need be) prior to decision-making. Being technocratic means that regulatory frameworks should have centralised repositories of information that are directly accessible by the public; reporting, auditing and review requirements should be established that enable the public to comment directly upon and which inform the development of procedures and rules.

Country specificities, national cultures and socio-economic contexts have been found to influence factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour in organisations (Darnall et al., 2008). Different categorisation models have been used to describe these factors (Tomer, 1992; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991; Bansal & Howard, 1997; Jiang & Bansal, 2003; Neumayer & Perkins, 2005; Gavronski et al., 2008; Matzsuzak & Flejsman, 2008; Heras & Arana, 2010; Zorpas, 2010 Curkovic & Sroufe, 2011). Though commonalities exist between models, differences in model structure and terminology have created variations in interpretation of factors, and introduced repetition and disparity in description. The uneven distribution of studies across world regions also limits the applicability of factors. A better representation of research studies and the development of a more efficient categorisation model will lead to a clearer description of factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour. Organisations adopt pro-environmental behaviour to bring about a change (improvement) in environmental performance. However, there is little consensus about the meaning of environmental performance (Perotto et al., 2007; Casadesus et al., 2008; Comoglio & Botta, 2011), indicating that organisations may interpret it differently and use inappropriate indices for measuring performance. A lack of understanding (or variations in understanding) of the intended outcome of pro-environmental behaviour creates further difficulty in the description and interpretation of factors influencing it. Studies focusing on investigating and describing organisations’ interpretation of environmental performance are rare. There is need for a better knowledge of organisations’ interpretation of environmental performance and a determination of the indicators used to measure performance. The aim of this study is to critically evaluate factors affecting pro-environmental behaviour and to investigate environmental performance as its intended result. The study focuses on EMS implementation as a case study of pro-environmental behaviour, so factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour are referred to as environmental management system implementation factors (EMSIFs). EMSIFs were identified and analysed, using a model developed as part of this research work (the Factors Affecting Corporate Environmental Management Systems model). Questionnaire responses from 200 organisational respondents in the developing country setting of Nigeria were collated, and the FACES model was used to analyse and describe EMSIFs. In order to determine trends in organisational pro-environmental behaviour, identified EMSIFs were compared with those reported in previous studies. Results showed that EMSIFs influencing pro-environmental behaviour differed in organisations in different geographical and economic world regions. Organisational respondents’ views on environmental performance were also identified. Results revealed that organisations had differing views of environmental performance. However, these differences we found not to be reflected in the selection and use of indicators for measuring environmental performance. Further results are analysed and discussed within the thesis.

It is increasingly common for complex social, economic and environmental policy concerns to be delivered via funded community-based projects. A project’s contribution is typically monitored and evaluated relative to pre-defined outcomes, supported by a set of indicators. Available research suggests that when judged against such criteria, the performance of many funded international developmental and community-based sustainability (CBS) projects are variable, with evidence suggesting that changes elicited are negligible in duration, type, and scale. However, evaluating project performance relative to pre-defined outcomes may overlook the practical learning accumulated by actors in realising key objectives under conditions afforded by the operational context. To address this gap, developmental evaluation (DE) foregrounds and supports project practitioner learning and innovation under dynamic, complex, and uncertain operating conditions. Applying the DE focus on project actor learning and innovation, the present research thematically analyses how practitioners in a funded CBS case study project make sense of their practice. Despite its explicit focus on learning however, DE has not articulated a coherent cognitive paradigm, and a contribution of the present study is to equip DE with a conceptual architecture drawn from the enactive cognitive science paradigm, rooted in an explicit accounting of complexity. Using this base, a prototype DE framework was designed and provisionally field-tested in the form of a set of prompts to be used with CBS practitioners to augment traditional monitoring and evaluation activities. This framework is intended to support practitioners in surfacing and capturing second-order learning about their practices and to explore opportunities for innovative responses to dynamic complex operational conditions. Recommendations are offered for further research and how these findings might be incorporated into future CBS design and funding considerations.