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- Themnér, Anders, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Climate Change and the Risk of Violent Conflicts in Southern Africa
- 2011
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Book (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study aims to identify regions in the Zambezi River Basin in Southern Africa that are prone to risk of violent conflicts (collective violence, popular unrest) induced by climatic changes/variability. The Zambezi River is 575 kilometres long and the basin covers eight countries: Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. Besides the ecological impact, the study argues that socio-economic and political problems are disproportionately multiplied by climate change/variability. Climate change/variability amplifies stresses on the socio-political fabric because it affects the governance of resources, and hence, is linked to the weakened mitigation and adaptation capacity of societies, that are already facing economic challenges (rising food prices, etc.). Society becomes highly vulnerable to climate induced conflicts when it suffers from poor central leadership, weak institutions and polarized social identities. Taking all these factors into consideration, this study identifies Bulawayo/Matableleland-North in Zimbabwe and the Zambezia Province in Mozambique as the most likely regions to experience climate induced conflicts in the near future. The reasons for arriving at this conclusion are: a) Climate change/variability will have a significant impact on these two regions; due to increasing water scarcity in Bulawayo/Matabeleland-North; and intensified flooding, sea-level rise, and costal erosion in the Zambezia Province. b) Due to climate change/variability, agricultural production in these two regions will become highly volatile, leading to severe food insecurity. c) Both regions are suffering from low quality political governance, having unscrupulous elites, weak institutions, and polarized social identities.
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| 5. |
- Chen, Huiyi, et al.
(author)
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam : Evaluating Its Sustainability Standard and Geopolitical Significance
- 2014
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In: Energy Development Frontier. - : Bowen Publishing Company Ltd.. - 2169-5970. ; 3:1, s. 11-19
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the pursuit of economic development, Ethiopia has prioritized renewable energy production, emphasizing development of its hydropower potential. As part of this strategy, it is presently constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile River, ignoring opposition from the downstream Egypt. In this paper, we use the seven commonly shared strategic priorities prescribed by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) to evaluate the sustainability standard and geopolitical significance of the GERD project.
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| 6. |
- Eckerberg, Katarina, et al.
(author)
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Varför brister politikerna när det gäller miljömålen?
- 2012
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In: Dagens Nyheter. - 1101-2447.
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Vad ska vi svara? Politikernas ambitiösa miljömål uppfylls sällan eller aldrig. När våra elever frågar oss varför blir vi ofta svaret skyldiga. Om politikerna inte vill att väljarna ska dra slutsatsen att de har misslyckats, måste de ange en realistisk väg att nå de uppsatta målen. Det skulle väcka respekt, skriver ledande forskare och samhällsplanerare.
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- Elmi Mohamed, Abdullahi, 1965-
(author)
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Sharing Water in Africa : Comparative Analysis of the Limpopo and Orange-Senqu River Basins in SADC and the Juba and Shabelle River Basins in the Horn of Africa
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- As water resources management becomes increasingly critical and many countries in the arid and semi-arid regions are increasingly forced to consider the possibilities of utilizing the water that is available in international rivers. Thus, the concerns relating to the use of international waters in shared rivers are becoming more important. The increasing competition over shared waters may have to lead either to more joint management and cooperation or to conflicts between basin countries.The purpose of the thesis work has been to analyze management of shared waters in international river basins with case studies from the Limpopo and the Orange River Basins in Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the Juba and Shabelle River Basins in the Horn of Africa (HoA) region, focusing on river cooperation. The methodology employed was a comparative case study analysis through literature review, document analysis, interviews, focus groups and study visits.While similarities in climatic conditions and population growth stand out when comparing the basins in the two regions, the rivers differ primarily in terms of physical development of the water resources and institutional building for cross-border river cooperation. The Limpopo and Orange-Senqu river basins in the SADC region became reason for cooperation and catalyst of regional integration while the Juba and Shabelle river basins in the HoA has the potential to lead its riparian to conflict. The river basins in SADC established and operationalized functional system of river cooperation with both bilateral and multilateral basin-wide frameworks.The analysis concludes that management of water resources in internationally shared river basins is effectively affected by issues other than water. Sharing benefits from the shared waters in international rivers require basin-wide river cooperation. There are variety sets of factors that are of great importance for initiating, establishing and operationalizing river basin cooperation.
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- Guinea Barrientos, Héctor Estuardo, 1980-
(author)
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Institutional Aspects of Integrated Flood Management in Guatemala
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Floods are a recurrent natural disaster in Guatemala. Heavy and prolonged rainfall often results in floods that affect people’s life and property. Several institutions and policy instruments at local, national or transnational level address flood management.The purpose of this study is to provide useful insights of the institutional aspects of integrated flood management at local, national and transboundary level in Guatemala. Papers I and II, explore institutions at local level, paper III at national level, while paper IV addresses flood management institutions at transboundary level.This research found that for the local and national level, there are several institutions concerned with flood management. In contrast, at transboundary level, and especially for international rivers, flood management institutions are largely absent.At local level, the Local Councils for Development (COCODEs, the acronym in Spanish) are responsible for flood prevention and preparation. While some municipalities are active in flood prevention, response and recovery activities, their limited economic and technical resources restrict their scope of action. Local stakeholders such as COCODEs, farmers groups and other actors are largely neglected in the decision making process. The National Coordinator for Risk Reduction to Disasters (CONRED, Coordinadora Nacional para Reducción de Desastres), the Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Presidency (SEGEPLAN, Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia), the Guatemalan Ministry of Infrastructure and other national institutions are in charge of planning and implementing flood management strategies, leaving public involvement of local actors mainly to public consultation. At the Central American level, the Coordination Centre for Natural Disasters Prevention in Central America (CEPREDENAC, Centro de Coordinación para la Prevención de Desastres Naturales en América Central), an institution part of the Central American Integration System (SICA by Spanish acronym), shall promote transboundary cooperation regarding disaster management, including flood management. However, transboundary flood management faces several challenges: territorial disputes and sovereignty issues over international rivers are significant obstacles to the implementation of integrated flood management programs.
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- Hall, Jonathan, 1979-
(author)
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Migration and Perceptions of War : Simultaneous Surveys in Countries of Origin and Settlement
- 2013
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This dissertation contributes to post-war public opinion research by examining the perceptions of migrants – the gastarbeiter, the refugee, the family reunited after war – and the local population in comparative perspective. Existing surveys of post-war populations are typically conducted in a single country affected by war. However, particularly following forced expulsion and campaigns of ethnic cleansing substantial portions of national communities affected by conflict no longer live within the boundaries of the state. Current research may therefore overlook important populations as well as contextual factors that shape post-war attitudes.I help to address this problem by examining three widely held assumptions in the literature: that migrants hold more conflictive attitudes than the local population after war; that assimilation in settlement countries leads migrants to hold more peaceful attitudes; and that traumatic experiences lead migrants to hold more conflictive attitudes. These claims are largely based on theoretical accounts, case studies that suffer from selection bias and quantitative results that have proven unstable. By contrast, I examine new micro-level data: two large-scale surveys conducted simultaneously in post-war Bosnia and Sweden as a settlement country. Sweden’s choice to grant permanent residency in toto to refugees from the Bosnian War in 1993 resulted in the vast majority remaining settled in Sweden. As a result, the population of ex-Yugoslavs in Sweden is arguably more representative than in other comparable settlement country contexts.To explain differences among ex-Yugoslavs in Sweden and between these migrants and the local population in Bosnia, I connect social-psychological processes that help meet individuals’ basic psychological needs. These include: belief formation in the context of war; acculturation strategies in settlement countries; the development of nostalgic memories; and coping with traumatic experiences. The findings shed light on largely misunderstood processes. Under certain conditions, migration may provide an exit from detrimental wartime and post-war settings that produce and sustain conflictive societal beliefs after war. At the same time, the migration context may provide a richer set of socioeconomic and psychological resources for coping, offsetting the need to rely on conflictive beliefs as a way of dealing with the conflict crisis.
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