title: Editorial

authors: Wright, Noeline

subjects: primary schools

abstract: An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including electronic learning tools, mathematical tasks of children in primary school settings, and teacher education.

text: Editorial An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including electronic learning tools, mathematical tasks of children in primary school settings, and teacher education.

year: 2011

title: The influence of the Paris Agreement on mitigation actions toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions post 2015: A comparative study of Nordic, Asian and African regions

authors: Hughes, Kemi Mildred

subjects: Emissions Reductions

abstract: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stepped up its warning on climate tipping points as scientists warn of the impending irrevocable disaster that will occur with continued emissions. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries are encouraged to substantially reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2⁰C and pursue efforts to limit global temperatures to 1.5⁰C. So, have countries adhered to the IPCC warnings by reducing emissions and does the international environmental regime (IER) have anything to do with their emissions-reductions efforts since 2015? To answer these questions, this thesis tracks the emissions reductions efforts of eight countries to determine whether the IER vis-à-vis the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC) have influenced the emissions reduction effort in these countries. The eight countries are China, Denmark, Finland, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden selected based on their emissions contributions, emissions reductions ambition and efforts since 2015.

Further, the significance of the IER has been interrogated for several decades in relation to major environmental concerns such as ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss and climate change. The thesis responds to the current gap in the literature that has not addressed the influence of the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions efforts across four continents. Previous literature has examined other international environmental agreements (IEA) such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol and have utilised parameters to measure the IER’s effectiveness. The thesis distinguishes by examining the influence of the Paris Agreement utilising the existing parameters proffered by various scholars such as compliance, enforcement, monitoring, problem structure and institutional design. The thesis also introduces new parameters that have not been used in the existing literature to analyse international environmental regime influence, such as political will subsumed under behavioural changes, equipping of environmental judges and climate litigation under the enforcement parameter, and NDC target review under the implementation parameter.

The thesis builds a conceptual framework using the green political theory and the regime theory as its pillars. These theories are best suited to the thesis as they support state and non-state engagement in environmental issues concerning the global commons. The thesis also relies on the Paris Agreement’s preamble that recognises the importance of all levels of government and various actors (corporate and non-state actors) to aid its analysis of the selected countries’ engagement with emissions reduction.
The analysis of the selected countries reveals that their climate action benefited from cross-influences from the IER, regional environmental organisations (REOs) and non-state actors. The thesis found that there was significant IER influence in Morocco, India and Nigeria. The regime also moderately influenced Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and China. In addition, the thesis found that REOs such as the European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a commendable role in encouraging emissions reductions efforts. Non-state actors also played a crucial role to pressure governments to act through climate litigation and protests. 

The thesis’ significance lies in its ability to present an up-to-date view of the interplay among the IER, the REOs and other non-state actors in emissions reductions post-Paris 2015. In addition, new parameters as mentioned above, have been introduced that could be relevant in assessing the influence of future environmental regimes.

text: The influence of the Paris Agreement on mitigation actions toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions post 2015: A comparative study of Nordic, Asian and African regions The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stepped up its warning on climate tipping points as scientists warn of the impending irrevocable disaster that will occur with continued emissions. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries are encouraged to substantially reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2⁰C and pursue efforts to limit global temperatures to 1.5⁰C. So, have countries adhered to the IPCC warnings by reducing emissions and does the international environmental regime (IER) have anything to do with their emissions-reductions efforts since 2015? To answer these questions, this thesis tracks the emissions reductions efforts of eight countries to determine whether the IER vis-à-vis the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC) have influenced the emissions reduction effort in these countries. The eight countries are China, Denmark, Finland, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden selected based on their emissions contributions, emissions reductions ambition and efforts since 2015.

Further, the significance of the IER has been interrogated for several decades in relation to major environmental concerns such as ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss and climate change. The thesis responds to the current gap in the literature that has not addressed the influence of the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions efforts across four continents. Previous literature has examined other international environmental agreements (IEA) such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol and have utilised parameters to measure the IER’s effectiveness. The thesis distinguishes by examining the influence of the Paris Agreement utilising the existing parameters proffered by various scholars such as compliance, enforcement, monitoring, problem structure and institutional design. The thesis also introduces new parameters that have not been used in the existing literature to analyse international environmental regime influence, such as political will subsumed under behavioural changes, equipping of environmental judges and climate litigation under the enforcement parameter, and NDC target review under the implementation parameter.

The thesis builds a conceptual framework using the green political theory and the regime theory as its pillars. These theories are best suited to the thesis as they support state and non-state engagement in environmental issues concerning the global commons. The thesis also relies on the Paris Agreement’s preamble that recognises the importance of all levels of government and various actors (corporate and non-state actors) to aid its analysis of the selected countries’ engagement with emissions reduction.
The analysis of the selected countries reveals that their climate action benefited from cross-influences from the IER, regional environmental organisations (REOs) and non-state actors. The thesis found that there was significant IER influence in Morocco, India and Nigeria. The regime also moderately influenced Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and China. In addition, the thesis found that REOs such as the European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a commendable role in encouraging emissions reductions efforts. Non-state actors also played a crucial role to pressure governments to act through climate litigation and protests. 

The thesis’ significance lies in its ability to present an up-to-date view of the interplay among the IER, the REOs and other non-state actors in emissions reductions post-Paris 2015. In addition, new parameters as mentioned above, have been introduced that could be relevant in assessing the influence of future environmental regimes.

year: 2022

title: Science-practice roadshow 1: Summary perspectives from centralised entities and agencies

authors: Serrao-Neumann, Silvia

abstract: Flooding is Aotearoa-New Zealand’s most frequent natural hazard, regularly damaging buildings and infrastructure networks, and causing months of disruption to communities and businesses (Hutchings et al. 2019). Also, floods have indirect, cascading, and more intangible impacts (Lawrence, Blackett, and Cradock-Henry 2020), such as the withdrawal of future investment or the emotional stress of recovery. flood risk is predicted to rise quickly due to the combination of climate change and rapid urban intensification (Ministry for the Environment and The Flood Risk Management and River Control Review Steering Group 2008). 

Currently, there is no consistent approach to accurately determine flood risk on a national scale, nor how this may be changing as the climate warms. Instead, flooding risk assessments are done for individual catchments or locations, with the goal of managing and mitigating on the local scale. Local and regional governments vary widely in their capability and capacity to undertake this work (Ford, Berrang-Ford, and Berrang Ford 2011) and, thus, significant differences in data availability and modelling approaches mean that integration of results to gain a pan-region or nationwide picture has not been possible. 

The ‘Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa’ research develop a detailed nationwide model that could inform strategic and co-ordinated nationwide decision-making and regulations to support improved resilience to flood risk across the country. Utilising new methods and advances in computer processing and automation, the programme is developing a dynamic risk modelling framework that will assess flood hazard for every catchment in the country and under differing climate scenarios. The model will account for the risks to both built infrastructure and communities so that a fuller understanding of societal costs and impacts can be established. The model’s utility for supporting decision-making will be investigated using an initial set of scenarios for environmental planning, policy settings and infrastructure investment options. Two overarching themes across all of the research - Mtauranga Mori and Uncertainty – are designed to utilise the diverse knowledge systems available to develop tools that are relevant for communities throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, and to take into account and communicate more clearly flood risks. 

Improved resilience to flooding across Aotearoa-New Zealand is a key outcome sought by the research programme, however it cannot be achieved by research alone. Instead, knowledge and information developed within the programme must be utilised by practitioners in their work to assist communities to plan for, manage, mitigate and avoid flood risks. New knowledge from the programme must be incorporated by practitioners into further tools, policy and decision-making frameworks. This knowledge translation however is not a straight forward process (Dilling and Lemos 2011). Cultural, behavioural and cognitive differences between those who produce and those who utilise knowledge mean that research outputs may not fit the requirements of their intended users, and thus, uptake of research outputs may be compromised. Conversely, strong engagement of knowledge users in the knowledge production process is known to increase the likelihood, and impact, of knowledge implementation. 

Stakeholders are key members of the programme’s research team, representing views across central and local government, engineering, planning consultancies, emergency management, insurance and banking industries, and Te Rūnanga o Wairewa (Banks Peninsula). To broaden the range of stakeholder perspectives, and to facilitate relationships across the programme, we have established a boundary organisation – Te W Te W . Boundary organisations (Guston 2001; Kirchhoff, Esselman, and Brown 2015) are forums that bridge between the two relatively different social worlds of knowledge producers (researchers/scientists) and users (practitioners/policy makers). These forums create and sustain legitimate space and collaboration for knowledge/information to be co-designed, co-produced and co-disseminated (Serrao-Neumann, Di Giulio, and Low Choy 2020). Within our programme, Te W Te W is responsible for organising and facilitating communication and collaboration activities – events (Science-Practice oadshows), communications channels such as an electronic newsletter and website, and learning opportunities. Through this organisation, we are fostering trust, legitimacy and capacity for information use so that our research results will be usable, useful, and used. 

This report summarises the discussion and perspectives shared at the first Science-Practice Roadshow held in October 2021.

text: Science-practice roadshow 1: Summary perspectives from centralised entities and agencies Flooding is Aotearoa-New Zealand’s most frequent natural hazard, regularly damaging buildings and infrastructure networks, and causing months of disruption to communities and businesses (Hutchings et al. 2019). Also, floods have indirect, cascading, and more intangible impacts (Lawrence, Blackett, and Cradock-Henry 2020), such as the withdrawal of future investment or the emotional stress of recovery. flood risk is predicted to rise quickly due to the combination of climate change and rapid urban intensification (Ministry for the Environment and The Flood Risk Management and River Control Review Steering Group 2008). 

Currently, there is no consistent approach to accurately determine flood risk on a national scale, nor how this may be changing as the climate warms. Instead, flooding risk assessments are done for individual catchments or locations, with the goal of managing and mitigating on the local scale. Local and regional governments vary widely in their capability and capacity to undertake this work (Ford, Berrang-Ford, and Berrang Ford 2011) and, thus, significant differences in data availability and modelling approaches mean that integration of results to gain a pan-region or nationwide picture has not been possible. 

The ‘Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa’ research develop a detailed nationwide model that could inform strategic and co-ordinated nationwide decision-making and regulations to support improved resilience to flood risk across the country. Utilising new methods and advances in computer processing and automation, the programme is developing a dynamic risk modelling framework that will assess flood hazard for every catchment in the country and under differing climate scenarios. The model will account for the risks to both built infrastructure and communities so that a fuller understanding of societal costs and impacts can be established. The model’s utility for supporting decision-making will be investigated using an initial set of scenarios for environmental planning, policy settings and infrastructure investment options. Two overarching themes across all of the research - Mtauranga Mori and Uncertainty – are designed to utilise the diverse knowledge systems available to develop tools that are relevant for communities throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, and to take into account and communicate more clearly flood risks. 

Improved resilience to flooding across Aotearoa-New Zealand is a key outcome sought by the research programme, however it cannot be achieved by research alone. Instead, knowledge and information developed within the programme must be utilised by practitioners in their work to assist communities to plan for, manage, mitigate and avoid flood risks. New knowledge from the programme must be incorporated by practitioners into further tools, policy and decision-making frameworks. This knowledge translation however is not a straight forward process (Dilling and Lemos 2011). Cultural, behavioural and cognitive differences between those who produce and those who utilise knowledge mean that research outputs may not fit the requirements of their intended users, and thus, uptake of research outputs may be compromised. Conversely, strong engagement of knowledge users in the knowledge production process is known to increase the likelihood, and impact, of knowledge implementation. 

Stakeholders are key members of the programme’s research team, representing views across central and local government, engineering, planning consultancies, emergency management, insurance and banking industries, and Te Rūnanga o Wairewa (Banks Peninsula). To broaden the range of stakeholder perspectives, and to facilitate relationships across the programme, we have established a boundary organisation – Te W Te W . Boundary organisations (Guston 2001; Kirchhoff, Esselman, and Brown 2015) are forums that bridge between the two relatively different social worlds of knowledge producers (researchers/scientists) and users (practitioners/policy makers). These forums create and sustain legitimate space and collaboration for knowledge/information to be co-designed, co-produced and co-disseminated (Serrao-Neumann, Di Giulio, and Low Choy 2020). Within our programme, Te W Te W is responsible for organising and facilitating communication and collaboration activities – events (Science-Practice oadshows), communications channels such as an electronic newsletter and website, and learning opportunities. Through this organisation, we are fostering trust, legitimacy and capacity for information use so that our research results will be usable, useful, and used. 

This report summarises the discussion and perspectives shared at the first Science-Practice Roadshow held in October 2021.

year: 2022-02