By: Fabián E. Soria* y Pablo A. Rivero* Public administration is evolving towards Open Government, a new paradigm that makes use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) but also changes the processes and information management within the public sector in order to bring the government closer to the citizens and …
Read More »Oil exploitation in protected areas – a contradiction in terms?
By: Lykke E. Andersen* During this week’s Climate Change Conference in La Paz, several participants expressed concern about Bolivia’s plans for oil drilling in National Parks following the recent Supreme Decree 2366 of 20 May 2015, which explicitly permits oil drilling in some protected areas in Bolivia in the name …
Read More »Tropical glacier loss: Real and fake solutions
By: Lykke E. Andersen* Bernard Francou, a famous glaciologist from the IRD in France, today made a very interesting presentation in La Paz about the loss of tropical glaciers around the World. It was only one of many interesting presentations made at the Climate Change Conference that is taking place …
Read More »Making smarter climate change policies requires us to acknowledge the limits to our knowledge
By: Lykke E. Andersen* There is little doubt that human greenhouse gas emissions, mainly arising from the burning of fossil fuels and forests, are warming the planet. The physical properties of CO2 in the atmosphere imply that a doubling of CO2 concentrations from the current 400 parts per million (ppm) …
Read More »Pope Francis’ encyclical: A landmark in environmental thinking
By Susana del Granado * “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.” Pope Francis, 2015 “I would like to enter into dialogue with all people …
Read More »Can you envision a sustainable world? Do you dare to dream today?
By Susana del Granado * “A vision comes not from the intellect or the mind but from the heart, from the soul” Donella Meadows Today, June 5th , we celebrate World Environment Day and, as a celebration, the United Nations Environmental Program has launched a campaign and a contest about …
Read More »Time travel and other environmentally friendly pleasures
By: Lykke E. Andersen* “That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. ” Henry David Thoreau In honor of World Environment Day, I have compiled a list of delightful activities that bring great pleasure at little cost and with very little environmental impact. Consider doing more of the …
Read More »Deforestation and reforestation in Bolivia: A thought experiment
By: Lykke E. Andersen* Within the Bolivian government, there are parts that encourage a massive expansion of the agricultural frontier, and other parts that work to control deforestation in order to reduce the local and global impacts of climate change. These are pretty much opposing policies, so consider the following …
Read More »Deforestation and reforestation in Bolivia: A thought experiment
By: Lykke E. Andersen* Within the Bolivian government, there are parts that encourage a massive expansion of the agricultural frontier, and other parts that work to control deforestation in order to reduce the local and global impacts of climate change. These are pretty much opposing policies, so consider the following …
Read More »Father’s Day and teenage pregnancy in Bolivia
By: Lykke E. Andersen* Fertility rates have been going down all over the World much faster than most people realize. Fertility rates in Bolivia, for example, have come down from 6.5 babies per woman in 1971 to 3.2 in 2013, which is typical of developing countries (1). This evolution made …
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