Development Roast Giving international development a proper roasting

In conjunction with its partners, the Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD) has designed statistical tools, using extensive real life data, to simulate what kinds of policies are likely to make a measurable impact on reducing deforestation while maximizing human wellbeing in Bolivia. As the “How to Live Well in …

By Juan Forero, article originally published by NPR. Though Brazil’s Amazon has been the focus of environmental groups for decades, the deforestation rate there has fallen dramatically in recent years as clear-cutting of Amazonian jungle in eight other countries has started to rise. As a result, the 40 percent of …

By Angelina Gherardelli ‘Serious games’ are games with a purpose that go beyond sole entertainment by aiming to educate, inspire, or even change certain real world behaviors of its players. ‘Games for good’ or ‘games for change’ focus specifically on creating social change. The movement is widespread and—as witnessed by the last …

BOOK REVIEW Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets Mayfly Books. By Ioulia Fenton Let’s say you live in a fairly rich country and you are actually quite well off. You use lots of paper in your job, drive a car, heat and air-condition your house, and regularly …

Léelo en español aquí  BOOK REVIEW Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets Mayfly Books. By Ioulia Fenton Let’s say you live in a fairly rich country and you are actually quite well off. You use lots of paper in your job, drive a car, heat and air-condition …

By Diana Weinhold Academic research on land use and deforestation generally tries to uncover the underlying reasons for people’s and companies’ actions on the environment. For example, academics may investigate the impact of road building on agricultural expansion, how property rights change land clearing, or how agricultural labor supply affects …

Leelo en español AQUÍ  By Tracey Li* Much is written about the need to reduce deforestation and replant the forests that have been logged for human use and economic development. This is because trees are needed for fighting climate change and vital to the very survival of the planet. But …

Léelo en español aquí  By Ioulia Fenton According to Conservation International‘s 2009 book, The Wealth of Nature, ecosystems support and regulate all natural processes on earth, while contributing to cultural, social, and economic benefits to human communities. These have become known as ecosystem services and, according to the Rainforest Conservation Fund (RCF), they would …

By Ben Groom To try to begin to save what’s left of the world’s forests it is important to first ask: Who deforests and why? While this varies considerably in different contexts, some broad patterns exist. Loggers and farmers or cattle ranchers are the ‘actors’ that typically clear forests, but …

September 2013 is official launch month of SimPachamama, the simulation tool that models the behavior of an Amazonian community. In it, the player becomes the mayor of such a town and has to balance policy priorities in order to maximize community wellbeing, while reducing deforestation. The game, and two other …