The Role of Sports Diplomacy in Advancing Environmental Security in Africa: Case of Forest Conservation in Kenya

Environmental security remains a key challenge in the late 19th through to the 21st century,whose solution has attracted a number of initiatives.Sports diplomacy has achieved great strides in achieving international,regional,and local unity.However,the use of sports diplomacy in achieving environmental security has received much less research attention.This research examines the role of sports in diplomacy in achieving environmental security in Kenya.This study was anchored on the soft power theory and Conservation of Resources(COR)theory which offer frameworks for explaining the role of sports diplomacy in advancing environmental security.The study adopted exploratory research design.The target population was diplomats,marathoners,coaches,environmentalists,conservationists and government officials,academia as well as Water Resources Authority(WRA).The primary data were obtained through open and closed structured questionnaire.The collected data were analyzed through the use of frequency distribution,and thematic analysis.The study established that sports diplomacy advanced environmental security in Kenya,which was better for athletics and volleyball.Environmental security was also enhanced through training,sensitization,conservation efforts,and environmental education.Sport events also allowed a contact-platform for interaction between various groups involved in environment and forest conservation.This study recommends that sports diplomacy should be used in most of the regions in Kenya experiencing environmental perturbations and the current strategies should be applied in the sports diplomacy and environmental conservation as well as security.Further,the government is also encouraged to appoint more sports ambassadors with proper environmental knowledge to help in environmental management.The role of academicians in sports diplomacy and environmental security was found to be minimal where academicians should be at the forefront as the 21st century diplomats are incorporated into sports to be local ambassadors.Perceiving the significance of sports diplomacy and environmental security,there is need for coordination between various county governments to coordinate their efforts and in the process they should bring on board even the non sports actors to boost the role of sports in diplomacy and environment.

Assessment of Ecosystems Damages Caused by Russian War against Ukraine

The question of the impact of war on ecosystems still remains secondary in the internal and external policy of states, society and the agenda of international organizations. From the point of view of losses in monetary terms, the values of ecosystem damages obtained in the work, which are a consequence of the impact of hostilities on the environment, correspond to the annual budgets of the largest countries in the world or exceed them. The presented calculations significantly exceed the known normative methods, the use of which in the conditions of war is limited in space and time. Objective difficulties associated with the uncertainty of many processes of the development of ecological systems and their reaction to the multifactorial impact of war are also significant limitations. Therefore, as part of the study, a method of assessing the impact of war on the environment is proposed, which is based on the patterns of energy flows in ecosystems from the moment it is binding by producers. This made it possible to take into account in the calculations the principle of functional integrity of the ecological system, according to which the destruction or damage of the components of a functionally whole environment will necessarily cause negative phenomena in the development of ecological systems. The results are presented in the form of real values of ecological losses in energy and monetary equivalents, as consequences of the loss of ecosystem services. As the results of the research show, the minimum amount of damage to ecosystems from Russian tanks is 43,500 USD per day. Environmental damage from Russian fighter jets has been estimated at $1.5 billion per week since the start of the war. Noise from military operations causes losses of at least 2.3 billion US dollars per year. The obtained results create prerequisites for improving the system of ensuring environmental safety at the local, state, and international levels and transferring the obtained solutions into safety-shaping practice.

Legal study on water environmental protection of Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Water environment security of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area has become a more extensive concern since the impoundment of the reservoir. This paper describes the existing water environmental hazards and defects in current legal system for water environmental protection in this area, and also discusses their possible causes and potential problems in the future based on first hand materials and other literature. According to the theories of integrated river basin management and environmental equity principle, legal proposals are put forward, which include building an unitary legal system dedicated to the Reservoir Area, setting up a basin authority of the Yangtze River to preside over the resources protection and development, using interests' compensation system to solve interest conflicts among different reaches, and making concrete regulations to direct public participation in water environmental security protection of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.

Two Issues in Studying Security Environment

To some extent, China’s security environment depends on if it has active creation, understanding, attention and vigilance on the common interests of the surrounding areas and groups of states, and if it could take timely and proper countermeasures. In my personal view, two principles should be taken into consideration. The first principle is

Reflections on China's Neighboring Security Environment

There is a Chinese saying that goes like this, when stormy weather comes, a giant dragon will rise. It is the feature of the present era. When China begins to rise, it will advance at an enormous inertial force. It has become the important factor that influences world future trend. In the meanwhile, changes in international situation also exerted increasing influence on China. Therefore it is of special significance to discuss and assess the international environment that China faces.

Socio-economic development of countries based on the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI)

World experience indicates the existence of significant imbalances in the development of countries.The problem of assessing the rational development of the regional and national economy is becoming urgent,since such assessments can prevent development imbalances across countries.The aim of this study is to elaborate a methodology to assess the countries’socio-economic development by integraring 12 modern indices of socio-economic development into the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI).The methodology of this research was based on a set of key indices that described socio-economic development level in four fields(social development,digital development,economic development,and environmental security)and then these indices were integrated into the CCDI.The study further applied factor analysis and R-Studio software to define the gaps of social and economic development in 59 selected countries using the trigonometric function of the angle sine.The correlation analysis confirmed the existence of a close interrelation among the studied countries.This paper noted that due to the emergence of new priorities,it is necessary to revise the assessment methodology of socio-economic development level and expand them to cover the decisive factors.This was confirmed by the results obtained,demonstrating various combinations of the development level in the four fields and their impact on the CCDI.The scientific contribution of this research is to form a methodology(e.g.,the CCDI)for evaluating the socio-economic development level of countries in the world.

Geo-information Technologies for Decision Issues of Municipal Solid Waste

The article reveals the potential of information technology in decision issues of municipal solid waste. The technique proposed for definition of ecological and technical potential for ecological optimization of the territory for the purpose of efficient decision-making in the environmental field. Studies are based on the information capacity usage and implementation of geographic information technologies in combination with the methods of remote sensing of the earth. On this basis, the authors have developed mechanisms that will overcome the existing environmental and technical challenges--economic, political and human capital.

Implementing a Rainwater Sustainable Control in SaheI-Feedback from ＂Niayes＂ Zone of Dakar

Dakar area landscape is mainly characterized by the existence of the ＂niaye＂-or agricultural depressions located in the sand dunes system. In these depressions, the top-table of quaternary sand groundwater reaches or overflows the soil surface. Because of a recent groundwater level drop, some of the niayes have become runoff-gathering sites. This water ensures various economical, environmental and social services, i.e. urban agriculture, drinking water supply of Dakar and formation of ecosystems supporting biodiversity. Given that rainwater infiltration is the only natural ＂input＂, conception and implemention of rainwater management PPP （Politics, Plan and Program） must necessarily take into account this interrelationl Nowadays, two acute problems are observed in the Dakar area. On the one hand, the niayes are threatened by a hydrological drying process due to the insufficiency of rainwater refill. On the other hand, the dramatic social pressure on the environment has led to the urbanization of these bottom-lands. Furthermore, because of the pluviometry decrease, a worsening of the nuisances （floods and malaria） related to surface waters occurs. Consequently, an appropriate runoff management should integrate both the ＂risk＂ and ＂resource＂ dimensions, thus allowing the protection of natural resources and a secure living environment. According to the limits of＂classicai＂ solutions, this paper provides approach elements for building a sustainability plan focusing on emergent concerns, which would control rainwater in urbanized zones.

Industrial land expansion in rural China threatens environmental securities

China’s rural industrialization has been a major driver for its rapid economic growth during the recent decades,but its myriad environmental risks are yet to be fully understood.Based on a comprehensive national land-use data set,our study shows that the area of China’s rural industrial land(RIL)quadrupled during 1990–2015,reaching 39338 km2 in 2015,comparable to urbanization in magnitude but with a much greater degree of landscape fragmentation which implies stronger ecological and environmental impacts.About 91%of the protected areas in the central China were within 50 km from rural industrial land,thus exposed to industrial disturbances.Accelerated rural industrial land expansion,particularly in regions under high geo-hazard risks,led to dramatically increased environmental risks,threatening the safety and health of both rural industrial workers and residents.Moreover,negative effects from rural industrial land expansion could partially offset the crop production growth in recent decades.The underprivileged rural population in the west bears a disproportionally large share of the increased environmental risks.China urgently needs to design and implement sustainable policies to restrict and reshape its rural industrialization.This study aims to inspire policy makers and researchers to rethink the current model of industrial expansion and improve rural industrial land planning,which is important for achieving the sustainable development goals of China.

Water environment security indicator system for urban water management

Water environment security （WES） is defined in terms of three aspects： first, that it meets basic demands due to industrial and domestic usage; second, that it protects public health from acute and chronic threats; and third, that measures are adopted to ensure sustainable ecological functioning of freshwater resources. Limitations associated with current water environment security indicators in China -- including inefficiency in terms of environmental monitoring, inappropriate indicators and parameters that do not take sufficient account of local water characteristics, and a lack of management targets -- leads to a failure of effective water management. To achieve better water environment management, a systema- tic approach, encompassing several steps including estab- lish ideal indicator system and narrow down the scope, screen priority pollutants, identify local characteristics and organize discussion workshop, should be followed to establish a comprehensive water environment indicator system. A case study in Suzhou is included to demonstrate the detailed operational procedures used to assess the risks associated with poor management practices relating to water environment security as well as design an appro- priate water environment security indicator system.

Energy internet or comprehensive energy network?

What needs to be developed from the concept of"Smart Grid"is that:when renewable energy sources are absolutely prevailing in power generation,distributed power generation and distributed energy storage systems are widespread across the grid,and electric vehicle charging loads are prevailing in power load demands,how can the power grid support electric power as a core secondary energy source,undertake the role of a bridge between primary energy and end-use energy,and achieve the coordination and the optimization in macro energy perspective;how to guarantee the security of both macro energy and environment as well as the reliability of electricity.If a new term is needed,it should be Comprehensive Energy Network,not Energy Internet.