EU regional development policy and territorial capital: A systemic approach

The territorial capital of regions is an important determinant of growth, but also of the impact of EU Cohesion Policy. First, because it can act as a filter, enhancing the impact of regional policies. Second, the latter can help building territorial capital which, in turn, will foster regional development. This work analyses the medium and long-run relationship between the territorial capital of EU NUTS 3 regions and Cohesion Policy using data from the programming period 2000–2006. Results point out complementarities between different territorial assets of regions and the impact of EU regional policy: Cohesion Policy effectiveness is higher when investments are focused on the assets complementary to those already abundant in the region.     

密文策略属性加密中的撤销控制方案

在云环境下使用数据共享功能时，由于云环境的复杂性，需要对数据进行安全保护和访问控制，这就要求使用加密机制。基于密文策略属性的加密（CP-ABE）是当前广泛使用的加密机制，它可以根据用户的属性来设置访问权限，任何具有合格访问权限的用户都可以访问数据。然而云是一个动态环境，有时可能只允许具有访问权限用户中的一部分用户访问数据，这就需要用户权限的撤销机制。然而，在CP-ABE中，访问权撤销或用户撤销是一个冗长且代价高昂的事件。所提出方案根据对CP-ABE流程的改进，在原密文中嵌入了可灵活控制的用户个人秘密，使得用户权限撤销时既不要求使用新访问策略的用户撤销数据，也不要求对数据进行重新加密，大幅减少撤销时的计算成本。与知名CP-ABE撤销方案对比，所提出方案的计算成本更低且具有良好的安全性。     

Sustainable transition in small island developing states: Assessing the current situation

Transitioning to sustainable energy systems is an overriding challenge for small islands. Indeed, these territories must succeed within the next decades with the objective of energy independence and transitioning to a sustainable situation. In this research, a statistical approach is performed to explore and discuss a comprehensive study on small islands' sustainability from the standpoint of renewable energy. It is about identifying whether small islands are moving toward a sustainability path. Three steps are necessary to achieve this. A principal components analysis (PCA) is first investigated to identify which explanatory variables have a significant contribution on the percentage of data variance. Then, PCA-based hierarchical clustering highlights the island organization in two different years (2010 and 2014). It is a panel of 35 Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) that served as a basis for the PCA and classification. Finally, a sustainability indicator is proposed to qualify the level of sustainability of each group of islands. Sustainability is understood through the lens of the share of renewables, the electricity situation, economic development and geographical localization. The obtained results clearly show that the dynamics of transition is not clearly engaged for the small islands. Most of them have actually become more vulnerable during the 2010–2014 time span.     

The economic case for low-carbon development in rapidly growing developing world cities: A case study of Palembang,Indonesia

Where costs or risks are higher, evidence is lacking or supporting institutions are less developed, policymakers can struggle to make the case for low-carbon investment. This is especially the case in developing world cities where decision-makers struggle to keep up with the pace and scale of change. Focusing on Palembang in Indonesia, this paper considers the economic case for proactive investment in low-carbon development. We find that a rapidly growing industrial city in a developing country can reduce emissions by 24.1% in 2025, relative to business as usual levels, with investments of USD405.6 million that would reduce energy expenditure in the city by USD436.8 million. Emissions from the regional grid could be reduced by 12.2% in 2025, relative to business as usual trends, with investments of USD2.9 billion that would generate annual savings of USD175 million. These estimates understate the savings from reduced expenditure on energy subsidies and energy infrastructure. The compelling economic case for mainstreaming climate mitigation in this developing country city suggests that the constraints on climate action can be political and institutional rather than economic. There is therefore a need for more effective energy governance to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy.     

Brazil's current and future land balances: Is there residual land for bioenergy production?

This study presents a new database of land use categories in Brazil at a spatial resolution of 30 arc-second (about 1 km²). The spatial representation of current major land uses formally combines agricultural statistics from Brazil's latest census of the year 2006 at micro-region level and the Food and Agriculture Organization 2010 forest statistics with spatial land cover data sets. Spatial allocation (“downscaling”) algorithms were applied to obtain a spatial distribution of seven major land use categories. Remaining shares in each grid-cell were termed residual land, and were categorized according to legal protection status, biodiversity value, and whether they belong to the territory of the Amazon biome. We found a total of 84 Mha residual land of which 37 Mha occurred outside the territory of the Amazon biome and was neither legally protected nor categorized as highly biodiverse land. The 37 Mha “available residual land” equates to 4.4% of Brazil's geographical area and to 50% of its current cultivated land area. We assessed land quality using the Agro-ecological Zones modelling framework provides land suitability and productivity estimates of the available residual land. Nearly one-third of land emerged of prime quality and is therefore promising for biofuel feedstock production. Analysis of potential food-fuel competition suggests that until 2030 productivity improvements on current pastures could accommodate land demand for Brazil's increasing cattle herd and expanding croplands. If these productivity increases could be achieved on current agricultural land, residual land could provide areas for the sustainable expansion of biofuel feedstock production.     

The Hinkley Point decision: An analysis of the policy process

In 2006, the British government launched a policy to build nuclear power reactors based on a claim that the power produced would be competitive with fossil fuel and would require no public subsidy. A decade later, it is not clear how many, if any, orders will be placed and the claims on costs and subsidies have proved false. Despite this failure to deliver, the policy is still being pursued with undiminished determination. The finance model that is now proposed is seen as a model other European countries can follow so the success or otherwise of the British nuclear programme will have implications outside the UK. This paper contends that the checks and balances that should weed out misguided policies, have failed. It argues that the most serious failure is with the civil service and its inability to provide politicians with high quality advice – truth to power. It concludes that the failure is likely to be due to the unwillingness of politicians to listen to opinions that conflict with their beliefs. Other weaknesses include the lack of energy expertise in the media, the unwillingness of the public to engage in the policy process and the impotence of Parliamentary Committees.     

Re-thinking china's densified biomass fuel policies: Large or small scale?

Current policies and strategies related to the utilization of densified biomass fuel (DBF) in China are mainly focused on medium- or large-scale manufacturing modes, which cannot provide feasible solutions to solve the household energy problems in China's rural areas. To simplify commercial processes related to the collection of DBF feedstock and the production and utilization of fuel, a novel village-scale DBF approach is proposed. Pilot demonstration projects have shown the feasibility and flexibility of this new approach in realizing sustainable development in rural China. Effective utilization of DBF in rural China will lead to gains for global, regional, and local energy savings, environmental protection, sustainable development, and related social benefits. It could also benefit other developing countries for better utilization of biomass as a viable household energy source. This proposal therefore delivers the possibility of reciprocal gains, and as such deserves the attention of policy makers and various stakeholders.     

东地中海地区局势对土耳其外交政策的影响分析

在过去的数十年间,东地中海国家土耳其、塞浦路斯和以色列之间外交关系的不断升温预示东地中海地区强权政治时代的到来。在这些国家中,土耳其以其在地区层面上不断上升的自信和地区称霸的野心使其成为在地区政治中有着重要影响力的国家。随着经济和社会的发展,土耳其在诸如塞浦路斯海洋开发权的争议问题的解决上发挥着越来越大的作用,同时,土耳其的政治家和外交官们更加关注土耳其在解决地区问题上的角色,当面对地区竞争和挑战时,土耳其应该正视其世俗的穆斯林民主政体和作为一个负责任地区大国的角色,而不仅仅是对别国进行敌视。只有与竞争对手进行合作和建设性的对话,实行更为温和和平衡的外交政策,才有助于其实现地区强国的梦想。