Environmental law and governance are the cornerstones of global efforts to conserve the environment, protect resources and ensure fair and equitable outcomes for all of the planet's inhabitants. This book presents a series of thought-provoking chapters which consider the place of governance and law in the defence against imminent and ongoing threats to ecological, social and cultural integrity. Written by an international team of both established and early-career scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds, the chapters cover the most pressing and contemporary issues in environmental law and governance. These include access and benefit-sharing; the right to food and water; climate change coping and adaptation; human rights; the rights of indigenous communities; public and environmental health; and many more. The book has a general focus on environmental governance and law in the European Union and offers points of comparison with Canada and North and South America.

Unarguably, preserving the ecosystem, securing sustainability and understanding the dynamics of agro-food chains have all become vital policy objectives with several interlinked dimensions. The main objectives of this book are to draw the attention of researchers, policymakers and businesspeople to the relation between agro-food chains and the ecosystem, and to demonstrate the importance of building resilient agro-food chains that take into account climate change and environmental challenges. Agro-food chains as they function today can serve as powerful tools for promoting sustainable forms of agriculture, consumption and production that are embedded in a viable ecosystem. The book addresses a range of environmental, methodological and societal issues from a transaction perspective, while also providing extensive background information on the topic, and outlining future applications and research directions.

This volume contains the papers presented at the 2014 International Conference on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ecological Development (EPSED2014). The contributions cover the latest research results and explore new areas of research and development, like Earth Science, Resource Management, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food–energy–water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this second volume, Managing Biological and Ecological Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the biosphere and all its systems. This volume explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the biosphere and ecological systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Our world is filled with unseen wonders - the most phenomenal of which is the often hidden beauty of the diversity that surrounds us. Apart from the beauty diversity brings to our lives, it is also absolutely necessary to the sustainability of life itself. The importance of diversity is overlooked in the social realm, yet decisions made in that realm affect all of society for generations. Planners tend to ignore ecological diversity because they don't understand it. Ecological Diversity in Sustainable Development: The Vital and Forgotten Dimension makes that clear. The author tackles this difficult problem: how are we to maintain sustainable diversity in the Earth's ecosystems and our cultural systems? He provides examples of how natural and cultural diversity have been reduced by altering the linkages between climate, soil, water, air, forests, animals, and people. The book is divided into three parts. Part one examines diversity as it is found in nature, part two considers how culture affects diversity through its evolution, and part three explores the diversity of Nature as seen through culture in an attempt to guide culture toward social/environmental sustainability. Anyone who is interested in the quality of life on Earth will want this book. Maser writes in easy-to-read lucid prose, providing a holistic overview of environmental issues that 21st century decision makers must address in shaping our destiny.

Rapid changes in technology and lifestyle have led to a dramatic increase in energy demand. Growing energy demand is the main cause of environmental pollution, but the efficient use of renewable resources and technologies for residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors offers the opportunity to diminish energy dependence, ensure efficiency and reliability, reduce pollutant emissions, and buoy national economies. Eco-friendly energy processes are the key to long-term sustainability. Eco-Friendly Energy Processes and Technologies for Achieving Sustainable Development is a collection of innovative research that identifies sustainability pillars such as environmental, technical, social, institutional, and economic disciplines and explores the longevity of these disciplines through a resource-oriented approach. Featuring coverage of a broad range of topics including environmental policy, corporate accountability, and urban planning, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, urban planners, engineers, advocates, researchers, academicians, and students.

Accounting literature has viewed sustainability in terms of social, economic and environmental performances. There have been concerns that the relationship between sustainability, accounting and organizational performance cannot be explained unless we can deduce patterns of administrative behaviour that chronicle management practices. Ecology, Sustainable Development and Accounting argues that, despite the broader social and economic development dimensions of sustainability and the limitations of its extension to corporate and organizational behaviour; an ecological framework is capable of providing the overall societal and community chronologies that describe corporate sustainable operations. Drawing examples from international development and federal government organizations, this book documents the link between ecology, corporate sustainable development, and sustainability accounting and reporting. It draws together the literature from several disciplines to elaborate the contribution of the ecological approach to sustainable development in the accounting literature. This book will be of particular interest to students, academics and practitioners in the areas of environmental studies, ecological economics, sustainable development studies, and social and environmental accounting. The sociological and anthropological perspectives make this book the first of its kind to apply the population ecology of sociology to both the sustainability and accounting literature.

This book examines the need for a new way of describing sustainable tourism and also looks at the frameworks needed to rethink how to apply this to communities, private operators and protected area managers. It makes it clear that tourism is just one of many human activities that affects host communities. The work includes informative and provocative case studies with realistic applications. References included in the book will help graduate students formulate new hypotheses and suggest literature for them. Tools and techniques useful to tourism practitioners suggest innovative approaches to marketing, management and community development.

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION DISCOVER THE LATEST EDITION OF THE LEADING TEXTBOOK ON SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION AND GREEN BUILDING In the newly revised Fifth Edition of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery, the late Dr. Charles J. Kibert delivers a rigorous overview of the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. In the leading textbook on sustainable building, the author provides thoroughly updated information on everything from materials selection to building systems. Updated to reflect the latest building codes and standards, including LEED v4.1, the book offers readers coverage of international green building codes and standards, biomimicry, ecological design, focused assessment systems like SITES, EDGE, WELL, and Fitwell, and sustainable construction resilience. Readers will learn to think critically about all aspects of green building and benefit from the inclusion of: A thorough introduction to sustainable construction, including the landscape for green buildings, sustainable development, sustainable design, and the rationale for high-performance green buildings An exploration of the foundations of green buildings, including biomimicry and ecological design, basic concepts and vocabulary, and the green building movement Practical discussions of ecological design, including a historical perspective, contemporary ecological design In-depth examinations of high-performance green building assessment, including focused assessment systems and international building assessment systems Perfect for upper level undergraduate and graduate level students in architecture, architectural technology, civil engineering, and construction management, Sustainable Construction is also an indispensable resource for anyone studying for the LEED Green Associate exam, as well as industry professionals and building owners.