Nora Steurer

Seit dem Beginn der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ) hat sich der Umgang mit ihr deutlich gewandelt. Ging es in ihren Anfängen in den 1960er Jahren hauptsächlich um „Hilfe“ für eine nachholende Entwicklung so genannter „Entwicklungsländer“ (EL) ökonomische Faktoren betreffend, so setzt sich seit den 1990er Jahren zusehends eine Herangehensweise durch, welche sich an dem holistischen Prinzip der Nachhaltigkeit orientiert. Dabei sollen in

Hintergrund: Entwicklung oder Fortschritt zu messen gewinnt zunehmend an Bedeutung. Problemgebiete die gemessen werden haben eine höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit, Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu ziehen und gelöst zu werden. Entwicklungsindizes sind Werkzeuge, durch welche Entwicklungsbemühungen gerechtfertigt werden und durch welche Entwicklung selbst definiert wird. Nach bestem Wissen der Autorin liegt der besondere wissenschaftliche Beitrag der vorliegenden Arbeit darin, dass sie den erste Versuch darstellt, nicht nur das Datenmaterial von Entwicklungsindizes zu evaluieren, sondern die Idee Entwicklung zu messen an sich durch die Sichtweise der Post Development Theory zu evaluieren und in Frage zu stellen. Es ist der erste Versuch, Entwicklungsindikatoren durch die spezifisch Sichtweise der Post Development Theory zu betrachten und hierdurch hervorzuheben das Validität und Notwendigkeit von Entwicklungsindizes auch von dem jeweiligen theoretischen Standpunkt abhängt. Außerdem ist es weiterhi...

Background: Measuring development or progress is increasingly important: Problems that get measured have a higher chance of getting attention and thus getting addressed. Development Indices are tools with which development efforts are justified, and through which development itself is defined. To the best knowledge of the author, the particular scientific contribution of this paper lies in it being the first attempt to look at the validity and necessity of the idea of measuring development and the neutrality of the chosen indices both through a literature review criticizing data and dimensions included as well as a specific theory lense, namely Post Development Theory. Additionally, it is the first attempt to compare the three chosen different development indices with one another through this theoretical approach and highlight through this the different development notion each represent as well as their potential for arbitrariness by having included different development dimensions ...

The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) urgently needs a more sustainable, low-carbon transport system. The objective of this paper is to elicit ways of building sustainable, low-carbon transport futures for such a system. Using stakeholder narratives as basis, this paper identifies the main driving forces shaping sustainable transport futures, develops four plausible transport scenarios for the MCMA; and assesses whether stakeholders frame driving forces in a certain way. Driving forces stakeholders identified focused especially on cooperation among political entities and negotiation levels with internal transport stakeholders. Further driving forces included regulatory framework of vehicle use, recognition of sustainable transport as political priority, and urban growth and planning. Four scenarios based on political cooperation and internal negotiation were generated using stakeholder narratives. Three stand out: Scenario 1, where both political cooperation and internal negotiation develop positively, leading to low-emission, sustainable transport futures in the city; Scenario 3, the 'worst' scenario, where neither political cooperation nor internal negotiation function, is frequently identified by stakeholders as the way it is now; and Scenario 4 with functioning political cooperation and a lack of internal negotiation is the most unstable scenario and would quickly collapse were it to develop. Overall, stakeholders framed driving forces as more political than technological (e.g. political cooperation was seen as more relevant than upgrading vehicle technologies). Consensus regarding this reached across institutional stakeholder categories. We found that stakeholders' views gave unique insights regarding how to build sustainable, low-carbon MCMA transport futures, including policy measures and interventions needed. MCMA scenarios developed reveal the need for common political ground as a priority to guide decision making towards sustainable, low-carbon transport futures for the MCMA.

This paper presents a comparison of trends and challenges for sustainability monitoring and reporting at national and company level. National and company level reporting systems were developed independently and use different standards and methods.
While national systems see some convergence regarding methodology and conceptual approach, private sector monitoring and reporting still sees new initiatives emerging. Private sector reporting and rating especially faces challenges regarding external quality assurance and comparability.
Alignment of private and national systems could help to reveal the potential contribution by companies to global goals and targets, such as the proposed Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, it could heighten the relevance of company reporting and rating, and allow governments to improve the monitoring of businesses’ sustainability performances.

This technical series addresses how the primary sectors food and wood production, water management and marine fisheries can contribute to biodiversity and to reaching Aichi targets 5 and 11 in the form of biodiversity-friendly production methods and nature-­based solutions. Furthermore, one chapter is specifically dedicated to mainstreaming biodiversity in those sectors, especially by addressing production chains.

Seit dem Beginn der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ) hat sich der Umgang mit ihr deutlich gewandelt. Ging es in ihren Anfängen in den 1960er Jahren hauptsächlich um „Hilfe“ für eine nachholende Entwicklung so genannter „Entwicklungsländer“ (EL) ökonomische Faktoren betreffend, so setzt sich seit den 1990er Jahren zusehends eine Herangehensweise durch, welche sich an dem holistischen Prinzip der Nachhaltigkeit orientiert. Dabei sollen in der Praxis der EZ neben ökonomischen auch soziale und ökologische Aspekte berücksichtigt werden.