▶ Addresses a wide range of timely environment, economic and energy topics ▶ A forum to review, analyze and stimulate the development, testing and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional, national and global scales ▶ Contributes to real-time policy analysis and development as national and international policies and agreements are discussed and promulgated ▶ 94% of authors who answered a survey reported that they would definitely publish or probably publish in the journal again

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

This is probably the most popular design of experiments (DOE) book. It is unquestionably the leading DOE book in industry. So I am excepting it from the usual disdain I show for the  fth edition (5E) of any book, even though it follows the fourth edition (4E) by only four years. See Grice (2000) for a report on the 4E. Very likely this book bears little resemblance to the  rst edition way back in the 1970s. The author has taken particular care with this latest edition to reorganize the book to be consistent with modern DOE practice rather than classical DOE presentation. The primary change has been to move the chapters on regression modeling and response surface methods forward in the book. In the 4E these were the last two chapters in the book. In the 5E they follow the chapters on factorial and fractional factorial designs. Three chapters on “other designs” now close out the book. This certainly gives the book a better  ow for industry short courses. Perhaps these will simply be referenced as arcane methods in the sixth edition! Other production values in the book also continue to improve. There are many high-quality graphical displays. There is much use of printouts from Minitab and Design-Expert. A student version of Design-Export comes with the book. There is also an instructor’s CD-ROM with supplemental material to make the book suitable for more advanced courses. There is the now-essential Web site that has more information to help students and instructors. Perhaps if I were teaching DOE for master’s-level statisticians, the recent book by Dean and Voss (1999), reviewed by Amidan (2000), would be my choice. However, for most other audiences this is the complete DOE book. Industrial statisticians should get a copy of the new version and ensure its exposure to the relevant people in their organization.

Introduction to the Practice of Statistics

Modelling internet banking adoption in Fiji: A developing country perspective

The small island developing states of the Pacific suffer from both the high cost of fossil fuel imports and from numerous climate-related disasters. These vulnerabilities will worsen unless there is a substantial global shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy (RE) sources, coupled with significant improvements in energy efficiency. Apart from traditional biomass-fuelled cooking, the most substantial uses of RE in the Pacific in 2016 were hydropower in some of the hillier island countries and the thousands of household photovoltaic (PV) systems in the remoter parts of island countries. This paper considers also the prospects for grid PV, geothermal, and biofuels – all of which have good technical potential in at least some islands. Barriers to wider use of RE in the region are mostly institutional and financial, but also include opportunity costs, environmental factors, and the limited skills base in small island states. The paper examines the mixed progress since the 1990s towards overcoming these barriers. The Fiji Electricity Authority has a reasonably realistic plan to have 81% of its supply from RE by 2020, drawing on hydropower (~ 50% in 2015), biomass (including bagasse), and some solar and wind. Tonga has its Renewable Energy Roadmap with clear milestones. Several other Pacific Island countries have ambitious RE targets but some are rather vague about how they are to be achieved.

Renewable energy in the Pacific Islands: Its role and status

Readiness is the current mantra in the climate finance discourse and is a key determinant for accessing climate finance. This study develops and applies an analytical 3-dimensional framework to appraise climate finance readiness in selected Asia-Pacific countries. Three dimensions of readiness are identified: (1) Policies and Institutions, (2) Knowledge Management and Learning, and (3) Fiscal Policy Environment. Using the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review as the basis for such framework, the study uncovers a massive readiness gap between countries in the Asian sub-region and those in the Pacific sub-region. The study also found that readiness has a predictable, yet small, impact on the magnitude of climate finance accessed. This suggests that improving readiness alone is not sufficient to unlock climate finance, as access to climate finance is to a larger extent determined by other factors; this is critical to shaping readiness endeavors for the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), as well as for donors. This study argues for a re-think in the PSIDS current readiness approach, reducing emphasis on multilateral and private flows and diversifying through practical and uncomplicated bilateral and remittance sources. These two sources of finances have a good track record of consistently mobilizing external finance to PSIDS despite their climate finance readiness status. Broadening readiness efforts towards these two alternative funding sources extends the feasibility of the current readiness approach. The present direction of climate finance readiness offers a continuing access dilemma to many of the PSIDS, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.

Assessing Climate Finance Readiness in the Asia-Pacific Region

This article shows how accounting and rugby have been used as tools of control. It compares the role
of accounting in amateur and professional sport, initially analysing the Fiji Rugby Union’s (FRU) internal
documents from the period when Fiji was a British colony and rugby was an amateur sport. During this
period, the FRU practised rudimentary accounting since it relied primarily on internally-generated funds
and therefore had virtually no public accountability. The FRU board emphasized rugby’s core values
and downplayed the importance of money. However, in the professional period, donors require more
sophisticated financial reporting and auditing to monitor usage of their grants and evaluate the impact of
their investments. The FRU has encountered conflict with its donors due to repeated financial losses and
alleged mismanagement. This article reveals that those losses originated in the amateur period through
diseconomies of scale, inequitable arrangements for international matches and unsustainable funding models.
Rather than helping the FRU to address these underlying problems, powerful stakeholders continue using
financial resources and governance structures to control and exploit Fiji rugby.

Power and performance: Fiji rugby’s transition from amateurism to professionalism:

This article examines rural dwellers’ perceptions of digital financial services (DFS) to identify which factors may enhance or impede their adoption. The article is based on a survey and follow-up interviews in rural Fijian communities with relatively low income levels. In Fiji, DFS are provided by mobile network operators, either individually or in collaboration with commercial banks. The provision of these services is consistent with policies of the Fijian government and The Reserve Bank of Fiji, which advocate financial inclusion as a means of promoting economic growth and enabling citizens to more efficiently receive remittances and welfare payments. However, the survey findings indicate that DFS uptake is hindered by agents’ lack of liquidity and the implicit costs that agents impose on consumers. In addition, consumers tend to fully spend the funds received through mobile money, but fail to use their mobile phones for saving purposes.

/pdf/perceptions-of-digital-financial-services-in-rural-fiji-vmuyrft85p.pdf

Perceptions of Digital Financial Services in Rural Fiji

King Canute muses in the South Seas: Why aren’t Pacific Islands transitioning to low carbon sea transport futures?

The establishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has increased expectations and optimism amongst developing countries, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. The GCF aims to channel a significant portion of global funds for climate change response, with a goal of reaching US$100 billion per year by 2020. Portrayed as a timely saviour to the climate finance needs of vulnerable countries, the allocation of GCF funds among countries will be key to low carbon and resilient futures. Its broad allocation policy increases the possibility that particularly vulnerable countries which have struggled to access international climate finance will continue to face such challenges. Adopting an equitable/fair principle of allocation, this article highlights a number of scenarios on the possible impact of the post-2020 climate financing environment on particularly vulnerable countries with a special focus on the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). This study argues that PSIDS are extremely sensitive to GCF allocation mechanisms. While the study supports the notion of balanced allocation as currently advanced by the GCF, the precarious situation of PSIDS necessitates a re-think of how the GCF finance is to be allocated in the future.

/pdf/gazing-over-the-horizon-will-an-equitable-green-climate-fund-2uywxoabzq.pdf

Jale Samuwai

Papers

Assessing Climate Finance Readiness in the Asia-Pacific Region

Power and performance: Fiji rugby’s transition from amateurism to professionalism:

Perceptions of Digital Financial Services in Rural Fiji

King Canute muses in the South Seas: Why aren’t Pacific Islands transitioning to low carbon sea transport futures?

Gazing over the horizon: Will an equitable Green Climate Fund allocation policy be significant for the Pacific post-2020?