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The majority of Niger ’s population faces a widespread lack of access to electricity. Althoughthe country lies in the Sahara belt, exploitation of solar energy is so far minimal. Due to ongoing fossilfuel exploration in the country, this fuel might dominate the future electricity supply. Today, Nigerimports the most of its electricity from Nigeria. There is a need to expand electricity generation andsupply infrastructures in Niger. When doing so, it is important to choose a proper set of electricitygeneration resource/technology that fulfils sustainability criteria. Thus, the objective of this work isto analyze a methodology in order to assess different energy technologies for Niger. A multi-criteriadecision approach was selected to assess the most accessible energy system for the country. Forthis purpose, indicators were developed and weighted for ranking electricity generation options.Altogether 40 indicators are selected under six dimensions (availability, risk, technology, economics,environment and social) to assess eight different alternatives, considering the aggregated results andcorresponding scores under each dimension. A merit list of technology and resources for electricitygeneration presented in this work could support the stakeholders in their decision-making for furtherprojects implementation in the country.
This article explores the relationship between digital transformation and disaster risk.Vulnerability studies aim at differentiating impacts and losses by using fine-grained information fromdemographic, social, and personal characteristics of humans. With ongoing digital development,these characteristics will transform and result in new traits, which need to be identified andintegrated. Digital transformations will produce new social groups, partly human, semi-human,or non-human—some of which already exist, and some which can be foreseen by extrapolating fromrecent developments in the field of brain wearables, robotics, and software engineering. Thoughinvolved in the process of digital transformation, many researchers and practitioners in the field ofDisaster Risk Reduction or Climate Change Adaptation are not yet aware of the repercussions fordisaster and vulnerability assessments. Emerging vulnerabilities are due to a growing dependency ondigital services and tools in the case of a severe emergency or crisis. This article depicts the differentimplications for future theoretical frameworks when identifying novel semi-human groups and theirvulnerabilities to disaster risks. Findings include assumed changes within common indicators of socialvulnerability, new indicators, a typology of humans, and human interrelations with digital extensionsand two different perspectives on these groups and their dependencies with critical infrastructure.
This paper gives a practical approach to the area of business ethics, in particular to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), via analyzing how the retail chain REWE shows its commitment to its social responsibilities as defined by the four-part model of CSR. As Fairtrade offers one way for fulfilling social responsibilities, in particular the ethical and philanthropic responsibilities of CSR, REWE’s participation in selling Fairtrade products is analyzed. This analysis is conducted by applying the criteria for receiving the Fairtrade Award to REWE which allows drawing conclusions about REWE’s commitment to Fairtrade. Information for this assessment is taken from publicly available sources as well as from personal communication with the Fairtrade organization TransFair. The paper further gives an indication about the match between REWE’s communication – as the selling of Fairtrade products is communicated via REWE’s sustainability program – and REWE’s action concerning social responsibility, expressed by its commitment to Fairtrade. Implementing a sustainability program is one way for companies to exercise CSR and thus the analysis conducted concerning REWE’s commitment to Fairtrade is an attempt to answer the question whether companies’ communication about their CSR efforts matches their actions.
On 25 May 2011, the OECD launched a "Green Growth Strategy" and proposed a "Green Growth Diagnostics" approach to identify the binding constraints on green growth. This paper discusses the potential use and usefulness of this approach as a means to identify those binding constraints. It is argued that the approach is best used at the meso level for industries and certain environmental challenges. The paper proposes a modified green growth diagnostics approach for eco-innovations at the meso level that can be useful for informing and organising a rational policy dialogue amongst all stakeholders.