Transportation In Houston Essay Example for Free

Transportation In Houston Essay The problems of transportation in our city have a series of branches that all affect us. We, as Houstonians have the duty to contain our city as beautiful and healthy as we can. This is part of our past, present, and our feature, not only for us but also of our love ones that are yet to come. It is very important that we as human being that live in this community do something to protect our environment and reduce risks for further generations. Do you think that there something we can do to stop this shortage of transportation? There are many different problems in our environment that affect everyone around the community. Transportation in Houston is a severe problem that we have now in days. This is a problem in our community that divides into a series of arguments that we are trying to fix. It does not necessarily have to fit in our lifestyles, as long as we set time out in our busy life to take care of the environment. It does not have to be something that relates to your career as long as it is something that you like to do. I am very interested in setting sometime out of my job, to take care of my community. Even if they do not relate, I understand that in doing so it can help provide a better feature for the next generation. As a Houstonian, it is very important for me to try to find a way to expand the transportation in Houston. By decreasing the transportation, the pollution produced daily will also decrease as well as the traffic. Increasing public transportation is a good way to reduce all these risks. In my own experience, I have seen how public transportation is very efficient. In my Colombia, we use public transportation as a way to get around to many different places in the city. It reduces traffic, and accidents that may occur because of careless drivers. The state officials encourage public transportation because it reduces risks and it is also economic. They also encourage bike riding and walking. They build a lot of trails so that people that decide to walk do not have to worry about having to walk on the street where they can be put into any danger. Here in Houston, the state does not provide those types of options to people. You have pedestrians that walk in the streets putting their lives at risk, and then you have those that decide not to walk so they will not have to worry about putting themselves or their loved ones at risk. That is why most people decide that it is better to drive themselves somewhere, even if it is close, then to walk there. I would like to be encouraged into walking to different places, or to ride a bike around. It would be better for people to take that decision if there were sidewalks available all over the city, so that people could move around easier. This would be helpful in many different levels because it would create a better feature by, reducing the accidents that occur on a daily basis. It could also help the economy, because people would start saving more money. They would have more money to spend on other things needed, if they are saving gas money. They would not have to worry about having to earn a little more money to have to waste on other important things they might need. It can be improving for everyone. The bad thing is that not everyone feels the same way about using public transportation. Some rather save a little more money rather then having to depend on someone to drive them around. They never stop to think about the resources they are saving. I was researching the internet, trying to find articles that explored the subject about public transportation. It was very interesting to find different points of view over this topic. They were not really reliable resources, they were more like different opinions. I would like to explore this topic more reading different databases so that the information I may inquire can be precise. I would also like to read more about this subject in different newspapers like Houston Chronicle, to see what they think about this subject. When I was researching this newspaper online I realized that they don’t have any titles that cover this subject. I found it to be really upsetting to know that they do not cover important subjects like this in their news. It is very important for people to be able to get informed about things that are becoming a problem in their city. This way they will have a way to not only get informed but try to look for options to try and solve this error. Other resources would also help so that they can better inform themselves such as TV Shows, and other programs. This is a very important problem that does not get talked bout to much, so people do not really realize the problem we are facing. They do not try and do something about it because they probably think that it is something very insignificant, that other public organizations have not worried about advertising it as much. It is hard for me to assimilate the fact that we are missing out on a lot of information that can help us make a better our city an even more beautiful one.

Debates on Elephant Culling

Debates on Elephant Culling Ivy Terry The Controversy of Elephant Culling Press and media have pushed the idea that elephant populations are threatened, diminished by habitat loss, poaching and a variety of other reasons. In the 1930s habitat loss and heavy ivory poaching had decreased South Africas elephant population from 3-5 million to around 500,000 (Harmse, Riana). Since then, through protection, laws and regulations the elephant population in South Africa has increased dramatically, to the point of overabundance. Due to the recent prosperity in the elephant population, measures to control their ecology is crucial to the health and wellbeing of the ecosystem, neighboring species, and the prevention of elephant-human conflict. In South Africas Kruger National Park, in particular, this wildlife management is a necessity in keeping a successfully thriving park. There have been many ways Kruger has pursued in solving the elephant population issue. Including birth control in females, birth control in males, relocation and the establishment of corridors, bu t the most popular in past years has been culling (Harmse, Riana). Culling is a controversial subject when it comes to management because it entails physically killing elephants in a population to reduce its size. So controversial in fact that it was outlawed in Kruger in 1995 but then recently reintroduced back as a management method, in smaller scale (Harmse, Riana). Kruger today has around 13,050 elephants and this population is growing exponentially (Role of Bull Elephant). With lack of predators and an abundance of artificial and natural watering holes, as well as other natural resources, there is no controlling the rate of population growth of these animals (Harmse, Riana). This growth is an imminent problem for the park as well as its surrounding areas. First of all, elephants move in herds, this means they have a substantial effect on landscape and tree cover in the environment. These herds are also constantly moving, covering and destroying vase amounts of land per day (Role of Bull Elephant). Kruger is 7,523 square miles, though this seems large, it is not enough space to support such a population of large mammals (Harmse, Riana). This issue of space contributes to greater and more frequent human-elephant conflict as well as the destruction of park boundary fences and more frequent crop raids (â€Å"Role of Bull Elephant†). There h ave been many other suggested and tested methods of elephant population control in Kruger but none have been proven to be as effective as annual culls. Contraceptives in male or female elephants prove to be expensive, invasive, time consuming and not always successful. Relocation resulted in elephants coming back through the park boundary as well as being massively expensive and dangerous for both parties. Finally, the introduction of corridors from park to park has shown to be too expensive and there is simply no land available to dedicate to this sort of expansion (Harmse, Riana). It is out of the ashes of these other methods of management that culling was reintroduced to Kruger. Currently 500 to 600 elephants are killed in Kruger each year in order to keep the population as close to 13,000 as possible (Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question). After these elephants are killed they are immediately removed and taken to processing locations to which all parts of the an imal are used; meat for food, bones for jewelry and tools, organs for medicine and medical research etc. (Harmse, Riana). Though culling is the most widely used form of elephant population management used in Kruger today it is also the most contested. Each year 950, 000 people visit Kruger and these visitors account for millions of dollars worth of income for the park annually (Harmse, Riana). Obviously any detriment to this tourism would be to the disadvantage of the park and elephant culling, even if hidden from the public, has proven to cause a drop in visitors (Harmse, Riana). Culling in the park is not only affecting tourism but the well being of the elephants as well. Elephants are one of the most sensitive mammals on the planet and one could only imagine the psychological damage that occurs to young after a culling. Typically, hunters go in and wipe out the elders of the herd, leaving the young (Harmse, Riana). This terribly disrupts the age structure of the population by removing the experience necessary to raise the elephant young. This has been known to cause said young to grow up as rogue ele phants, removing themselves from the herd, wreaking havoc on the park and neighboring areas (â€Å"Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question†). These elephants have to be killed due to them posing such a significant threat to humans. Apart from being sensitive, elephants are intelligent creatures. They have been known to communicate from herd to herd by using low frequency grunts very similar to how whales communicate. Therefore, if elephants are culled in one area others know about it, this aggravates them and they can get very frightened, leading to panic and further damage to the environment and danger to humans (Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question). Another major concern with culling in elephant populations is the fact that professional hunters are not always used. This is a considerable issue. These kills needs to be clean and fast, injured elephants are very dangerous, and their cries cause more stress to the remaining herd and can provoke permanent psychological damage on the young. Quick removal of the bodies is also very important due to the fact that remaining elephants often will go back to see their dead companions and this puts even more stress on the animal (Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question). Finally, elephants have a keen sense of smell. So much so that they can smell elephants that have been in distress, blood on the ground, and other signs of death. Elephants are warded off by these smells and will no longer range in areas where a cull has taken place, even years after the event. This can pose problems if the area had been a migratory route for the herd. The elephants would have to take alternate routes to avoid the area, potentially bringing them into contact with farms and villages as well as the possibility of them never finding their traditional feeding grounds, leading to starvation (Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question). The culling of elephants as a management approach in Kruger National Park is a widely debated topic. Personally I believe that the culling of elephants in Kruger or in any other location should be outlawed. I am not necessarily against culling all together but with such a sensitive animal as the elephant it is not appropriate. There are other circumstances in which culling may prove useful and not be of such detriment to the species. Authoritize in the United Kingdom, for example, have recently started regulated culling of badgers. The massive local badger population has been thought to spread tuberculosis to neighboring cow herds. In response, two major culls have taken place, these culls have proven to lower the tuberculosis in herds without having any detriment to the age structure, mental health or the badger populations overall well being (Second Year of Badger Culling Begins). For this reason it is of the utmost importance that before any sort of culling occurs a thorough analy sis of family structure, age structure, mental health and behaviors is looked into on an species to species basis. From there, other strategies can be weighed based on population size and situation. Culling is a viable option for population management but on a situational basis and in terms of the elephant it is inappropriate. Work Cited Elephant Population Management. Kruger Park News. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov.  2014. Elephants To Cull or Not to Cull That Is the Question. Kruger Park Times. N.p.,  n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. Harmse, Riana. Elephant Population Management In Kruger. Olifants Reserve,  Kruger National Park, Limpopo, South Africa. Aug. 2014. Lecture. Role of Bull Elephant. Elephant Culling. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. Second Year of Badger Culling Begins. BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

What does it mean to be an Individual? :: essays research papers

I am afraid that this is more a long question rather than an answer. What exactly does it mean to be an individual? Or are we even individuals? I suppose what is meant when we say we are individual is that we have individual thoughts, as really our actions throughout our life are far from individual or unique. They may seem to be but really they are not. If this is true though then we rarely get our individualism out, if what is seen is not individual. We think ourselves more individual than say an ant, but then is it possible for their to be a thing that would class itself as more individual than us, and if so in what ways would that thing be different and what would make it more individual? I said previously that maybe only our thoughts are individual, but does this even hold to be true? Our thoughts are there usually to fulfil a certain action, even if the most silly action. Take for example a fear of spiders as a thought. I suppose this isn't exactly silly but it does fulfil the action of protecting someone from what they see as a danger. Our thoughts may be slightly different and so too are our personalities, but really don't they seem to fulfil the same task, the highest up being to survive. Obviously this is taking a broad view, but since our thoughts lead to generally the same goal, then is it only the slight difference in thoughts to achieve the goal that make us individual, and if so, are we really that individual since ultimately our "individual" thoughts lead to the same thing? Since it is our actions that let us interact with others, such as in sports or other things, maybe it is that our individual side is alone, being away from others and only in our own thoughts. This may not be totally true since one can share their thoughts, but looked upon from higher up, say from a worldly view, then this is only the sharing of opinion, with many different means reaching the same end; growing closer to the other person through interaction and the show of individualism. Another example of such a thing is any type of art, be it music, painting, poetry or any other type. These kind of things are regarded by some to be the greatest show of one's individuality as they may think that each brush stroke in a painting shows some of your personality.

Business Ethics :: essays research papers

How to behave toward oneself and toward other individuals is a matter of making choices: whether to be friendly or unfriendly; whether to tell the truth or lie; whether to be generous or greedy; whether to study in order to pass an exam or to spend valuable study time watching television and cheat to pass it. These, and all other questions about how people act toward themselves and one another are dealt with in a field of study called ethics. Another name for ethics is morality. Because both words suggest customary ways of behavior, they are somewhat misleading. It had to do with what should or should not be done. Divide practical wisdom into two parts: moral philosophy and political philosophy. They’re defined together as a â€Å"true reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man† (Drucker, 1996). One statement of the problem is business organizations, as well as members of society in general, are plagued by the fact that there are liars, cheats, and thieves among us. Liars, cheats, and thieves are not new nor are they likely to disappear. People will do anything and go to whatever extent to get what they want. This is why there’s a lack of ethics. Definition of terms: The word ethics is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning â€Å"character,† the pattern of behavior or personality found in an individual or group; moral constitution, moral strength, self discipline and fortitude (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia). The other is from the Latin mores, meaning â€Å"custom† (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia). Business Ethics refers to what is right or wrong, or good or bad, human behavior. The concept of business ethics is â€Å"being able to look at your face in the mirror†(Drucker, 1996). Ethics is a code of conduct and values that is accepted by society as being right and proper. Code of ethics is simply a compilation of the rules that are meant to govern the conduct of members of a particular organization or profession. Moral philosophy and political philosophy is true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man. In the daily scramble to get ahead, earn a profit, and outwit competitors, some people don’t play by the rules. Sometimes the culprits are respected and ordinarily well-behaved persons even though they are accused of a crime or offense. Business Ethics :: essays research papers How to behave toward oneself and toward other individuals is a matter of making choices: whether to be friendly or unfriendly; whether to tell the truth or lie; whether to be generous or greedy; whether to study in order to pass an exam or to spend valuable study time watching television and cheat to pass it. These, and all other questions about how people act toward themselves and one another are dealt with in a field of study called ethics. Another name for ethics is morality. Because both words suggest customary ways of behavior, they are somewhat misleading. It had to do with what should or should not be done. Divide practical wisdom into two parts: moral philosophy and political philosophy. They’re defined together as a â€Å"true reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man† (Drucker, 1996). One statement of the problem is business organizations, as well as members of society in general, are plagued by the fact that there are liars, cheats, and thieves among us. Liars, cheats, and thieves are not new nor are they likely to disappear. People will do anything and go to whatever extent to get what they want. This is why there’s a lack of ethics. Definition of terms: The word ethics is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning â€Å"character,† the pattern of behavior or personality found in an individual or group; moral constitution, moral strength, self discipline and fortitude (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia). The other is from the Latin mores, meaning â€Å"custom† (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia). Business Ethics refers to what is right or wrong, or good or bad, human behavior. The concept of business ethics is â€Å"being able to look at your face in the mirror†(Drucker, 1996). Ethics is a code of conduct and values that is accepted by society as being right and proper. Code of ethics is simply a compilation of the rules that are meant to govern the conduct of members of a particular organization or profession. Moral philosophy and political philosophy is true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man. In the daily scramble to get ahead, earn a profit, and outwit competitors, some people don’t play by the rules. Sometimes the culprits are respected and ordinarily well-behaved persons even though they are accused of a crime or offense.

Spelling and Differently: Kinship, Deception and Challenges :: Alice Munro Spelling Differently

Alice Munro's Spelling and Differently:  Ã‚   Kinship, Deception and Challenges  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two short stories Spelling and Differently, written by Alice Munro, deal with female relationships.   These relationships paint a vivid picture of the kinship, deception, challenges, and associations that affect friends and family as they journey through life. "Spelling" is about the relationship of two women, Rose and Flo. Although from the outset the relationship between Rose and Flo is not clear, near the end the reader has no doubt they are mother and daughter.   Munro illustrates the awkward relationship between a parent and a child and the difficult problems that face children as their parents age.   After visiting the county home in an attempt to find a place for Flo to live,   "Rose spoke of the view and the pleasant rooms.   Flo looked angry; her face darkened and she stuck out her lip.   Rose handed her a mobile she had bought for 50 cents in the County Home crafts centre.... Stick it up your arse, said Flo" (Oates 151).   The reader sees no affection between the two.   In fact, the tone of the story illustrates a lack of acceptance and even disappointment by Flo and shows that there has always been a distance between the two. The title is derived from a patient Rose met at the nursing home whose only communication was spelling words.   After meeting this patient, Rose dreamed that Flo was in a cage and spelling words like the old patient she met in the nursing home.   Rose tells Flo about her visit to the nursing home and is obviously trying to influence Flo into going to the home.   Flo is suffering from some sort of dementia, perhaps Alzheimer's.  Ã‚   In this story the author doesn't tell the characters ages, Rose's occupation,   and other information necessary to develop a clear picture.   Instead, Munro makes the reader use more of ones imagination in developing the story.   Although Munro is not explicit, the story is about an unhappy relationship between a daughter and mother. In the story the narrator flashes back to a time in Rose's career when she was in a play with her breast exposed.   Flo showed her displeasure by writing her a letter that said "shame" and adding that if her father was not already dead, he would wish that he was (Oates 154).   Yet, the reader feels that Rose is still trying to earn her mother's respect and   love. Spelling and Differently: Kinship, Deception and Challenges :: Alice Munro Spelling Differently Alice Munro's Spelling and Differently:  Ã‚   Kinship, Deception and Challenges  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two short stories Spelling and Differently, written by Alice Munro, deal with female relationships.   These relationships paint a vivid picture of the kinship, deception, challenges, and associations that affect friends and family as they journey through life. "Spelling" is about the relationship of two women, Rose and Flo. Although from the outset the relationship between Rose and Flo is not clear, near the end the reader has no doubt they are mother and daughter.   Munro illustrates the awkward relationship between a parent and a child and the difficult problems that face children as their parents age.   After visiting the county home in an attempt to find a place for Flo to live,   "Rose spoke of the view and the pleasant rooms.   Flo looked angry; her face darkened and she stuck out her lip.   Rose handed her a mobile she had bought for 50 cents in the County Home crafts centre.... Stick it up your arse, said Flo" (Oates 151).   The reader sees no affection between the two.   In fact, the tone of the story illustrates a lack of acceptance and even disappointment by Flo and shows that there has always been a distance between the two. The title is derived from a patient Rose met at the nursing home whose only communication was spelling words.   After meeting this patient, Rose dreamed that Flo was in a cage and spelling words like the old patient she met in the nursing home.   Rose tells Flo about her visit to the nursing home and is obviously trying to influence Flo into going to the home.   Flo is suffering from some sort of dementia, perhaps Alzheimer's.  Ã‚   In this story the author doesn't tell the characters ages, Rose's occupation,   and other information necessary to develop a clear picture.   Instead, Munro makes the reader use more of ones imagination in developing the story.   Although Munro is not explicit, the story is about an unhappy relationship between a daughter and mother. In the story the narrator flashes back to a time in Rose's career when she was in a play with her breast exposed.   Flo showed her displeasure by writing her a letter that said "shame" and adding that if her father was not already dead, he would wish that he was (Oates 154).   Yet, the reader feels that Rose is still trying to earn her mother's respect and   love.

Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) Essay

Due to Bangladesh’s extreme vulnerability to climate related impacts, adaptation is necessary for the political and economic survival of the country (Ali, 1999; Sajjaduzzaman et al, 2005). Since developing countries have been historically less responsible for the emissions that cause climate change, it is the responsibility of developed countries to finance the cost of adaptation in addition to development aid commitments (Article 4.4 UNFCCC, 1992). To this end, the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides support for adaptation under a global governance system, and has made National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA) a requirement for all Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in order to provide the space for participatory approaches and community-level inputs in adaptation policy-making (Ayers et al, 2009). Here, the rationale is that the impacts of climate change are experienced locally, so adaptation programs need to be formulated and implemented at the local level (Ayers 2011). The Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) affirms that â€Å"†¦ early engagement of people at the grassroots level will be important in ensuring successful implementation of NAPA initiatives† (LEG, 2002:2). The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), together with the United Nations Development Program and the Global Environment Facility, has provided funding for its highest priority NAPA project: a $10.8 billion Coastal Afforestation project (20102013) which aims to reduce â€Å"†¦ climate  change hazards through coastal afforestation with community participation† in the coastal districts of Barguna and Patuakhali (Western Region), Chittagong (Eastern Region), Bhola, and Noakhali (Central Region) (Figure 1) (Ministry Of Environment and Forestry (MOEF, 2005:24). Bangladesh is  one of the first countries to implement a community-based adaptation (CBA) project as part of its NAPA, and intends on using this project as a template for other vulnerable regions in Bangladesh (MOEF, 2008). Before this project is used as a template, it is important to analyse its effectiveness. This report will explore the role of the UNFCCC’s NAPA scheme in supporting or hindering a participatory approach to adaptation in Bangladesh’s CBA coastal afforestation project. Specifically, the focus question will be whether the coastal afforestation project is effective in facilitating adaptation at the grassroots level. BACKGROUND The Bangladesh NAPA identifies coastal communities as being the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and proposes 15 projects that would meet their â€Å"urgent and immediate adaptation needs† (MOEF, 2005:4). The vulnerability of coastal communities in Bangladesh is also emphasised in the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001). Coastal zones are the highest priority sector in the NAPA due to the importance of the economic resources being affected, the urgency, severity and certainty of severe climate change impacts, and because coastal areas comprise 32% of the countries land space, with over 35 million people living just 1m above sea level (Agrawala et al, 2003). Bangladesh’s flat deltaic topography with low elevation and its geographical location that sits at the intersection of three river basins puts it at risk of flooding and tidal inundation, droughts, tropical cyclones and storm surges (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). In addition, Bangladesh is exposed to impacts from the melting of the Indian and Himalayan glaciers (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). These factors combined mean that every area in Bangladesh is prone to four types of floods- flash floods, riverine floods, rain floods, and storm surge floods (Figure 2) (Mirza, 2002). Furthermore, all sectors and regions of  Bangladesh are vulnerable the impacts of climate change (Figure 3) (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). The sites for the coastal afforestation project were selected based on their extreme vulnerability to climate change impacts (MOEF 2008). METHODOLOGY Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social and economic systems in response to the impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2007). Whereas adaptive capacity is the ability of a system to adjust to the impacts of climate change- to moderate potential damages, take advantage of opportunities, or cope with the consequences, resilience goes further to include the degree the system is capable of selforganisation, and able to learn and adapt to changes (Folke, 2006; Jerneck and Olsen, 2008; Magis, 2010). For this reason, a resilience framework with the following criteria will be used to analyse the effectiveness of the coastal afforestation project: Diversity in adaptation approaches involving a mix of technological, ecosystem based, governance and behavioural adaptation approaches. Effective governance and institutions that are seen as legitimate are critical for delivering sustainable adaptation outcomes (Bahadur et al, 2013). This is because they can facilitate learning and â€Å"experiment in safe ways, monitor results, update assessments, and modify policy as new  knowledge is gained† (Carpenter et al, 2001:778). Preparedness and planning requires relevant and timely information, and integration with existing institutional processes (Bahadur et al, 2013). An acceptance of uncertainty and change at all scales- individual, organisational and systemic- to adjust adaptation actions to changing circumstances so that co-benefits can be realised and perverse outcomes avoided (Bahadur et al, 2013). The level of community involvement and ownership is essential as to ensuring projects reach the most vulnerable (Bahadur et al, 2013). This is a key factor in reducing vulnerability to climate change under CBA (Pouliotte et al, 2009). Mainstreaming climate change into development planning to achieve climate resilient development is necessary for reducing vulnerability to climate change (Bahadur et al, 2013:55). COMPARISON The NAPA project demonstrates systems thinking by a willingness to learn from past policy mistakes. The Forestry Department has adopted a more participatory approach to forest management due to criticisms that past projects resulted in overharvesting and overgrazing due to a lack of community ownership over coastal mangroves (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). Since the1980s, rising poverty and population growth combined with an  absence of land-use policies has resulted in a loss of over 40,000 ha of forests along the eastern and central coasts of Bangladesh due to clearing for agriculture, shrimp farming, salt pan and settlements (MOEF, 2008). The project document reviews these past issues and has put in place measures for livelihood diversification so that natural resources are not exploited (MOEF, 2008). The project aims to diversify livelihoods through its â€Å"triple f† model of â€Å"Forest, Fish, and Food†, which integrates aquaculture and food production within the afforested and reforested plantations so that community income sources are diversified (Sovacool et al, 2012). The FFF model currently focuses on drought and flood resistance fruit and vegetable crops. Through a combination of agriculture, fishing and producing palm oil the project has so far provided an income stream for 1,150 families and community training on nursery and plantation management to 12,200 coastal people (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). However, as one local states, â€Å"we have developed saline tolerant crop varieties but the concentration of salinity is going up. We cant keep on producing crops when land is flooded and water salty†¦ Adaptation has its limits† (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011: 860). Evidently, the FFF model fails to encourage a diversity of livelihood options, and thus equip locals with the adaptive capacity to adjust adaptation actions to changing circumstances. By contrast, an NGO in the village of Subarnabad- the Institute of Development Education for Advancement of Landless (IDEAL)- has implemented a CBA project that allows the community to choose their own livelihood options (Figure 5), thus giving them full ownership and providing a range of options so that they can adjust their income streams if circumstances change. The climate impacts emphasised by the NAPA project correlate with community responses recorded in an independent household survey in one of the target sites, the Noakhali village (Figure 4) (Ayers, 2011). However, the adaptation options listed by respondents focused on addressing systemic issues like lack of access to  government services and NGOs, high poverty rates, low social mobilisation, low literacy rates and insecure land tenure (Ayers, 2011). Coastal afforestation was never raised as a priority adaptation option (Ayers,  2011). The project has sponsored 6000ha of community-based mangrove plantations, 500ha of non-mangrove mount plantations, 220ha of dykes, 1000km of embankments, and building sea gates to prevent salt water intrusion into rivers (Sovacool et al, 2012). These initiatives reveal the project’s focus on reducing the physical exposure to climate change impacts (Ayers, 2011). However, respondents in Noakhali framed risk in terms of addressing development issues that cause vulnerabilities to climate change impacts in the first place (Ayers, 2011). One example is the project’s introduction of early warning information and disaster preparedness systems in 20 of the most vulnerable towns (MOEF, 2008). In discussions about the risks of cyclones and storms with fishermen in Noakhali, they revealed that information provision was not the problem- radios had already been provided by a local Red Crescent program, but financial pressure to pay back the loans meant that fisherman would ignore the bad weather warnings (Ayers, 2011). Therefore the preferable adaptation option here would be putting in place a better micro-credit system. This case illustrates the importance of addressing the underlying issues that expose vulnerable groups to climate change impacts. It also shows that a lack of coordination between government and existing institutions can waste funding and exacerbate vulnerabilities. Therefore, community involvement in identifying vulnerabilities and adaptation responses is essential to building resilience on the ground. DISCUSSION A lack of community involvement and ownership over the implementation of the project can be attributed to the NAPA preparation process. The process involved consultation with local level stakeholders- representatives from local government, local NGOs, farmers and women- through regional consultation workshops (Ayers, 2011). However, power dynamics within communities meant that politically powerful stakeholders dominated the discussions to the exclusion of less powerful stakeholders- basically, the most vulnerable were not involved in the NAPA preparation process (Ayers, 2011). Furthermore, the participation of local stakeholders focused on prioritising pre-identified adaptation options (Ayers, 2011). This ‘top down’ approach combined with the framing of ‘risks’ as climate  change impacts rather than vulnerabilities explains why the adaptation options in the NAPA conflict with those prioritised by the targeted communities (Ayers, 2011). This is due to a global framework of adaptation that â€Å"†¦ casts adaptation as a response to the ‘additional’ impacts of climate change†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"rather than the factors that make people vulnerable to these changes (which are often closely connected to existing development needs and problems)† (Ayers, 2011:63). The LEG (2002) guidelines stress the importance of â€Å"bottom-up, participatory approaches† (2) to adaptation and the NAPA project emphasises â€Å"the participation of men and women at the grassroots- level†(MOEF, 2008:22), so what institutional approach is needed to meet these ends? Ayers et al (2009) suggest reframing the adaptation discourse under the UNFCCC in terms of vulnerability instead of impacts, as this would allow vulnerable communities to identify, prioritise and implement climate resilient development activities and thus operationalize CBA. CBA requires an engagement with local institutional structures-be it public, private or civil societyfrom the beginning of the NAPA development process- to ascertain which institutions or features of institutions are needed for climate resilient development in that particular context (Ayers et al, 2010).  In practise, this means more coordination between the government of Bangladesh and local institutions to develo p mechanisms for mainstreaming climate resilient development. Opportunities for collaboration already exist in Bangladesh, but need to be harnessed. For example, the NGO IDEAL has successfully implemented CBA in the South-Western village of Subarnabad by providing training and technical support as well as access to loans and a savings bank to adopt new livelihoods strategies of their choosing to suit their situation (Pouliotte, 2009) (Figure 5). In turn, this has had a mobilising effect on the community, which can be seen in the strategies being employed without the help of the NGO- by learning from neighbours and building networks (Pouliotte, 2009). The effect of this project in reducing vulnerabilities by diversifying livelihood options shows that climate change adaptation activities need to be built into community driven development programs. Another NGO in Bangladesh, The Arsenic Mitigation and Research Foundation (AMRF), has facilitated the establishment of ‘Village Committees’ made up of women in arsenic-affected  villages who collect 3 Dhakas from each resident per month and lobby local government for funding to not only operate and maintain the deep tube wells, but also encourage activities in other sectors like education, sanitation, and village infrastructure (Rammelt et al, 2011). These committees have the funding, lobbying power, and legitimacy to potentially carry out climate resilience development programs as well. A barrier for LDCs to mainstreaming climate change into development planning is the funding issue of ‘additionality’. This is why deepening community involvement through community-based organisations- in collaboration with government- is the institutional approach needed to carry out climate resilient development. CONCLUSION Although the NAPA project in Bangladesh reflects community perceptions on the impacts of climate change, vulnerable communities were given little opportunity to identify and address the underlying development issues that cause vulnerability to such impacts (Ayers, 2011). This exposes the problem with facilitating CBA within the confines of impacts-based adaptation policy-making under the UNFCCC. Therefore a new framework is needed that defines adaptation more broadly; that addresses the drivers of vulnerability, and recognises that â€Å"development is risk management†Ã‚  (Commission on Climate Change and Development, 2009: 9). APPENDIX Figure 1 Source: MOEF 2008:4 Figure 2 Source: Mirza et al, 2003:48 Figure 3 Source: Rawlani and Savacool, 2011:863 Figure 4 Source: Ayers, 2011:74 Figure 5 Source: Pouliotte et al, 2009:42 Reference list Ali, A (1999) Climate change impacts and adaptation assessment in Bangladesh, Climate Research, 12: 109-116 Agrawala, S, Ota, T, Ahmed, A.U, Smith, J, van Aalst, M (2003) Development and climate change in Bangladesh: focus on coastal flooding and the Sundarbans, OECD, Paris Available at: http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/21055658.pdf Accessed: 25 July, 2013 Agrawal, A (2008) The role of local institutions in adaptation to climate change, Social Development Department, World Bank, Washington, March Available at: http://www.icarus.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/agrawal- adaptation-institutions-livelihoods.pdf Accessed: 25 July, 2013 Ayers, J (2011) Resolving the adaptation paradox: exploring the potential for deliberative policy-making in Bangladesh, Global Environmental Politics, 11(1): 62-89 Ayers, J, Dodman, D (2010) Climate change adaptation and development: the state of the debate, Progress in Development Studies, 27 (6):161-168 Ayers, J, Huq, S (2009) Supporting adaptation through development: what role for ODA? Development Policy Review, 27 (6): 659-784 Bahadur, A.V, Ibrahim, M, Tanner, T (2013) Characterizing resilience: unpacking the concept for tackling climate change and development, Climate and Development, 5 (1):55-65 Commission on Climate Change and Development (2009) The human dimension of climate adaptation: the importance of local and institutional issues, April Available at: http://www.ccdcommission.org/Filer/report/HUMAN_DIMENSIONS.pdf Accessed: 26 July, 2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007b, Australia and New Zealand. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. 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Child Labour Should Be Banned Essay

For many of us it is hard to imagine what it would be like growing up, having to work from the age of five and not being able to go to school. ‘Child Labour’ is defined by the United States Department of Labour (DOL) as ‘the employment of boys and girls when they are too young to work for hire; or when they are employed at jobs unsuitable or unsafe for children of their ages’ It is not something we are too familiar with ourselves, living in a wealthy country, but the fact is that there are many Third World countries out there where the economy and living conditions are so bad that children have to work in unsuitable and unsafe situations. There are certain charities that help, but that it is. Not enough is being done to stop child labour. It is very wrong and should be banned thought out the world and looked at as a disgrace. Figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that 218 million children aged between five and seventeen are involved in child labour worldwide. That means globally one in six children work. This is an extremely large number. Around 150 million of the 218 million are involved in what is know as ‘worst forms’ of child labour, which include work such as forced labour, slavery and sexual exploitation. Many are forced to work without access to the toilet or drinking facilities – this is against human rights. Child labour of course is different through out the world. Financial it may be necessary for a family to send their children to work to then be able to get food. Sometimes it can even be a situation of life and death if a child in a family does not work. Other times it may be in the families’ ethic work where the children have to help. Either way, it is not good enough. Children should not have to work.