INTEGRATING PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL EXPENDITURE WITHIN MUTI-YEAR BUDGETARY FRAMEWORKS

OECD Environment Working Paper 7
Medium-term approaches to budgeting are now common in OECD countries and are being adopted increasingly by developing countries. This reflects a realisation that the annual approach to budget making actually undermines budgetary performance, contributing to fiscal instability and, perhaps even more fundamentally, to resource misallocation and the inefficient and ineffective use of resources. Government agencies with responsibilities for environmental and natural resource management who struggle to prepare medium-term budgets may find
this analysis useful.

Source: OECD ENV/WKP(2009)2
Please contact the library for a copy of this paper.

Sustainable farm research 'under threat'

Sustainable farming research in Australia is facing a lack of strategic leadership, say experts. Dr John Williams of the Wentworth Group of Scientists was commenting on the planned closure of Land and Water Australia (LWA) announced in last week's Federal Budget. Williams says he has been unable to find any reference in the budget to replace the leadership role played by LWA. "I don't believe [the closure of LWA] has been thought through," says Williams, who is head of the Natural Resources Commission of New South Wales. LWA was set up in 1990 to integrate public good research into farming research. At a cost of $13 million a year, it oversees and funds research programs including those on dryland salinity, pesticide contamination and nutrient run-off.

Source: ABC Environment News in Science

What role should local museums have in remembering events like the Victorian bushfires?

Ian McShane
In a powerful passage in his report on the 1939 Black Friday bushfires in Victoria, Royal Commissioner Leonard Stretton highlighted the failure of public memory to convey the threat posed on that day.

Source: Inside Story

Road Planners Display Blind Spot for Oncoming Generation of Older Drivers

Source: AARP Policy & Research
Two-thirds of transportation planners and engineers have yet to begin addressing older people in their street planning; yet by 2025, 64 million people will be over age 65 according to census projections and by 2030 a quarter of all U.S. drivers will be 65+. This is the alarm raised by “Planning Complete Streets for the Aging of America” a major new report on roadway safety and the aging of the American population from AARP’s Public Policy Institute.

Source: Docuticker

Arts sponsorship outlook survey 2009

The global financial crisis will impact on corporate sponsorship of the arts, with 49 per cent of companies stating that they expect to decrease their arts sponsorships over the next 12 months. But the picture is not all bleak.

Source: Australian Policy Online

The operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999: second report

This report focuses on the effectiveness of Regional Forest Agreements in protecting conservation values, with the majority of committee members supporting a strengthened system.

Source: Australian Policy Online

Government drought support: inquiry report

Governments need to commit to a long term reform path that recognises that the primary responsibility for managing risks, including from climate variability and change, rests with farmers, according to this report.

Source: Australian Policy Online

Urban passenger transport: how people move about in Australian cities

This information sheet analyses the trends in passenger transport in Australia's eight capital cities over the period 1977 to 2008. Although car travel continues to dominate travel in our cities, urban public transport has accounted for much of the growth in travel from 2004 to 2008.

Source: Australian Policy Online

More toxics added to 'dirty dozen' list

The UN has agreed to phase out nine more persistent chemicals widely used in farming and industry, after a meeting in Geneva. The nine pesticides and industrial chemicals join 12 substances targeted for elimination under the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

Source: ABC Latest Environmental News in Science

Commonwealth arts policy and administration

This paper attempts to give an overview of Commonwealth arts policy and administrative developments from Federation to the present day.

Source: Parliamentary Library (ACT)

State Climate Policy Tracker Reveals Progress by 33 States

Source: New America Foundation
The New America Foundation’s Climate Policy Program team today released an online tool that allows state-by-state tracking of hundreds of carbon and energy saving measures now being implemented across the country. The State Climate Policy Tracker takes the form of a single spreadsheet with one tab devoted to each state that has completed or is in the process of completing a climate action plan. A seven column matrix captures the climate actions taking place across six economic sectors, and reports on the progress of each measure, its cost or cost-saving potential, and the estimated reduction in carbon emissions expected on an annual basis.

Source: Docuticker

Who should own antiquities?

A complicated drama over property rights in ancient works of art is now playing out among museums, governments, art dealers, collectors and citizens of various countries.The meaning of ownership and property is usually self-evident. If I own something, I can control how people may access and use it. I can sell it. And so on. But what is the justification for owning a priceless object that you did not create and that has great cultural significance to many people over generations?

Source: Australian Policy Online

Dingoes may be a native's best friend

The dingo may actually help protect native rodents and marsupials from introduced predators, Australian researchers have shown. The study, published in the online version of the journal, Animal Conservation, shows the positive effect dingoes have on biodiversity. In the first field study of its kind, wildlife ecologist Dr Mike Letnic and colleagues from the University of Sydney, monitored native dusky-hopping mice (Notomys fuscus) at six locations in central Australia near Cameron's Corner.

Source: ABC News in Science

Solving the Puzzle: Researching the Impacts of Climate Change Around the World

Source: National Science Foundation (US)
NSF responds to the needs of research communities by supporting teams that include experts from multiple disciplines. NSF is unique among other government agencies with a science mission because NSF funds research, infrastructure, and education across all disciplines of science and engineering.

Source: Docuticker

Is 'Close the Gap' a useful approach?...

Kerryn Pholi, Dan Black and Craig Richards
Australian Review of Public Affairs
There is widespread enthusiasm for the Australian government's commitment to 'Close the Gap' in Indigenous disadvantage, health status and life expectancy. Yet despite the rhetoric, the pursuit of statistical equality for Indigenous Australians is not a novel or particularly promising approach.
Source: Australian Policy Online