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10:48

Existing Structures of Global Governance

This chapter is about global governance and structures to deal with complex global environmental problems. Governance is a set of complex interactions between state and non-state actors at the global level.There are several key trends to look at in global environmental governance, including the increase in international environmental agreements and the involvement of more actors. These have led to fragmentation, segmentation, and decoupled decision making, as well as increasing inter-linkages…

15:37

Aggregate Demand with Flexible Exchange Rate

In this chapter, Professor Sachs discusses international trade and how it is affected by the exchange rate, which is in turn affected by financial flows and the differences of interest rates at home and abroad. There are two ways to manage the exchange rates of a country, namely by supply and demand, or by the central bank setting the price. This is explained using the case of exchange rate of Renminbi to the US dollar, as managed by the People’s Bank of China. Countries have the right…

09:26

Introduction: The Oceans and Sustainable Development

The global ocean connects us all and provides our livelihoods, the oxygen we breathe, and transportation, among other things. The ocean is included in SDG 14. This course will try to provide a deeper understanding of the complex understanding of the ocean, environment, and climate system. Humans receive resources from the ocean, as well as risks. There will be weekly lectures on different topics, including the basic physics of ocean circulation, the ocean ecosystem, how the deep ocean works,…

07:33

The Challenge of Urban Politics, Planning and Governance, Part II

Urban politics comes down to making decisions with short, medium, and long-term impacts in a context of scarce resources between competing priorities, making planning very important. Types of planning include spatial planning, strategic planning or growth management planning, spatial literacy planning, precinct-level planning, and other intersectional types of planning. This is considered through the case study of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. Watch Part I This video is licensed…

11:17

Evolution of Environment, Peace, and Conflict Linkages

This chapter examines the evolution of understanding on the linkages between environment, conflict, and peace from World War II through to the present. It highlights developments in the security and conflict domain and in the environmental domain, and considers how they wove together, along with sustainable development. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

13:29

Aggregate Demand with Fixed Exchange Rate

This chapter begins by explaining the impact of aggregate demand in an open economy, via fixed and flexible exchange rates. In a fixed or pegged exchange rate, the central bank doesn’t allow the value of the national currency to deviate relative to foreign currencies, and will intervene in foreign markets to stabilize price. Professor Sachs explains aggregate demand through fiscal expansion or government spending, and then talks about how currencies operate when they are pegged using the…

12:19

Corruption and Global Business

Good governance is a tenet of development. When governments are corrupt, economic development and an individual's sense of well-being within the government's reach are harmed. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs addresses the corruption of government today and these two phenomena in this video. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

11:39

Aquaculture and Mariculture

Most of marine aquaculture is not sustainable and is actually taking away protein from the human population. Around 1990, the wild capture fisheries leveled off at 95 million metric tons per year while aquaculture had an almost exponential rise. Most of aquaculture is freshwater fish. Recirculating land-based systems need huge infrastructure and have a very high energy demand with a high carbon footprint. At the medium level, there are net pens for sea bass and salmon and at the low level,…

19:03

What is Biodiversity?

This lecture examines the chain reaction of threat that economic development past the planetary boundaries has had on biodiversity. This video is not available under a Creative Commons license and should not be considered open content. However, the video is freely available for viewing or sharing with individuals or groups for educational purposes, such as in a classroom, workshop, or training. Please give attribution to the SDG Academy. Content may not be used for commercial purposes.