Fighting the tide

This post by Kathleen Dominique from the OECD Environment Directorate is part of the Wikiprogress series on 'Water' and the 'Environment'. 

Preparing for the water-related impacts of climate change

Headlines of record‑breaking water-related disasters around the world – whether flood or drought – are a sign of things to come. As Lord Stern recently warned, the extreme weather events witnessed in many parts of the world reflect “a pattern of global change that it would be very unwise to ignore”. Recently, the UK and French floods have been in the news, but flooding is just one type of natural disaster and in fact, if you look at 2012 data from Munich Re, floods account for less than 13% of economic losses from natural hazards compared to 59% for storms and 16% for forest fires and droughts – hence the need to think broadly about water security.

© Dachalan, 2007

Water-related impacts are one of the main ways that we are seeing and feeling the effects of climate change. We can expect more torrential rains, floods and droughts in many areas. Events that were once considered “exceptional circumstances” are now becoming commonplace.

The cost of impacts of these events can be substantial and are set to rise in the future. According to data gathered in a recent OECD survey on water and climate change adaptation, flood risk is projected to increase significantly across the UK. Annual damage to UK properties due to flooding from rivers and the sea currently totals around GBP 1.3 billion. For England and Wales alone, the figure is projected to rise to between GBP 2.1 billion and GBP 12 billion by the 2080s, based on future population growth and if no adaptive action is taken.

A recent OECD review of actions governments are taking to prepare for water-related impacts of climate change found that nearly all OECD countries ranked extreme events (floods and droughts) among their primary concerns. This comprehensive review of policies for water and climate change adaptation is one way that the OECD has been tracking progress on preparing for a more risky and more uncertain future.

At the OECD, we recommend governments undertake a robust assessment of risks – and that’s somewhere we’re seeing progress. In fact, it’s one of the most active areas of climate change adaptation in OECD countries. This is positive – but this evidence base then needs to spur action. Governments need to determine what is an “acceptable level” of risk by balancing the benefits and costs of taking pre-emptive action. On the one hand, nobody wants to have their property flooded, but on the other, completely eliminating flood risk is often not possible and a high-level of protection is very costly. Once an acceptable level of risk has been set, governments need to explore the options open to them, and that includes sharing responsibility between the public and private sectors when investing in infrastructure, devising insurance schemes, as well as in emergency response.  

As we expect to see more severe weather events around the world, we need to understand that anticipation can avoid future costs. For example, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre estimates that EUR 1 invested in flood protection can result in EUR 6 of avoided damage costs. Investments in early warning systems and emergency preparedness have significantly reduced casualties in Hurricane-prone countries. Austria and Germany made smart investments in flood defences after floods in 2002, and that served them well when water levels rose again last year.

However, sometimes avoiding risks altogether is cheaper than building infrastructure to protect against them. Protection measures are not only about building hard infrastructure but we can use innovative architecture and landscape solutions – such as “green roofs”, “blue belts” or restored wetlands – so that nature is part of the solution.

That said, since we can’t predict the exact timing or magnitude of weather events, it’s very hard to get the timing and investment level right when taking preventative action. At a time when many governments are working under tight budget constraints, it’s even more vital that investments are well-thought out. The most cost-effective approaches to climate change adaptation are the most flexible and forward-looking ones, and the OECD has recommended a range of policy tools and investment approaches. This includes infrastructure design and financing techniques that can be scaled up or down over time, as needed. 

To see what OECD countries are doing to help prepare, check out www.oecd.org/env/resources/waterandclimatechange.htm

How much does violence cost?

This blog, written by Philippa Lysaght with the Institute for Economics and Peace, is about a new report on the international costs of global violence. It is part of the Wikiprogress series on Peace.

The international cost of violence containment has surpassed the combined GDPs of Germany and Japan.

The Economic Cost of Violence Containment, the latest report from the Institute for Economics and Peace, calculates the cost of violence in over 150 countries according to 13 types of violence related spending.

The research shows that violence containment, which is understood as any economic activity related to the prevention or consequences of violence, has a global economic impact of US$9.56 trillion.

To put this in perspective, violence containment is equal to US$1,300 for every person on the planet every year and is almost double the size of the world’s agriculture industry.

Violence containment spending is over 2.4 times the size of the total GDP of Africa. 

 

While some spending on violence containment is necessary, the less a nation spends on violence-related functions, the more resources can be allocated to other more productive areas, such as education and health, which benefit not only the wellbeing of a society, but also the economy.

Reducing violence containment spending and investing in the underlying institutions that encourage peace and wellbeing, creates more peaceful and economically prosperous societies. 

The aim of this research is to help understand the full costs of conflict and to ultimately allow for better targeting of development assistance.

To find out more about violence containment spending, and to see how much each country spends, download the report here (PDF).

- Philippa Lysaght, Institute for Economics and Peace

See Also:

The Global Peace Index
Pillars of Peace
Global Peace Index Report 2012
United Kingdom Peace Index
Mexico Peace Index
United States Peace Index
Peace, Wealth and Human Potential

 

Women in Science – Explore the Data for Countries Worldwide

This blog, by UNESCO's Institute for Statistics (UIS) is about a new tool which presents cross-country data regarding women working in science-oriented careers. The post is part of Wikiprogress and Wikigender's contribution to tomorrow's International Women's Day.

Just 30% of the world’s researchers are women. While a growing number of women are enrolling in university, many opt out at the highest levels required for a research career. But a closer look at the data reveals some surprising exceptions. For example, in Myanmar and Bolivia, women account for 86% and 63% respectively of scientists, compared to France with a rate of 26% or Ethiopia at 8%.

Women in Science – a new interactive tool – presents the latest available data for countries at all stages of development. Produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the tool lets you explore and visualize gender gaps in the pipeline leading to a research career, from the decision to get a doctorate degree to the fields of research women pursue and the sectors in which they work.

In Sweden, for example, women form the majority (60%) of students enrolled in a Bachelor’s programme, but their numbers decline as they move up the education ladder, accounting for 49% of doctoral students and only 36% of researchers. The data tool reveals this trend across every region, highlighting the conflict that many women face as they try to reconcile career ambitions with family-caring responsibilities.

Women researchers also tend to work in the academic and government sectors, while men dominate the private sector which offers better salaries and opportunities. This is the case even in countries with high shares of women scientists. In Argentina, for example, 52% of researchers are women. However, they account for only 29% of researchers employed in the private sector.

Perhaps most importantly, the data tool shows just how important it is to encourage girls to pursue mathematics and science at a young age. In every region, women researchers remain the minority in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In the Republic of Korea, for example, only 17% of researchers are women and they account for just 9% of those working in the field of engineering and technology.

By highlighting trends in different regions and countries, this tool provides a unique view on International Women’s Day (8 March). It is particularly useful for those interested in a global perspective on the gender gap in research, especially in the STEM fields. Available in English, French and Spanish, it can be easily embedded on your website, blog or social media sites.

It should be noted that this tool presents internationally comparable data produced by the Institute. This means that the indicators can be accurately compared across countries with very different contexts for women in science. Yet, due to methodological differences, data are missing for countries such as the United States or Canada. In addition, data are also missing for some developing countries that do not have the resources to collect or report R&D data. The Institute seeks to work with all countries to improve the availability of accurate data that can be compared internationally.

This post first appeared on UNESCO's Science, Technology and Innovation page, here.

See Also:
Women in Science
Women in Science Data Tool
International Women's Day (article)
OECD celebrates International Women's Day
Women in Science International League
Women in Bio-Technology
UNESCO

 

 

 

What’s at the root of women’s absence in STEM occupations?

This blog was written by Marilyn Achiron, the editor for the OECD's Directorate for Education and Skills. Despite genuine and enormous progress in education and the labour force over the past few decades, women are still under-represented in the fields of technology, mathematics and science and in high-wage occupations. Why? This blog is part of the OECD's contribution to celebrate International Women's Day.

If you sift through all the education data the OECD has produced over the past year, you’ll come up with decidedly mixed results when it comes to women’s (and girls’) progress. Education at a Glance 2013 told us that gender gaps in educational attainment are not only narrowing, but are, in some cases, reversing, and that women are now more likely than men to enter and complete a university-level programme. Results from the first Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), found that gender differences in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) have narrowed considerably among 16-24 year-olds, and that, among younger adults, there is, on average, no gender difference in proficiency in numeracy or literacy. In fact, in those countries where there is a difference between young men’s and young women’s levels of literacy, it is young women who score higher.

So, given these data, we have reason to be optimistic.

Unfortunately, this is only part of the story; there are also some other data to consider: Education at a Glance revealed that, among tertiary-educated adults, women still earn less than men (only in Austria, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, Slovenia and Spain do the earnings of tertiary-educated women amount to 75% or more of men’s earnings; in Brazil, Chile and Estonia, university-educated women earn 65% or less of what similarly educated men earn). What might explain these gender-related disparities in pay?

As the publication also reported, women are still less likely than men to work full time; and 15-29 year-old women are twice as likely as men the same age to be neither in the labour force nor looking for a job. Meanwhile, the Survey of Adult Skills found that in all countries that participated in the survey, similar proportions of men (36%) as women (32%) are proficient in using ICTs. But the survey also found that in 15 of 23 participating countries, men use ICT at work significantly more often than women do – and that the extent to which problem-solving skills are used at work accounts for nearly half the gender gap in wages.

One of the most troubling of findings comes from the PISA 2012 survey of 15-year-old students. Based on information gathered from students through questionnaires, PISA found that, even among the highest-achieving girls (many of whom perform just as well as boys in mathematics), girls have self-sabotaging attitudes towards mathematics. They are more likely to feel anxious towards mathematics, and have less confidence in their own mathematical skills and in their ability to solve mathematics problems than boys.

These attitudes have repercussions later on, as can be seen in other data from Education at a Glance. That publication reports that, in 2011, an average of only 14% of women entering university-level education enrolled in science-related fields (which include science and engineering) or in manufacturing and construction, compared to 39% of men who entered this level of education in these fields. If so few women aim for the so-called STEM professions (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), there will continue to be few role models in these fields for young girls to emulate, and the cycle will simply perpetuate itself.

What all these data, combined, tell us is that we have no reason to be complacent. The gender gap in students’ self-beliefs about their abilities in mathematics has remained stable in most countries since 2003. In the short term, changing these mindsets may require making mathematics more interesting to girls, identifying and eliminating gender stereotypes in textbooks, promoting female role models, and using learning materials that appeal to girls. Over the longer term, shrinking the gender gap in mathematics performance will require the concerted effort of parents, teachers and society, as a whole, to change the clichéd notions of what boys and girls excel at, what they enjoy doing, and what they believe they can achieve.

Girls and women have made genuine and enormous gains in education and in the labour force over the past half century; but as long as girls continue to tell themselves that they’re no good at math – or science or engineering or any other subject where men have traditionally dominated – even in the face of hard evidence to the contrary, then we’re still losing half of our talent to the destructive power of stereotypes.

- Marilyn Achiron

For related blogs on education see the OECD's educationtoday blog.


See Also:
Education at a Glance 2012
Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship
Education
Education and Skills Category
 

Cannabis Use among Adolescents in Europe, 2002-2010: Overall Decrease, but Increasing Inequalities

This blog, written ­by Dr. Margaretha de Looze (researcher and lecturer at Utrecht University, the Netherlands), discusses HBSC's study on cannabis use among adolescents in Europe. The post is part of the Wikichild series on Adolescent health, examining cross-national changes in frequent adolescent cannabis use (40+ times consumed over life-time at age 15) over time and relating these trends to societal wealth, family affluence and gender.

Cannabis use among adolescents in wealthy European countries is decreasing, while in poorer European countries it is on the rise. In particular, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and FYR Macedonia experienced increased cannabis consumption amongst adolescents between 2002 and 2010. These findings come from a recent publication by members of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study and research network.

Decrease in wealthy countries

 

This analysis, from 14 members of the international WHO collaborative study, looked at trends over time in frequent adolescent cannabis use (40+ times consumed over lifetime at age 15) in 2002, 2006 and 2010. We found that frequent cannabis use has decreased among adolescents in the more affluent western and southern European and North American countries. In some of these countries, the decreases were dramatic. For example, in 2010, frequent cannabis use among German boys decreased from 6.6% in 2002 to 1.2%, and  among Dutch girls it decreased from 4.1% in 2002 to 1.5%.  

This decline in frequent cannabis use in the wealthier countries of Europe is consistent with a general decrease in a range of other risk behaviours among these young people. In many of these countries, adolescent tobacco use, alcohol consumption, sexual risk behaviors and fighting have also declined.

How can this decline in adolescent risk behaviours be explained? One possible answer lies in substance use policies. Legislations to limit underage access and to restrict illicit substance use in general are enforced in all Western countries, with stricter substance use prevention policies coming into action in recent years. Additionally, a stronger focus on educating young people on the harmful effects of substance use has changed social norms leading to lower tolerance and acceptance of substance use among teenagers. 

Increase in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and FYR Macedonia

 

In contrast to Western European countries, frequent cannabis use stabilized or increased between 2002 and 2010 in the poorer Eastern European countries. For example, frequent cannabis use among boys in Latvia increased from 1.1% to 3.3%, with Russian girls showing an increase from 0.2% to 0.8%. 

Although the rates in these countries are still lower than those in Western Europe, the increasing trends over time are steady - and thus alarming. Adolescents from less affluent countries seem to be adopting consumption patterns consistent with their peers in richer countries. 

The growing wealth of Eastern European countries appears to have fostered adolescent substance use due to the increased availability of substances and the emergence of a flourishing youth culture. However, this apparent effect of national wealth seems to have leveled off in Western European countries, potentially due to the implementation of stricter cannabis use policies.

Importantly, adolescent cannabis use appears not only to have ‘trickled down’ from richer to developing countries, but also from more affluent to less affluent youth within countries. While cannabis consumption emerged as a central component of the ‘Bohemian’ ideals of the 1960’s and 1970’s and was first popularized by middle class youth, it now appears to have spread to the youth population of a lower socioeconomic status.

Girls do not catch up with boys

While one might have expected that gender differences would narrow between 2002 and 2010, as a result of girls’ and women’s continuing liberation, cannabis use has actually become (even) more characteristic of males during this period. This rather surprising finding might be explained by the de-normalization of cannabis use over the past decade. While cannabis use was widespread and quite ‘normalized’ among well-adjusted, non-risk-taking young people at the end of the 20th century, the recent declining rates may have changed young people’s perception of cannabis use as de-normalized and highly risky behaviour. As risk-taking increases social status among boys but less so for girls, it may be easier for boys to remain part of a cannabis-using scene.

Although it is reassuring that, overall, cannabis use has decreased for both genders, male adolescents have always been, and remain, at higher risk for excessive use, dependence and associated health problems.

What next?

Future studies should closely monitor tendencies for ‘trickle down’ and ‘de-normalization’ effects in frequent cannabis use as fundamental indicators of substance use and health in adolescent populations. Currently, data for the new HBSC cycle are being collected in more than 40 countries in Europe and North America. Within a year, we will be able to conclude whether the observed trends have continued into 2014

The HBSC Study

The HBSC research network is an alliance of researchers who collaborate to collect data on the health, well-being, health behaviours, social environments and economic contexts of adolescents. The HBSC study is currently conducted in 44 countries across Europe and North America, and the network includes over 450 experts from a wide range of disciplines. Members of the HBSC network collaborate to develop a standardized questionnaire, which is used to survey nationally representative samples of school-aged children in each participating country.
HBSC's research themes currently include: chronic conditions, eating and dieting, electronic media, family culture, gender, medicine-use, peer culture, physical activity, positive health, puberty, risk behaviours, school, sexual health, social inequality, and violence and injuries. 

- Dr. Margaretha de Looze
Researcher and lecturer at Utrecht University, the Netherlands 

For more information visit www.hbsc.org 

See also:
- Injury Among Young Canadians: A national study of contextual determinants
- Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children
- Adolescence

Open Data Day - get involved!

Save the date: Saturday 22 February is Open Data Day!

This post is part of the Wikiprogress series on Data and Statistics in the lead up to Open Data Day on 22 February."

Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and distributed by anyone, only subject to (at the most) the requirement that users attribute the data and that they make their work available to be shared as well.

Hosted and supported by the Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Data Day Hackathon is an annual day where people around the world celebrate open data by hacking, holding forums, analysing data and hosting workshops. Going on since 2010, the event aims at raising awareness for the open data debate by showing support for and encouraging the adoption of open data policies by the world's local, regional and national governments.

How does it work?

Be it online or in person, if you’re interested in taking part in the activities of the Open Data Day you just have to go to the wiki page, register your event and tag it onto the world map. The organisers are centralising the local initiatives for each city, so people can boost the sharing ideas experience. 

Rules of the game 

Events for the day can be of many kinds, they have only to follow these principles set by the organizers:

•  Events should happen on the same day  (This year it´ll be happening on the 22^nd February)
• Events should be open, inclusive and welcome diversity (epistemic, geographic, socio-demographic, of language and gender)
•  Anyone can organise a local event  (the person just has to add its name to the relevant city on the wiki list)
•  People can hack on anything that involves open data (it could be a local or global app, a visualisation, proposing a standard for common data sets, scraping data from a government website to make it available for others or even creating your own data catalogue of government data)
• People are invited to share ideas and experiences  (each event should come up with at least one demo, brainstorm, proposal, to share online with the Open Data Day crowd)
• Virtual party!

For more info visit

http://blog.okfn.org/2013/12/12/planning-your-open-data-day-2014/#

Ivy Brasil