Browsing by Autor "Walter Leal Filho"

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A Comparative Analysis of Climate-Risk and Extreme Event-Related Impacts on Well-Being and Health: Policy Implications
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2018) Walter Leal Filho; Abul Quasem Al‐Amin; Gustavo J. Nagy; Ulisses M. Azeiteiro; Laura Wiesböck; Desalegn Yayeh Ayal; E. Morgan; Paschal Arsein Mugabe; Marilyn Aparicio-Effen; Hubert Fudjumdjum
There are various climate risks that are caused or influenced by climate change. They are known to have a wide range of physical, economic, environmental and social impacts. Apart from damages to the physical environment, many climate risks (climate variability, extreme events and climate-related hazards) are associated with a variety of impacts on human well-being, health, and life-supporting systems. These vary from boosting the proliferation of vectors of diseases (e.g., mosquitos), to mental problems triggered by damage to properties and infrastructure. There is a great variety of literature about the strong links between climate change and health, while there is relatively less literature that specifically examines the health impacts of climate risks and extreme events. This paper is an attempt to address this knowledge gap, by compiling eight examples from a set of industrialised and developing countries, where such interactions are described. The policy implications of these phenomena and the lessons learned from the examples provided are summarised. Some suggestions as to how to avert the potential and real health impacts of climate risks are made, hence assisting efforts to adapt to a problem whose impacts affect millions of people around the world. All the examples studied show some degree of vulnerability to climate risks regardless of their socioeconomic status and need to increase resilience against extreme events.
An assessment of the potential and barriers for the diffusion of renewable energy technologies in Bolivia
(Inderscience Publishers, 2012) Lea Franziska Buch; Walter Leal Filho
It is recognised that renewable energies have an important role in sustainable development, especially in developing countries, ranging from climate change mitigation to the provision of energy for poor people in remote rural areas. Latin America is lagging behind in the deployment of renewable energy technologies, in spite of its great natural potential and needs of rural electrification. This paper analyses the potentials and the barriers for the diffusion of renewable energy technologies in Bolivia, one of the poorest countries of Latin America. Firstly, a framework is developed from the literature that delineates the main factors which characterise renewable energy technology diffusion in developing countries. Secondly, this framework is applied to the specific situation of Bolivia by assessing existing studies and drawing upon expert interviews. The key findings show that a huge potential of natural resources, especially for the use of solar energy and hydro power, is confronted with a series of barriers for the dissemination of these technologies.