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Of the 141 economies studied in Women, Business and the Law 2012: Removing Barriers to Economic Inclusion, 103 impose at least one legal difference on the basis of gender. Economies with greater legal differentiation between men and women continue to have, on average, lower female participation in the formal labor force. UN Women informs us that “women perform 66 percent of the world’s…

Since the publication of the Report of the Brundtland Commission (Our Common Future) in 1987, and the consequent Earth Summit on sustainable development, global attention on natural resource scarcity and degradation has been increasing, because of climate change and rising food and energy prices. This awareness, in turn, has led to growing interest in land investments by the private and public…

Not only will droughts be longer and more intense in such regions, but new areas will also suffer from drought. The IPCC also reports that drying is evident in new regions, such as the sub-humid areas of Southern Africa. It suggests a 90 percent probability these developments will take place, implying a need for effective adaptation measures in dryland communities. Over the years,…

Asia and the Pacific, for the purposes of this book, encompasses a vast territory extending from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south; from the Cook Islands in the east to Kuwait in the west (Map 1). The environmental diversity of Asia and the Pacific is therefore vast, and is contrasted by the region’s coldest and hottest deserts, verdant tropical rainforests, extensive steppe,…

Dryland mountains are among the least-known environments in the world, and certainly one of the most overlooked by decision- and policy-makers. Dryland mountains have an outstanding strategic value. They act as water towers for surrounding dry lowland areas, as shown by the examples of the Rocky Mountains of North America, the Central Andes, the mountains of the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara…

Land is defined as a system engaged in generating biological productivity. It is the earth’s infrastructure for life. The rate and quality of production generated from the land depends on its major components, soil and its fertility. Soil organic matter, derived from the vegetation supported by a particular soil, is the major component that controls soil fertility. Land and soil not only support…