Although the decade began with a substantially down market, the leading stock market indexes have risen significantly. For investors, this is a good time to take stock of where we are and where we want to be, and plan how best to get there. What follows are a list of practical steps that can help all of us get our fiscal act together.
Before you invest, make sure you have enough money to eat and put a roof over your head. Pay yourself first - get rid of high-cost credit card debt. But the earlier you get a start on your savings goals, the less you'll have to put away monthly to reach them. Historically, the investment that has provided the highest average rate of return over the long term has been stocks. But there are no guarantees of profits when you buy stock. Markets go up and markets go down in the short-term. That's why it is best to think long-term when considering stock market investments.
Taking Stock
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There is no better way -- over the long term -- to distribute risk than to diversify your investments. It is true that in some years, single stocks or individual sectors will outperform a diversified investment strategy, at least in the short term. But don't forget that investors who hope to gain fantastic returns by investing in a single stock or one sector have also assumed the higher risks of a more narrow investing strategy. While diversifying your investments won't bring you sky-high returns in boom times, it also means that you won't lose everything when the boom times bust.
Another way to diversify is to make sure that your retirement funds aren't all invested in your employer's stock. Even if that stock is a good long-term prospect, it is risky to have your retirement security depend in whole or in large part upon the fate of any one company.
Be honest. Do you really have the time and energy to adequately research individual stock investments? Most of us don't have the experience and expertise of Wall Street traders who read financial statements for a living. It is important to be realistic about your own time commitments. Talking to co-workers and watching TV is not good investment research! That's why many Americans begin investing not with individual stock picks, but with a broad based, low cost index fund. That way you're broadly diversified from the beginning. As you find more time and gain confidence, you'll know whether you've got the desire or interest to select individual stocks.
Before buying any stock, check out the company's financial statements on the SEC's website. All but the smallest public companies have to file financial statements with us. If the company doesn't file with us, you'll have to do a great deal of work on your own to make sure the company is legitimate and the investment appropriate for you. That's because the lack of reliable, readily available information about company finances can open the door to fraud.
Always remember that people who sell investment products make money by doing so. Which doesn't mean that they'll give you bad advice, but it does mean that you've got to take responsibility for evaluating any recommendations you get. We advise people to never rely solely on an analyst's recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, do your own research-such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC-to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for you in light of your individual financial circumstances. Don't buy any investment product you don't understand. And remember, any investment promising high returns necessarily carries a high risk that you'll lose your money.
The results are presented (unless otherwise stated) using the median estimate of all model results, and in addition presenting the 10th and 90th percentiles of these ranges. Differences in greenhouse gas emissions between scenarios (e.g., implementation gap and total emissions gaps) are calculated by first taking the difference per model and then determining the median and percentiles of the range of differences.
As presented at the first ever Middle East and North Africa Regional Climate Week in March 2022 for COP 27, the Climate Champions and Marrakesh Partnership are focused on: implementation and accelerated action, ensuring the integrity and impact of commitments and turning promises into projects, taking a holistic approach that elevates resilience to the top of our agenda and driving climate fiance to where they are needed most to ensure that climate action is inclusive, delivers a just transition and supports growth and development. We will do this through regionalizing and localizing all of these efforts and continuing to drive radical collaboration between and across sectors and between non-state actors and governments.
In recent decades, the social determinants of health (SDOH) has gained increasing prominence as a foundational concept for population and public health in academic literature and policy documents, internationally. However, alongside its widespread dissemination, and in light of multiple conceptual models, lists, and frameworks, some dilution and confusion is apparent. This scoping review represents an attempt to take stock of SDOH literature in the context of contemporary population and public health.
In recent decades, the social determinants of health (SDOH), that is the social, economic, and political conditions that influence the health of individuals and populations, has gained increasing prominence as a foundational concept to the field of population and public health (PPH). During the past 15 years, the SDOH concept has evolved to the point of being a formal component of many undergraduate and graduate training programs in PPH and related fields, and thus it is timely to take stock of the SDOH literature and identify its major themes in this context.
The list approach also presents a potential challenge for communicating the complexity of the SDOH. The SDOH represent much more than a list can convey, such as issues related to how listed SDOH intersect with one another, the social and historical nature of SDOH, or the foundational role of equity. With lists, there is also the drawback of being too inclusive or providing too much breadth to be of practical use. An overly inclusive list does not provide direction, and may direct focus to issues that are at the periphery of the SDOH, perhaps because they are or seem to be the easiest to address. However, lists do serve the needs of many authors, especially those who wish to briefly communicate pertinent elements of the SDOH to their audience. This may be especially true among grey literature publications, for example where SDOH resources are produced to inform practitioners. Academics, on the other hand, may publish as an opportunity to theoretically interrogate or expand upon the SDOH, taking a more narrative approach.
In the literature reviewed here, health equity was predominantly used when discussing the structural or societal-level changes needed to improve health. Studies also referred to health equity when making ethical claims (e.g., health equity as a normative concept, where a fair society is explicitly valued),[16] when discussing approaches to intervene on the SDOH (e.g., taking a targeted approach to intervention, that focuses on those living in disadvantaged circumstances),[115] and when discussing causes of ill health between social groups.[67]
Against this background, this paper takes stock of peer-reviewed empirical analyses of climate adaptation mainstreaming in order to (a) identify what mainstreaming practices have so far achieved and through what strategies; (b) identify what differences can be discerned between policy sectors and countries; and (c) identify the critical factors that render mainstreaming effective. A systematic literature review of existing empirical studies is carried out to assess the growing literature on adaptation mainstreaming.
Waisman H., Torres Gunfaus M., Pérez Català A., Svensson J., Bataille C., Briand Y., Aldana R., Anggreni L., Angulo-Paniagua J., Argyriou M., Benavides C., Bergamaschi L., Berghmans N., Boer R., Buira D., Bukowski M., Calderón W., D'Agosto M., de León F., Deprez A., Díaz M., Dorina A., Dubeux C., Fall S., Fei T., Filcak R., Foerster A., Garg A., Goes G. ., Gonçalvez D.., Healy C., Hosek E., J.-Vinois A., Kobyłka K., La Rovere E., Leonardi M., Levai D., Major M., Malos A., Maurtua Konstantinidis E.., McCall B., Montedonico M., Mosnier A., Nogueira E., Nyiro F., Okereke C., P.-Nguyen V., Palma R., Peterson E., Potashnikov V., Predassi J R., Pye S., Quirós-Tortós J., Rossita A., Safonov G., Safonov M., Sanz Sánchez M. J., Sarr S., Sawyer D., Schaffhauser T., Siagian U., Stetsenko A., Sudharmma Vishwanathan S., Tamura K., Torres R., Trollip H., Valenzuela M. J., Walter M., Watson J., Wetmańska Z., Wills W., Yun J., Zevallos P. (2021). Climate ambition beyond emission numbers: taking stock of progress by looking inside countries and sectors. Deep Decarbonization Pathways (DDP) Initiative-IDDRI. Paris.
Abstract:Climatic variability and change result in unreliable and uncertain water availability and contribute to water insecurity in Africa, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas and where water storage infrastructure is limited. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR), which comprises purposeful recharge and storage of surface runoff and treated wastewater in aquifers, serves various purposes, of which a prominent one is to provide a means to mitigate adverse impact of climate variability. Despite clear scope for this technology in Africa, the prevalence and range of MAR experiences in Africa have not been extensively examined. The objective of this article is provide an overview of MAR progress in Africa and to inform the potential for future use of this approach in the continent. Information on MAR from 52 cases in Africa listed in the Global MAR Portal and collated from relevant literature was analyzed. Cases were classified according to 13 key characteristics including objective of the MAR project, technology applied, biophysical conditions, and technical and management challenges. Results of the review indicate that: (i) the extent of MAR practice in Africa is relatively limited, (ii) the main objective of MAR in Africa is to secure and augment water supply and balance variability in supply and demand, (iii) the surface spreading/infiltration method is the most common MAR method, (iv) surface water is the main water source for MAR, and (v) the total annual recharge volume is about 158 Mm3/year. MAR schemes exist in both urban and rural Africa, which exemplify the advancement of MAR implementation as well as its out scaling potential. Further, MAR schemes are most commonly found in areas of high inter-annual variability in water availability. If properly planned, implemented, managed, maintained and adapted to local conditions, MAR has large potential in securing water and increasing resilience in Africa. Ultimately, realizing the full potential of MAR in Africa will require undertaking hydrogeological and hydrological studies to determine feasibility of MAR, especially in geographic regions of high inter-annual climate variability and growing water demand. This, supported by increased research to gauge success of existing MAR projects and to address challenges, would help with future siting, design and implementation of MAR in Africa.Keywords: managed aquifer recharge; water security; climate change; Africa 2ff7e9595c
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