Direction

• A publication 'Ideas, Innovation, Implementation: India's Journey Towards the SDGs' that brought this message to life was released during the discussions.
• The book, a joint initiative by Reliance Foundation, Observer Research Foundation and the UN India office, highlights 17 lighthouse initiatives across 17 SDGs undertaken by not-for-profit organisations and communities.
• The publication highlights how implementation of the ideas could hasten the journey to the SDGs while providing a foundation for a post-2030 agenda.
• Mr Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, India, spoke about public, private and multi-stakeholder conversations towards the SDGs.

• ET)
  HOUSTON, June 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) ("Patterson-UTI") and NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. (NYSE: NEX) ("NexTier") today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine in an all-stock merger of equals transaction.
• Andy Hendricks, Chief Executive Officer of Patterson-UTI, commented, "This merger unites two top-tier and technology-driven drilling and well completions businesses, creating a leading platform at the forefront of innovation.
• Mr. Hendricks continued, "NexTier shares our culture of safety, deep customer relationships and operational and financial outperformance.
• Specifically, the merger will create:
  Leading U.S. Contract Drilling business with 172 super-spec drilling rigs and Directional Drilling business.

• While it is true that individual trees are immobile, as a species they can actually move and migrate as well as birds do!
• We hope you have a pleasant — and informative — walk through the forest!
• This is what we will explore in this article, the first in our new summer series.
• As researchers in forest ecophysiology, we study basic tree physical functions and relate them to broader ecological dynamics.

The moving forest

• After some time, these seedlings will start producing new seeds and contribute to this slow geographical expansion.
• However, new seedlings require years, often decades to grow and produce seeds that can migrate further than their parents.

Fast changes, slow trees

• No natural warming event in the past has occurred at a comparable rate.
• Such rapid changes are putting great pressure on forest ecosystems, particularly by modifying habitat conditions.
• The migration speeds of the vast majority of tree species are slower than the shift of favourable habitats.

Helping trees migrate

• This motivates researchers and forest managers to consider new approaches to solving this problem, including assisted migration.
• Artificial seed transfer and planting can accelerate the natural migration process and help overcome geographical barriers, such as mountain ranges or large water surfaces.
• Since the latter presents higher ecological risks, it is generally only considered for the conservation of endangered species.

A Canadian example

• At the same time, researchers have found that areas near the northern limit of maple’s range are becoming increasingly suitable for this species.
• In this case, assisted migration could help northern forests adapt faster to new conditions, and provide valuable services such as maple syrup production.

Pioneers

• In 2019, the University of Québec in Chicoutimi (UQAC) established an experimental sugar maple plantation at the northern edge of its range, in the Saguenay region of Québec.
• In a few decades, excellent maple syrup may be produced here, in addition to all the valuable scientific data collected up to that point.

Trials on migration

• Here, the effects of factors such as microclimate, herbivore browsing and plant competition on tree establishment and growth can be tested.
• This type of experimental study provides valuable information on the characteristics that can help or hinder the success of assisted migration projects.
• Implementing scientific trials today can help us fully understand the dynamics and risks of assisted migration, so that we can make the best forest management choices for future years and generations.
• She has received funding from the Green Economy Plan of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks of the Government of Quebec.

• In this context, the further upstream the disruption occurs, the greater is the potential for supply bottlenecks to propagate negative shocks.
• The third phase was from September 2020 to the end of 2021, when disruptions to global supply chains emerged and progressively intensified.
• Within this sample, our treatment group comprises all exporting firms that had imported intermediate inputs at least once over the same period.
• We assess firms’ performance during the crisis, in terms of export sales and probability of survival in the export market.
• The richness of the dataset allows us to then deepen our analysis and look at several sources of heterogeneity.
• In April 2020 GVC exporters recorded export volumes that were 42% lower than the levels recorded in January 2020.
• Chart 2 illustrates the estimated effect of participation in global value chains on firm-level exports.
• We find that participation in GVCs increased firm vulnerability during the pandemic, with the negative impact of supply disruptions being greater for firms located relatively more downstream in the value chain.
• In this article we investigate the impact of supply chain linkages on exporting firms during the pandemic.
• Highly granular data for the universe of French exporters allow us to provide one of the first firm-level quantifications of the impact of supply bottlenecks that occurred in 2021, when disruptions along value chains were at historically high levels.
• We find that exporters in global value chains suffered relatively more than other exporters during the COVID-19 crisis.
• This additional negative effect was mostly driven by exporters at downstream production stages, whereas diversifying sourcing networks for core imports helped to buffer the impact.