But it was also the signal that capped the use, or overuse, of energy consuming devices.

Protection measures aimed at prevention of groundwater pollution and overuse should be the basic tools for groundwater management.

The report also criticized the disproportionately high rate of arrest and the overuse of custodial sentences against indigenous women.

A brief history of the concept, and a comparison with another term that also became discredited by overuse, helps to explain what happened.

However, concerns have been expressed that electronic reverse auctions can encourage an excessive focus on price, and their ease of operation can tend to overuse and use in inappropriate situations.

In addition, the physical capital loss is estimated to be around 3.5 billion, as a result of destruction of private and public infrastructure and capital stock and overuse of surviving physical capital.

In addition to the direct destruction, it is assumed that the depreciation rate increased from the historical average of 5 per cent to 8 per cent to reflect the overuse and lack of maintenance.

Debt markets would also benefit from such an initiative. Blurring the line between the private and the state owned sectors would, over time, reduce the latter s privileged access to and overuse of bank financing, leading to the expansion of corporate bond markets.

Consider that apathy, excessive shopping, and overuse of the Internet are all serious contenders for inclusion in the next edition of the DSM, due to appear in 2012. If the history of psychiatry is any guide, a new class of medication will soon be touted to treat them.

Yet the global message is also clear the world's growing population (now at 7.3 billion, but likely to reach eight billion by 2024 and nine billion by around 2040), human induced climate change, and the overuse of freshwater for irrigation and urban needs (especially when cities are built up in dry regions) are all fueling the potential for catastrophe.

The questions that such regulation should address, without however over regulating the subject, include (a) when, and for what type of goods and services, the use of ERA is appropriate and when it is not (b) how to prevent its overuse and (c) what safeguards must be in place to mitigate risks stemming from the use of ERAs.

Consequential decisions may also include (a) the auction scope (i.e., which variables could be subject to ERA, e.g., price only, as in Brazil, or non price criteria in addition, as in the EU) and evaluation and award criteria (b) the auction model (1, 2 and or 3) (c) parameters preventing overuse of ERAs and (d) if the Working Group adopts an optional phase approach, in which procurement method an ERA phase should be envisaged and whether it should necessarily be the final phase.