Mining and social development: Refocusing community investment using multi-criteria decision analysis

This paper addresses the question: How can mining companies assess social investment projects so that projects create value for the company and communities in which they operate? Mining companies are still wrestling with the limits of their responsibility in relation to social development even though they accept the business case for community investment at a general level. Fully aware of the practical hazards involved in taking an active role in facilitating local development, companies increasingly avoid methods that are overly paternalistic or assume the functions of the national or local governments. Gaining senior management's commitment to long-term social projects, which are characterised by uncertainty and complexity, is made easier if projects are shown to benefit the site's strategic goals. Case study research on large global mining companies, including interviews with social investment decision makers, has assisted in developing a Social Investment Decision Analysis Tool (SIDAT), a decision model for evaluating social projects. Multi-criteria decision analysis techniques integrating business planning processes with social impact assessment have proved useful in assisting mining companies think beyond seeking reputational benefits, to how they can meet their business goals and contribute to sustainable development.     

中国高铁出行的环境健康影响分析

本文旨在对中国各城市高铁出行情况与人群环境健康影响进行大数据分析。文中的环境健康影响指将高铁出行过境次数引入经典泊松回归模型,进而直接得到各城市人群环境健康受到高铁出行的影响。另外,为了更好地分析高铁出行下的人群环境影响,笔者在计算环境影响指数时将受影响人群分为高铁沿线城市本地人群(PED)和过境人群(TPED)。最后总结分析了全国范围内环境健康受过境次数影响的程度大小。通过计算结果可得,华北、华中、四川盆地等地区的大城市,人口多、过境车次多、空气质量相对较差,PED和TPED值较高。华中、华南、西南边境地区城市的空气质量较好,PED和TPED值较低。另外,就特定高铁线路的环境健康影响而言,京津、郑西高铁沿线的PED和TPED值较高;广深、合福、沪昆高铁沿线的PED和TPED值较低。     

新型污染物风险防范国际实践及其对中国的启示

随着重化工业的快速发展和各类化学品的大量使用，一些新型污染物对中国居民和生态环境的危害正逐步显现并日趋严重。如何进一步完善中国新型污染物的风险防范体系，是中国生态环境治理面临的重要问题。发达国家新型污染物的风险防范工作启动较早，对中国完善新型污染物风险防范体系具有重要的借鉴意义。本文从制度建设、体制机制、评估监测、科学研究等方面比较国内外新型污染物风险防范实践的异同，立足我国国情，发现国内实践还需加强之处。在此基础上，提出国际新型污染物风险防范实践对中国的启示。     

Green jobs,livelihoods and the post-carbon economy in African cities

This article examines the potential contribution of household scale off-grid renewable energy generation to the post-carbon economy. The large-scale focus of the green jobs agenda in high-income countries obscures how small-scale technologies can be a transformative source of employment in developing economies. Debates about what constitutes a green job and their value leaves out the everyday practice of green livelihoods carried out by the urban poor across the African continent in unfavourable institutional contexts where nonrenewable fuel is subsidised and renewable energy inputs are heavily taxed. The article presents experiences from field work in several countries, including Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya to provide practical examples of communities pursuing strategies of income generation, community empowerment and environmental preservation. We argue that scholars and practitioners concerned with both social justice and environmental preservation should embrace a definition of green jobs that is bottom-up or people-centred. The grassroots experiences highlighted illustrate the important role of non-governmental organisations in supporting transformative, locally sustainable green employment and livelihoods by piloting demonstration projects, fostering innovation, conducting research, forming coalitions and engaging in advocacy when local institutions and market conditions make both consumers and providers risk averse to off-grid renewable energy adoption.     

Forestry-based carbon sequestration projects in Africa: Potential benefits and challenges

Carbon sequestration through forestry and agroforestry can help mitigate global warming. For Africa, carbon sequestration also represents an opportunity to fund sustainable development through financial inflows. However, with a low share of global carbon trade, there are strong concerns that African countries are losing out on this valuable opportunity. Through a comprehensive review of 23 carbon sequestration projects across 14 countries, this paper discusses ways to overcome critical challenges to scale up carbon investments in Africa. These projects are expected to sequester 26.85 million tCO₂ beyond the baseline situation. Within the continent, East Africa is the preferred destination for carbon investors. Most projects are non‐Kyoto compliant and represent voluntary emission reductions. While project benefits such as increased local incomes and improved natural resources are promising, there are concerns that conversion of grasslands into tree plantations can harm local ecosystems. Insecure land tenure constrains new investments and increases the risk that local communities will lose access to forests. Another challenge is that projects with smallholders have high transaction costs. These costs can be overcome by building strong community institutions and simplifying project guidelines. To attract more projects, African governments will need to build their capacity to identify relevant opportunities.     

Adding public value: The limits of corporate responsibility

It is suggested that natural resource companies undertaking large-scale projects may be expanding the scope of corporate social responsibility by working to enhance the capabilities of the public sector. Naturally companies are concerned to protect their investments, and to ensure their viability. They will therefore invest in necessary infrastructure and facilities of all types, where those are lacking. Such investment often provides benefits to the wider community, but with a few exceptions these are normally incidental byproducts rather than inherent objectives. The motivation for companies to provide resources of all types in order to enhance the capabilities of the public sector to provide public services is usually an expectation is that the tangible benefits will exceed the costs, rather than altruism. One driving force is to secure and maintain a company's social licence to operate. More recently competition from Chinese firms is prompting private sector companies to offer comparable investments in infrastructure. It is unclear whether investment in public sector capabilities is cyclical and liable to cutbacks when market conditions deteriorate. Changing market conditions affect not just corporate willingness to spend but also host countries’ bargaining strengths. In boom periods host countries will be more able to secure straightforward financial benefits through higher tax receipts than when markets are weak. Beyond the specific needs of individual projects corporate policies are strongly influenced by the beliefs of senior managers. External pressures both from international institutions and from NGOs also drive corporate behaviour. The success of investment in public sector capabilities relies in the end on the responses of host countries, and on how closely the objectives and interests of the government are aligned with maximising the nation's long term wealth and welfare. Where they are not corporate resources may be frittered away. There are also questions over the legitimacy of corporate investments, especially by foreign-owned companies. They have a right to offer advice and protect their legitimate interests, but these may not always coincide with those of their host countries. There is a range of questions about the appropriate role of companies, which lead on to feasible and effective ways of improving weak governance.     

The view from below: ‘lock-in’ and local procurement in the African gold mining sector

Through linkage creation, commodity extraction has the capacity to support local industrial production and capabilities building. Drawing on the experience of supplying inputs into the East African gold mining industry, this paper examines the constraints experienced by local suppliers arising from the purchasing procedures of large mining corporations and specialist construction companies contracted to construct these mines. Lead firms become locked-in to particular ways of working which minimise the opportunities that local suppliers have in providing products and services. After reviewing the situation for local mining suppliers in East Africa, the paper examines ways in which lead firms, the suppliers themselves and others (governments and industry associations) can better support local supplier involvement.     

Social responsibility and resource extraction: Are Chinese oil companies different?

In order to meet China’s rapidly increasing demand for oil, Chinese oil companies have been investing in oil production around the world. This article addresses one specific aspect of the more generalized fears expressed about China’s increasing demand for natural resources which is the impact that its oil companies will have on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement. In doing so, it limits its analysis to the three main Chinese oil companies: the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and their investments in sub-Saharan Africa.     

环境保护领域地方市级首次立法进展研究

为调研设区的市立法权放开后各地立法进展,通过全国各省市政府网站(除港澳台外)等公开渠道收集整理的各设区的市"首次立法"(第一部实体法,简称"首法")立法情况,发现截至2017年7月,全国89%新获立法权设区的市已完成"首法"立项,超一半新获立法权设区的市已顺利出台"首法"。从"首法"立项类型来看,约40%设区的市"首法"关注环境保护,仅次于城乡建设与管理类立法,表明环境保护是各地"首法"立法关注的重点领域之一。从地方环境"首法"立项类型来看,水环境保护领域条例立项数最多,其次是生态保护领域和大气污染防治领域;从地方环境"首法"立项分布来看,水环境保护类条例多分布于位于水系末端的沿海各省,大气污染防治条例则主要集中于京津冀及其周边空气质量较差的区域。当前国家高度重视生态文明建设,各地有必要抓住地方立法这一机遇,研究出台地方环境条例,助力地方环境管理水平的提升。     

Avança Brasil: Environmental and Social Consequences of Brazil's Planned Infrastructure in Amazonia

“Avança Brasil” (Forward Brazil) is a package of 338 projects throughout Brazil; the portion of the plan to be carried out in Brazil's Legal Amazon region totals US$43 billion over 8 years, US$20 billion of which would be for infrastructure causing environmental damage. Brazil's environmental impact assessment system is not yet capable of coping with the challenge presented by Avança Brasil. Generic problems with the licensing process include stimulation of a lobby in favor of construction before decisions are made on the advisability of the projects, the “dragging effect” of third parties, whereby economic activity is attracted to the infrastructure but escapes the environmental impact assessment system, a tendency for consulting firms to produce favorable reports, a bureaucratic emphasis on the existence of steps without regard to the content of what is said, and the inability to take account of the chain of events unleashed when a given project is undertaken.The environmental and social costs of forest loss are high; among them is loss of opportunities for sustainable use of the forest, including loss of environmental services such as biodiversity maintenance, water cycling, and carbon storage. The benefits of export infrastructure are meager, especially from the point of view of generating employment. Much of the transportation infrastructure is for soybeans, while the hydroelectric dams contribute to processing aluminum. The example of Avança Brasil makes clear the need to rethink how major development decisions are made and to reconsider a number of the plan's component projects.     

Private Sector Participation in Urban Water and Sanitation Provision in Ghana: Experiences from the Tamale Metropolitan Area (TMA)

African governments, like most countries in the developing world, face daunting tasks in their attempts to provide effective and equitable water and sanitation services for their ever increasing urban populations. Consequently, the past few years have witnessed increased private sector participation in urban water and sanitation provision, as many African governments strive to improve access to water and sanitation services for their citizens in line with Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG7). Since the early 1990s, the government of Ghana and many local authorities have entered into various forms of public-private partnerships in urban water and sanitation provision. This article examines the outcome of such partnerships using the Tamale Metropolitan Area (TMA) as a case study with the aim of providing policy guidelines for the way forward. The article argues that the public-private arrangement for water supply and sanitation infrastructure management in the Tamale Metropolis has done nothing that an invigorated public sector could not have possibly achieved. It concludes that there can be no sustainable improvement in water and sanitation provision without political commitment, stakeholder ownership, and strong support for community driven initiatives.     

2035年美丽中国建设目标及路径机制研究

建设美丽中国,建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化,是中国特色社会主义现代化建设的重要基础与主要内容。本文通过文献分析、对标分析、模型预测等方法,识别了美丽中国建设的科学内涵及特征要求,分析美丽中国建设中长期面临的形势,基于到2035年达到中等发达国家水平、人均GDP翻一番的目标,对标发达国家以及浙江、广东等国内先进地区,构建了美丽中国建设的目标指标体系框架,并从绿色发展、气候变化、生态环境质量、环境治理体系与治理能力等方面,设计美丽中国建设生态环境保护的总体框架与主要路径,提出美丽中国建设的规划建议。     

工业园区绿色发展重点领域及其开发性金融应用研究

工业园区的绿色发展是我国经济绿色转型和可持续发展的基石,对实现我国生态文明建设具有重要的意义。而工业园区绿色发展中的基础设施建设等任务的资金需求周期长、盈利性较弱,极其需要开发性金融的大力支持。本文识别了开发性金融引导工业园区绿色发展的重点领域,主要包括构建生态产业链、完善环境基础设施建设、推进清洁生产、促进园区环境能力建设等,并进一步分析了各领域的建设目的、重点项目及实施主体。同时,从加强多方合作、优化投融资方式等角度,提出提升开发性金融服务能力、有效支持工业园区绿色发展的建议。     

Sustainable development in the Clean Development Mechanism: the role of Designated National Authority in China and India

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) emerged under the Kyoto Protocol to facilitate collaboration between developed and developing countries in order to mitigate greenhouse gases. The CDM allows developed countries to receive credits towards meeting their obligatory targets by investing in emission reduction projects in developing countries. The countries are required to set up a Designated National Authority (DNA) to approve the CDM projects. This paper examines the role of the DNA in ensuring sustainable development, using the empirical case of China and India. Three aspects of the DNA's role are examined: the institutional structure, the policy context and the CDM project market. All three aspects highlight the important role of the DNA in meeting the countries' sustainable development priorities.     

Exporting dams: China's hydropower industry goes global

In line with China's "going out" strategy, China's dam industry has in recent years significantly expanded its involvement in overseas markets. The Chinese Export-Import Bank and other Chinese financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, and private firms are now involved in at least 93 major dam projects overseas. The Chinese government sees the new global role played by China's dam industry as a "win-win" situation for China and host countries involved. But evidence from project sites such as the Merowe Dam in Sudan demonstrates that these dams have unrecognized social and environmental costs for host communities. Chinese dam builders have yet to adopt internationally accepted social and environmental standards for large infrastructure development that can assure these costs are adequately taken into account. But the Chinese government is becoming increasingly aware of the challenge and the necessity of promoting environmentally and socially sound investments overseas.     

Local voices on renewable energy projects: the performative role of the regulatory process for major offshore infrastructure in England and Wales

There is currently a considerable emphasis on delivering major renewable energy infrastructure projects. Such projects will have impacts on local communities; some impacts may be perceived as positive but others will be viewed more negatively. Any just regulatory process for considering and permitting such infrastructure will need to heed the concerns that local communities voice. But what counts as a local voice? In this paper it is argued that the regulatory process plays a performative role, constructing what counts as a local voice. Furthermore, this has consequences for how regulatory deliberations proceed and the outcomes of regulatory processes. The empirical basis for this argument is a study of major offshore renewable energy infrastructure in England and Wales and the way that it is regulated through a specific regime – the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) regime established by the Planning Act 2008. Through a detailed study of eight projects that have passed through the regime, the analysis unfolds the way that the voices of local residents, local businesses, local NGOs and local authorities are constructed in the key boundary object of the Examining Authority’s report; it then draws out the implications for the mitigation measures that are negotiated. The research suggests that what counts as a local voice is constrained by how the performative role of the NSIPs regulatory regime differentiates between interests and suggests that new ways of giving voice to local people are required.     

Enclave development and ‘offshore corporate social responsibility’: Implications for oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa

This paper critically reflects on the challenges of engaging, proactively, in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the region's oil production takes place in enclave-type environments offshore and in countries ruled by autocratic governments which generally exert minimal pressure on companies to embrace CSR. With companies having little sense of who to target in their local economic development policies and programs, there is always a possibility of ‘offshore CSR’ – recognized here as potentially-effective ideas for improving social welfare that linger within the enclave and never fully materialize – surfacing. The aim is to conceptualize and broaden understanding of the challenge of developing CSR programs in these settings, where there are no clear linkages to communities or local economies more generally.     

Supplier codes of conduct: Company authorization of subcontractors

Companies continue to build greater sustainability and transparency in their supply chains to increase their business value and to respond to greater stakeholder pressures and expectations to increase sustainability and transparency. As company supply chains have grown and expanded, which presents increased challenges for building greater transparency, it is possible that the use of subcontractors in supply chains has also increased. The amount and impact of subcontracting conducted in supply chains may be of greater concern to certain companies and/or sectors than others, and it may have an important impact on their sustainability efforts. This article assesses the extent to which supplier codes of conduct apply to the use of subcontractors and include a requirement for suppliers to obtain prior company approval or authorization before subcontractors conduct work. Based on a review of more than 50 supplier codes of conduct, the companies that are highlighted in this article for including this requirement are primarily in the apparel/footwear, food, pharmaceuticals, and/or retail sectors. The article asserts that supplier codes of conduct that include requirements for suppliers to protect and safeguard confidential business information could be strengthened to further protect the company's products, integrity, and reputation/brand and increase its competitiveness and resilience by also including a requirement of prior approval or authorization of a supplier's use of subcontractors.     

关于加强城市风环境规划研究的思考

城市风环境规划对于城市建设具有十分重要的意义,但在我国关注度还相对较低,为城市环境规划留有"隐患"。开展风环境规划研究,合理规划城市风环境,建立城市通风廊道,是城市规划的有益创新,也是践行习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的具体体现。本文梳理和总结了部分发达国家和地区城市风环境研究与技术发展状况,结合我国城市风环境规划研究和管理现状,从推动我国城市风环境规划的角度给出了若干建议。