SAFE—A hierarchical framework for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems

Sustainable development and the definition of indicators to assess progress towards sustainability have become a high priority in scientific research and on policy agendas. In this paper, we propose a consistent and comprehensive framework of principles, criteria and indicators (PC&I) for sustainability assessment of agricultural systems, referred to as the Sustainability Assessment of Farming and the Environment (SAFE) framework. In addition we formulate consistent and objective approaches for indicator identification and selection. The framework is designed for three spatial levels: the parcel level, the farm level and a higher spatial level that can be the landscape, the region or the state. The SAFE framework is hierarchical as it is composed of principles, criteria, indicators and reference values in a structured way. Principles are related to the multiple functions of the agro-ecosystem, which go clearly beyond the production function alone. The multifunctional character of the agro-ecosystem encompasses the three pillars of sustainability: the environmental, economic and social pillars. Indicators and reference values are the end-products of the framework. They are the operational tools that are used for evaluating the sustainability of the agro-ecosystems. The proposed analytical framework is not intended to find a common solution for sustainability in agriculture as a whole, but to serve as an assessment tool for the identification, the development and the evaluation of agricultural production systems, techniques and policies.     

Environmental indicators for small and medium enterprises in the Philippines: An empirical research

Environmental indicators allow a firm to make measurements related to its environmental performance. In practical terms, they can be used to form a measuring, benchmarking and monitoring tool to track environmental performance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Within an Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental indicators can be used to check if a firm has met the targets it is required to set for itself. It can also be used in firms that have not yet implemented an EMS. The use of an Environmental Indicators System (EIS) is thus recommended for SMEs, many of which do not have an EMS, in order to enhance their environmental performance. As noted in A Guide to Corporate Environmental Indicators published by the Federal Environment Ministry (Bonn) and the Federal Environmental Agency (Berlin), three categories of environmental indicators can be developed, depending on whether they describe: (1) a company's environmental impact (environmental performance); (2) the management's environmental activities; or (3) the external condition of the company's environment.The objective of this paper is to present how environmental indicators were established and implemented for Philippine SMEs and to show that the indicators significantly correlate with the environmental performance of the SMEs. In order to test this hypothesis, a survey-questionnaire was designed and administered among SMEs covering six industrial sectors in the Philippines. Based on the survey responses, a Gap analysis between the environmental performances of SMEs and state-of-the-art companies was performed. The Gap analysis showed that environmental indicators were indeed able to capture the features of actual environmental performance.Further, a structural equation model was proposed and validated. It yielded a significant linkage between the environmental indicators and environmental performance.     

Development of a facility-based environmental performance indicator related to sustainable development

Companies are increasingly interested in environmental performance indicators as a means of managing the degree to which environmental goals and objectives are implemented. Many companies have publicly endorsed goals associated with sustainable development, like the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) principles for sustainable development. There is a need for metrics that facilitate implementation of these principles at the facility level and for research metrics that measure management improvement. An existing environmental self-assessment management tool called ESAP by the Global Environmental Management Initiative has been modified to measure a facility's response to the ICC's 16 principles of sustainability. The new tool's focus was shifted to a practical, facility based and easily applied assessment of progress towards sustainable development as represented by the ICC's 16 principles of sustainability. The new tool was called the Green Management Assessment Tool or GMAT, pilot tested and used in a research setting. Such tools have value to companies that are interested in the strategic goals of sustainable development and struggle with shifting corporate goals and objectives to manufacturing operations at the facility level.     

Integrated assessment of urban environment in China

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生命周期评价在玉米种植及深加工产品中的应用

对LCA在玉米种植环境影响研究中的目标与范围定义、清单分析、环境影响指标与计算方法、结果解释等方面的研究进行了梳理分析，其中大部分文献均对碳足迹进行了计算，CML（Institute of Environmental Sciences of the University of Leiden）、ReCiPe（许多LCA领域研究人员共同开发）和IPCC（Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change）方法是应用最多的3种方法，经分析计算得到国外玉米种植单位产量碳足迹均值为0.50kg CO₂-eq/kg，我国的均值为0.58kg CO₂-eq/kg.同时本文也对LCA在玉米深加工产品中的研究进展进行了分析整理，对今后LCA应用于玉米种植及深加工产品中的发展方向进行了展望.     

小型企业的废弃物管理问题

中、小型企业缺乏有关企业社会责任活动的参与。尽管单独的中、小型企业对环境的影响不大,但中、小型企业集合起来对环境的影响还是很明显的。企业所有者-管理者的管理方式和道德观念会影响到企业的决策。因此,会对企业的环境行为有直接的影响。虽然,倡导利用环境保护建立企业竞争优势,但许多企业的实施成本是不可能转移给消费者的。本文简要的综述了有关文献后,报告了对这一问题的探索性调查,结果表明无论小企业的管理者怎样表达出对环境问题的关心,都不能转化为较好的废弃物管理。     

Implementing stricter environmental regulation to enhance eco-efficiency and sustainability: a case study of Shandong Province’s pulp and paper industry, China

There has been much debate on the topic of whether stricter environmental regulations can promote environmental performance and economic performance at the same time. Different researchers have used different indicators to measure environmental performance and economic performance in their empirical studies. However, it is a surprise that few studies have checked the relationship between environmental regulation and eco-efficiency, as the latter is widely regarded as a quite powerful tool of considering ecology and economy together.In this study the background is the implementation in 2003 of the Stricter Discharge Standard (SDS) in Shandong Province’s Pulp and Paper Industry (SPPI), compared to the national standards of China. The stricter regulations were intended to promote corporate change from passive management to active control and from end-of-pipe treatment to cleaner production. This study investigated the eco-efficiency trends of SPPI from 2001 to 2008 in three fields: water efficiency, energy efficiency and environment efficiency. A “de-linking” and “re-linking” tool was used to attain a further evaluation. The study showed that with the implementation of stricter regulation most of the efficiency indicators (except CO₂ emission and energy consumption) had achieved significant improvements, and the overall environmental performance trends of SPPI showed it to be more sustainable. However, the study also found that it was not enough to address a single indicator in the environmental regulation of the pulp and paper industry. More holistic eco-efficiency indicators need to be further considered and introduced to the industry as the next step to create true sustainable development.     

企业环境管理会计核算框架与方法研究

企业环境管理会计从环境的角度,将企业的环境影响纳入到环境会计的核算范围之内,构建一些实物型或价值型的环境业绩指标,表达企业对环境造成的影响或损害。本文立足于国际环境会计应用案例,结合财务会计特征和我国目前的环境教据基础,研究提出了中国企业环境管理会计的基本内涵和方法框架,并就如何加强企业环境管理会计的应用进行了讨论。     

Proposal for new quantitative eco-design indicators: a first case study

Eco-design is a valuable approach in order to reduce the environmental impact associated with a product system, by introducing environmental considerations early on in its design. Different strategies are possible for the implementation of eco-design, depending on the intended goals as well as the characteristics of the products. The present work proposes a series of eco-design indicators and tests to what extent the application of these simple indicators provides a reliable indication of the reduction of environmental impact, as measured by commonly employed Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) indicators. The product chosen for the case study was a water source heat pump. Two of the newly-developed indicators were applied and compared to LCIA indicators, focussing on design for disassembly and for recycling. A good and robust correlation was found, providing support to the thesis that these simple eco-design indicators can be used as a proxy to quickly and effectively gauge the environmental improvements introduced in a product system at the design stage.     

Developing indicators for environmental policy: data-driven and theory-driven approaches examined by example

This paper investigates the issues involved with environmental indicator development for policy by looking at three recent examples from data and theory-driven approaches. The “Environmental Sustainability Index 2001” report from World Economic Forum, YCELP and CIESIN is taken as an example of the data-driven approach, whereby data availability is the central criterion for indicator development and data is provided for all selected indicators. The other two examples are theory-driven, whereby, the focus is on selecting the best possible indicators from a theoretical point of view and data availability is considered only one of the aspects involved. These examples are the Heinz Center’s1999 report on the “State of the Nation’s Ecosystems” and the US National Research Council (NRC) report on “Ecological Indicators for the Nation”. The reports and approaches are discussed and compared in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. From this lessons are drawn for future environmental indicator work as a basis for policymaking. In the conclusions four important issues are addressed: (1) data availability; (2) ecosystem specificity of indicators; (3) spatial and conceptual aggregation of indicators and (4) baseline or reference values for indicators. For each of these issues recommendations are made.     

生态足迹模型的修正及其应用研究进展

生态足迹模型作为度量区域可持续发展程度的方法已用于多领域多层次的评价,也被越来越多的学者研究、分析、修正和质疑。文章在阅读该领域重要文献和报告的基础上,对国内外学者提出的各类生态足迹修正模型进行梳理,并聚焦于生态足迹与其他测度指标的结合以及其在战略环境评价中的应用,对生态足迹模型作为环境评估工具的潜力及其未来的研究方向提出个人的看法。     

中国“四化”建设对水足迹强度的影响分析

采用2000—2016年中国30省市（不包括香港、澳门、台湾、西藏四省区）的数据,构建四化指标体系,计算四化发展指数,进行地区四化水平评价,通过OLS和GMM回归模型考察四化发展对水足迹强度的影响,同时设置四化之间的交互项来识别四化指标之间的相互作用。主要结论如下：首先,从四化水平的地域发展差异上来看,中国四化水平总体上呈现出东部优于中部、中部优于西部的格局,水足迹强度的分布与之类似,说明四化水平发展与水足迹强度之间可能存在相关关系;其次,计量模型显示四化水平的提升对于水足迹强度的改善有积极影响,但每一化对于水足迹强度改善的影响大小不一;第三,以交互项衡量的四化相互作用对于水足迹强度的影响作用为正,表明四化发展对水足迹强度的改善效果逐渐趋于收敛。因此,优先提升落后地区的四化水平,以四化水平的提升推动水足迹强度的降低,能够有效降低我国总体水足迹强度水平。     

基于生态足迹的中国可持续食物消费模式

随着人们饮食需求的不断多样化,可持续食物消费已成为一个全球关注的重要议题。为了探寻可持续的食物消费模式,重点分析了中国食物消费结构演变趋势及特征,运用生态足迹模型量化中国食物消费结构的环境压力动态变化;基于可持续食物消费的内涵,结合中国均衡膳食和环境的可持续性指标,构建食物生态承载级别衡量标准,并据此建立了符合中国食物消费习惯、满足营养摄入需求、环境压力小的可持续食物消费模式。结果显示：中国食物消费生态环境压力不断增大,1978-2013年中国食物消费人均生态足迹增长了154.49%,2008年出现生态赤字,2013年赤字值为0.0705 ghm²;食物生态承载级别持续恶化,2008年生态承载级别由“较高”下降到“中等”;可持续食物消费模式的构建使得人均生态足迹下降了12.92%,表明转变食物消费模式是解决食物消费生态环境压力这一矛盾问题的最有效途径。     

城市食物代谢的动态过程及其水-碳足迹响应——以北京市为例

食物代谢是城市物质能量代谢的基础性过程之一。论文系统分析了1978—2015年北京市城市食物代谢通量、结构和效率的动态变化过程,并核算其水-碳足迹,提出优化城市食物代谢的有效途径。结果表明： 1）2015年北京市食物代谢通量为881.4万t,比1978年增加了3.3倍,其中植物源食物增加了2.5倍,动物源食物增加了12.0倍,由此引发的水-碳足迹分别增加了6.1倍和4.4倍; 2）北京市食物代谢的通量结构和水-碳足迹结构均呈现出主食为主转向主副食替代、植物源食物为主转向动植物源食物并重的演变特征; 3）“过度饮食”特别是高比例肉类消费,不但影响了城市居民健康水平,也显著扩大了城市人均环境足迹,导致食物代谢的生态效率指标从1.27降低至0.32; 4）降低城市食物代谢的足迹影响需要优化产业链供应,倡导绿色健康消费模式。     

Determinant factors of corporate environmental information disclosure: an empirical study of Chinese listed companies

In order to help understand the environmental disclosure mechanism from the corporate perspective, this paper identifies the determinant factors affecting the disclosure level of corporate environmental information on the basis of stakeholder theory, and gives an empirical observation on Chinese listed companies. The corporate environmental information disclosure (EID) level appears to be marginal in current Chinese context. Nearly 40% of the sampled companies opened no substantial environmental data to the public as could be seen from the content analysis of disclosed information. The present condition is that the EID strategy of Chinese listed companies is oriented to fill up the government's environmental concerns. The corporate EID effort is significantly relative to its environmental sensitivity (a proxy of the pressure from the government) and its size. The role of other stakeholders, like shareholders and creditors tested in this study in effecting the EID, is found to be still weak. Another interesting finding is that the sampled companies are selectively opening their environmental information. Companies operating in eastern coastal regions, where the economy has been relatively developed, are more likely to disclose emission-related data. The better the company's economic performance, the more information on environmental investment and pollution control cost is disclosed. More concerns of the firm's stakeholders on environmental issues shall be promoted in order to encourage Chinese enterprises to disclose more environmental information and accordingly become more proactive for improving their environmental performance.     

基于生命周期评价方法的肉鸡屠宰场碳足迹分析

当今世界畜牧业发展迅速,环境问题亦不可小视,由CO_2、CH_4和N_2O等温室气体导致的全球变暖是热门话题。基于PA-LCA方法追踪某肉鸡屠宰场的碳足迹,找出热点问题,再以敏感性分析探究全生命周期总碳足迹的最敏感输入变量,并提出碳减排建议,最后将运营期碳足迹与其他国家进行比较,为屠宰行业清洁生产和节能减排提供依据。结果表明:在建设期,商品混凝土、预拌砂浆和钢材的生产过程碳足迹分别占建设期总量的30.94%、24.77%和20.04%;在运营期,电力生产过程的碳足迹占运营期总量的93.06%,从企业各部门角度分析,屠宰间和冷库的运营产生48.45%的碳足迹;在报废期,拆除建筑所耗能源的生产过程碳足迹占报废期总量的87.13%。通过敏感性分析,工厂运营1年的电耗对屠宰场全生命周期碳足迹总量的影响不及建设期商品混凝土生产过程对其的影响,但运营10年后,运营期电耗减小可显著降低屠宰场全生命周期碳足迹。我国屠宰场运营期碳足迹同其他国家相比较低,这与我国屠宰自动化程度低有关。所以如何平衡屠宰效率和环境影响是亟待解决的问题。     

Integrating carbon footprint into supply chain management: the case of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in the automobile industry

The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of carbon footprint within the context of automobile supply chain management. The case study approach is employed as a research method. Primary data were collected through site visits and extensive interviews with HMC’s corporate and plant management. First, identification and measurement of direct and indirect carbon footprint is critical for mitigating supply chain risks. Second, setting the system boundary of measurement is another important issue to integrate the issue of carbon footprint into supply chain management. Third, developing a map of product carbon footprint facilitates identification and measurement of carbon emissions across the supply chain. Companies today operate in a carbon-constrained world. In particular, the automobile industry is under pressure to take a close look at its product carbon footprint. Managing the downstream consequences of the use of its products and inputs from upstream suppliers is critical for developing carbon risk-mitigated supply chain management. This paper is of benefit to academics and managers by providing a new way to integrate carbon emissions in supply chain management. Since climate change and carbon footprint present challenges to many industries, increasing our understanding of how to integrate carbon footprint in supply chain management is necessary, but has seen little research in the automobile industry.     

基于修复效果的污染土壤修复工程环境足迹分析

为定量评估污染土壤修复工程的环境影响，基于北方某焦化厂有机污染场地原位热脱附和阻隔通风技术的实际修复效果，计算了该工程各阶段的环境足迹及相对贡献，阐明了其主要来源，并对这两种技术修复单位方量土壤的环境足迹和基于污染物含量变化与风险削减的环境足迹强度进行了分析. 结果表明:在达到修复目标的情况下，工程施工准备阶段环境足迹占比仅在1%左右，高风险区原位热脱附施工运行阶段温室气体排放量、能源消耗量、耗水量、空气污染物排放量占比分别为63.39%、93.02%、72.82%和71.08%，低风险区阻隔通风施工运行阶段温室气体排放量、能源消耗量、耗水量、空气污染物排放量占比分别为35.40%、6.77%、26.26%和27.74%；原位热脱附技术修复单位方量土壤的环境足迹高于阻隔通风技术，原位热脱附技术的能源消耗量约为阻隔通风技术的49.70倍，温室气体排放量、耗水量、空气污染物排放量为阻隔通风技术的6.32~10.30倍. 研究显示:天然气使用、电能消耗和现场机械设备使用是该工程环境足迹的主要来源，在高风险区原位热脱附修复工程中苯的环境足迹强度高于苯并[a]芘，原位热脱附技术的能源强度高于阻隔通风技术，基于污染物含量降低情况的环境足迹强度对量化原位热脱附技术的环境足迹适用性较好，而基于风险削减的环境足迹强度适用于阻隔通风技术.      

基于风险场的区域突发性环境风险评价方法研究

在大尺度空间,风险源、风险受体和风险传播途径的多样性和相互作用的复杂性是区域环境风险评价的难点.同时,现有评价方法很少关注风险因子的释放规律,释放后在空间中的分布格局,以及风险受体受到损害的途径和程度.本文应用风险场理论,分析描述风险场形成和对风险受体作用的机制.结合南京化工园区实例进行环境风险源识别,采用集对分析等方法构建了各风险源产生的环境风险场,再分析处于风险场中的环境风险受体,最后得到区域环境风险水平分布,同时将其划分为5个等级.评价结果显示,位于风险源周围或河道下游的人口稠密、生态环境敏感地区环境风险值R≥6,风险水平处于极高、高等级,与园区现状具有较好的一致性.建议依据环境风险水平的分级、分类结果建立起以预防为主的环境风险管理体系.     

城市生态系统污染氮足迹与灰水足迹综合评价

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