An inter-sectoral comparison of green supply chain management in China: Drivers and practices

The issue of green supply chain management (GSCM) has received increased attention in recent years among manufacturing practice and research. Yet, the corporate and environmental manufacturing issues in developing countries have not been as well investigated. This paper compares drivers and practices of GSCM in one developing country, China, focusing on three typical sectors, the automobile industry, the thermal power plants and the electronic/electrical industry. We sought to determine where the differences occur and which industries are further along. This study indicates that Chinese companies in different industries have differing drivers and practices. We tend to confirm that globalization and China's entry into the world trade organization have helped promote GSCM practices in manufacturing enterprises.     

区域生态府际合作治理的碎片化困境及其出路

随着区域一体化程度的加深,我国环境问题逐渐超出特定的行政区划边界而演变为跨行政区环境问题,这需要地方政府间的横向合作以形成跨行政区环境治理,文章通过分析我国地方政府间在生态合作治理中产生的碎片化现象,包括合作理念碎片化、合作动力碎片化、组织结构碎片化以及合作程序碎片化,找到造成地方政府间合作碎片化的原因并给出相应的对策建议,建议包括加快培育地方政府间合作共赢的制度文化,加强地方政府合作的制度建设以及健全政府间合作的运行保障机制。     

Fuzzy AHP-based study of cleaner production implementation in Taiwan PWB manufacturer

In recent years, many electronic manufacturing firms have looked upon Cleaner Production (CP) as the means by which they could maintain environmental practice and competitive advantages. CP has been adopted by companies as an important factor in enhancing industrial productivity. Sustainable projects that deal appropriately with environmental and social factors are also more likely to be the most profitable.This paper investigated the criteria and attributes that determine a successful adoption and implementation of CP in reference to PWB manufacture in Taiwan. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) methodology is used to discuss the different decision criteria that include Organizing, Systems and Technologies, Measurement and Feedback, Working environment and Worker's Culture which are all vital factors in an effective CP implementation. AHP is an efficient tool in controlling the fuzziness of the data involved in choosing the most preferred decision variables. The linguistic level of comparisons produced by the manufacturers and experts are tapped and constructed in a form of triangular fuzzy numbers in order to construct fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices. The implementation of the system is demonstrated by a problem involving three stages of hierarchy which contains different criteria and attributes at a wider perspective within an environmental uncertainty. The findings advocate that these enterprises would need to setup the priorities of the CP implementation. The results suggest a generic hierarchical model of organizations of which the highest level is to be prioritized among the CP implementation factors.     

Environmental management accounting in Lithuania: exploratory study of current practices,opportunities and strategic intents

There is a growing consensus among the Lithuanian policy makers, practitioners and industrialists that environmental policy must move from a reactive stance to a more proactive, sustainable development approach. As a result, many companies are increasingly interested in the application of economic incentives at least as supplements or reinforcements of environmental standards.The Institute of Environmental Engineering (EU Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Industrial Development (APINI – SID)) in 1992–2003 has been involved in introduction and implementation of preventive environmental strategy in industry in Lithuania and in other countries. In Lithuania, these efforts resulted in the implementation of more than 200 cleaner production innovations in more than 150 Lithuanian companies. It should be stressed that effective plant maintenance is becoming a higher priority to plant managers. It is important to ensure cost-savings, at all levels, that include maximizing productivity and implementing energy-saving approaches. Effective and efficient maintenance are not just desirable, but fundamental to profitable business operations. Therefore, central to the environmental view of sustainable development is the concept that economic and social systems are sub-systems of the global environment.APINI's experience shows that decision-makers at the company level often fail to recognize the economic values of natural resources as assets as well as the business and financial value of good environmental performance. Therefore, there is a need to upgrade the business decision-making process by including information on material flows and related costs to account for efforts of sustainable development [Staniskis JK, Stasiskiene Z. Promotion of cleaner production investments: international experience. Journal of Cleaner Production 2002;11(6):619–28. ISSN: 0959-6526, Elsevier Science]. Decisions are increasingly affected by environmental costs. Application of environmental management accounting (EMA), which integrates two of the main principles of sustainable development – environment and economics, can help to significantly improve corporate decision-making.EMA is becoming increasingly important not only for environmental management decisions and development of environmental management systems (EMS), but also for all types of routine management activities, such as product and process design, cost allocation and control, capital budgeting, purchasing, product pricing and performance evaluation.Companies, which use EMA as a part of integrated management system, are provided with accurate and comprehensive information for the measurement and reporting of environmental performance.This paper investigates the current state of EMA practices in Lithuanian SMEs that have already been or are being implementing EMS and which have implemented CP innovations. In this case, EMA is analysed as an innovative assessment and evaluation method of EMS and CP innovation's environmental impacts and economic benefits. It should be stressed, that there are obvious differences in case studies from different industries. However, review of the results shows that there are many similarities in what improvements can be suggested for environmentally concerned companies both in terms of environmentally sound operation and for reporting of environmental management accounting information.     

工业大气污染源排放绩效定量评价及应用

工业源治理是改善环境空气质量的重要途径,而如何开展精准治污仍然是目前亟需回答的问题.以天津市西青区为例,基于第二次全国污染源普查数据,对工业企业开展污染物排放绩效定量评价,并深入探究排放绩效评价应用于工业源精细化管控治理的意义、可行性以及存在的问题.结果发现,西青区各行业的排放绩效水平差异较大.污染物排放绩效水平与行业企业的自身属性、发展规模和管理水平有较为密切的关系.整体来看,家具制造业、金属制品业、黑色金属冶炼和压延加工业等生产工艺本身产污量大且中小型企业居多的行业排放绩效水平偏差,而以计算机通信和其他电子设备制造业、汽车制造业为代表的高端行业排放绩效水平整体偏好.各行业中不同企业排放绩效差异也较大,其中金属机械制造类行业中绩效最差的11家企业工业产值对行业贡献0.06%,而PM排放量贡献达到8.50%;橡胶和塑料制品业中绩效最差的19家企业工业产值对全行业贡献4.76%,而VOCs排放量贡献却达到43.59%.同时,分别参照生态环境部相关技术指南和绩效评价结果设计减排方案,发现后者在减排同等规模污染物排放量时,减排成本最高可低于前者约90%.各行业、企业污染物排放绩效的差距,经济效益和环境成本的不协调,以及排放绩效评价对于精准减排的重要指引作用,充分证明开展排放绩效评价的必要性.结果表明污染物排放绩效评估可有效支撑宏观产业结构调整和中观、微观的工业企业环境治理,为精准治污提供重要参考路径.     

节能环保产业发展现状剖析对中国的启示与研究

随着全球经济的飞速发展,经济受资源和环境约束的矛盾接近临界。而人们对环境质量的需求不断上升,在此大背景下,节能环保产业应运而生。在介绍国际节能环保产业和分析中国节能环保产业现状的基础上,分析融资渠道不够畅通,市场活力有待激发,资本市场亟待完善,产业创业还需推进等一系列制约中国节能环保产业发展的问题,并从理清管理体制,畅通融资渠道,健全资本市场,推进产业创业等方面给出了建议。     

Beyond barriers: examining root causes behind commonly cited Cleaner Production barriers in Vietnam

Despite the promotion of Cleaner Production (CP) by government, academia and research institutions in the past few years, only a small number of Vietnamese industries have adopted it. This paper explores why CP has not been widely adopted by industry through an examination of the root causes preventing effective CP implementation in Vietnam. The paper concludes with possible directions for improving the effectiveness and sustainability of CP programs in Vietnam through training and education.     

巴黎协定生效下的中国省际碳排放权分配研究

随着《巴黎协定》正式生效,碳排放权作为关系人类福祉的一种新型发展权,如何分配已成为世界各国共同关注的焦点问题.中国是全球最大的碳排放国,面临着巨大的减排压力.为分解落实我国政府提出的2030年碳减排"自主行动目标",提出公平性、效率性、可行性、可持续性4项分配原则,从社会、经济、环境三重维度系统选取分配指标,构建"共同但有区别"的省际碳排放权分配模型,据此对31个省区2016—2030年的碳排放配额进行核算.研究表明,碳排放配额最多为广东、山东和江苏,最少为西藏、新疆和青海.对比配额结果与当前碳排放规模发现,山西等9省区未来的碳排放空间呈现赤字,海南等16省区的碳排放空间呈现盈余,浙江等6省区则收支大致相抵.鉴于各省区面临不同的减排任务和压力,差别化的控排政策是保证我国"2030目标"顺利实现的关键.     

我国环保产业投入与产出的空间非均衡性分析

环保产业是我国七大战略性新兴产业之一,加快发展环保产业是促进发展方式转型、提高经济增长质量的重要举措.基于空间非均衡性理论与测算方法,通过构建环保产业投入与产出评价指标,计算了我国环保产业投入与产出的基尼系数,探究了东中西部环保产业投入与产出的空间差异.结果表明,在2000年、2004年和2011年3个时间点,我国环保产业投入水平的基尼系数处于0.3~0.4区间内,呈现出地区间均衡发展的趋势;环保产业产出水平的基尼系数分别为0.33、0.40和0.45,即我国环保产业产出水平的区域差异愈加明显,对经济增长的贡献逐渐呈现出不均衡态势;环保产业投资效率的空间非均衡性明显,2011年基尼系数甚至达到0.72,即投资效率的极不均衡状态.此外,我国东中西部地区在环保产业投入水平方面基本一致,东部和中部地区在环保产出水平方面明显优于西部地区,东部地区在投资效率方面遥遥领先其他区域.基于我国环保产业发展空间非均衡性的特点,提出了加快环保产业发展的政策建议:保持东部地区的环保投入力度,发掘中西部地区环保产业发展的新动力,充分利用产业发展的空间溢出效应等.      

The social and environmental costs associated with water management practices in state environmental protection projects in Xinjiang,China

Since the late 1970s the central government of China has initiated several ecological environmental protection projects. The most significant of these has been the tui geng huan lin (returning cultivated land to forest and pasture) project in operation since the late 1990s. China's northwest region is characterized by lack of water resources, yet such resources are of vital importance. There is scant discussion in the literature (including in China) on the linkages between the environmental protection projects and water management practices. This paper analyses how central government environmental protection projects are interpreted in the local setting, and how local water management policies and practices correspond to the projects. The conclusion is that local water management policies and practices are interlinked with both central government and local government policies on the environmental protection projects, and a new process for the redistribution of water has been established. When equity and social costs are not factored into the planning of new environmental protection projects, the social costs may be as high as the environmental costs.     

Eco-efficiency in the SMEs of Venezuela. Current status and future perspectives

This paper presents a comparison analysis of eco-efficiency in the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) of Venezuela. The research can be divided into three parts: the first part reviews similar studies in the literature on the level of eco-efficiency exhibited by the companies of Venezuela and other countries. In the second place, the findings of a survey conducted on Venezuelan SMEs allowed the definition of 54 eco-efficiency profiles. Thirdly, six national experts in cleaner production and eco-efficiency were interviewed. The interview was based on a questionnaire similar to that used in the survey of the Venezuelan SMEs. At a second meeting, the experts were asked to discuss on the similarities and differences between their answers and those of the company's managers.The findings of the survey allow us to conclude that Venezuelan SMEs understand the legal environmental regulations that affect them but they do not perceive the influence of external driving forces like customers demand for green products or institutional incentives. The adoption of eco-efficiency practices is not perceived as an incentive to improve competitiveness so that the environmental strategies adopted generally aim at reducing costs or avoiding non-compliance sanctions and negative effects on the company image. Materials recycling and reuse, especially packaging materials, are common practices; however, other environmental tools or practices have not been implemented yet, e.g. environmental management systems (EMS), process, product and services design tools based on the product life cycle, renewable energy resources or green marketing. There are also differences among the eight industrial sectors analyzed, food and chemical industries having the higher index of eco-efficiency practices, and plastic and wood industries the lower.     

Industrial park management in the Chinese environment

In China many investments especially from foreign companies are located in industry parks. However, the general situation and management perspectives of developing Chinese industrial parks are not very clear to the westerners. With the rapid development, industrial parks will play a key role in China's economy, therefore, those issues relating with China's industrial parks need to be further discussed. This paper is one of such efforts. It will review the development of China's industrial parks, including characterizing industry parks in China and discussing the main site selection criteria and important aspects for foreign investors. The main focus of this paper is to discuss the current environmental management practices of industrial parks because such parks have been main sources of pollution. New development strategy for industrial parks, such as eco-industrial development, should be considered and implemented.     

碳交易政策如何影响工业碳生产率:来自中国省级数据的准自然实验

当前,在中国奋力实现"碳达峰"碳中和"目标的背景下,不仅给碳排放量相对较高的工业企业带来较大环境治理压力,同时也给其在经济增长方面带来较大冲击.对其随着碳交易政策的提出,是否能够产生"减碳促经"效果展开深入研究.基于2005~2019年30个省市数据,通过双重差分等方法和多重中介效应模型对碳交易政策与工业碳生产率的影响效果和作用路径展开深入分析.结果表明,碳交易政策能够明显提升工业碳生产率水平;同时该种作用效果会随着试点区域的不同存在明显差异;该政策能够产生显著的环境规制、结构优化、技术和能源结构优化效应.建议通过加速完善环境规制层面法律制度、加快构建环保产业发展新体系、加强绿色技术创新研发力度和加速优化能源结构方面促进中国工业经济向低碳化发展转型.     

Does the GreenWatch program work? Evidence from a developed area in China

The GreenWatch program has been implemented nationally in China. However, whether the program and its process have been effective in improving firms' environmental performance remains unclear. Based on the stakeholder theory, this paper conducts a comparative analysis between firms participating in the program and those that do not, all of which are based in Changshu City in the developed part of Jiangsu Province, China. Data suggest that GreenWatch encourages firms to improve and disclose their environmental performance. Through pressures imposed by different stakeholders—from the government, investors, and consumers, to the public, such as the community and media—this program has become the main driving force for improving the firms' environmental performance. The current study also provides substantial evidence that public disclosure in China opens up channels for effective public participation. Therefore, the GreenWatch program deserves to be promoted in China.     

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.     

Underlying mechanisms in the maintenance of ISO 14001 environmental management system

In this paper we aim to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the maintenance of ISO 14001. Initially, we looked into the Hillary's [Hillary R. Evaluation of study reports on the barriers, opportunities and drivers for small and medium sized enterprises – the adoption of environmental management systems. Report for DTI Envirodoctorate 5th October, 1999. London: NEMA; 1999] evaluation study on barriers, opportunities and drivers for small and medium enterprises that adopted environmental management systems and we developed a comprehensive list of barriers identified in the literature. We have used this set of barriers to investigate the underlying mechanisms in the maintenance of ISO 14001 environmental management system through an in-depth longitudinal case study in manufacturing organisations. We have determined five underlying processes (transforming and value adding; administrating and improving; understanding and accepting; communicating and learning; availability of resources) and five key actors (external environment; environmental management team; ISO 14001 EMS; organisation; resources and skills), which interactions are captured in M-ISO model. Finally, based on our study we offer directions for future research.     

PRIMA: a Dutch initiative for environmental improvement of retail assortments

Cleaner production (CP) working methods should facilitate the search for feasible CP options and contribute to their on-going implementation in a company. Over the past decade, numerous working methods have been developed in order to cater for specific segments of industry. This paper describes, compares and analyses the core components of six Dutch working methods to develop a framework for CP methodologies, to draft guidelines for the selection of an appropriate working method for a certain industry, and to identify areas which require additional methodology development. A division is proposed between four types of CP working methods: indicators, scan, pre-assessment and assessment. Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses, which calls for a careful selection of the working method, which in turn could be based on size of the company, material- and energy-intensity of the production, and complexity of the production processes. This comparative evaluation further proves that the working methods are still weak in stimulating the corporate transition process from ‘end-ofpipe’ to CP thinking and acting. It is tentatively concluded that an ‘assessment’ is superior in identifying comparatively radical environmental improvements (‘innovations’) as well as in fostering the integration of CP into the daily operation and management of a company. The use of simplified working methods in selected industries, is, however, justified given their ability to contribute to the implementation of relatively obvious CP options.     

Chile's environmental momentum: ISO 14001 and the large-scale mining industry – Case studies from the state and private sector

Since Chile's return to democratic government in 1990, the environment has taken on a greater significance in policy making activities. This article examines the progress Chile has made in this area with particular reference to the large-scale mining sector and the overall environmental performance of its environmental management systems (EMSs). Many large-scale mines operating in Chile have already attained ISO 14001 certification, and those that have not, are either working towards this or have an alternative system in place. Evidence of improving environmental performance is presented, and many of the challenges which lie ahead for the country and its mining industry are highlighted.     

低碳经济背景下我国产业结构升级对策研究

为了实现我国经济的平稳发展,改变以"高消耗、高增长、高污染"的传统经济增长方式,解决资源的过度消耗和温室气体的过量排放等问题,文章从我国产业及内部结构、产业的碳排放量和产业节能率三个方面进行了分析,提出了在低碳经济背景下实现我国产业结构升级的对策。     

Building institutions based on information disclosure: lessons from GRI's sustainability reporting

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the best-known framework for voluntary reporting of environmental and social performance by business worldwide. Using extensive empirical data, including interviews and documentary analysis, we examine GRI's organizational field and conclude that since its modest beginnings in 1999 GRI has been by several measures a successful institutionalization project. But the institutional logic of this new entity, as an instrument for corporate sustainability management, leaves out one of the central elements of the initial vision for GRI: as a mobilizing agent for many societal actors. This emergent logic reflects GRI's dominant constituency – large global companies and financial institutions and international business management consultancies – and not the less active civil society organizations and organized labor. We attribute these developments to factors such as building GRI within the existing institutional structures; the highly inclusive multistakeholder process; and the underdeveloped base of information users. From the institutional theory perspective, this case shows how the process of institutionalization is deeply affected by initial strategies of the founders, and how it reproduces existing power relations. From the governance perspective, this case leads us to question the power of commodified information to mobilize civil society and to strengthen governance based on partnerships.