Uncertainty,Irreversibility and the Timing Problems of Environmental Policy

Abstract

Most environmental issues and policy designing are uncertain and irreversible; therefore, the timing of environmental policy implementation becomes especially important. This paper establishes a random dynamic programming model and analyzes the optimal timing problems in environmental policy under uncertain variables. This model results indicate that two variables have a significant impact on the timing of environmental policy implementation and they work in opposite directions: on one hand, the more uncertain the economy is, the higher the cost of policies implementation will be, and consequently the incentive to immediately adopt the policy will be stronger. On the other hand, the higher the uncertainty of the environment is, the stronger the irreversibility of ecological harm caused by pollutants per unit will be. Therefore, the government should implement new environmental policies as early as possible in order to gain more ecological benefits.     

Review,assessment and recommendations on environmental policies in Western China

Reviewing the existing environmental policies in Western China,we find that:in time sequence,the characteristics of China's western environmental policies shift from"development drive governance"to the full implementation of environmental protection and construction;and in spatial sequence,the ecological,social,and economic development of Western China reach to coordination through the nature reserve setting,ecological migrants,fiscal transfer payment and differentiated ecological environmental policies.Due to the implementation of the policies and projects,environmental degradation trends in the western ecological environment were alleviated significantly,the living conditions of farmers and herdsmen were improved,and many successful experiences were explored.However,future ecological environmental construction in Western China requires further improvement in integrated planning,eco-compensation mechanism,and policy assessment.This paper concludes with specific recommendations such as drawing up ecological environment construction planning,strengthening environmental law enforcement and incentive mechanisms,improving policy assessment and scientific support,enhancing environmental protection capacity,improving eco-compensation mechanism,and refining the environmental policies for key areas.     

海岛居民环境友好行为及其影响因素研究--以长岛县为例

海岛是海洋生态系统的重要组成部分,保护海岛生态环境是推进海洋生态文明建设、保护海洋生态环境的重要方面。海岛居民是保护海岛生态环境的主体之一,研究海岛居民环境友好行为的影响因素,引导和鼓励海岛居民主动采取环境友好行为是改善海岛生态环境的有效途径。本研究在梳理国内外相关文献的基础上,对海岛居民环境友好行为的概念、类型及影响因素进行理论分析,建立包含生态管理行为、消费行为、说服行为、公民行为四个环境友好行为变量,环境态度、环境保护知识、环境经历、社会政策、行为约束五个影响因素变量在内的理论模型。结合海岛生态环境和海岛居民的特点,设计海岛居民版环境友好行为测量量表,并在长岛县进行问卷调查,运用描述性统计分析、结构方程模型分析探究海岛居民环境友好行为的影响因素及影响因素间的内在关系。研究发现:①海岛居民环境友好行为总体水平差异较大,难度较低的环境友好行为实施较好,而难度较高的实施较差;影响因素变量中,环境态度积极,环境经历丰富,环境保护知识掌握较好,相关社会政策较为不利,行为约束偏中性。②环境态度、环境经历、社会政策对海岛居民环境友好行为具有显著正向影响。③环境保护知识对环境态度具有显著正向影响,但对海岛居民环境友好行为无显著影响,存在“知易行难”现象。行为约束对海岛居民环境友好行为无显著影响。④环境经历不仅直接影响海岛居民环境友好行为,而且通过环境态度对海岛居民环境友好行为施加间接影响。基于研究结论,提出了改善海岛居民环境友好行为的对策建议。     

论生态指标在生态学和政策之间的桥梁作用

日益严峻的生态与环境问题表明，生态学对实现可持续发展的相关决策的影响力还很有限。从知识生产、传播和应用的角度，系统分析了妨碍生态学服务于政策的因素，指出生态知识传播的形式不当是主要原因之一。生态指标是关于生态系统结构、组成成分或功能方面的可度量的特征，它是生态系统的指示器，也是生态信息的有效传播形式之一。生态指标能够以一种易于公众和决策者理解和交流的方式来提供生态信息，服务于相关生态和环境政策的制定。实际上，只有由生态学家、政策制定者和决策者共同参与开发出来的生态指标才能真正成为生态学和政策的桥梁，才能有助于消除决策者和生态学家之间的隔阂，促进形成科学合理的生态政策。为了让生态学更好地服务于可持续发展的相关决策，还应该将生态指标与社会经济指标结合起来     

Comparision of China’s volatile organic compound pollution management: a computable general equilibrium approach

The public health and ecological impacts of volatile organic compound (VOCs) pollution have become a serious problem in China, arousing increasing attention to emissions control. In this context, this paper analyses the effectiveness of VOC reduction policies, namely pollution charges and environmental taxes at the national and industrial sector levels. It uses a computable general equilibrium model, which connects macroeconomic variables with VOC emissions inventory, to simulate the effects of policy scenarios (with 2007 as the reference year). This paper shows that VOC emissions are reduced by 2.2% when a pollution charge equal to the average cost of engineering reduction methods – the traditional approach to regulation in China – is applied. In order to achieve a similar reduction, an 8.9% indirect tax would have to be imposed. It concludes that an environmental tax should be the preferred method of VOC regulation due to its smaller footprint on the macroeconomy. Other policies, such as subsidies, should be used as supplements.     

我国发展循环经济的政策与法律体系探讨

建立和完善循环经济政策应遵循三个原则：服务于我国循环经济概念与内涵原则。服务于循环经济实践的原则。用足用好现有政策和补充缺位政策相结合的原则。我国发展循环经济的政策与法律体系应包括四大类：基本政策、核心政策和基础性政策。技术政策可以融入这四类政策之中。基本政策是统领循环经济所有政策的根本。是资源环境与社会经济发展相融合的综合性政策。基础性政策是指为循环经济重点领域实践创造良好制度环境的政策。大致包括宏观经济政策、基本经济制度、基础性激励政策和考核政策等。核心政策是直接推动循环经济重点实践领域的政策。在核心政策中。需要切实落实和用足用好的现有对循环经济发展较有利的政策有：生态工业政策（包括产业结构调整政策、清洁生产政策）。资源综合利用和环保产业税费优惠政策。能源节约和再生能源政策。环境友好型产品标志（标识）政策；需要完善的薄弱政策有：生态工业园建设政策。废弃物回收、再利用、资源化和无害化产业政策。生态农业政策。资源开发利用政策；需要新建立的缺位政策主要涉及消费领域、环境友好型和资源能源节约型城镇基础设施和建筑领域。     

公平性感知、信任与农业环境保护 ——不确定情形下农户行为选择

为深入理解农业环境政策从制定到落实的内在逻辑，从农户的公平性感知和信任出发，在农业环境保护的不确定情形下，探索性地构建农户农业环境保护行为响应理论分析框架，并基于山东、山西和陕西3省微观农户调查数据，采用路径分析、贝叶斯非线性结构方程模型和斜率分析等方法进行验证。结果表明：（1）农户农业环境保护的公平性感知对农业环境保护行为有直接和间接影响。直接影响为公平性感知越高，越能显著促进农户农业环境保护行为；间接影响为公平性感知通过提高信任进而作用于行为。（2）农业环境保护的不确定性显著阻碍了农户农业环境保护行为，且显著干扰了公平性感知向行为的转化。据此提出，农业环境保护政策的制定应考虑农户公平性感知和信任，传统命令型农业环境政策应逐步向农户参与型政策让渡；对农业环境定期检测并给予农户反馈，在降低政府长期监管成本的同时，也减少了农户农业环境保护的不确定性，从而推进农业环境保护政策的有效落实。     

China’s Total Emission Control Policy: A Critical Review

Abstract

As part of a comprehensive environmental management system, many countries establish emission control targets for mass emissions of a pollutant. Such targets are often the key objective of an environmental policy, such as an emission trading program. In China, however, it is more than just an objective of one particular policy; it has become a concept that has influenced many national environmental policies and activities. The objective of this article is to review the implementation of the total emission control policy in the past 10 years and explore emerging issues in its implementation. The article has three sections: a summary of the implementation experience, issues with the design and implementation of the policy, and policy recommendations.     

主体功能区环境政策体系构建初探

在分析主体功能区环境政策需求的基础上,从环境政策目标、政策手段、政策保障三个层面构建了主体功能区环境政策体系框架。初步确立了各类主体功能区环境政策的宏观目标及微观目标;重点研究了环境准入、污染控制、生态补偿、环境经济等政策措施;从环保绩效考核、环境信息公开、资金保障、法律保障等方面探讨了政策保障体系。本研究为进一步深入开展主体功能区环境政策研究奠定了基础,同时可以为开展主体功能区规划等工作提供参考。     

生态足迹在城市规划环境评价中的应用——以苏州市域城镇体系规划为例

以苏州市域城镇体系规划为例,探讨运用生态足迹进行融合型规划环境影响评价的方法,为规划环评较早地介入规划编制过程进行了有益的探索：在规划编制初期,确定规划的生态底限,农业用地、非农建设用地和水域的面积不低于3 728、1 016和2 019 km2;在规划编制过程中,根据现状评价的结果提出耕地是苏州城市发展的限制因子,水资源是优势因子,并估算了规划实施前后苏州市的生态足迹和生态承载力的变化情况。结果表明：规划实施后,苏州市的人均生态赤字有加大的趋势,耕地的赤字是最主要的贡献者,草地和能源用地的生态盈亏无变化,林地的生态赤字将减少,建设用地和水域的生态盈余将增加。依据该结果提出了减缓生态赤字的措施以及调整规划的意见：优化城镇发展空间,提高中心城市的容积率,置换出一定面积的生态用地,降低耕地的生态赤字;发展大运量的轨道交通和水路运输,减少交通能耗和机动车尾气的排放,降低能源用地的生态赤字。     

论资源开发区域的环境保护：以内蒙古呼伦贝尔为例

本文以我国一个重要的资源开发区域——内蒙古呼伦贝尔为案例,分析了该区域在资源开发中造成的种种环境问题和引发这些问题的背景因素,据此提出了加强环境保护的措施。作者认为呼伦贝尔出现的环境问题在我国资源开发区域带有一定的典型性,这种状况提醒我们,就发展中大国来说,在资源开发过程中绝不能忽视而只能加强环境保护工作,对我国中西部生态环境脆弱的资源开发区域尤应如此。     

农户生态耕种采纳意愿及其异质性分析——基于TPB框架的实证研究

生态耕种对改善农业生态环境、提升耕地保护成效和保障农作物质量安全起着重要作用。基于江西省11市47县（区）1 488份农户微观调查数据，在计划行为理论指导下，运用Logistic回归模型对农户生态耕种采纳意愿的影响因素开展实证研究。研究结果表明：（1）有89.85%的样本农户表示愿意采纳生态耕种，并对生态耕种的收益预期和推广预期维持在较高水平；（2）行为态度、主观规范和知觉行为控制对农户生态耕种采纳意愿有着显著的影响，其中，生态耕种推广预期、生产交流、邻里效应、政策补贴和技术培训变量是影响农户采纳意愿的关键因素；（3）不同限定条件下，农户生态耕种采纳意愿影响因素具有差异性，其中收益预期、信息传播力度和技术培训对低推广预期农户生态耕种采纳意愿影响更强；风险预期越低，对缺乏交流农户的采纳意愿影响更大；邻里效应小的农户主要受信息传播力度和技术培训的影响；需要政策补贴的农户，生产交流越频繁，邻里效应越强，其采纳愿望更强烈；参加了培训的农户，影响其采纳意愿的因素主要有收益预期与信息传播力度。政府应在加强生态耕种宣传与推广、搭建农户生产交流平台、完善生态耕种补贴与激励政策等方面制定针对性的措施。     

China''s Total Emission Control Policy:a Critical Review

As part of a comprehensive environmental management system, many countries establish emission control targets for mass emissions of a pollutant. Such targets are often the key objective of an environmental policy, such as an emission trading program. In China, however, it is more than just an objective of one particular policy; it has become a concept that has influenced many national environmental policies and activities. The objective of this article is to review the implementation of the total emission c...     

云南森林生态功能区农户生态补偿支付意愿(WTP)影响因素及差异性分析

生态补偿是协调经济与资源环境和谐发展,化解生态环境与经济增长矛盾的有效手段,对推进生态文明建设意义深远。基于云南省5个州市农户调查数据,运用二元Probit模型,分析了云南森林生态功能区农户生态补偿支付意愿的关键影响因素及其差异性。研究表明:大部分农户愿意为生态补偿付费,影响其支付意愿的主要因素是性别、年龄、是否兼业、家庭人口数、非农收入比重、生态补偿重要性认知、森林经济效益是否比生态效益重要、生态环境满意度、政府是否对生态环境保护宣传、政策执行信任度以及信息获取难易程度;其中年龄、家庭农业劳动力人数和信息获取难易程度对专业户支付意愿有重要影响,而家庭人口数、非农收入比重以及获得政府补偿的情况对兼业户支付意愿有重要影响;是否兼业、非农收入比重、对生态补偿了解程度以及信息获取难易程度对传统散户支付意愿影响较大;对政策执行的信任程度和产业发展程度对种植大户支付意愿有重要影响。基于此,提出了完善政府农村就业服务职能,鼓励农户非农就业、创业;完善生态功能区环境教育体系和宣传制度建设,强化农户环保意识;强化政府职责及其政策推广、执行力度,构建综合、完善的生态补偿宣传媒介;制定并实施差异化的生态补偿措施等具体对策建议。     

省级政府环境政策制定过程的特征分析——以陕西和云南水土保持生态补偿政策为例

近年来,省级政府制定的环境政策逐渐增多。在数量繁多的各类问题中,省级政府的决策者如何能够充分认识到某个环境问题的重要性和紧迫性,将其置于优先考虑的位置,进而出台一项环境政策?与经济发展政策相比,省级政府制定环境政策的过程有何特征?本文通过研究两个案例来探讨这些问题的答案,一个案例是陕西省制定的水土保持生态补偿政策,另一个案例是云南省正在制定的类似政策。研究表明,在省级政府制定环境政策的过程中,政策倡导者往往不是省级政府决策者,而是省级政府中行政主管部门的领导。政策倡导者建立政策的途径是说服作为决策者的省级政府相关领导,进而使之批准政策出台。其说服方法是建立由相关部门和其他利益相关者组成的支持联盟,通过科学研究阐明问题的重要性、紧迫性以及和政府职能的相关性,并提出具有科学基础和立法基础的政策方案。这一过程既区别于中央政府制定环境政策的过程,又与省级政府制定经济政策的过程不同。     

区域排污权交易模型研究

本文在分析了排污权交易研究进展的基础上，指出区域污染权交易比传统的排污权交易意义更大，并提出排污权交易地区交叉补贴的设想：将发达地区的排污权交易所得向欠发达地区转移，以解决欠发达地区产业结构调整乏力以及对发达地区的二次污染和发达地区环境容量资源短缺问题。在不考虑交易成本的假设下，通过建立不同地区排污权交易模型以确定排污权交易总量及其交易价格以及交易所获净增纯收益等。太湖流域由于经济最为发达，环境问题十分突出，是目前我国最适宜率先进行区域排污权交易试点的地区。通过假定太湖流域无锡和常州两市进行排污权交易，并利用两市1991—2000年的环境统计资料等相关资料进行了验证。计算结果表明区域排污权交易不仅具有明显的经济和环境效益，而且也是协调环境区域矛盾的重要手段。因此，不同地区间进行排污权交易在我国具有重要意义，在太湖流域等经济发达地区收效尤其明显。     

国家公园游客旅游生态补偿支付意愿及影响因素研究——以黄山风景区为例

了解与把握游客的旅游生态补偿支付意愿是实施旅游生态补偿政策的前提之一。以黄山风景区为例,通过问卷调查和条件价值法获取游客的支付意愿信息,并运用二元Logistic回归分析法从游客个人特征、旅游环境影响认知、游客满意度、重游意愿、生态补偿认知等4个方面对游客旅游生态补偿支付意愿的影响因素进行研究,旨在为国家公园旅游生态补偿机制的构建提供依据。结果表明:(1)国家公园游客具有较高的旅游生态补偿支付意愿。86.7%的游客表示愿意在每次游览黄山风景区支付旅游生态补偿金,仅有13.3%的游客不愿意支付。游客的支付意愿与游客自身的角色定位密切相关。(2)从回归结果来看,游客的性别、年龄、重游意愿和补偿必要性认知对旅游生态补偿支付意愿具有显著影响,女性游客支付意愿高于男性,年龄与支付意愿呈显著负相关,重游意愿和补偿必要性认知与其呈显著正相关关系。学历水平、月收入、旅游环境影响认知、满意度和补偿政策认知等变量对支付意愿在10%的显著性水平下不存在显著影响。但从统计结果来看,学历水平、黄山环境质量评价、环境破坏的担心度、生态环境的重要性、满意度对游客的支付意愿有一定的正向作用,游客月收入水平和补偿政策认知与支付意愿呈倒"U"型非线性关系。     

Environmental mainstreaming and policy coherence: essential policy tools to link international agreements with national development—a case study of the Caribbean region

The 2030 agenda for sustainable development adopted in September 2015 advocates for a balanced integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Existing multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) can provide guidance for policy-makers to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, within safe ecological limits. This paper presents a practical approach to mainstream international obligations of MEAs with national development priorities and strategies. It identifies pathways of policy coherence from national strategies to specific instruments and indicators to advance implementation of MEAs and help counties to fulfill agreed obligations. The approach is grounded in the driving forces–pressure–state–impact–response (DPSIR) framework, and it was applied in two national and two regional case studies in the Caribbean. The outcomes from the case studies show that mainstreaming rate of MEAs is low, and linkages across multiple MEAs are rarely considered. The DPSIR framework was useful for addressing national development priorities and those of MEAs in tandem, through adopting a cross-sectoral, multistakeholder perspective. The research shows that addressing environmental degradation and improving MEAs’ implementation requires that international and regional agencies identify linkages among MEAs to assist in creating policy coherence to ensure their integration into national strategies by connecting with policies and strategies in tandem implementation of MEAs for national policy-makers to work with.     

排污权的设定对环境技术进步的影响

排污权的设定是我国在治理环境污染过程中一项重要的政策。客观地评价这项政策的实施效果,不仅有利于政策本身的实施和完善,同时也可为其他地区开展相关工作提供借鉴。采用2004~2014年中国30个地区的面板数据,借鉴国内外评价政策实施效果的主流计量方法——双重差分法(Difference-in-Difference,DID),建立环境技术进步测度模型,探究排污权设定对环境技术进步的影响,最后提出政策建议。研究发现:当期排污权的设定并未对中国省际环境技术进步产生显著影响,但是在设定2 a之后,排污权在一定程度上控制了污染物的排放,其对我国环境污染的治理具有一定的促进作用,由此可以说明排污权确实能够提高环境技术进步。从长远来看,排污权的设定有利于我国经济健康可持续的发展。     

Potential of existing policies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for implementing adaptation to climate change

The impacts of climate change are apparent in various regions of the world. Even though climate change may have a positive effect, it is anticipated that there will be many severely negative effects on human and natural resources in the future. Therefore, in addition to the need for stronger promotion of mitigation policies, it is urgently necessary to study and implement adaptation policies over the longer term to prepare for the possible negative impact of climate change. To implement climate change adaptation measures rapidly in Japan, it would seem practical and effective to make good use of the various countermeasures already promoted by both the national and the local governments for many sectors such as disaster prevention, environmental management, food production, and protection of the nation’s health. These countermeasures are considered to have potential for effecting climate change adaptation. This study, focusing on adaptation to climate change negative impacts, investigates to what extent the existing policies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government could contribute to climate change adaptation, based on a comprehensive examination of targeted fields and indicators for which adaptation policies could be pursued. The results showed many of the existing policies could be useful for adaptation to climate change in many sectors. Furthermore, less than half of these policies need to take future climate change into account in order to contribute to climate change adaptation. This study proposes three basic steps that consider future climate change and local governmental propositions for the rapid implementation of adaptation policies in Japan.