The impact of implementation of the requirements of Standard No. OHSAS 18001:2007 to reduce the number of injuries at work and financial costs in the Republic of Croatia

This article contains the results of research into the impact of implementation of the requirements mentioned in Standard No. OHSAS 18001:2007 to reduce the number of injuries at work and the financial costs incurred in this way. The study was conducted on a determined sample by a written questionnaire survey method in the Republic of Croatia. The objective of the empirical research is to determine the impact of implementation of the requirements of Standard No. OHSAS 18001:2007 to reduce the number of injuries at work and financial costs in Croatia in business organizations that implement these requirements. To provide a broader picture, the research included the collection and analysis of data on the impact of the Standard No. OHSAS 18001:2007 on accidents and fatalities at work. Research findings are based on the analysis of performed statistical data where correlation and regression analysis has been applied.     

Contrasting stories on overcoming governance challenges: the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Netherlands

The European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) has provided the European Member States with a range of interacting governance challenges. This article studies three of these (the need for new administrative arrangements, public participation, and the enforced strict time frame). It questions how these interacting governance challenges were addressed in implementing the WFD in the Netherlands – a particularly interesting country since the European Commission assesses its implementation process in relatively positive terms, while an in-depth study reported on in this article tells a contrasting story. Based on this study, the article concludes that especially the interaction effects between the governance challenges may help us to better understand the outcome of the WFD-implementation process, and to provide more suitable advice as to how to improve the implementation process in future rounds.     

Environmental Protection Bureau Leadership at the Provincial Level in China: Examining Diverging Career Backgrounds and Appointment Patterns

This paper analyses the career backgrounds of local government officials in provincial Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) in China and explains the appointment patterns of Chinese EPB bureaucrats. Using biographical information of provincial EPB heads and drawing on fieldwork conducted in Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, this paper finds that only one-fourth of the provincial EPB heads were promoted through the bureau ranks within the EPBs, while the remaining three-fourths were appointed from positions outside the environment field. Further, nearly all EPB heads' professional backgrounds and associated networks can be clearly categorized as environmental, business, provincial government, or local government oriented. This paper delineates these four types of Chinese EPB leaders and explains why an awareness of the different professional orientations is critical to understanding environmental regulation and protection in China. These findings have implications for inferring the unique characteristics of a province's EPB leadership, the implementation capacities of provincial EPBs, and the appointment preferences of provincial leaders.     

Perverse Incentive Structure and Policy Implementation Gap in China's Local Environmental Politics

The obvious paradox within China's environmental politics is the big gap between the central government's policy and its implementation outcomes at local levels. Despite concerns about implementation at the local level, much about the role of central governments in China's local environmental politics is still poorly understood. This article examines how the incentive structure set by the central authorities affects the policy implementation gap at the local level. Drawing on fieldwork and document analysis, this article argues that the incentives set by the central government regarding environmental policy implementation at local levels are perversely structured, meaning that the central government provides much more incentive for local governments' non-implementation or poor implementation of its environmental policies than it provides for full implementation. The central government's failure to encourage—politically, financially, as well as morally—local government officials to appropriately implement environmental policies can partly explain the production of the policy implementation gap at the local level. This implementation gap cannot be overcome by efforts at the local level unless the central government takes significant measures to address the perverse incentive structure embedded in the overall structure of China's local environmental politics.     

清洁生产审核在石油企业基层的应用研究

文章总体介绍了中国石化河南油田分公司古城油矿实施清洁生产审核的概况,针对基层开展清洁生产审核工作的现状,重点分析了审核过程中存在的各种问题:审核培训的深度和力度不够,基层清洁生产审核的人力、物力资源严重不足等。提出提高基层清洁生产审核效果的对策:加强全员清洁生产知识和审核方法的培训,选定合适的清洁生产审核单元,充分利用好现有的技术资源。通过实施清洁生产方案取得了较好的经济效益和环境效益。     

Implementing EU climate and energy policies in Poland: policy feedback and reform

European Union (EU) climate/energy targets and policies are poised for the first full climate policy cycle – from adoption and implementation of the policy package for 2020, to reform for 2030. A dynamic approach to the ways in which EU policies affect policy development is developed by applying theories of domestic implementation, policy feedback and integration. Implementation experiences in Poland – the ‘least climate ambitious’ EU member state – affected Polish preferences for reformed EU policies. Existing EU policies, their ‘fit’ with Poland’s energy interests and change in anticipation of future EU policies explain much of the variation in preferences. Second, policy feedback from Poland significantly affected the EU 2030 climate and energy framework. As yet, the EU has succeeded only partly in gathering momentum through a ‘snowball’ effect whereby positive policy feedback from implementation generates further steps.     

企业环保信用评价政策实施研究

2013年《企业环境信用评价办法(试行)》印发后,各地在健全环保信用评价制度上做了不少探索,一些专家、学者也对企业环保信用评价制度做了一些研究,但针对全国实施情况和地区实施差异性的总体研究和深度总结较少。本文在系统搜集我国31个省、自治区、直辖市所发布的企业环保信用评价政策文件的基础上,从评价范围、评价方法和评价结果等方面对结合地方特点制订的21份文件进行剖析,并对政策实施效果及执行中存在的问题进行总结归纳,最后提出加快立法进度、完善政策体系和强化结果应用等对策建议。     

Joint implementation: Biodiversity and greenhouse gas offsets

One of the most pressing environmental issues today is the possibility that projected increases in global emissions of greenhouse gases from increased deforestation, development, and fossil-fuel combustion could significantly alter global climate patterns. Under the terms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in Rio de Janeiro during the June 1992 Earth Summit, the United States and other industrialized countries committed to balancing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels in the year 2000. Included in the treaty is a provision titled Joint Implementation, whereby industrialized countries assist developing countries in jointly modifying long-term emission trends, either through emission reductions or by protecting and enhancing greenhouse gas sinks (carbon sequestration). The US Climate Action Plan, signed by President Clinton in 1993, calls for voluntary climate change mitigation measures by various sectors, and the action plan included a new program, the US Initiative on Joint Implementation. Wisconsin Electric decided to invest in a Jl project because its concept encourages creative, cost-effective solutions to environmental problems through partnering, international cooperation, and innovation. The project chosen, a forest preservation and management effort in Belize, will sequester more than five million tons of carbon dioxide over a 40-year period, will become economically selfsustaining after ten years, and will have substantial biodiversity benefits.     

实施ISO14000标准促进绿色行政和可持续发展

政府推行ISO14000标准，实施“绿色行政”，不仅能提高政府环境管理的水平，而且可以极大的提高政府的形象，并通过制定科学的、符合生态规律的发展规划，采取切实可行的、对环境友好的技术管理措施，达到保护生态环境、自然资源、实现可持续发展战略的目的。为了适应加入WTO的需要，实现环境管理和国际接轨，带动更多的企事业单位向科学的环境管理模式迈进，在政府开展ISO14000，实施“绿色行政”方面作了有益的探索。     

广西贵港市土地利用总体规划实施评价

目前沿用的土地利用总体规划实施评价的方法多为定性的直接描述法，缺乏科学的评价体系，难以对规划实施的效果作出客观、科学的评判。文章引入层次分析法（AHP），对贵港市土地利用总体规划实施效果进行量化研究。结果表明，虽然当地政府高度重视规划的实施，实施情况总体良好，但社会经济成效指标和完成性指标评价得分较低。建议该市今后加快“三农”政策的落实，以提高农民种粮的积极性和农民的收入水平；加大土地开发复垦、退耕还林资金投入，并制定有力的保障措施，促进完成性指标的实施。同时，提高社会意识度，是规划实施工作的重中之重，今后的规划要强化公众参与。