Disembodied and Disembedded? The Social and Economic Implications of Atmospheric Change and Biodiversity

The social and economic implications of atmospheric change on biodiversity need to be seen in a global context of major shifts in the conceptualization and management of our relationship with nature. Traditionally, we have conceptualized the atmosphere and the other creatures of the biosphere as separate from the human, but their quasi-autonomy is now becoming subject to more and more human management. This raises not only economic issues, but social, political, and ethical concerns that will have substantial influence on public policy. Among these are the commodification of genetic material; the privatization of traditional knowledge; and the management of information. In this broader context, the paper examines an array of current and proposed strategies of response to changes in biodiversity as a result of climatic and other stresses.     

Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management in Different Jurisdictions

The concept of sustainable forest management (SFM) requires forest resource managers to monitor and collect information pertaining to their environmental, economic and social impact. There are increasing expectations from a variety of publics (government, customers, and other stakeholders) that forests be demonstrably well-managed, creating incentives for forest managers to design credible systems for assessing their management performance. It is against this background that local, national and international approaches to regulating forest practices have been evolving. This article reviews the different dimensions of governance as they relate to monitoring and information reporting in the forest sector. Specifically, it discusses the changing role of sovereignty, the effects of globalization and the emergence of civil society stakeholders in forestry-related decision-making. Concepts such as sovereignty and globalization have important implications for monitoring forest practices and for defining SFM. Whether SFM standard creation and enforcement involves a sovereign, shared-sovereignty or civil society approach will affect the level and nature of SFM monitoring. As a result, we need to better consider the concept of monitoring appropriate to the scale and intensity of operations, how monitoring and information reporting standards differ between jurisdictions, and what this means for independently verifying SFM at an inter-jurisdictional level.     

水旱灾害对我国农业及社会经济发展的影响

水旱灾害首先影响到我国农业生产。粮食产量的大幅减产还会波及到整个国民经济及人民生活水平的下降。研究自然灾害不仅要注意因灾损失的自然因素，同时要联系造成灾害的社会、经济、人文因素等诸多方面进行自与非自然因素的综合分析。     

建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会:基于新制度经济学的视角

建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会，需要在人与自然和谐发展的共有信念下，通过制度创新和制度变迁，实现个体理性向集体理性的收敛。制度变迁是构建资源节约型、环境友好型社会的关键所在，而制度变迁的内在机理是资源相对价格和人们消费偏好的变迁。通过强制性制度变迁，建立完善的法律法规体系、政策支持体系、技术创新体系和激励约束机制，形成低投入、低消耗、低排放和高效率的节约型增长方式；通过诱致性制度变迁，唤起公众的节约意识和环保意识，从而提升整个社会的环境责任感，让足够的认知成为公众自觉行动的能力。     

A method for regional-scale material flow and decoupling analysis: A demonstration case study of Aichi prefecture, Japan

We have developed a method to analyse the annual material flow in a prefecture and have calculated environmental indicators for a prefecture. Material flow analysis (MFA) is important to clarify the structure of a regional society and obtain environmental indicators for a circular society. However, MFA has not advanced in local governments because of few local statistics. We have developed a method to analyse the annual material flow in Aichi prefecture from 1980 to 2000 using an input–output (I–O) table and statistics of Aichi. We have verified the accuracy of this method by comparing its results for 2000 which calculated on the basis of official I–O table for 1995 with the I–O table data for 2000; the correlation coefficient obtained in this case is greater than 0.95. Moreover, by performing MFA, we have estimated the resource consumption and decoupling indicator of each industry in Aichi prefecture from 1980 to 2000. We could obtain more detailed and accurate environmental indicators by using our method. From these results, we could estimate the progress of Aichi prefecture towards a circular society.     

高风险社会及其对策研究

经济和技术不断发展的过程中伴随的副作用使人类社会逐渐处于“风险社会”乃至“高风险社会”之中。当前我国正处于结构调整和社会转型中,存在着自然灾害、事故灾难、公共卫生事件和社会安全事件等各种各样的风险。在对现代社会风险的特点进行归纳后,对其量化方法也进行了初步探讨,并结合我国实际情况从影响风险大小的各因素入手,拟定了若干风险管理对策,对如何面对“风险社会”和提高风险承受能力可起到积极的参考作用。     

资源节约型社会评价指标体系的构建

建设资源节约型社会是当前中国极为迫切的任务。在分析资源节约型社会内涵基础上，根据整体性原则、针对性原则、应用性原则、可操作性原则和动态性原则，从经济节约指数、社会节约指数、科技支持指数和环境支持指数4个准则层面给出29个具体指标，基本涵盖了节约型社会的各个方面；最后从推进循环经济的发展、增强节约意识推进节约社会的发展、加快科技进步促进科技成果转化和改善、提高环境支持水平等方面，对提升资源节约型社会节约水平提出了建议。     

对节约型社会的几点思考

建设节约型社会是实现我国经济社会可持续发展的必然选择。建立节约型社会需要发挥政府、企业、个人三方面的作用，需要提高全民节约意识，树立科学发展观，进行体制、政策创新及推进技术进步。     

体育运动对提高大学生社会适应能力的作用

体育运动的社会特性毋庸置疑是提高人的社会健康水平，同时，人在体育运动时，既要定位与合作，又存在相互竞争的现象。这对提高大学生的社会适应能力具有一定的积极意义。     

Mining amid decentralization. Local governments and mining in the Philippines

In recent years, as part of its neoliberal development paradigm, the Government of the Philippines has engaged in efforts to encourage extraction of the nation's mineral resources. The Philippines is also a country where decentralization has devolved substantial powers to local governments. Concern over potentially adverse environmental effects has led to opposition to mining by some local governments in the Philippines. This opposition has led to the withholding of consent to mining projects by local governments and, in some cases, the implementation of moratoriums banning mining. Central to this opposition have been the activities of civil society groups, and their collaboration with local governments. This collaboration has involved the drafting of legislation prohibiting mining and support of candidates for office who are opposed to mining. Collectively, Filipino local governments and civil society groups are examples of the concept of governance, a dispersed process wherein society manages itself for the betterment of all its members. For mining companies seeking to implement projects, it is no longer sufficient to have the consent of the national Government — that of local governance forces must also be considered.