An environmental justice analysis of caribou recovery planning, protection of an Indigenous culture, and coal mining development in northeast British Columbia, Canada

Environmental justice theory postulates that communities that predominately consist of minorities and those of a lower socioeconomic status are compelled to bear a disproportionate distribution of burdens resulting from land use decisions. In this article, we present a case study of West Moberly First Nations (an Indigenous group) in British Columbia, Canada, and their fight to protect a threatened herd of caribou from coal mining activities. We examine the role of caribou in maintaining the First Nations’ cultural integrity and the adverse effects of several decisions made by the Provincial Government of British Columbia that would allow a mining company to destroy the critical habitat of the species. Analysis shows that the decisions negate federal law, disregard the best available scientific and traditional knowledge, and fail to uphold the constitutional and treaty rights of the First Nation to meaningfully exercise its cultural practices and customs. A disproportionate share of environmental burdens was therefore placed onto the shoulders of the First Nation while the interests of the government and the mining industry were protected. We conclude that the decisions are a clear case of intentional environmental injustice on the part of the British Columbia government.     

Ozone and natural systems: understanding exposure,response, and risk

Research aimed at understanding the response of plants to ozone has been conducted for over four decades but little of it has addressed intact natural systems. Even so, there is sufficient scientific information at this time to support air quality standards that will protect natural terrestrial ecosystems from ozone. What is unknown is the risk associated with continued exposure of natural systems, including both above- and below-ground components, in combination with other stresses including changing temperature and precipitation, elevated carbon dioxide, pests and pathogens, invasive species, and other activities that may fragment the landscape. Research to support an assessment of the ecological risk associated with ozone as it exists, in a milieu of stresses, must include endpoints beyond those addressed in the past, primarily productivity and species composition. To estimate the risk to society of ozone impacts on natural systems, endpoints such as the integrity of soil food webs, the quantity and quality of water supplied from terrestrial ecosystems, wildlife and recreational values, and the transfer and fate of carbon, nutrients, and water within the systems must be quantified. Not only will this research provide the basis for a sound estimate of risk, but also it will improve our understanding of fundamental ecosystem processes.     

Community vulnerability and resilience in disaster risk reduction: an example from Phojal Nalla,Himachal Pradesh,India

International Disaster Risk Reduction Frameworks and Indian Plans advocate shared responsibility for reducing disaster risk, in which community vulnerability and resilience conditions are central. This paper presents a case study from the Indian Himalaya (Kullu District) of community vulnerability and resilience conditions following damaging floods, primarily the 1994 Phojal Nalla flood, through the concepts of community heritage and capital. Data were collected in the period 2013–2016, using semi-structured interviews (n?=?129), village reconnaissance and archival/contemporary data searches. The connections between heritage, capital, vulnerability and resilience are complex, but results demonstrate ‘knowledge’ is the principal driver of resilience conditions, via facets of heritage (e.g. religious infrastructure and activities, traditional architectural vernacular, and multi-generational attachments to place) and capital (e.g. income diversification, access to communication technologies, societal welfare measures and positive interactions with water). Persisting vulnerabilities stem from differential access to and implementation of best practice knowledge, governed by social, economic and political conditions. Further improvements in risk reduction require greater consideration of the following: (1) the integration of community local knowledge into the overall disaster management process; (2) the opportunities offered by mobile phone and other technologies for generating and sharing knowledge across society; and (3) the value of under-utilised knowledge of past disaster events, assembled from a systematic evaluation of oral, documentary and landscape evidence, to risk reduction.     

Planned retreat as a management response to coastal risk: a case study from the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Australian coastal areas have been identified as highly vulnerable to climate change, with major projected impacts including sea level rise, extreme weather events, increased erosion, and a change in coastal processes and wave patterns. Such impacts would cause coastal settlements and ecosystems to face increasingly uncertain conditions. In response to increased risk, effective coastal management at local and regional scales is needed, with governing bodies providing significant leadership. This research explores the challenges of applying effective adaptation responses to projected climate change in vulnerable coastal systems on the South Coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. In particular, the option of planned retreat as a management response to coastal risk is critically examined, with the incorporation of learning from Byron Bay, NSW. A mixed methods approach was undertaken by integrating documentary interrogation with the analysis of interview responses from key coastal managers. It was determined that despite the increase in adaptation planning and development of management strategy options to manage sea level rise on the Fleurieu Peninsula, there is a lack of implementation of adaptation responses. In addition, planning seems to focus largely on the implications of sea level rise on infrastructure, often overlooking other risks and possible ecological impacts. Inconsistencies in governance are reflected at all levels, indicating a need for comprehensive improvements to ensure the incorporation of appropriate risk responses into planning decisions.     

交易费用三维度属性作用机理及交易方式选择意愿——佛山市南海区集体建设用地市场实证分析

基于广东省南海区的问卷调研,采用Tobit模型分析资产专用性、交易的不确定性和交易频率对农村集体建设用地交易费用的影响,采用Probit模型分析交易费用对市场交易方式选择的影响。(1)集体建设用地市场交易费用的研究结果:资产专用性中承租人不是本地人、受教育程度越高的人力资本资产专用性较高,会产生更高的交易费用;模型中需求方物质资产专用性没有影响;土地资产专用性中的地块离镇中心距离越近的资产专用性更高,因而其交易费用相对较高。交易的不确定性中交易行为的不确定性中交易对象为村集体,其交易费用更低;签订合同可以减少不确定性,降低履约风险,从而达到减少交易费用的目的;没有政府干预更倾向于采用接近市场的形式,交易费用低;交易环境的不确定性中采用竞标方式决定价格其交易费用较低,而采用协议方式其交易费用较高;办理了《房屋产权证》的交易其交易费用更低,产权明晰是市场有效运作的前提。(2)市场交易方式选择的研究结果:交易费用较高的情况下,承租方倾向于选择出让的交易方式;资产专用性中企业员工人数和产业状态均显著正向影响交易方式的选择,地块更靠近镇中心,企业更愿意选择出让的方式;交易的不确定性中交易行为的不确定性具有正向显著影响的因素包括交易对象、合同年限、合同是否公证;交易环境的不确定性中价格决定方式、是否知道南海区试点及南海区流转政策三个变量都显著正向影响交易方式的选择;交易频率显著正向影响交易费用,二次或多次转租的承租方会更愿意选择出租的方式进行交易。研究结论:交易费用的三个分析维度对交易费用的影响不尽一致,应根据其影响的差异性来制定相关政策,以达到降低市场交易费用的目的。     

Corporations,Consumerism and Culpability: Sustainability in the British Press

Sustainability and sustainable development are prominent themes in international policy-making, corporate PR, news-media and academic scholarship. Its definitions are contested, however sustainability is associated with a three-pillar focus on economic development, environmental conservation and social justice, most recently espoused in the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. In spite of its common usage, there is little research about how sustainability is represented and refracted in public discourse in different national contexts. We examine British national press coverage of sustainability and sustainable development in 2015 in a cross-market sample of national newspapers. Our findings show that key international policy events and environmental and social justice frames are peripheral, while neoliberalism and neoliberal environmentalism vis-à-vis the promotion of technocratic solutions, corporate social responsibility and “sustainable” consumerism are the predominant frames through which the British news-media reports sustainability. This holds regardless of newspaper quality and ideological orientation.     

Mainstreaming of climate extreme risk into fiscal and budgetary planning: application of stochastic debt and disaster fund analysis in Austria

While ageing-related costs are perceived as the major drivers of fiscal pressure in the EU, concerns over climate-related public expenditures have received comparatively little attention in securing the EU’s long-term fiscal sustainability. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios as bridging concept for linking the assessment of public cost of demography- and climate-related expenditures, this study proposes a climate risk mainstreaming methodology. We apply a stochastic debt model and assess the potential flood risk in Austria to the public debt and the national disaster fund. Our results indicate that public debt under no fiscal consolidation is estimated to increase from the current level of 84.5% relative to GDP in 2015 to 92.1% in 2030, with macroeconomic variability adding further risk to the country’s baseline public debt trajectory. The study finds that the estimated public contingent liability due to expected flood risk is small relative to the size of economy. The existing earmarked disaster risk reduction (DRR) funding will likely reduce the risk of frequent-and-low impact floods, yet the current budgetary arrangement may be insufficient to deal with rising risk of extreme floods in the future. This prompts the need for further discussions regarding potential reforms of the disaster fund. As many EU member states are in the early stages of designing climate change policy strategies, the proposed method can support the mainstreaming of climate-related concerns into longer-term fiscal and budgetary planning.

     

The adaptive capacity of institutions in Canada,Argentina, and Chile to droughts and floods

Regional Environmental Change - The increasing evidence of global warming calls on all states to enhance their adaptive capacity to deal with climate change. This paper compares the adaptive...     

农户土地利用行为特征及影响因素研究——基于沈阳市苏家屯区238户农户的调查研究

本研究通过对农户土地利用行为内涵的界定,构建工业化、城市化进程中社会经济及政策变化对其影响机理分析框架和计量经济结构模型,基于辽宁省沈阳市苏家屯区238家农户调查数据基础上,采用统计分析方法,获知苏家屯区农户土地利用行为特征:具有明显的"非农化"和"非粮化"趋势,种植模式在空间上呈现"反图能圈"式分布。采用计量经济模型分析方法,从外部环境包括城市扩展、经济结构、市场价格变化、政策制度安排和内部环境包括个人特征、家庭特征、资源禀赋等7类因素14个因子对土地利用方式、程度和土地投入强度三个方面进行回归分析,探寻其影响因素及其影响机理,结果显示不同因子的作用方向、影响程度与显著性表现均有所不同。农户处于的外部社会、经济和政策环境对土地利用方式和投入强度有显著的影响,而农户个人、家庭特征和拥有资源禀赋等内部环境因素对土地利用程度有显著影响。根据以上的研究结果,政府应该从规范政府征地行为、健全土地流转市场、增加对农村的投入等方面合理引导农户土地利用行为,提高土地利用效率,实现土地资源的持续利用。     

Soil As contamination and its risk assessment in areas near the industrial districts of Chenzhou City, Southern China

In order to assess soil As contamination and potential risk for human, soil, paddy rice, vegetable and human hair samples from the areas near the industrial districts in Chenzhou, southern China were sampled and analyzed. The results showed that the anthropogenic industrial activities have caused in local agricultural soils to be contaminated with As in a range of 11.0-1217 mg/kg. The GIS-based map shows that soil contamination with As occurred on a large scale, which probably accounted for up to 30% of the total area investigated. Soil As concentration abruptly decreased with an increase in the distance from the polluting source. High As concentrations were found in the rice grain that ranged from 0.5 to 7.5 mg/kg, most of which exceed the maximal permissible limit of 1.0 mg/kg dry matter. Arsenic accumulated in significantly different levels between leafy vegetables and non-leafy vegetables. Non-leafy vegetables should be recommended in As-contaminated soils, as their edible parts were found in relatively low As level. Arsenic concentrations in 95% of the total human hair samples in the contaminated districts were above the critical value, 1.0 mg/kg, set by the World Health Organization. Arsenic could be enriched in human hair to very high levels without being affected by As containing water. The results revealed that the soils and plants grown on them are major contributors to elevate hair As in the industrial population. Therefore, the potential impact on human health of ingestion/inhalation of soil As around the industrial districts seems to be rather serious. Hence proper treatments for As contaminated soils are urgently needed to reduce the contamination.     

Coastal hazard risk assessment for small islands: assessing the impact of climate change and disaster reduction measures on Ebeye (Marshall Islands)

Small island states around the world are among the areas most vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise. In this paper, we present results from an innovative methodology for a quantitative assessment of multiple hazards on coastal risks, driven by different hydro-meteorological events, and including the effects of climate change. Moreover, we take an additional step by including in the methodology the option to assess and compare the effectiveness of possible disaster risk reduction measures. The methodology is applied to a real case study at the island of Ebeye (the Republic of the Marshall Islands). An example is provided in which a rock revetment is implemented as a risk reduction measure for the island. Results show that yearly expected damages may increase, by the end of the century, by a factor of three to four, depending on the sea level rise scenario considered, while the number of yearly affected people may double. Putting a cap on the temperature increase (e.g. 1.5 vs. 2 °C) according to the Paris Agreement may reduce damages and number of affected people by about 20 and 15%, respectively. However, impacts for same warming levels can vary substantially among different emission scenarios. Disaster risk reduction measures can be useful for mitigating risks in current and future situations but should be incorporated within long-term adaptive planning for these islands.     

Water security for northern peoples: review of threats to Arctic freshwater systems in Nunavut,Canada

Regional Environmental Change - Water is a fundamental component of the ecological integrity, economic development, and sustainability of northern regions, as well as the health and well-being of...     

Reconciliation of development and ecosystems: the ecology of governance in the International Columbia River Basin

Regional Environmental Change - This article explores the emergence of formal and informal bridging organizations to facilitate solutions to water conflict at the scale of the water resource. This...     

The Country,the City,and the Corporation: Rio Tinto Kennecott and the Materiality of Corporate Rhetoric

Contributing to extant discourses about corporate environmental advocacy, this paper argues that corporations can embed discursive rhetorical strategies in material places and spaces. This argument contributes to environmental communication by bridging divisions between discursive and materialist approaches to corporate rhetoric. Corporate materiality is realized in the study of Rio Tinto Kennecott (RTK) at places of corporate community where RTK enunciates a dominant environmental discourse about the necessity of the Bingham Canyon Mine through strategies such as the technological shell game, the hypocrite's trap, and corporate heterotopia, which are made manifest materially alongside cultural values such as epistemic trust, technological progress, community, and home. Using participatory critical rhetoric as a methodology, I analyse RTK's material rhetoric at the Natural History Museum of Utah, the Rio Tinto Soccer Stadium, and the Daybreak suburban community. This case study reveals that corporations are assemblages that assert many different, and sometimes competing, arguments that can deflect environmental criticism, materially.