The use of green criteria in the public procurement of food products and catering services: a review of EU schemes

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is currently being used to influence the market to shift to a supply of goods and services to the public sector that have a reduced environmental impact. The food service sector plays a major role in the purchases made by the public sector and due to that relevance deserves attention. The GPP schemes reviewed were those that provide details of the specific environmental criteria used (or recommended) for public tendering of food products and catering services provision. The set of GPP schemes apply to distinct geographical zones within the EU, including national level (e.g. Italy), regional level (e.g. Barcelona) and also local level, as in the case of cities (e.g. Copenhagen) or schools (e.g. a school in Pisa, Italy). The criteria set covers services provision to schools, health and social care, higher education, government office canteens, sports and leisure arenas, prisons and defence services (e.g. army). European and worldwide GPP criteria were not covered by the review made. This exploratory study comprehends a total of 23 GPP schemes. This sample includes eight national schemes, three regional schemes and ten local schemes. The review focused on the scope, for the sector of applicability (e.g. education, healthcare) of the GPP set of criteria and for the type of food products covered. Moreover, this paper analyses the type of GPP criteria in use and how the environmental criteria cover the distinct life cycle stages of the whole food supply chain. Findings from the analysis show that for the majority of schemes the scope of criteria is simultaneously the provision of food products and catering services. Moreover, cities, municipalities and counties are the main public authorities reporting procurement activities for the education sector while national GPP activities are applicable for multiple sectors of activity. The main food products covered by the criteria are fruits and vegetables, dairy products, fish and seafood and meat. Finally, the findings show that the set of criteria from the schemes cover widely the life cycle stages of the food supply chain. The results allowed for a first identification of current practices in the use of GPP criteria within public purchasing of food products and catering services in Europe by national, regional or local governments.     

Green procurement in South Africa: perspectives on legislative provisions in metropolitan municipalities

This paper sets an objective to analyse legislative provisions for green procurement in South Africa’s metropolitan municipalities in the context of climate change and sustainable development. The main methods for data generation were interviews and document analysis. There were 30 interviews granted by among others, procurement officers, town planners and economic development specialists. In addition, 51 policy documents were retrieved, followed by a keyword search. The keywords were carefully selected and limited to those commonly used in green procurement terminology to include climate change, green procurement, renewable energy, energy efficiency, mitigation, clean technology, carbon footprint, sustainable development and green economy. The findings are that although all the metropolitan municipalities have procurement policies in place, only the City of Cape Town and eThekwini metropolitan have incorporated green procurement strategies into their supply chain management. The City of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipalities also emerged as the only ones with stand-alone green procurement strategies. To this end, the research concludes that legislative provisions mandating green procurement in South African metropolitan municipalities are not entirely lacking, although more work needs to be done to roll this out to cover all the existing metropolitan municipalities.     

Exploring the relationship between unethical practices,buyer–supplier relationships and green design for sustainability

Sustainable procurement practices have gained popularity amongst both researchers and supply chain practitioners. However, ethical practices in sustainable procurement have been the topic of discussion in the recent years. The goal of the study is to scientifically build a green procurement framework by exploring relationship between buyer–supplier relationships, unethical practices and green design for sustainability. The study was conducted considering samples from South African steel and engineering sector. Data show high rate of wastages and losses occurring at various stages of steel and engineering supply chains. Every steel and engineering company aims to reduce such losses for improving their profitability and achieve sustainability. The empirical findings show that such wastage and losses can be minimised through efficient eco-design and involvement of key suppliers at the design stage so that disassembly, recycling and reuse options not only prove successful but as well cost-effective for the organisation. Also we find that buyer deceitful practices are a strong determinant of green design for sustainability. Buyers making up a second source of supply for green components and preferring green suppliers being approved by top management is helpful for mitigation of supply risks under green procurement process. The present study is distinctive in terms of coverage and its contribution to supply chain theory.     

上海市中心城区公园绿地对居住区的社会服务功能定量分析

城市公园绿地的社会服务功能是城市绿地系统生态服务功能的重要组成;评价其社会服务功能需同时考虑服务的公平性和有效性。为科学合理的定量分析城市公园绿地的部分社会服务功能,建立了一套评价体系,包括公园绿地服务范围覆盖率、公园绿地服务重叠度和单位面积公园绿地服务人口数等3项指标。以上海市中心城区为例,介绍了3项指标的定义;基于地理信息系统平台实现了计算流程,并对上海市中心城区主要公园绿地对于居住区的社会服务功能进行了定量分析。研究表明：2009年上海市中心城区的主要公园绿地对于居住区的服务范围覆盖率已超过80%,服务重叠度平均值为221,单位面积公园绿地服务人口数的平均值为117人/m2。3项指标可为城市公园绿地的社会服务功能分析提供有效的定量研究手段     

Advancing to a Circular Economy: three essential ingredients for a comprehensive policy mix

Material resources exploitation and the pressure on natural ecosystems have raised concerns over potential future resource risks and supply failures worldwide. Interest in the concept of Circular Economy has surged in recent years among policy makers and business actors. An increasing amount of literature touches upon the conceptualisation of Circular Economy, the development of ‘circular solutions’ and circular business models, and policies for a Circular Economy. However, relevant studies on resource efficiency policies mostly utilise a case-by-case or sector-by-sector approach and do not consider the systemic interdependencies of the underlying operational policy framework. In this contribution, a mapping of the existing resource policy framework in the European Union (EU) is undertaken, and used as a basis for identifying policy areas that have been less prominent in influencing material resource efficiency. Employing a life cycle approach, policies affecting material efficiency in the production and consumption stages of a product have been found to be poorly utilised so far in the EU. Taking this as a point of departure, three policy areas that can contribute to closing material loops and increasing resource efficiency are thoroughly discussed and their application challenges are highlighted. The three policy areas are: (1) policies for reuse, repair and remanufacturing; (2) green public procurement and innovation procurement; and (3) policies for improving secondary materials markets. Finally, a potential policy mix, including policy instruments from the three mentioned policy areas—together with policy mixing principles—is presented to outline a possible pathway for transitioning to Circular Economy policy making.     

生产性公共支出、空间溢出效应与区域经济差距——基于多地区动态一般均衡模型的分析

改革开放以来,中国东、中、西部地区经济差距不断拉大,政府为协调区域经济发展水平,逐渐将生产性公共支出向较不发达的中部和西部地区倾斜。为了全面地评估这种财政政策的效果,在传统一般均衡分析的基础上将生产性公共支出及其空间溢出纳入宏观经济分析框架,构建了一个多地区动态一般均衡模型,并用该模型模拟了现实经济中区域生产性公共支出政策及其调整对区域经济和宏观经济的冲击,得到的结论是:(1)当前生产性公共支出空间分布基础上,新增生产性公共支出分散于各个地区,会继续扩大区域经济差距;(2)新增生产性公共支出集中于较不发达的地区时,由于较低的基础设施边际生产力和较弱的空间溢出效应,全国人均产出不能达到最大水平,但可缩小区域经济差距;(3)新增生产性公共支出集中于较发达的地区时,由于较高的基础设施边际生产力和较强的空间溢出效应,全国人均产出可达到最大水平,但同时拉大区域经济差距。由此得到的政策启示是:在现有生产性公共支出的区域分布基础上,以缩小区域经济差距为目标的次优的财政政策将新增的生产性公共支出向西部和中部等较不发达地区倾斜,靠直接刺激效应促进当地产出增长;以效率优先为准则的财政政策选取较发达地区为生产性公共支出目的地,因为较发达地区通常具有较高的基础设施边际生产力和较强的空间溢出效应。     

基于CVM调查法评估城市公共绿地服务价值 ——以西部省会城市为例

随着人口增长和城市化程度越来越高,作为城市土地利用类型之一的公共绿地往往最容易被改变性质和用途。开展城市公共绿地价值评估,是当前城市规划、绿地保护与建设中迫切需要解决的问题。通过梳理西部城市群中典型的甘青宁3个省会城市的公共绿地存在的主要问题,并采用CVM调查法评估城市公共绿地的服务价值。研究表明：兰州市城市公共绿地提供的生态服务总价值约为 3 324~3 761 万元之间,西宁、银川两市因城市规模相对较小,城市公共绿地提供的生态服务总价值较兰州市略低;分析社会因素对支付意愿的影响,得出职业、收入、性别等变量对支付意愿的正向影响作用较大;比较单位公共绿地面积的生态服务价值产出可以发现,兰州市单位公共绿地面积的生态服务价值产出最高约为1.57~1.77元/m²,兰州市城市公共绿地的生态服务价值产出效率较高。     

国内外绿色发展制度演化的历史脉络及启示

面对全球性的生态问题和经济下行压力,世界各国先后推出了“绿色新政”,旨在通过制度创新来保障绿色增长方式的可根植化问题,以此探索可持续包容发展。国外绿色发展制度建设过程经历了发展理念的两次跃升,即从“可持续发展”到“绿色新政”,因而可概括为：“萌芽”、“发展”和“突破”3个阶段,总体来说是环境问题驱动、价值观引领的螺旋式上升过程,政府和市场的重要性交替显现;与发达国家相比,国内绿色发展制度经历了“自发”、“追赶”、“并跑”到“创新”的4个阶段,带有自上而下的中央集权特征,战略规划起了导向作用。无论是国外还是国内,绿色发展制度的形成实质上都是社会公众绿色意识的不断加强在社会制度上的反映。在梳理国内外绿色发展制度演变的逻辑规律的基础上,提出塑造绿色文化以培育绿色发展制度价值观,以战略规划和市场配置来构建体制观,协调统一绿色法律制度、创设中国特色标准体系以维护法制观,采用样板试点巩固绿色发展制度示范观等若干启示     

长三角城市群绿色创新能力评价及空间特征

绿色创新作为创新驱动和绿色发展两大国家发展战略的结合点逐渐成为社会各界关注的热点.区域是绿色创新的载体,区域绿色创新能力的准确评价和区域间绿色创新能力空间特征的分析,有助于联系紧密的区域实现更高质量一体化.综合运用共线性-变异系数分析方法对已有文献涉及的评价指标进行筛选,确立由绿色创新投入、绿色创新产出、绿色创新基础3个一级准则层,46个评价指标构成的区域绿色创新能力评价体系.然后,基于2015年长三角城市群26个城市的数据,运用探索性空间数据分析方法,借助ArcGIS10.2和GeoDal.12软件工具对长三角城市群绿色创新能力进行空间格局及空间关系特征分析.实证结果表明:(1)基于共线性-变异系数指标筛选模型构建的区域绿色创新能力评价指标体系,用62.2％的指标反映了 92.1％的原始信息,能够客观地检验和衡量研究区绿色创新能力的水平和问题.(2)长三角城市群绿色创新能力整体偏低且发展不均衡,26个城市指数得分的平均值仅为0.225,得分第一的上海市是最后一位铜陵市的7倍,城市绿色创新能力和区域协同创新有待提升.(3)绿色创新能力相对较高的城市多沿长江或者沿海岸线分布,在空间上呈"之"字型的分布特征;长三角城市群绿色创新能力在空间上表现出一定的空间依赖和空间联系,印证长三角城市群城市间绿色协同创新发展,实现更高质量一体化的可行性.     

基于企业自愿信息披露的生产者责任延伸履责绩效评价

企业自愿信息披露旨在通过公共对话和组织策略,促进企业与社会沟通,探索合作创新途径。这种机制体现了当前社会治理机制转型的方向。生产者责任延伸制度(Extended Producer Responsibility,简称EPR)中的信息责任是这一转型趋势的具体表现。基于企业自愿披露的可持续发展信息评价其EPR履责绩效,可以促进企业主动从产品全生命周期的角度全面履行生产者改善产品环境属性,尤其是废弃产品管理的责任,从而改变目前过度依赖政府监管和推动的局限。本文针对2017年国务院办公厅发布的“生产者责任延伸制度推行方案”中所涉及的电器电子、汽车、铅酸蓄电池和包装材料四大产品领域,以全球报告倡议组织(Global Reporting Initiative,简称GRI)数据库中的企业可持续发展报告资料为基础,辅以企业官方网站上自愿发布的可持续发展报告,采用文本分析方法,结合EPR制度的具体要求,建立生产者EPR履责绩效评价体系。结果显示:①按照GRI信息披露框架开展信息披露的企业,其可持续发展报告中的信息可以覆盖EPR制度的各项具体要求;②信息披露质量在企业之间和行业之间存在较大的差异,电器电子产品领域的信息披露和得分情况明显好于其他三个产品领域。结论中提出以企业自愿信息披露为切入点,构建企业与公共交流的平台,推动生产企业主动参与EPR制度建设,不断提升产品全生命周期的环境表现。     

Green supplier selection generic framework: a multi-attribute utility theory approach

This paper presents a generic framework integrating environmental and social criteria leading to a comprehensive selection process of green suppliers. Traditionally, price, quality, lead time and flexibility are considered for the supplier selection. With the increase in awareness of environmental and social responsibility issues, many companies are tending towards adopting green concepts and sourcing green suppliers. This study proposes a framework consisting of environmental (E), green (G) and organisational (O) factors that are required for the green supplier selection process. These factors are further classified as criteria for which attributes are presented. A hierarchy is constructed to facilitate in evaluating the importance of the selected criteria and alternatives of green suppliers. To cater to the multi-criteria decision-making approach with both quantitative and qualitative attributes, we applied the multiple attribute utility theory, which is a decision support that helps managers formulating viable sourcing strategies. A hypothetical example is presented to illustrate the applicability of the approach.     

Putting a circular economy into practice in China

Promoting a circular economy has been identified as China’s basic national policy, according to the recently enacted 11th five-year plan for China’s economic and social development. Because of the importance of the development strategy used for this purpose, an implementation framework is proposed in this paper. First, a program is suggested for practically implementing a circular economy in China to serve as a demonstration, beginning at the level of enterprises, then industrial parks, then expanding to cities and regions, thus enabling accumulation of experience to facilitate reasonable decision-making at each successive step. Legislation is also urgent. Certain issues involving legislation, for example the rules the law requires, maneuverability, public involvement, and referencing of developed countries’ experiences, must be effectively addressed. Finally, a scientific and effective assessment system should be developed to obtain accurate information and improve guidance. Assessment indices should include an economic development index, a green development index, and a human development index.     

绿色投资对绿色福利的影响机制研究

提升居民绿色福利是满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的重要体现,也是建设美丽中国的根本要求。基于此背景,从绿色投资的视角,探讨提升绿色福利的路径。首先,依据Lucas-Uzawa的两部门内生增长模型,构建绿色投资对绿色福利影响的理论分析框架;其次,利用1999—2014年省际面板数据,采用Super-SBM方法测定各地区绿色福利;最后,利用系统GMM方法,结合双重差分法(DID),实证分析了绿色投资对绿色福利的影响及传导途径。结果表明:①中国各省域绿色投资与绿色福利之间在1%显著水平上呈现出正向关系,绿色投资每增加100%,居民绿色福利增加1.21%。因此,政府应当采用差异化的利率,减免税收或增加补贴等方式促进绿色投资,积极引导资金流向绿色产业,从而提升公民的绿色福利。②教育程度在1%显著水平上与绿色福利正相关,大专以上学历人口占比每增加1%,绿色福利增加7.78%。因此,政府应该扩大教育支出,增强居民受教育程度,提高公民就业机会和收入待遇。③对外开放度在1%显著水平与绿色福利正相关,且开放程度每增加一个单位,居民绿色福利提高1.91%。对外开放程度越高,越有助于进出口,促进我国国民经济发展,有助于提升绿色福利。因此,政府应当进一步扩大开放,改善进出口产品结构,提高出口技术复杂度,限制高能耗高污染产品出口。④公众诉求与绿色福利在一定水平下显著负相关,绿色福利低的地方,居民表现出更强烈的诉求。因此,政府应鼓励居民积极有序参与环境决策和监管,减少公众诉求的滞后效应。企业与公民之间需要确立共同的绿色福利目标,构建政府主导下的居民绿色消费与企业绿色创新协同机制,提升公共服务质量,完善环境和经济协同发展,实现绿色福利提升的目的。     

《巴黎协定》时代的气候融资:全球进展、治理挑战与中国对策

本文首先辨析了"气候资金"与"气候融资"两个基本概念,且通过对包括《巴黎协定》在内,最新的气候资金相关法律文件、信息通报、文献资料、智库报告的研究和系统梳理,指出全球气候融资发展趋势表现在全球气候融资缺口正在持续扩大;资金来源更加市场化;发展金融机构募集、管理和分配了大部分的公共资金;新型经济体用款权受到挤压,也呈现出更大的出资潜力;稳定的碳价格被认为是全球实现"零排放"长期减排目标的核心机制。与此同时,气候资金治理体系也处在关键的转型期,目前气候资金治理正在向"自下而上"的模式过渡,《公约》外平台承担了"气候风险主流化"的多重功能,但需要警惕"自下而上"的治理模式有绕过"共同但有区别责任"的风险,且绿色气候基金运作规则的导向性作用值得关注。据此,本文在最后提出了一系列治理建议。建议我国应积极影响国际气候资金机制运营规则和技术规则的制定,避免发达国家以及代表其利益的国际组织制定的标准片面地发展为国际规则;支持在全球设定渐进的、可预测的、可信的碳价格,并且肯定将气候与环境风险因素内生化的核心思想理念;与绿色气候基金开展多方位合作,推动气候公共资金治理规则转型;加强与世界银行在气候融资领域的合作;借G20平台逐步发展为气候融资政策突破和工具创新的引领者。     

Options for sustainable development planning based on “GHGs emissions reduction allocation (GERA)” from a national perspective

Climate change phenomenon can be seen as a simple but daunting problem. The lack of equity in emission reduction burden sharing regime, will cause a need for a greater sacrifice for poor or less developed countries. Thus, the evaluation of different aspects of equity at a national scale and presenting a top–down model of equity for allocation of GHGs emission (such as GERA) in line with sustainable development is the main objective of this study. In this study, the five equity principles proposed in the literature namely (1) population distribution, (2) GHGs emissions, (3) GDP, (4) trend of economic growth and (5) per capita of carbon productivity as appropriate criteria of equity estimation. Due to the different decision makers' preferences, different weights are allocated to indicators and analyzed. Iran has been considered as a case study, and these criteria were applied at national level to propose an allowance allocation scheme. The result of applying GERA for Iran, at provincial level and under the five equity criteria, determines which provinces have to shoulder higher reduction burdens, and makes a room for less developed provinces for growth. Based on these results, this model demonstrated to be more sensitive to criteria selection rather than to the weight factors. In addition, shifting to low carbon technologies or renewables, careful evaluation of current emission–income pattern, improving of energy intensity and finally, adjustment of secondary industries (manufacturing) based on ecological and natural resources of each region are suggested as the most efficient approaches toward sustainability and green development for the case study.     

A methodology for estimating health benefits of electricity generation using renewable technologies

At Copenhagen, the developed countries agreed to provide up to $100 bn per year to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation by developing countries. Projects aimed at cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will need to be evaluated against dual criteria: from the viewpoint of the developed countries they must cut emissions of GHGs at reasonable cost, while host countries will assess their contribution to development, or simply their overall economic benefits. Co-benefits of some types of project will also be of interest to host countries: for example some projects will contribute to reducing air pollution, thus improving the health of the local population.This paper uses a simple damage function methodology to quantify some of the health co-benefits of replacing coal-fired generation with wind or small hydro in China. We estimate the monetary value of these co-benefits and find that it is probably small compared to the added costs. We have not made a full cost-benefit analysis of renewable energy in China as some likely co-benefits are omitted from our calculations. Our results are subject to considerable uncertainty however, after careful consideration of their likely accuracy and comparisons with other studies, we believe that they provide a good first cut estimate of co-benefits and are sufficiently robust to stand as a guide for policy makers.In addition to these empirical results, a key contribution made by the paper is to demonstrate a simple and reasonably accurate methodology for health benefits estimation that applies the most recent academic research in the field to the solution of an increasingly important problem.     

Quality criteria for visions and visioning in sustainability science

Envisioning how a desirable future might look is a long-standing effort in human evolution and social change. Utopian thought and visions provide direction for actions and behavior; more so, they create identity and community. Accordingly, the discourse on sustainability and sustainable development has recognized that positive visions about our societies’ future are an influential, if not indispensable, stimulus for change. Visioning is, thus, considered a key method in sustainability research and problem solving, for instance, in transformational sustainability science or in planning for urban sustainability. Yet, quality criteria for sustainability visions and guidelines on how to rigorously craft such visions are scattered over different strands of the literature and some are insufficiently developed. The goal of this article is to review and synthesize such quality criteria and design guidelines to inform sustainability visioning methodology. The review provides a concise reference framework for sustainability students, researchers, and professionals on how to enhance their sustainability visioning practices.     

Building Institutions for Markets: Experiences and Lessons from China's Rural Forest Sector

Through the lens of institutional economics, this paper reviews the reform and development experience in China's rural forest sector and discusses lessons that can be learned by China and other countries. We find that the impacts of the reforms, characterized by changes in forest tenures and market settings, hinge on how they are implemented. If farmers are granted not only land use rights but also liberalized market access, as shown in the northern farm region and the production of non-timber forest products, the incentive structure will be improved, and thus forest production will grow and producers and consumers will benefit. If the reforms are implemented in such a way as to cause market control and distortions, as witnessed in the southern traditional timber production region, the incentive structure will improve little. The chances for production increase will thus be diminished, making it difficult for producers and consumers to enhance their welfare. While tenure arrangements have evolved across the country in the 1990s, timber production in the south remains subject to allowable quota, cutting permit, government procurement, and heavy taxation. We wonder what the land use and tree ownership rights mean without the right to access market freely and fairly, and how practical it is to substitute government efforts for private initiatives in a successful forestry program. The time has come for Chinese policymakers to address these problems.     

Greenwashing Consumption: The Didactic Framing of ExxonMobil's Energy Solutions

Corporate advertising campaigns increasingly use environmental frames to promote their products and processes, many of which are neither sustainable nor environmentally friendly. This study examines ExxonMobil's recent efforts at green advertising, focusing specifically on their widely aired “Energy Solutions” television advertisements. We argue that ExxonMobil's use of a didactic, greenwashed frame stifles criticism and discourages examination of ideologies of consumption by exploiting the ethos of the scientist and highlighting technological solutions to problems that are deeply tied to a culture of consumerism. The definition of green energy is controlled by those with the power to generate persuasive public messages about the sources and production of energy. Counterframes, however, can be employed to turn a questioning eye upon the solutions advanced by ExxonMobil. We issue a call for green frames that help citizens and consumers critically examine the ecological integrity of all means of energy production, and that call attention to the ways in which the greenwashing of research and development initiatives can dissuade necessary action, including reduction of US energy consumption.     

Participatory scenarios as a tool to link science and policy on food security under climate change in East Africa

How effective are multi-stakeholder scenarios-building processes to bring diverse actors together and create a policy-making tool to support sustainable development and promote food security in the developing world under climate change? The effectiveness of a participatory scenario development process highlights the importance of “boundary work” that links actors and organizations involved in generating knowledge on the one hand, and practitioners and policymakers who take actions based on that knowledge on the other. This study reports on the application of criteria for effective boundary work to a multi-stakeholder scenarios process in East Africa that brought together a range of regional agriculture and food systems actors. This analysis has enabled us to evaluate the extent to which these scenarios were seen by the different actors as credible, legitimate and salient, and thus more likely to be useful. The analysis has shown gaps and opportunities for improvement on these criteria, such as the quantification of scenarios, attention to translating and communicating the results through various channels and new approaches to enable a more inclusive and diverse group of participants. We conclude that applying boundary work criteria to multi-stakeholder scenarios processes can do much to increase the likelihood of developing sustainable development and food security policies that are more appropriate.