Evaluation of British Columbia Ministry of Forests aboriginal rights and title-consultation guidelines — the Ditidaht case study

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests’ “Aboriginal Rights and Title — Consultation Guidelines”, prepared in response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision on aboriginal rights and title, presents an interesting example of how common law influences provincial environmental policy. The policy addresses the British Columbia government’s fiduciary duty to First Nations and requires staff to consult with aboriginals during operational forestry planning. Adequate understanding of the policy is essential for lawful forest management. The Consultation Guidelines have become a key environmental policy in British Columbia.This evaluation will increase understanding of the Consultation Guidelines and aboriginal title for forest practitioners and policy makers. Within the context of a Vancouver Island case study, the policy is analyzed in view of the following criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and effort. Even though the policy is over 2 years old and the government is actively managing forests in an area under negotiation for treaty, the policy has yet to be implemented. As a result, aboriginal concerns about the long-term environmental and economic sustainability of current forest practices go unheeded. This situation potentially jeopardizes the government’s ability to address its fiduciary responsibilities to aboriginals, as defined in case law and the Canadian Constitution.     

跨区域环境协同治理对企业全要素生产率的影响

以2017年“2+26”城市大气污染协同治理为准自然实验,选取2014~2019年沪深两市制造业上市公司数据,利用三重差分法考察跨区域环境协同治理对于企业全要素生产率的影响.研究发现,“2+26”城市环境治理能够有效提高企业全要素生产率,其作用机制来自于企业提高绿色创新能力､环保投资以及研发投入.异质性分析表明,在环保严格执法的地区以及绿色创新能力更强､融资约束较低和国有企业样本中,企业全要素生产率提升作用更加明显.本文的发现为中国进一步推进跨区域环境协同治理具有一定的政策启示.     

北京地区电镀项目环境保护验收特点及验收监测关键环节研究

北京市的电镀企业规模小,污染很大。根据建设项目竣工环境保护验收规范要求,针对北京市电镀项目环保验收特点,作者总结了此类项目验收的工作重点,提出废水、废气与固体废物并重、污染物浓度排放及总量排放兼顾的实施方案。除此以外,文章还具体介绍了在电镀项目的环保验收中怎样结合环保管理部门的要求,进行废气、废水的现场监测及固体废物处置、环境管理检查等工作。本文不仅能为环境管理部门提供管理、规范电镀行业污染的有效方法,同时,也对电镀企业提高其污染治理和资源综合利用水平指明了方向,大大促进了电镀产业逐渐向环境友好型产业发展,最终实现电镀无害化的发展目标。     

印刷行业挥发性有机物深度治理对策建议

印刷行业挥发性有机物(VOCs)污染日益受到关注,经过近几年的持续整治已取得一定成效,但也面临阶段性的治理瓶颈,亟须开展深度治理工作。为了解当前印刷行业VOCs治理存在的问题,通过资料调研、行业协会调研和印刷企业现场调查,分析了印刷行业的规模与地域分布、油墨分类、含VOCs原辅材料可替代性及印刷行业减排潜力等,并在行业发展、印刷技术与治理技术应用、VOCs环境管理等方面与发达国家进行对比,指出了我国印刷行业存在企业规模小和集中度低、印刷与治理技术相对落后、企业治理技术参差不齐等问题。提出VOCs深度治理对策建议：1)不同印刷工艺企业分类施策、精准管控,建议对排放标准适当补充,对新、改、扩建项目进行差异化环评审查,严格执行排污许可制度,并在重污染天气应急管控、污染天气应对、环境执法等工作中实行VOCs企业差异化管理。2)进行政策引导、财税支持,通过调整行业产业结构、把控环境准入政策、加大财税和奖补支持推动企业规模化、集群集中治理。     

Considering agro-ecosystems as ecological funds for collective design: New perspectives for environmental policy

Enhancing agro-ecosystem sustainability raises difficult challenges for environmental policy: it requires both increasing knowledge on these complex systems to design effective solutions and coordinating stakeholders with diverging interests. However, most existing environmental policies consider ecosystems’ desirable properties as given, leading ecosystem managers to favor “turnkey” solutions. How could public policy better support local collective initiatives aiming at reconciling agriculture and the environment? This paper presents an empirical case study from western France, in which a partnership between an agricultural cooperative and an ecological research center resulted in a collective design initiative. We conceptually model this initiative drawing upon recent design theories and Georgescu-Roegen’s ‘fund-flow’ model, defining ‘ecological funds’ as the starting point of a collective design process. The results highlight the importance of developing policy instruments that can better support local innovation processes through greater democratization. Adopting a design approach to sustainable agricultural landscape management could be particularly fruitful in situations where collective action is necessary but where there is no common good recognized as such, and no existing community identified.     

Achieving sustainable development: a review of the environmental balancing act in two key clean water act regulatory programs

The goal of achieving “sustainable development” has been embraced by a wide range of stakeholders interested in protecting both the environment and the economy in the United States and globally. The Clean Water Act (“CWA” or the “Act”) includes important regulatory provisions that contemplate the application of sustainable development principles. Yet implementing those programs often raises substantial debate about what sustainable development means, what course of action it requires, and the availability and adequacy of tools to measure or predict whether a given level of use or development is sustainable. Failure to confront those questions can lead to imprudent or wasteful decisions. This paper first will briefly describe the ongoing evolution of sustainable development concepts in the United States, with particular focus on the recommendations of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. Then, it will examine the applicability of those concepts to two important Clean Water Act regulatory programs — the 4316(b) regulatory program for cooling water intake structures and the state water quality standards program — both of which are now under evaluation.     

Industrial ecology framework for achieving cleaner production in the mining and minerals industry

Industrial ecology (IE) is an emerging framework adopted in the manufacturing, construction, and process industries to provide innovative solutions in strategic planning, leading to cleaner operation and production. An IE framework integrates a large number of processes, economic constraints, and environmental, health and safety considerations for optimized resource utilization. This paper provides a review of environmental management practices in the mining and minerals industry, emphasizing two concepts: IE and cleaner production. The mining and minerals industry provides primary materials for industrial activities; as such, it is an important component in the “industrial ecosystem.” This industry is subject to very stringent social and environmental scrutiny, while providing society with required natural resources to meet essential sustainable development requirements. The implementation of an IE framework in the sector will contribute to sustainable development.     

浙江省电镀行业问题分析与污染整治对策

电镀作为浙江省主要的重金属排放行业,数量多、分布广、环境影响十分敏感。课题组根据浙江省内主要电镀企业及电镀产业集聚区的实地调研情况以及污染普查动态数据的分析,详细分析了浙江省电镀行业现状及存在的主要问题,并从产业布局与规模、生产工艺与装备、清洁生产、污染防治措施、环保监管、有效削减重金属污染物排放总量等方面提出了相应的整治提升对策,为电镀企业即将开展“十二五”污染整治提供重要的技术储备,对电镀行业的减排及转型升级有一定的参考价值。     

Improving cleaner production through the application of environmental management tools in China

Cleaner Production (CP) as a strategy for reducing negative environmental impacts throughout the production processes avoids and decreases pollution at its source and increases the competitiveness of enterprises. Since the establishment of China's goal for quadrupling its gross domestic product between 2000 and 2020, while improving its environmental performance and maintaining social stability, ‘win-win’ concepts such as CP are playing an increasingly prominent role in the country's development plans. Consequently, China's efforts to create a favourable policy and institutional framework for the promotion of CP that includes its unique national “CP Promotion Law” which governs the implementation of all CP activities in the country are encouraging. However, China has encountered significant challenges in improving, on a large scale, the environmental performance of its industries. Factors such as the difficulty in mainstreaming CP in industries, limited institutional resources as well as constraints in financial and technical resources of small and medium-sized enterprises have hindered the widespread adoption of CP. In addition, due to local peculiarities and disparities, different regional approaches for its implementation have evolved. This paper describes and analyses how the application of an environmental management tool in Zhejiang Province has enhanced the environmental, economic and organisational benefits of CP in enterprises.     

锅炉改造项目环境影响评价实证分析

本文以锅炉“煤改气”项目为例,在项目施工期、运营期产生的环境影响进行评价,并提出相应的环境保护措施。为环保部门和企业管理提供理论依据,并为锅炉改造类项目污染预防治理提供实践经验,最大限度降低项目建设对周围环境的不利影响,推动“煤改气”项目的可持续发展。     

Developing indicators for environmental policy: data-driven and theory-driven approaches examined by example

This paper investigates the issues involved with environmental indicator development for policy by looking at three recent examples from data and theory-driven approaches. The “Environmental Sustainability Index 2001” report from World Economic Forum, YCELP and CIESIN is taken as an example of the data-driven approach, whereby data availability is the central criterion for indicator development and data is provided for all selected indicators. The other two examples are theory-driven, whereby, the focus is on selecting the best possible indicators from a theoretical point of view and data availability is considered only one of the aspects involved. These examples are the Heinz Center’s1999 report on the “State of the Nation’s Ecosystems” and the US National Research Council (NRC) report on “Ecological Indicators for the Nation”. The reports and approaches are discussed and compared in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. From this lessons are drawn for future environmental indicator work as a basis for policymaking. In the conclusions four important issues are addressed: (1) data availability; (2) ecosystem specificity of indicators; (3) spatial and conceptual aggregation of indicators and (4) baseline or reference values for indicators. For each of these issues recommendations are made.     

中美制药工业水污染物排放标准比较分析

当今医药行业快速发展,是中国国民经济的重要组成部分,而制药工业废水污染控制也已成为影响规模化和可持续发展的关键问题。环境管理是政府管理职能和企事业单位经营管理的一个重要组成部分,对于制药工业,其水污染物排放标准体系更是环境监管和污染控制的基本依据。因此,通过分析比较中美两国环境管理体系和制药工业水污染物排放标准,得出两者各自的特点和异同,从而为进一步完善中国制药工业的污染防治和环境管理体系提供借鉴。     

基于“熵权+TOPSIS”法的石油库安全管理绩效评价研究

结合石油库的特点,建立了以人员因素、设备设施管理、储存介质状态、环境因素及管理因素等5项一级指标、20项二级指标的安全管理绩效评价体系;为克服安全管理绩效评价的主观随意性,采用“熵权+TOPSIS”法构建了评价模型,以10家石油库企业所采集的信息为算例,对石油库安全管理绩效评价进行了实例研究,结果表明“熵权+TOPSIS”法评价模型有效改善了评价结果的客观性和可靠度,可帮助石油库企业及时发现安全管理短板,明确改进方向,提升安全管理绩效水平。     

环境管理体系ISO14000的产生及其实施

ISO14000是国际标准化组织（ISO）为推动可持续发展，统一协调各国环境管理标准，减少世界贸易中的非关税贸易壁垒而制定的环境管理系列标准。由于实施系列标准具有保护环境和消除贸易技术壁垒的双重作用，因此受到世界各国的广泛关注。本文就ISO14000系列标准的产生背景、制定基础及实施情况进行了简单介绍，希望能引起有关企业的重视，推动ISO14000在我国的认证工作，以减少工业企业的环境污染，推进可持续发展战略在我国的实施。     

HSE管理体系在中海油深圳分公司的应用研究

中海油深圳分公司,是中国海洋石油上游的重要组成部分,也是国内最早建立完善HSE管理体系的企业之一.在HSE管理体系建设方面,体系框架包括了核心理念、HSE管理政策、HSE管理目标、相关体系文件、管理程序、应急计划及HSE管理的保障机制等构成部分.文章运用SWOT分析等多种手段对中海油深圳分公司HSE管理的现状进行了分析,总结了公司在HSE管理执行过程中的先进方法并阐述了积极作用和意义.     

Technical approach for a sustainable tourism development. Case study in the Balearic Islands

In this study, the possibility of transforming the current status of tourism in the Balearic Islands (a region in Spain which has been under an enormous environmental pressure from conventional and massive tourism) to a sustainable tourism model is explored. Firstly, a general methodology for the conversion from standard to sustainable tourism is presented. The methodology consists of an initial audit, the selection of objectives and solutions proposed, the application of the selected solutions, an economical evaluation and a review of the obtained results. This methodology is then applied to the conversion of a real case study (“Sa Cova”) and a complete evaluation of the transformation to sustainable tourism is presented, showing an important reduction in the environmental impacts associated with tourism development (especially in areas such as energy consumption, water and waste management). The results presented here can serve as an example for the application of sustainable tourism plans to other similar regions in Spain or other traditional tourist destinations with similar problems.     

Functional and systems aspects of the sustainable product and service development approach for industry

The Sustainable Product and/or Service Development (SPSD) approach is a pragmatic industry support encompassing a range of strategies aimed at maximising environmental and social performance in all types of “offerings” whether they are “products”, “services” or Product Service Systems (PSS). Implementation of the approach was tested in industry and conclusions reached on the effectiveness of the strategies included in terms of developing an offering with improved sustainability performance as well as practical use as an industry approach. Two strategies incorporated are functional and systems thinking, as these are seen as key for increasing the environmental benefits of offerings. This paper summarises the SPSD approach, general industry testing results, describes how and why functional and systems strategies are incorporated in it and industry testing results relating to their use. This provides valuable information on how functional and systems related considerations can be practically and effectively included in sustainable offering development.     

Qualitative evaluation of three ‘environmental management systems’ in the New Zealand wine industry

The wine growing industry is increasingly important to the New Zealand economy and increasingly its marketing is associated with the country's ‘clean and green’ image. Over 60% of New Zealand's wine companies have adopted at least one of three main environmental management systems: Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, ISO 14001 and Bio-Gro. We undertook a qualitative, survey based, comparative evaluation of these systems within 15 wine companies. The key findings are that while each system appears to have its own strengths, in general, no one environmental management system is better than the other. However, implementation of an industry specific system, for example SWNZ, in combination with a generic process-based system, for example ISO 14001, aids in the development of a more sustainable wine industry.     

Drivers and barriers to engage enterprises in environmental management initiatives in Suzhou Industrial Park, China

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in sustainable development not only for their significant contribution to China’s economy, but also for their large share of total discharged pollutants. Therefore, this research takes the enterprises in Suzhou Industrial Park, China as the case study to investigate the environmental management practices of SMEs, and identify drivers and barriers to engaging businesses in environmental management initiatives. It is shown that, as in other countries, SMEs are less active in adopting environmental management initiatives than larger companies. Legislation remains the key driver to engage SMEs in environmental management initiatives. Based on the analysis, policy recommendations are also presented.