The impact of municipal budgets and land-use management on the hazardous waste production of Malaga municipalities

Economic development and the search for competitiveness have become key issues in regions' economic success. However, despite the direct relationship between economic and environmental management, few land-use plans consider the latter aspect, and city managers delegate the responsibility for environmental impacts to state legislation and private initiatives. This myopic search for competitiveness has meant that a holistic view of environmental issues is often not integrated into municipal decision-making processes. Therefore, this study's objective was to determine the relevant direct and indirect relationships of land management and budgetary procedures of municipalities with overall production levels of hazardous waste. To this end, a primary tourist region, Málaga, was examined in terms of how this waste's environmental impacts can affect the region's vital tourism sector. This research used principal component analysis, regression by ordinary least squares, cluster analysis in two stages and a means test to compare the data for the Province of Malaga's subregions.The results confirm a positive relationship between municipal expenditure and waste production and highlight the environmental benefits of land use involving environmentally non-aggressive crops. The results also reveal a negative relationship between waste production and financial assets and a direct relationship between unproductive land and the production of hazardous waste. The findings also highlight the necessity of raising awareness about the need for collaboration between different agents, especially in the development of inter-municipal strategies.     

A review of EIAs on trade policy in China: Exploring the way for economic policy EIAs

During the discussion on the “Environmental Protection Law Amendment (draft)” in 2011, it was decided to drop the proposed clauses related to environmental impact assessments (EIAs) on policy, which means that there remained no provisions for policy EIAs, and China's strategic environmental assessment system stayed limited to the planning level. However, considering that economic policy making is causing significant direct and indirect environmental problems and that almost every aspect of governmental policy has an economic aspect, EIAs on economic policies are of the utmost urgency. The purpose of this study is to review the EIA work that has been carried out on trade policy in China through four case studies, and illustrate how trade policy EIAs can be helpful in achieving better environmental outcomes in the area of trade. Through the trade policy EIA case studies we try to argue for the feasibility of conducting EIAs on economic policies in China. We also discuss the implications of the case studies from the point of view of how to proceed with EIAs on economic policy and how to promote their practice.     

Guidance on choosing a measuring instrument for indoor particle pollution studies

The possibility of acquiring real-time concentration data is leading many indoor air quality and health researchers to the use of particle measuring instruments instead of the classic filtration approach. This paper summarizes a checklist of characteristics that have to be considered on the selection of such instruments and checks the compliance of three air monitoring devices suitable for environmental exposure researches. An evaluation table with desirable instrument technical, economic, and logistics characteristics was summarized in a checklist, and spec sheets of three air monitoring devices suitable for environmental exposure researches were checked. Technical, economic, and logistics aspects have to be considered. Suitability, measurement range, accuracy, resolution, and robustness are indispensable metrological characteristics. Only one instrument was in comply with it. A popular air monitoring device among environmental exposure researchers was checked and it failed the accuracy check. When selecting a particle measuring instrument, technical, economic, and logistics aspects have to be considered. Suitability, measurement range, accuracy, resolution, and robustness are indispensable metrological characteristics. When selecting an instrument for a study, a lack of information on the quality of results is a strong indication that it should not be considered, as study's response may be compromised.     

Fuzzy Possibilistic Modeling for Closed Loop Recycling Collection Networks

Nowadays, in the competitive market, commercial companies due to their economic problems and also restrictions imposed by international organizations to comply with environmental regulations are making noticeable efforts to reduce the level of their wastes in their manufacturing systems and consequently the level of waste in consumers’ products. In harmony with this issue, one of the most effective ways which has successfully been used and proven to be economically profitable is to take products lifecycles into consideration. Consideration of products lifecycle has made supply chain practitioners to investigate the reverse logistics activities in addition to forward logistics activities. Hence, corporations, in order to reduce their cost on the one hand and boosting their efficiency on the other hand, were obligated to employ closed loop supply chain models to concurrently benefit from its economical and environmental advantages. Therefore, in this paper, a mixed nonlinear facility location–allocation model is proposed for recycling collection centers. The considered closed loop logistics model consists of multiple echelons, multiple suppliers, multiple collection centers, multiple time period and also multiple facilities. In real-life problems parameters like demand, cost, capacity, distances, and quantities of returned products are always uncertain. Therefore, in order to solve a realistic problem, foregoing parameters are considered as fuzzy in our proposed model. Subsequently, to solve fuzzy mixed nonlinear programming model, one of the most effective technique in the literature is used. Additionally, in order to demonstrate the behavior of the parameters employed in the model, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is conducted. Computational results demonstrate that the proposed model can show favorable efficiency in solving supply chain problems.     

How does trade development affect environmental performance? New assessment from partially linear additive panel analysis

Assessing the linkage between trade development and environmental quality has recently attracted increasing attention because of the rapid advancement of trade globalization along with the severe degradation of the environment. However, neglecting the possible nonlinear relationship between the variables, the existing studies mainly use linear models to explore the trade-environment linkage. To fill this gap, this paper introduces a novel partially linear additive panel model that highlights nonlinear and heterogeneous features to investigate the direct and indirect influences of trade development on environmental performance over the period 2005–2017 in China. The results show that trade has an inverse “U-shaped” direct effect on the environment. In contrast, trade development can indirectly improve environmental quality through economic growth. Nonlinear marginal analysis demonstrates that such an impact not only presents individual differences but also embodies the trait of temporal dynamics. Empirical results further reveal the importance of our model, which can automatically identify the variable nexus and thus reduce the setting error of the parametric models. Model evaluation also confirms the superiority of the used model over existing parametric and nonparametric models. The partially linear additive panel model provides a new evaluation method for environmental impact regarding trade development, and can be applied to other fields where an assessment of the effect of socio-economic factors on the environment is needed.     

Can Chinese-style environmental collaboration improve the air quality? A quasi-natural experimental study across Chinese cities

Environmental management has evolved from a vertical command and control management model to a more collaborative one. A series of public administration studies take the field of environmental policy as an important background for understanding collaborative governance, yet the theoretical and empirical study of environmental collaborative governance is relatively under-developed. This article begins to fill the research lacuna through the investigation of air pollution collaborative governance practice in Jing-Jin-Ji and surrounding areas. Based on the panel data of 58 regional cities from January 2016 to March 2019, a difference in difference quasi-natural experiment design is employed to explore the effect of environmental collaboration under Chinese authoritarian regime. The analysis shows that environmental collaboration has a positive impact on air quality and exhibits different effects on primary and secondary pollutants. Specifically, it has a greater influence on the emission reduction of NO₂ compared to SO₂ and CO, the positive effects of environmental collaboration on PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ pollutants are significant, and there is no statistically positive impact on O₃ control. The time trend effect of environmental collaboration varies among pollutants, it presents positive effects on air quality improvement and secondary pollutant control (e.g., PM_2.5, PM₁₀) after the fourth month, the mitigation effect of environmental collaboration on primary pollutants represented by NO₂ is more significant and constant in the sixth month. However, the time trend effect of environmental collaboration has gradually weakened. This paper concludes with discussions on the direction and implications of improving the performance and sustainability of environmental collaboration in China.     

Is gender inequality an essential driver in explaining environmental degradation? Some empirical answers from the CO2 emissions in European Union countries

The effect of gender inequality on environmental degradation was examined for panel data of fourteen countries from the European Union (EU) from 1991 to 2016. The Quantile via Moments (QvM) and Fixed effects models were used to perform the empirical investigation. The results from the QvM and the Fixed effects models support that the gender gap pay and energy consumption increase the CO₂ emissions in the EU. However, the economic growth, globalisation and urbanisation deepening do not increase the environmental problem. This empirical investigation will contribute to the literature, policymakers, and governments. It will help develop more initiatives to reduces gender inequality at the same time it mitigates the environmental degradation in the EU countries. Finally, the empirical finds of this investigation will open a new topic of investigation in the literature about the relationship between environmental degradation and gender inequality.     

Inserting socio-environmental variables in the power sector expansion planning

Energy models consider technical and economic criteria to define the optimal energy mix to produce electricity. However, the results are sub-optimal from the social point of view, since they do not include socio-environmental factors. The purpose of this study is to access the sustainability of power plants considering technical-economic, socio-environmental and institutional aspects so that to improve the expansion planning. Thus, the efficiencies calculated by slacks based measure approach of Data Envelopment Analysis methodology can be implemented as constraints in the models, signalizing that the socio-environmental impact cannot exceed a limit, which can be calculated by the energy model itself. The results show that renewable power plants contribute more to allocative efficiency than fossil fuel ones, both in terms of social and environmental aspects, which are of utmost importance in ranking power plants to model power capacity expansion. Considering just technical and economic factors has proved to be insufficient to optimize the system in terms of allocative efficiency.     

Assessing the impact of environmental regulation on pollution abatement and collaborative emissions reduction: Micro-evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises

Given the rapid industrialization and urbanization of China, environmental problems have gradually become major constraints that hinder its sustainable economic development. Moreover, China's pollution abatement and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have been severely affected by pressures coming from domestic environmental appeals and international environmental diplomacy. By using integrated data from the Chinese Industrial Enterprise and the Chinese Enterprise Environmental Survey and Reporting databases, this study constructs comprehensive indicators of pollutant discharge intensity and carbon emissions index at the enterprise level and uses the panel fixed effect model, Kaya identity, and mediation effect model to assess the effects of environmental regulations on pollution abatement and collaborative emissions reduction from the micro-perspective. Results show that these regulations can abate the pollution emissions of Chinese industrial enterprises and verify the effectiveness of environmental policies. These regulations can also efficiently reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of enterprises through pollution abatement. In other words, environmental regulations facilitate a collaborative emissions reduction of pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from enterprises. Such collaborative emissions reduction effect is also influenced by the energy structure and consumption of enterprises. This paper presents empirical evidence and policy basis for further improving China's environmental regulation policy system and achieving coordinated progress in China's economic development and environmental governance.     

Natural capital in ecology and economics: an overview

The Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future, defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs. Although the idea of sustainable development has been widely accepted, it has proveddifficult to identify and implement policies and practices thatpromote sustainable economic growth. Some economists, environmental scientists and policy analysts believe that they can transform the consensus about sustainability into manageablepractices. They propose to accomplish this feat with a set of new ideas about the relationships between the economy and theenvironment offered under the banner of 'natural capital'. An ideal account of natural capital would be one or more standard measures or models that would allow the direct comparison of environmental goods, like forests, fresh water and clean air, with economic goods, like money, capital and productivity. By bringing economic science and environmental science to an objective common ground, a natural capital model has the potentialto provide a concrete means of comparing the economic and ecological costs and benefits of particular policies and programmes. This paper offers a survey and analysis of several new contributions to the formation of the natural capital concept from economists, ecologists, policy analysts, biometricians, foresters and a philosopher. The paper concludes that existingmicroeconomic theory may be 'ungreenable', if it is not reformulated. While macroeconomic approaches to natural capitalhave been more successful, they share the limitation that ecosystems and species are valued solely in monetary terms. These problems are taken to suggest that the development of a successful natural capital model may require economic theory tobe recast to include non-monetary social preferences and values.     

Empowering impact assessments knowledge and international research collaboration - A bibliometric analysis of Environmental Impact Assessment Review journal

Innovation, knowledge exchange and collaboration are fundamental in environmental studies. Impact assessments represent a key tool in identifying and predicting the environmental consequences of a project. The journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review started promoting research discussing different issues or methods in the field of impact assessments and environmental management since 1980. By analyzing 1664 articles published within the journal between 1980 and 2018 by 2935 authors, affiliated to institutions from 75 countries, this study aims to provide a better understanding of the environmental assessment research trends. Bibliometric indicators such as keywords or country of affiliation were analyzed through a network methodological approach, including co-occurrence analysis, centrality metrics and multiple correspondence analysis. The international collaboration and productivity maps bring a novel overview to this type of analysis and reveal new perspectives for thrived cooperation on environmental assessments research. The results illustrate the most common research topics through a conceptual structure map and a keywords co-occurrence graph with a temporal overlay, which allows observing their evolution over the years. Furthermore, this work tries to explain the political, economic, social and technological factors that influence the tendencies in environmental assessments research and scientific cooperation, providing future insights for environmental scientific priorities.     

WARM: a European model for energy and environmental analysis

This paper describes the structure of a newly developed econometric, imperfectly competitive, general equilibrium model for the medium term study of energy and environmental problems. The geographical coverage of the model regards twelve European countries as well as the European Union as a whole. Compared to existing quantitative E3 (economy-energy-environment) models, the WARM model is characterized by a few novel and relevant features Firstly, in contrast to multicountry interlinked models, it copes with the international dimension by integrating differences from a common European denominator within a unified and homogeneously designed framework. A panel data estimation approach is used to achieve this objective. Secondly, in contrast to the traditional market-based philosophy of many econometric models, it adopts a perspective focused upon economic agents' decisions. Thirdly, in contrast with the practice of modelling technical progress as an exogenous and deterministic phenomenon, it incorporates an explicit attempt of modelling the sources and effects of endogenous technical change. A Kalman filter latent variable approach is the methodology from which statistical information on the dynamics of technical progress can be obtained. Finally, all markets in the model are imperfectly competitive, including the labour market where the wage bargaining process is explicitly modelled and estimated. This last feature is especially important in view of the European unemployment problem.     

How does environmental pollution erode political trust in China? A multilevel analysis

The impacts of environmental pollution extend beyond the issue of health. Using Chinese survey and administrative data, this study sheds new light on the political costs of environmental pollution. We show that citizens' trust in government officials declines significantly with higher levels of measured pollution, perceptions of increased pollution, and a greater degree of willingness to support environmental protection. Political trust is particularly low when measured as well as perceived pollution are severe. However, the effect of greater willingness to support environmental protection on the erosion of political trust is independent of measured pollution. Our findings suggest that there is a tipping point at which legitimacy acquired primarily through economic achievements could be undermined by environmental degradation, which is a byproduct of economic achievements. It is imperative for the Chinese government to achieve a balance between fast-paced growth and environmental sustainability, to pay attention to the potential political consequences of environmental issues, and to permit more public dialogues and deliberations on the topic of environmental governance.     

Does the air pollution joint prevention and control policy possess the Porter effect in China -evidence from two perspectives

In order to fundamentally get rid of the plight of air pollution, China has introduced and implemented a series of joint prevention and control (AJPC) policies on air pollution. The Porter hypothesis emphasizes that environmental policies can create both environmental and economic dividends, building a win-win prospect for energy efficiency and economic growth, that is the Porter effect. However, the Porter effect of AJPC has not received the attention it deserves. Therefore, we empirically studied the short- term and long-term Porter effect of AJPC. Firstly, using the data of 283 prefecture-level cities, we studied the short-term Porter effect of AJPC by applying Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Difference model (PSM-DID). Then, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the potential Porter effect of AJPC, that is, the potential economic and environmental dividends of AJPC. In addition, we also calculated regional Global Malmquist Luenberger (GML) to observe variations in total factor productivity to observe the technology change caused by AJPC. Results showed that, AJPC policy has not realized Porter effect from the short-term perspective. In the long run, AJPC has environmental dividends but no economic dividends. In other words, there is no long-term Porter effect with AJPC. The implementation of AJPC policies can increase regional total factor productivity, in which technical efficiency is improved but technological progress remains unchanged.     

Socioenvironmental impacts of Panama's trans-isthmian oil pipeline

The Trans-Panama Oil Pipeline is an illustrative case study of environmental mismanagement. The project was approved and completed in 1981–1982 before submission of an environmental impact assessment. The environmental studies are seriously flawed by a number of omissions. Baseline studies of petroleum hydrocarbons in the marine ecosystems were not performed. Serious attention was not given to the possibility of a land spill or degradation of terrestrial ecosystems. The socioeconomic considerations of locating the pipeline and adjacent road through the watershed of a major hydroelectric project, as well as through the homelands of the Guaymí Indians, were ignored. As national planners guide the development of Panama's infrastructure, they can ill-afford to continue to ignore social, economic, and environmental considerations.     

Incorporating natural capital into economy-wide impact analysis: a case study from Alberta

Traditionally, decision-makers have relied on economic impactestimates derived from conventional economy-wide models. Conventional models lack the environmental linkages necessary for examining environmental stewardship and economic sustainability, and in particular the ability to assess the impact of policies on natural capital. This study investigatesenvironmentally extended economic impact estimation on a regionalscale using a case study region in the province of Alberta knownas the Foothills Model Forest (FMF). Conventional economic impactmodels are environmentally extended in pursuit of enhancingpolicy analysis and local decision-making. It is found that theflexibility of the computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelingapproach offers potential for environmental extension, with a solid grounding in economic theory. The CGE approach may be the tool of the future for more complete integrated environment andeconomic impact assessment.     

The spatial convergence and drivers of environmental efficiency under haze constraints - Evidence from China

Haze has seriously threatened the ecological environment and public health, so researching environmental efficiency under haze constraints is significant in managing pollution and evaluating the balance between economic development and environmental health. Based on the panel data of China's 99 cities during 2005–2017, this paper uses α-convergence and β-convergence models to analyze the spatial convergence of environmental efficiency under haze constraints and its drivers in China,specifically in Eastern China, Central China, and Western China.The main results are as follows: (1) The trend of environmental efficiency under haze constraints in these regions evidently follows a dumbbell curve. In recent years, it has been growing slowly in Eastern China, Central China, and Western China, and the environmental efficiency in the Eastern China is the highest, the Central China is the second, and the Western China is the lowest; (2) it demonstrates both α-convergence and β-convergence in Central China, Western China, and Eastern China, and the speed of convergence is the fastest in the Central China, the second in the Western China and the slowest in the Eastern China; there is a “catch-up effect” in cities from less environmentally efficient regions to more efficient regions; and (3) Industrial structure and degree of trade dependence have a significantly negative correlation; characteristics of the region and dependence on foreign investment have significantly positive correlations with the environmental efficiency of Eastern China and Central China; environmental regulations and economic scale limit the improvement of environmental efficiency of Central China and Western China; and technological innovation significantly impacts Eastern China only. Although the paper refers to the specific evidence of China, with haze as a new indicator in the comprehensive evaluation of environmental efficiency can be extended to other developing countries as well as to other pollutants such as land pollution and waste water. The understanding of drivers of environmental efficiency under haze constraints in China provides international policy-makers with valuable reference for formulating effective measures to balance the dilemma between economic development and environmental health.     

环境污染对生态危害经济损失风险评估模式的综述

从风险评价和环境经济学角度,综述了环境污染对生态环境危害经济报失的评估模式。     

The Brazilian Audit Tribunal's role in improving the federal environmental licensing process

This article describes the role played by the Brazilian Audit Tribunal (Tribunal de Contas da União — TCU) in the external auditing of environmental management in Brazil, highlighting the findings of an operational audit conducted in 2007 of the federal environmental licensing process. Initially, it records the constitutional and legal framework of Brazilian environmental licensing, describing the powers and duties granted to federal, state and municipal institutions. In addition, it presents the responsibilities of the TCU in the environmental area, comparing these with those of other Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) that are members of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).It also describes the work carried out in the operational audit of the Brazilian environmental licensing process and its main conclusions and recommendations. Finally, it draws a parallel between the findings and recommendations made in Brazil with those of academic studies and audits conducted in other countries.     

An evaluation of a risk-based environmental regulation in Brazil: Limitations to risk management of hazardous installations

The environmental regulation of hazardous projects with risk-based decision-making processes can lead to a deficient management of human exposure to technological hazards. Such an approach for regulation is criticized for simplifying the complexity of decisions involving the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the installation and operation of hazardous facilities in urban areas. Results of a Brazilian case study indicate that oil and gas transmission pipelines may represent a threat to diverse communities if the relationship between such linear projects and human populations is overlooked by regulatory bodies. Results also corroborate known challenges to the implementation of EIA processes and outline limitations to an effective environmental and risk management. Two preliminary topics are discussed to strengthen similar regulatory practices. Firstly, an effective integration between social impact assessment and risk assessment in EIA processes to have a more comprehensive understanding of the social fabric. Secondly, the advancement of traditional management practices for hazardous installations to pursue a strong transition from assessment and evaluation to management and control and to promote an effective interaction between land-use planning and environmental regulation.