Protecting the environment through public procurement: The case of South Africa

This article deals with the use of the procurement or purchasing power of governments to protect the environment. The focus is on South Africa and the aim is to show that South African organs of state can use procurement as an environmental policy tool to contribute to sustainable development as they have commendably done so to address past discriminatory policies and practices. It is argued that such use does not fall outside the current legislative framework governing procurement and suggestions are made as to how environmental considerations could be incorporated throughout the procurement process, namely the preparatory stage; the drawing up of tender or technical specifications; ensuring the capability or responsibility of contractors; the use of criteria to compare different tenders; and ensuring that eventual performance under a contract is environmentally sound.     

Greening government procurement in developing countries: building capacity in China

With increasing environmental issues and depleting resources, the effective application of green government procurement (GGP) is urgently needed and potentially can have greater impacts in the developing world rather than in the developed world. Such an approach can help promote the general goal of sustainable development and address environmental issues through purchasing and facilitating the use of environmentally friendly services and products. This paper addresses this issue by employing a case study on China. We first trace the development of the GGP concept, its spread to Asian countries, and a number of approaches used to expand GGP adoption. We then review current practices in China on GGP, and analyze and identify some of the current barriers and problems in promoting green procurement in the Chinese governmental sector. We finally seek to identify possible appropriate capacity-building solutions, in order to facilitate the application of GGP in China.     

Green procurement in Norway; a survey of practices at the municipal and county level

Consumer pressure is usually considered as one of the major drivers for more environmental friendly products. During the last decade an increasing focus on public procurement has emerged as an important contributor to that pressure. In this paper we focus on the role of municipalities and counties in green public procurement. Based on surveys we investigate to what degree green public procurement is implemented in Norwegian municipalities and counties and which capabilities are critical for successful green procurement. We both investigate to what degree environmental information is requested in call for tenders and also to what degree the information is actually used in the final selection of supplier. The information gathered from the municipalities and counties is compared with information obtained from potential suppliers to see if suppliers and purchasers agree on the importance of environmental demands in the selection of suppliers.     

关于落实我国绿色采购制度的思考

绿色采购目前已成为国际上公共机构优化产业结构及转变经济增长的方式。中国绿色采购制度的落实能发挥公共机构集中采购的规模效益,对社会发展、经济建设具有强大的导向作用,并可引导社会绿色消费和推动经济和社会可持续发展。本文介绍了一些发达国家绿色采购的发展历程和成功经验,分析了我国绿色采购的现状,对今后落实发展绿色采购制度提出了相应的对策和建议。     

推动我国消费绿色转型的路径研究——基于多重外部影响因素视角

绿色消费是我国推动经济高质量发展,实现绿色发展和2030年可持续发展目标的关键领域之一。目前我国绿色消费意愿正不断上升,绿色产业迅速兴起;从市场机制来看,绿色消费通过供求关系变化影响经济绿色发展。特别是在建设绿色“一带一路”的进程中,以更大力度在更广范围推动绿色消费正当其时。分析发现,影响绿色消费的因素主要包括消费观念,以绿色标准和认证制度、政府绿色采购制度、税收和绿色激励机制为代表的公共政策以及绿色供给产品和服务的质量等。当前中国消费者的绿色消费观念和意识仍旧淡薄,公共政策制定仍不完善,在引导绿色消费方面的作用仍旧较弱,同时还存在绿色产品供应不足、绿色技术创新不足等方面的问题,影响了绿色消费理念向实际绿色消费行为的转化。对此政府可以通过完善绿色采购制度、推动出台绿色采购法、扩大绿色消费品的财政补贴范围、扩大开放等方式推动我国消费向绿色转型。     

日本促进可持续消费经验的启示

日本相对丰富的促进可持续消费经验对我国正在大力推动绿色生活方式的形成有较好的参考价值。本文介绍了日本循环社会法律框架下循环再生利用法和绿色采购促进法对促进可持续消费的作用,以及可持续消费的最新实践活动,并从循环再生利用法律法规建立、深化公共绿色采购评估、发布面向普通消费者产品清单、建立消费者发声通道、提升消费者意识、促进消费者导向管理等方面提出对我国推动绿色消费的启示。     

浅议石油企业绿色采购管理

随着环境保护标准的日益严格、公众环境权益要求的不断提高,石油企业实施绿色采购已成为实施节能减排、提高竞争能力、实现又快又好发展的重要途径;这也是建设环境友好型、资源节约型企业的重要内容。石油企业应从推行物资供应各环节监管、实施物资生命周期全过程评估、加强物资产品供应商管理、强化物资流通信息化建设等方面,建立完善的企业绿色采购管理体系。     

Environmental protection in Hong Kong amidst transition: Is Hong Kong ready to manage its environment by law?

Within the context of political democratization, this article explores environmental protection in Hong Kong since the government lauched a ten-year program to “save the environment” in 1989. Examining environmental management by law from a social-choice perspective, it argues that the government has yet to reach an integrative policy orocess. Hence the preconditions for an integrative set of environmental legislation are absent. Institutionally, without a comprehensive green policy, the current arrangements lack a vision as an integrative force to promote effective coordination among various sectoral environmental coordination among various sectoral environmental programs. The dominant approach of policy and law enforcement through consultation has rendered impossible strict enforcement of environmental rules and regulations as local economic growth enjoys a priority over environmental protection. At a time of environmental awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared to participate in environmental management in a strict legal manner. The overall observation is that Hong Kong has yet to see more mature political, legal, administrative, and social conditions for managing its environment within a legal framework.     

林产品绿色政府采购的理论机理和影响分析

林产品绿色政府采购是世界森林保护领域的新兴议题,有其独特的理论机理,是政府环境管理职能在公共财政支出上的体现,旨在通过控制终端市场需求市场达到引导供应商经营取向的目的。发达国家实施的林产品绿色政府采购已对社会经济实体产生了影响,但客观上也成为新型的贸易壁垒。     

林产品绿色政府采购内涵及衡量标准分析

林产品绿色政府采购是世界森林保护的新兴议题,一些发达国家已开始实施.分析了林产品绿色政府采购的内涵、合法性和可持续性标准的定义,以及在实践过程中的具体操作方法,认为林产品绿色政府采购虽然为解决森林可持续经营问题提供了新的思路,但是在实践中却可能导致负面效应,客观上成为发达国家新的木材贸易壁垒.     

Using public procurement to achieve social outcomes

The use of public procurement to achieve social outcomes is widespread, but detailed information about how it operates is often sketchy and difficult to find. This article is essentially a mapping exercise, describing the history and current use of government contracting as a tool of social regulation, what the author calls the issue of ‘linkage’. The article considers the popularity of linkage in the 19^th century in Europe and North America, particularly in dealing with issues of labour standards and unemployment. The use of linkage expanded during the 20^th century, initially to include the provision of employment opportunities to disabled workers. During and after World War II, the use of linkage became particularly important in the United States in addressing racial equality, in the requirements for non‐discrimination in contracts, and in affirmative action and set‐asides for minority businesses. Subsequently, the role of procurement spread both in its geographical coverage and in the subject areas of social policy that it was used to promote. The article considers examples of the use of procurement to promote equality on the basis of ethnicity and gender drawn from Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, and the European Community. More recently, procurement has been used as an instrument to promote human rights transnationally, also by international organizations such as the International Labour Organisation. The article includes some reflections on the relationship between ‘green’ procurement, ‘social’ procurement, and sustainable development, and recent attempts to develop the concept of ‘sustainable procurement.’     

Green tenants: practicing a sustainability ethics for the rental housing sector

The shift towards social, government and corporate ethics which value environmental sustainability has also embraced householders in a plethora of educational guides, policies, regulations and consumer information about green home improvements, purchasing choices and household practices. In this paper, we make the claim that the rental housing sector, and in particular the private rental sector, has yet to participate, structurally, culturally and materially, in this shift to an ethics of sustainability. We argue, however, that even on such otherwise arid ground, an alternative ethic is developing, a sustainability ethic practiced by green tenants whose activities inside and outside their homes go beyond the considerable material constraints of their dwellings and incomes, and beyond the purely transactional utility of the rental contract. These activities, relational, interconnected and resilient, offer both glimpses of a greening rental housing sector, and a clearer picture of the areas where work remains to be done. Based on a research study, we conducted of the rental sector in regional Australia, and in particular of the everyday sustainability practices of tenants, we suggest that these activities are a practice-based form of care for the world, in many ways similar to Maria Puig de la Bellacasa's practice-based, human-decentred ethics which she suggests is exemplified in the permaculture movement. The stories of the tenants we interviewed for our study also point the way to other changes which are needed to enable a practice-based sustainability ethic to flourish across the rental housing sector as a whole.     

粤港的红树林资源与开发利用

广东红树林植物有10科14种,香港有9科11种,两地共有红树林面积8322ha。红树林具有一定的生态资源价值和经济资源价值。生态资源价值有宝贵的生物基因库,保护海岸的绿色长城,巨大的营养源和鸟类的乐园。经济资源价值有薪炭、木材、造纸工业原料、提取单宁、食品、药材、绿肥、养蜂、水产养殖业和旅游业等。根据目前粤港红树林状况,可开辟水产养殖基地,发展旅游业,建立红树林林场和各种加工厂。     

联合国可持续发展目标12.7.1指标方法学解析

联合国环境规划署近期发布了《可持续发展目标12.7.1指标:可持续公共采购指数方法学》,用以指导各国测量可持续公共采购政策和行动计划的进展和水平。本文介绍了该方法学的产生背景、术语、采购指数构成及相关细则,分析了该方法学的主要特点,并从完善制度保障、技术体系、绩效评价方面提出了对我国深化政府绿色采购实施的启示。     

Bird's‐eye view of the environmental attitude types in the sustainable consumption context

Environmental attitudes are considered to be important factors that influence sustainable consumption. Typically, attitudes fall into two main types: a general environmental attitude (GEA) and a specific environmental attitude (SEA). This study found that the effect of the SEA is stronger than the GEA in regard to sustainable consumption behavior. Also, when analyzing the purchasing behavior of green products, the SEA is a more appropriate and consistent predictor of behavior than the GEA. The study suggests a more operationalized and salient definition of the intended meaning of the term “environmental attitude,” and also advises researchers and marketing professionals to use a framework that contains both types of environmental attitudes in order to better understand what drives the attitude–behavior gap in green consumer behavior.     

Exchange-rate economics for the resources sector

The paper provides an account of aspects of exchange-rate economics that are of particular relevance to the resources sector. The issues discussed include exchange-rate volatility and the risk management practices used to deal with it, the role of productivity differences across countries, and the impact of a booming resources sector on the country's exchange rate. The discussion is organized around a simple stylized model that emphasizes the quantity theory of money and purchasing power parity as a long-run link between prices and exchange rates.     

Hong Kong citizens' attitude towards waste recycling and waste minimization measures

In a street survey conducted in Hong Kong, it was found that Hong Kong people generally support waste recycling and minimization measures. The results showed that statistically there are associations between sex, accommodation type, education levels and age on one hand and people's attitude toward some waste recycling and minimization measures on the other. A significant number of the surveyed subjects would feel uneasy during the generation of waste if they knew that the recyclable materials would not be recycled. However, this feeling of uneasiness will lessen considerably if the materials are being recycled. With the feeling of uneasiness being lessened, a deterring factor on consumption was weakened. Thus it is plausible that when recycling is more widely carried out, the actual volume of consumption will increase if the urgency of waste minimization is not widely understood. It was also discovered that in an economically prosperous Hong Kong, people can be more supportive to slightly more expensive green products than in Western countries in recession.     

Green supply chain initiatives among certified companies in Malaysia and environmental sustainability: Investigating the outcomes

The relationship between green supply chain initiatives and performance outcomes has been subject to numerous studies but the results are not conclusive. This study tries to assess the actual environmental, economic and intangible outcomes resulting from the adoption of green supply chain initiatives. This study used a structured questionnaire derived from the literature and employing a mail survey to collect responses form a group of 569 ISO 14001 certified firms in Malaysia. The results of testing the hypotheses that predicted that green supply chain initiatives have positive effect on the outcomes showed that eco-design have significant positive effect on the four types of outcomes (environmental outcomes, economic outcomes, cost reductions, and intangible outcomes). Reverse logistics was found to have significant positive effect on cost reductions only. However, green purchasing was not found to have significant effect on any of the four types of outcome. Through designing environmentally friendly products and taking back products and packaging, business organizations can generate benefits to the environment, in the form of reduced waste and better resource utilization, in addition to economic benefits and cost reductions to the organizations.     

加速环境制度变革 推动经济社会科学发展

党的十八大以科学发展观为指导,提出了推进生态文明、建设美丽中国的战略任务,生态文明是我党创造性地回答经济发展与资源环境关系问题所取得的最新理论成果,为统筹人与自然和谐发展指明了前进方向。改革开放的中国,社会经济高速发     

Life-cycle cost-benefit analysis of extensive vegetated roof systems

The built environment has been a significant cause of environmental degradation in the previously undeveloped landscape. As public and private interest in restoring the environmental integrity of urban areas continues to increase, new construction practices are being developed that explicitly value beneficial environmental characteristics. The use of vegetation on a rooftop--commonly called a green roof--as an alternative to traditional roofing materials is an increasingly utilized example of such practices. The vegetation and growing media perform a number of functions that improve environmental performance, including: absorption of rainfall, reduction of roof temperatures, improvement in ambient air quality, and provision of urban habitat. A better accounting of the green roof's total costs and benefits to society and to the private sector will aid in the design of policy instruments and educational materials that affect individual decisions about green roof construction. This study uses data collected from an experimental green roof plot to develop a benefit cost analysis (BCA) for the life cycle of extensive (thin layer) green roof systems in an urban watershed. The results from this analysis are compared with a traditional roofing scenario. The net present value (NPV) of this type of green roof currently ranges from 10% to 14% more expensive than its conventional counterpart. A reduction of 20% in green roof construction cost would make the social NPV of the practice less than traditional roof NPV. Considering the positive social benefits and relatively novel nature of the practice, incentives encouraging the use of this practice in highly urbanized watersheds are strongly recommended.