The forgotten resource curse: South Africa's poor experience with mineral extraction

Studies of the resource curse as it affects African states abound, yet few deal specifically with the experiences of South Africa. The inability of countries to convert natural resource wealth into income and improved development measures remains highly pertinent and is especially apparent in Africa's largest economy. This paper takes a unique approach to study the resource curse by comparing South Africa's political economy with the existing resource curse literature. Using data from international organisations, studies of poverty and qualitative evidence this paper examines South Africa's experience with mineral extraction. It is found that South Africa has experienced many of the symptoms outlined in the resource curse literature including relatively slow GDP growth, gross inequalities, entrenched poverty and the creation of a rentier state. Overall, it is concluded that South Africa has failed to benefit from natural resource wealth and can be classified as a resource cursed state. Not only has mineral wealth failed to benefit much of South Africa's population, sections of society have actually been harmed through the process of mineral extraction. This paper is the first to examine South Africa in light of the current resource curse literature and to conclude that the state far more closely resembles its sub-Saharan African neighbours than its upper-middle income peers.     

Regional planning and sustainability: limits and potentials of South Africa's integrated development plans

This paper considers whether South Africa's Integrated Development Plans provide an adequate framework for achieving sustainable regional development, particularly for peripheral regions of developing countries. It examines the case of Integrated Development Planning in the Ugu District Municipality, which has been acclaimed for its emphasis on incorporating principles of sustainable development into its planning processes. While the emphasis on integration and the multi‐sectoral approach are strengths, greater attention needs to be given to environmental aspects, and the form of planning needs to be adapted to the context, and its social, economic and political dynamics.     

Economic and social effects analysis of mineral development in China and policy implications

Mineral development has contributed greatly to China's economic and social development. Many challenges remain, however, including environmental pollution and resource waste in practice, as well as a dearth of systematic theoretical research. The goal of this study is to analyze the economic and social effects of various mineral developments in China from diversified perspectives, so as to provide the basis for the formulation of China's mineral development policy. The input–output effects, industrial linkage effects and income distribution effects of different mining industries are quantitatively analyzed by adopting basic hypotheses of input–output economics, industrial linkage model and income distribution antitheses based on the latest available official data from China Statistical Yearbook from 2004 to 2010 and the 2007 Input–Output Table of China. The empirical results obtained in this study indicate that all mineral development industries, especially coal mining and washing, and petroleum and natural gas extraction industries, have given a strong impetus to the increase of China's fixed asset investment and GDP. Moreover, they have provided a large number of jobs, thereby alleviating ongoing employment pressure, and they have also played a positive role in promoting China's technology investment. The analysis of industrial linkages demonstrates that mining industries are basic to the national economy and produce a significant impetus to its downstream industries, but create weak pull effects in terms of national economic development. From the perspective of income distribution, mining industries play an important role in increasing China's fiscal revenue and per capital income. Hence, China's mineral development policy should (1) encourage additional investment in technology for exploration and development to insure sufficient supply and expand the input effects; (2) attract additional talent to work in remote regions; (3) optimize the industrial structure and promote the industrial transformation in resource regions; (4) adjust the interest distribution between the central and local governments to enable the local regions to become more self-sufficient; and (5) enhance the legal environment so that companies can more readily undertake their social responsibilities voluntarily.     

The effectiveness of state of the environment reporting (SoER) at the local government sphere – a developing country's experience

State of the environment reporting (SoER) is a well-established and widely applied environmental management tool in the South African context. Despite a wealth of knowledge about conducting and preparing SoERs, there is a paucity of research on the effect SoER has had on decision-making at the local government sphere. This study investigated the effect of SoER on decision-making for a sample of municipalities in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The methodology relied on interviews with key role players, which include the ‘‘environmental function’' as well as ‘‘other functions’' responsible for infrastructure development and planning within the municipalities. The results show that notwithstanding the extensive time and resources spent on SoER, it appears to have had a limited effect on decision-making, especially beyond the environmental function. Recommendations to improve the influence of SoER on decision-making in developing countries include improved clarity on the purpose and home of SoER within municipalities, adequate budget and capacity, and effective cooperative governance both within the municipalities, and with other spheres of government.     

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance Waterfront Justice Project

This paper reviews key challenges and opportunities addressed by the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance's (NYC-EJA) Waterfront Justice Project, a citywide campaign to promote climate resilience and sustainability in urban industrial waterfront communities of New York City. NYC-EJA is a non-profit membership-driven network linking grassroots organisations from low-income neighbourhoods and communities of colour in their struggle for environmental justice. The Waterfront Justice Project is documenting community vulnerability in the context of climate change impacts, sources of industrial pollution, and demographic and socio-economic trends. This campaign is enabling community-based organisations, environmental justice communities, city planners, local and state government agencies, local business-owners, and other stakeholders to work in partnership to achieve community resilience while advocating for local jobs and promoting best practices in pollution prevention. New York City's waterfront policies ease the siting and clustering of public infrastructure, water pollution control plants, waste transfer stations, energy facilities, and heavy manufacturing uses in six areas designated as Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas (SMIAs). The SMIAs are located in environmental justice communities, largely low-income communities and communities of colour, in the South Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. New York City's local waterfront land use and zoning policies create cumulative risk exposure not only to residents and workers in the host waterfront communities, but also, in the event of storm surge or sea-level rise, to neighbouring, upland communities.     

A Case-study of ISO 14001-based Environmental Management System Implementation in the People's Republic of China

The ISO 14001 implementation process among certified firms in China was examined by conducting a questionnaire survey distributed to all certified firms as of December 1998. Results showed that the ISO 14001-based environmental management system (EMS) has a significant effect on firms' daily environmental activities and performance. Recycling, natural resource consumption and released pollutants have been managed in a better way and, in some cases, pollutants have been reduced. The study showed that firms' main targets for adopting the system were to: enhance the firm's public image; enhance employees' environmental awareness; improve the EMS inside the firm; improve the environmental aspects and performance inside the firm; and improve relations with government offices and local citizens. ISO 1400-based EMS implementation showed that it is a promising tool for helping build a better partnership between three main stakeholders, government, local citizens and enterprises. The system has enabled firms to consider the role of the local people in a more effective way. For example, special consideration is given to involving local citizens in health and emergency preparedness during firms' daily environmental activities. Moreover, enhancing environmental awareness among the local citizens and giving more consideration to co-operation with other firms from the same industrial groups are reported by certified firms. Finally, there are strong demands for government support to build more reliable information systems, ISO 14001-related research, more incentives for eco-labelling and tax exemptions.     

财政自主能力与碳经济绩效：产业结构升级的中介效应

本文基于1997-2016年中国省级动态面板数据,从产业结构升级视角实证分析了区域财政自主能力作用于碳经济绩效的影响机理。研究发现：产业结构升级在财政自主能力影响碳经济绩效中发挥了中介效应;在高分权地区,财政自主能力能够通过产业结构升级促进碳经济绩效的增长;在低分权地区,财政自主能力会抑制产业结构升级并对碳经济绩效产生不利影响。进一步研究发现,在非农产业占比与非国有企业占比较高的省（区、市）域,财政自主能力能够通过产业结构升级对碳经济绩效产生更强的促进作用。本研究结论能够对地方政府从自身财政自主能力推动产业结构升级,为实现区域经济增长和环境优化的协同发展的政策制定提供理论指导。     

Implementing industrial ecology and design for environment practices: Lawrence livermore national laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), one of the nation's three national security laboratories, is initiating a major research effort in industrial ecology with the goal of increasing the economic and environmental efficiency of the U.S. and global economies. Closer to home, ongoing efforts to reduce LLNL's environmental impact on the surrounding community provide an example of how the environmental efficiency of a major research facility can be systematically improved. In the late 1980s, LLNL initiated its waste minimization and pollution prevention program, changing its focus from end-of-pipe waste management to a proactive and preventive strategy—total quality environmental management (TQEM). LLNL's success in integrating pollution prevention with R&D and operational activities is well illustrated by the waste reduction and energy and water conservation accomplishments described in this article. LLNL represents a model of how industrial ecology, design for environment, and pollution prevention can be incorporated into a comprehensive R&D and operational program. This article describes LLNL's developing industrial ecology program, gives some specific technical accomplishments that have application to many industrial facilities, and presents a case study of TQEM at LLNL's remote experimental test facility, Site 300. The integration of TQEM philosophy with LLNL's scientific capabilities holds much promise for new ideas and creative solutions to national and international industrial ecology concerns.     

Industrial pollution,spatial stigma and economic decline: the case of Asopos river basin through the lens of local small business owners

This paper explores the notion of environmentally induced spatial stigma through an analysis of data from interviews across public attitudes to pollution within the Asopos river basin in central Greece. The area has a 40 year plus history of legal and illicit industrial waste disposal and public debate on the associated environmental degradation. The study focuses on the perceptions and beliefs of a sector of the community likely to be directly and negatively affected by stigma, that is small business owners in the tourism and hospitality sector. The qualitative analysis explores awareness and viewpoints on environmental degradation and water quality within the local context, implications for the local economy and the individual's own enterprise, views on industrial environmental management as well as corporate responsibility and future prospects for the environmental problems of Asopos. Findings reveal a noticeable variation in views on industrial pollution and ecosystem deterioration among the respondents, but overall a strong environmentally induced stigmatization of the area. They also uncover an information asymmetry and lack of credible commitment by government bodies and industry members in disclosing accurate information, a situation likely to increase speculation and uncertainty within the community. The paper concludes by addressing implications of the findings to policy-making and managerial considerations, along with future research perspectives which aim to increase considerations of sustainability aspects for local development.     

Regulation for environmental protection: The Nanticoke industrial complex,Ontario, Canada

This assessment of the environmental protection regulatory system for the $2.2 billion iron and steel plant, oil refinery, and thermal generating station composing the core of the greenfield Nanticoke industrial complex is based upon: the use of governmental and industrial research in project management; technology and institutional arrangements for environmental protection; evidence of environmental changes to date; analysis of government and industrial approval files; and interviews with government, industry, and interest group representatives. Planning, regulation, and management have been reasonably efficient and effective to the beginning of the operational stage for all three major industries as of spring 1980. Of major future concern, however, is management of the cumulative and synergistic impacts of the industries and associated development on air quality as well as the lands, waters, and sensitive ecosystems of the nearby Lake Erie coast. Continuous monitoring, more comprehensive research, and better overall coordination of government, industrial, and public interests are required if Nanticoke benefits are to be achieved without undue cost to pre-project resource users within and outside the Haldimand-Norfolk region.     

Aligning Climate Policy with National Interest: Disengagements with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in South Africa

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) were proposed as a policy framework that could provide middle ground for meeting both the development and mitigation objectives in developing countries. While South Africa engaged actively with the NAMA terminology in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, its engagement at the domestic level has been rather lacklustre. This presents an interesting paradox. The paper studies the interplay of international norms embodied in NAMAs with South Africa's domestic policy process. Disengagement and contestation around NAMAs in South Africa is played out at three stages: decision-making stage where the symptoms surrounding this contestation first emerge; policy formulation stage where NAMAs have to not only align with the National Development Plan but also compete with a predilection for domestically familiar terminology of flagships under the national climate policy; and finally the broader agenda-setting stage of policy process, where NAMAs have to prove useful in not only pursuing the developmental state agenda but also in tackling the underlying material factors that represent country's economic dependency on fossil fuels. NAMAs faced combined resistance from ideas and interests in various degrees at all these stages resulting in their disengagement.     

Evaluating environmental plan quality: the case of planning for sustainable development in New Zealand

This study examines the quality of local and regional environmental plans produced under New Zealand's Resource Management Act (RMA) of 1991, which sets forth a national sustainable development strategy. Plan quality characteristics are defined and used as criteria for plan evaluation. A key finding is that planning programmes have significantly advanced since passage of the RMA, but that high quality plans are not necessarily produced by simply passing mandate legislation. Implications of study findings for sustainable development initiatives in other countries and for future research are presented.     

工业园区绿色发展重点领域及其开发性金融应用研究

工业园区的绿色发展是我国经济绿色转型和可持续发展的基石,对实现我国生态文明建设具有重要的意义。而工业园区绿色发展中的基础设施建设等任务的资金需求周期长、盈利性较弱,极其需要开发性金融的大力支持。本文识别了开发性金融引导工业园区绿色发展的重点领域,主要包括构建生态产业链、完善环境基础设施建设、推进清洁生产、促进园区环境能力建设等,并进一步分析了各领域的建设目的、重点项目及实施主体。同时,从加强多方合作、优化投融资方式等角度,提出提升开发性金融服务能力、有效支持工业园区绿色发展的建议。     

Washing away poverty: Water, democracy and gendered poverty eradication in South Africa

This article discusses ways in which the South African Government and grassroots organizations envisage and implement democracy achieved since 1994 in the field of water resources management. The focus is on the democratic, political and economic freedom and equality in resource rights for poor black women, who are central to poverty eradication. While the new water policy and law provide an enabling framework for achieving these goals, implementation on the ground encounters both new opportunities and constraints. This is illustrated by several cases of establishing South Africa's new water management institutions: catchment management agencies and water user associations. The important nexus between state‐led democratization of water resources management and bottom‐up grassroots movements is also discussed. The article concludes that the Government's affirmative and targeted intervention is indispensable for redressing gender inequalities and eradicating poverty.     

On the question of managing sustainable development of industrial enterprises in a Russian region

This paper presents the theoretical foundations for the sustainable development of a Russian region's industrial system. For this study, we made an assessment of the production activities of the Rostov region's light‐manufacturing enterprises. The light‐industrial sector of the Rostov region's economy has been characterized, and the level of sustainable development of the region's enterprises has been calculated. The algorithm of development strategy was developed based on the rational use of natural resources. We have worked out several innovative proposals and calculated the cost‐effectiveness of their implementation in the region's light‐manufacturing enterprises. The economic and mathematical decision‐making model is based on the analytic hierarchy process, and the optimization calculation results that we obtained are presented in the article.     

Sustainable economic development and environmental auditing: a local authority perspective

This paper appraises the concept of environmental auditing in respect of the principles of sustainable economic development, and the options available to local authorities for positive action. Humberside County Council's various environmental initiatives are reviewed as a case study. Particular attention is given to progress with implementation, and the integration of economic development and environmental issues.     

中国工业园区生态化发展决策优化方法研究

工业是当前中国经济绿色转型升级的关键行业,而工业园区作为工业集聚化发展的主要载体,工业园区生态化发展是解决资源环境问题、实现经济可持续发展的有效途径。本文关注工业园区生态化发展的中长期发展战略和具体方案,致力于通过仿真模拟的方法提出工业园区生态化发展的方向和优化路径,实现研究方法的创新。研究以3E系统(经济—环境—能源)为基础,综合分析工业园区经济发展与能源环境之间的耦合关系,并结合动态投入产出模型和系统动力学模型构建生态化发展决策模型,通过最优化动态模拟方法开展趋势预测和路径研究。通过辛集工业园区的实证和案例研究,对其生态化发展路径进行深入研究,验证了研究方法的科学性和可靠性,能够为工业园区生态化发展提供实践指导。本文为工业园区生态化发展规划提供新的研究方法,为制定合理有效的工业园区综合战略和实施路径提供科学依据。     

环境管理的信息化视角——美国环境信息生命周期模型研究

有效、可靠的数据和信息是环境管理的基础和主线,是政府部门确定环境管理目标、衡量进展以及同所有利益相关方共享信息的基础。美国环保局(EPA)从整体视角和跨学科观点提出环境信息生命周期模型,能够更好地理解环境信息的生产者、管理者、提供者和使用者等不同角色的作用。本文介绍了环境信息生命周期模型的各环节和要素,包括政策、规划和项目,数据采集和管理,信息交换和共享,信息管理,发现、获取信息,理解、使用信息,用户/公众反馈等,用于评估环境管理业务的数据和信息需求,帮助提高数据质量,增强公众获取环境信息的能力。环保部门需要关注数据质量的不确定性以及不同部门之间缺乏信息共享的问题,将环境信息生命周期的方法融入中国的环境管理和信息化建设,将提高环境数据的质量和政府透明度。本文针对中国的环保信息化建设提出了若干政策建议。     

Indicators for sustainable energy development in Thailand

This article examines energy priorities for Thailand from the economic, social and environmental perspectives of sustainable development. The article uses a set of indicators devised by the International Atomic Energy Agency in partnership with other international agencies and research institutes in seven countries. Thailand's energy efficiency in the 1980s and 1990s are analysed using energy intensity indicators, and possible impacts on sustainable energy development are highlighted. The early 1990s in particular was an important period for Thailand, as the country was at the height of its economic growth, and a number of energy efficiency and conservation programmes were launched. Energy intensity indicators show continuing and faster growth in energy consumption relative to economic activity. The financial crisis in the late 1990s did halt growth in energy consumption, with positive consequences on environmental emissions, but only temporarily as Thailand's economy quickly started to recover in 2000. Notwithstanding the financial crisis, the other indicators show significant progress in economic and social dimensions.     

Monitoring the sustainability of Russia's energy development

This article presents an assessment of Russia's energy sector, its current state and planned future direction. The analysis of Russia's energy trends is based on a set of indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED), developed under the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The article discusses Russia's Energy Strategy to 2020, and outlines major developments and challenges of the country's energy system. Russia's energy priorities, captured in the Strategy to 2020, emphasize securing a stable and uninterrupted energy supply; reducing energy intensity and improving energy efficiency; developing the domestic energy resource base; reducing negative environmental impacts; and ensuring affordable energy for the poorer segments of the population. Energy needs and challenges are discussed in relation to the three aspects of sustainability as defined in Agenda 21: economic, social and environmental. Concerns are expressed regarding environmental repercussions of energy development, in particular since Russia's 1998 economic rebound. There are also concerns, despite the economic recovery, that anticipated increases in energy tariffs may exceed the affordability of poorer segments of the population.