我国环境审计方法和应解决的问题

中国严峻的环境状况和持续的经济发展使环境审计成为必要 ,本文提出了中国的环境审计内容和方法 ,并对我国开展环境审计应解决的若干重要问题进行了探讨 ,所得结果可供管理部门参考。     

一个基于专家知识的生态系统服务价值化方法

Costanza等提出的生态服务价值化评估方法在中国直接运用存在一些缺陷:低估或者忽略了某些生态系统服务价值。因此,笔者在其生态系统服务价值评估体系的基础上分别在2002年和2006年对中国700位具有生态学背景的专业人员进行问卷调查,得出了新的生态系统服务评估单价体系。通过对比发现,调查获得的基于专家知识的生态系统服务单价体系与基于物质量估算的生态系统服务价值之间具有较好的可比性。该基于专家知识的生态系统服务评估体系可以用于已知土地利用面积的生态系统服务价值估算,能在较短时间内获得较为精确的结果。     

A rhetorical analysis of the scientific debate over assisted colonization

Previous analyses of the debate on the assisted colonization of species (AC) omit a critical assessment of the rhetorical dimension of the AC debate. To address this gap, we ask: what kinds of arguments are deployed as mean of persuasion and what are the implications of the rhetorical dimension of the AC debate for decision-making on AC? Our methods consist of textual network analysis, which allowed us to generate maps of the arguments in the debate on AC and analyze these maps using standard network analytical measures. The argument maps of the AC debate emphasize different and multi-faceted value judgments. Some of these are couched in technical terms and thus are implicitly evaluative: what is an appropriate level of risk for focal species and recipient communities, how much knowledge/ignorance is sufficient to warrant action or inaction, and what species or ecosystem services are most valuable and should be prioritized in conservation science and management? Other types of arguments, however, are more explicitly evaluative: socio-economic calculations, defending or criticizing conventional principles of conservation policy, and ethical norms and values. While some of the technical aspects of the debate may be resolved by more research, the controversy over AC is unlikely to be resolved by science alone, because the issue is thoroughly enmeshed in rhetoric about who should have control over AC governance.     

Finding the connection: environmental management systems and environmental performance

With more than 130,000 organizations worldwide certified according to ISO requirements, business people, regulatory authorities and other stakeholders have reason to wonder whether the purpose of ISO 14001, which is to help improve environmental performance, is being fulfilled. There is a growing body of literature attempting to answer this question. The results, however, are inconclusive.This meta-study analyzes a pool of 23 studies connecting environmental performance to environmental management systems. It shows that the reason that earlier studies arrived at mixed conclusions is twofold. Firstly, there is no agreement on what environmental performance is or how to measure it. Secondly, there is neither clarity nor agreement about how or why environmental management systems are expected to aid performance. It is therefore unclear whether the mechanisms that lead to improvement are expected to be the same for all companies or dependent on each implementation.The authors conclude that it is more fruitful to research how environmental management systems affect performance, rather than whether they do so or not. The recommended starting point for such studies is environmental performance as each organization defines it. This in turn implies a case by case approach and a need for much more research in the field.     

Options for including all lands in a future greenhouse gas accounting framework

The current framework through which greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the land use sector are accounted under the Kyoto Protocol has several problems. They include a complex structure, onerous monitoring and reporting requirements, and potential for omission of some important fluxes. One solution that may overcome some of these problems is to include all lands and associated processes within a country's jurisdiction, rather than restrict accounting to specific nominated land categories or activities. Ideally, the accounting approach should cover all significant biospheric sources and sinks, avoid biased or unbalanced accounting, avoid leakage and require no arbitrary adjustments to remedy unintended consequences. Furthermore, accounting should focus on the direct human-induced component of biospheric emissions/removals so that debits/credits can be allocated equitably and provide appropriate incentives to adopt land-use management options with beneficial outcomes for the atmosphere.This paper focuses on biospheric emissions and removals resulting from carbon stock changes. It considers four alternative accounting options that include all land areas: Gross-Net Accounting, Net-Net Accounting, Net Accounting with Negotiated Baselines and the Average Carbon Stocks approach. Each option is described, and assessed with respect to defined criteria for effectiveness. Gross-Net Accounting and Net-Net Accounting do not adequately distinguish the anthropogenic component of carbon-stock changes from indirect and natural effects, so large undeserved credits or debits could be created. Under Net Accounting with Negotiated Baselines, countries’ projected emissions and removals during the commitment period would be taken into account in the negotiation of emissions targets. In the commitment period, countries would then gain credits/debits for biospheric removals/emissions. Difficulties with this approach would lie in reaching agreed baselines for emissions and removals for individual countries, and, if desired, in factoring out residual effects of natural variability on emissions/removals. Under the Average Carbon Stocks approach, debits/credits for changes in land use or management practices would be based on the changes in long-term average carbon stocks associated with changes in specific land use and management regimes. This approach thereby directly identifies the anthropogenic component, and assigns debits and credits accordingly. It may prove problematic, however, for countries to accept long-term averages rather than observable realised carbon-stock changes as the basis for accounting. Thus, none of the options is without its drawbacks, but Net Accounting with Negotiated Baselines and the Average Carbon Stocks approach could potentially be used as the basis of developing a future ‘all lands’ accounting framework.     

What is ‘normative’ at cooling water intakes? Defining normalcy before judging adverse

Judgments of adverse environmental impact from cooling water intake structures need to be preceded by an appreciation of what is normal. In its report, Return to the River, the Independent Scientific Group (now called the Independent Scientific Advisory Board) — the scientific peer review arm of the Northwest Power Planning Council — advanced the notion of a ‘normative river ecosystem’ as a new conceptual foundation for salmonid recovery in the Columbia River basin. With this perspective, the sum of the best scientific understanding of how organisms and aquatic ecosystems function should be the norm or standard of measure for how we judge the effects of human activities on aquatic systems. For the best likelihood of recovery, key aspects of altered systems should be brought back toward normative (although not necessarily fully back to the historical or pristine state); new alterations should be judged for adversity by how much they move key attributes away from normative or what might be considered normal. In this paper, I ask what ‘normative’ is for the setting of cooling water intake structures and how this concept could help resolve long-standing disputes between groups interested in avoiding damage to all organisms that might be entrained or impinged and those who take a more population or community perspective for judging adverse environmental impact. In essence, I suggest that if a water intake does not move the aquatic ecosystem outside the ‘normative’ range, based on expressions of normalcy such as those discussed, then no adverse impact has occurred. Having an explicit baseline in normal or normative would place 316(b) analyses on the same conceptual foundation as 316(a) analyses, which strive to demonstrate the continuation of a balanced, indigenous community of aquatic organisms at the power station location.     

黑河流域张掖市生态系统服务恢复价值评估研究——连续型和离散型条件价值评估方法的比较应用

条件价值评估法的调查问卷格式主要有连续型(包括开放式、支付卡式)和离散型(即封闭式)两种类型。针对黑河流域张掖市生态系统退化的现状,在连续型的支付卡问卷格式调查的基础上,以离散型单边界两分式和双边界两分式的封闭式问卷格式各设计了400份调查问卷,调查了黑河流域居民对恢复张掖市生态系统服务的支付意愿。封闭式两分式问卷调查结果的分析表明,黑河流域90.2%的居民家庭对恢复张掖市生态系统服务存在支付意愿。单边界两分式和双边界两分式问卷分析的黑河流域居民家庭对恢复张掖市生态系统服务的平均最大支付意愿每户每年分别为162.82元和182.38元。按黑河流域有支付意愿的家庭数量计算,用单边界两分式和双边界两分式问卷分析,恢复张掖市生态系统服务的经济效益每年分别为7094.36×104元和7946.66×104元。由于双边界两分式问卷更能逼近市场行为,以双边界两分式问卷的结果作为条件价值评估的结果相对比较恰当,因此,未来5年时间恢复张掖市生态系统服务总经济价值的现值为3.7478×108元。由于恢复张掖市生态系统服务具有巨大的正外部效应,因此,仅就黑河流域居民家庭数量估计的经济价值是对恢复张掖市生态系统服务的经济价值的最低估价。     

Multiattribute utility analysis for addressing Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act

We believe that the fundamental issues associated with implementing Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act are whether or not it requires a balancing of objectives and if it does, how that balancing should be done. If balancing is required, we recommend the use of multiattribute utility analysis (MUA). MUA is a formal, analytic approach for evaluating and comparing options for decisions with multiple objectives. It differentiates the two types of judgments needed for public policy decisions: (1) value judgments, which indicate what people want to happen as the result of a decision and their willingness to make tradeoffs, and (2) scientific judgments, which indicate what scientists or other technical specialists think is likely to happen based on the option that is chosen. MUA provides an approach for deciding what is an ‘adverse environmental impact’ and what is ‘best technology available’ based on site-specific considerations that can be consistently applied to all cooling water intakes. To illustrate the first step of a collaborative MUA process, we present a preliminary hierarchy of objectives constructed during a 1-day meeting held with regulators, electric utilities, and environmental groups to address the renewal of SPDES permits for four power plants operating on the Hudson River.     

努力实现生态优先、绿色发展

习近平总书记指示:推动长江经济带发展必须坚持生态优先、绿色发展,要抓大保护,不搞大开发.本文分别讨论了为什么要抓大保护,绿色发展的重点是什么,以及生态优先、绿色发展应该由谁来完成等三个问题,并提出了生态文明建设的主要目标是节约资源、保护环境、保护生态,生态文明建设应在生产领域、消费领域、城镇化建设领域、自然生态系统保护领域,以及加强法治、制度、政策和文化、教育、宣传等领域同时进行.      

基于三级分层框架的农业气象灾害多风险评估

农业气象灾害多风险评估对于防灾减灾、制定风险对策具有重要意义。根据1980—2015年陕西省农业气象灾害年度统计资料和2015—2018年农户调研数据,运用贝叶斯网络、贝叶斯分层模型（BHM）等多风险评估方法,分析陕西省农业气象灾害的变化趋势、灾害间相互作用以及生计资本对于不同作物脆弱性的影响。结果表明：（1）1980—2015年陕西省洪涝的灾害率和灾害强度显著下降,斜率分别为0.17%、0.7%,冷冻的灾害率显著上升,斜率为0.25%,干旱和风雹灾害无明显变化;（2）干旱和洪涝显著影响其他灾害,各种灾害之间存在复杂的相互作用;（3）增加有效灌溉面积率、农作物种植面积、农村用电量和农用磷肥施用折纯量等生计资本指标,可以显著降低脆弱性。本文有助于提高农户对农业气象灾害的适应能力,为预防和治理农业气象灾害提供决策参考。     

土地利用/覆盖变化对生态系统服务的影响：空间尺度视角的研究综述

作为连接自然过程与社会过程的桥梁与纽带,生态系统服务与人类福祉和可持续发展息息相关。土地利用/覆盖变化（Land Use/Land Cover Change,LUCC）是生态系统服务变化的重要原因之一,对生态系统服务的影响随着空间尺度的变化而变化。尺度问题一直是LUCC和生态系统服务理论研究与实践管理的重点与难点。系统理解LUCC对生态系统服务影响的尺度特征、尺度差异及尺度关联,对深入LUCC和生态系统服务的尺度效应研究、协调多层次管理机构的制度决策、缓解生态系统服务稀缺对社会经济发展的限制等具有重要意义。本文从空间尺度切入,基于国内外不同尺度LUCC对生态系统服务影响的理论研究和实践进展,总结归纳尺度的概念与内涵,整理介绍考虑空间尺度的研究框架,系统梳理LUCC对生态系统服务影响研究中的空间尺度选择、空间尺度特征及空间尺度关联,评析单一尺度和多尺度研究方法的特点。并提出未来研究中应在构建人文因素与自然因素相结合的研究框架、阐释LUCC对生态系统服务影响的尺度效应、完善LUCC对生态系统服务影响的尺度分析方法等方面开展更深入的研究。     

Developing sustainable products and services

In light of increasing pressures to adopt a more sustainable approach to product design and manufacture, the requirement to develop sustainable products is one of the key challenges facing industry in the 21st century. Hence, the concept of developing sustainable products as well as services is evolving as a key element of Cleaner Production. Sustainable product development initiatives (mainly through eco-design) have been evolving for some time to support companies develop more sustainable products. Ireland has been running the highly successful Environmentally Superior Products (ESP) initiative that supports industrial companies to incorporate a more sustainable approach to the development of products and/or services. The lessons learned from the ESP and other global Sustainable Product and Service Developments in industry and research, are being used to develop a method for effective sustainable product and/or service development (SPSD) in industry. The method is designed to provide pragmatic guidance to business and industry for developing sustainable products and services as well as incorporating this approach within existing corporate strategy, cleaner production and product development systems. This method is being developed by the authors at the Environmental Policy and Management Group (EPMG), Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Imperial College London, UK in conjunction with industry and practitioners. The method provides a framework for implementing SPSD throughout the entire lifecycle of a product and/or service. It can be used to identify, assess and implement the options for optimum sustainability in the design and development of a product and/or service. This paper describes the key features of this method.     

A social assessment of urban parkland: Analyzing park use and meaning to inform management and resilience planning

Globally, municipalities are tackling climate adaptation and resilience planning. Urban green space has crucial biophysical buffering capacities, but also affects social interactions and human well-being. This paper considers the social dimension of urban green space, through an assessment focused on park use, function, and meanings, and compares results to categories of cultural ecosystem services. We develop a mixed-method approach for assessment of uses and social meanings of parkland and pilot this method in 2140 acres of parkland in waterfront neighborhoods surrounding New York City’s Jamaica Bay, an area heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy. This method combines observation of human activities and signs of prior human use with structured interviews of park users. We find that urban parkland is a crucial form of ‘nearby nature’ that provides space for recreation, activities, socialization, and environmental engagement and supports place attachment and social ties. We show that parks, through their use by and interactions with humans, are producing vital cultural ecosystem services that may help to strengthen social resilience. Certain services were more easily detectable than others via our assessment technique, including recreation, social relations, and sense of place. The assessment method was designed to be spatially explicit, scalable, and replicable; natural resource managers engaged in park management and/or resilience planning could apply this method across individual sites, in particular districts—such as vulnerable waterfront areas, and citywide. This study demonstrates a way in which cultural ecosystem services and an understanding of social meaning could be incorporated into park management and resilience planning.     

Examining bushfire policy in action: Preparedness and behaviour in the 2009 Black Saturday fires

An important part of reducing the risk of disaster is the preparedness of the people at risk. Australian bushfire authorities have policies and publicity about what households should do to be prepared – which include knowledge about fire risk, awareness of one’s own risk, taking specific steps to reduce risk including having an emergency plan. Yet, there is sparse empirical evidence about the link between preparedness and actual behaviour in the face of a major disaster.The authors had an opportunity to examine the circumstances surrounding the 172 civilian fatalities which occurred in the 2009 Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires, through the examination of a detailed fatality dataset compiled by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. This dataset allows detailed examination of Victorian bushfire safety policy (‘Stay or go’) in action on a day of extreme fire danger: from preparedness (both before and on the day of the fire) to behaviour on the day of the fire itself.This analysis presents three overarching findings. First, some aspects of ‘Stay or go’ appear to be supported: being well-prepared to evacuate remains the safest option in a bushfire; sheltering passively is very dangerous. Second, successful implementation of ‘Stay or go’ depends on a multitude of factors, which can challenge even the most capable householders. Third, events like Black Saturday challenge the ‘Stay or go’ approach, and indicate the need for a different approach on extreme fire danger days. We conclude by reflecting on the findings from this research in terms of the most recent changes to bushfire policy in Victoria.     

Which “fairness”, for whom,and why? An empirical analysis of plural notions of fairness in Fairtrade Carbon Projects,using Q methodology

Fairness is a relative concept with multiple, subjective and competing notions of what it is, how to achieve it, and for which beneficiaries. Fairtrade International's collaborative efforts to develop a standard to certify Fairtrade Carbon Credits (FCCs) brought together multiple stakeholders in a deliberative context. This paper uses Q methodology to empirically assess the notions of fairness this wider consultation group held. Three distinct ‘factors’ (or perspectives) are identified, and discussed in relation to a multi-dimensional framework for exploring fairness. The first factor prioritises development delivered through organisations, participation in decision-making and use of minimum prices to adjust trade imbalances. The second factor conceptualises a non-exclusive approach maximising generation and sales of FCCs, involving a commodity chain where everyone performs their optimum function with financial transparency and information-sharing to facilitate negotiations. The third factor involves minimising intervention, allowing carbon commodity chains and project set-ups to function efficiently, and make their own adjustments to enhance benefits access and quality received by beneficiaries. The three factors reflect debates within carbon and fair trade spheres about who should be playing which roles, who should be accessing which benefits, and how people should be supported to interact on an uneven playing field. Communicating findings to standards organisations enables a more open and inclusive policy process. Our research provides a critical reflection on these plural notions of fairness, identifying areas of (dis)agreement within the FCC dialogue, and provides a wider, yet manageable, set of inputs for supporting the FCC process during its inception and subsequent implementation. Clearer definitions of “fairness” are also useful for standards organisations in reviewing ex post whether “fairness” goals have been met.     

Personal desires of patients and social obligations of geneticists: applying preimplantation genetic diagnosis for non-medical sex selection

The arguments against the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for non-medical sex selection are analysed. It is concluded that the distinction between medical and non-medical reasons is difficult to maintain, that the disproportionality of means and end is not a decisive counterargument and that the fear of damage to the reputation of PGD does not justify the refusal of controversial applications. Moreover, since non-medical sex selection does not belong to basic health care, it should not be equally accessible to all. The position defended in this article is founded on two basic principles: (1) medical reasons have priority on non-medical reasons, and (2) personal reasons do not qualify for public funding. In order to respect both principles, it is proposed that restrictions should be installed to control the number of requests for social sexing and that a tax should be imposed on these elective services. The tax should compensate the society for the investment it made in the training and education of the physician. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

城市生态规划的理论与方法

综述城市土地利用生态规划和城市生态系统对策规划的状况，分析并提出了城市生态规划的两种类型，即生态规划方法和城市生态系统水平上进行的生态对策规划，并对这两种生态规划的发展进行了探讨。     

Fetal fraction and noninvasive prenatal testing: What clinicians need to know

The fetal fraction (FF) is a function of both biological factors and bioinformatics algorithms used to interpret DNA sequencing results. It is an essential quality control component of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) results. Clinicians need to understand the biological influences on FF to be able to provide optimal post-test counseling and clinical management. There are many different technologies available for the measurement of FF. Clinicians do not need to know the details behind the bioinformatics algorithms of FF measurements, but they do need to appreciate the significant variations between the different sequencing technologies used by different laboratories. There is no universal FF threshold that is applicable across all platforms and there have not been any differences demonstrated in NIPT performance by sequencing platform or method of FF calculation. Importantly, while FF should be routinely measured, there is not yet a consensus as to whether it should be routinely reported to the clinician. The clinician should know what to expect from a standard test report and whether reasons for failed NIPT results are revealed. Emerging solutions to the challenges of samples with low FF should reduce rates of failed NIPT in the future. In the meantime, having a “plan B" prepared for those patients for whom NIPT is unsuccessful is essential in today's clinical practice.     

Threatened species listing as a trigger for conservation action

Legislative listing schemes, under which the listing of a species as threatened automatically triggers command regulation and/or recovery planning, raise significant issues for policy makers. In this paper, we explore strategies for factoring considerations beyond the empirical assessment of a species’ conservation status into the resource allocation decisions that flow from listing. Even in threatened species legislation that appears to prioritise species conservation over socio-economic considerations by creating an automatic nexus between listing and conservation response, there are significant pressure valves that allow the latter to exercise a significant influence on decisions in practice. We critically examine two other techniques currently used in legislation that allow a broader range of considerations to be factored into resource allocation decisions: abandoning the automatic triggering of resource allocation by listing; and taking into account a broader range of considerations in the listing decision itself. We conclude by outlining the framework for a strategic approach to the allocation of conservation resources. This has three limbs to it: recovery plans that identify what needs to be done to bring about recovery, in addition to what available resources will allow us to do; a system for prioritising between the implementation of recovery plans; and the integration of threatened species conservation into strategic land use planning processes.     

EcoDesign: what's happening? An overview of the subject area of EcoDesign and of the papers in this special issue

EcoDesign is a concept including human sustainability priorities together with business interrelations. Its main objective in the improvement of product development methods is to reduce environmental loads. EcoDesign also includes a more open ambition to use inspiration from a wider field of positive examples of smart products and methods, effective system solutions and attractive designs. It is not clear what sustainable product development is; what we can do is to try our best to find better solutions, get going and make sure that we learn from what happens. Our main goal with this issue was to monitor “How to make it happen?” but we ended up with more questions and the lower ambition of, “What's happening”.Life-style elements such as brand label economy, development of new economies in Asia, aging populations in the old economies etc. makes the picture even more complex and we still wonder, “How to make it happen”. However, a few focal points can be observed:The tools in EcoDesign are not as important as specification and goal setting in early product development phases. How to organize product development is crucial in order to reach higher degrees of sustainability. The interrelations between resources and functionality must be enhanced. Environmental affection must be integrated into the human life-style and throughout the entire life-cycle of all products and services. To us it seems impossible to define a sustainable life-style and force everyone to follow. We must engage all stakeholders in envisioning and creating the sustainable societies we hope to achieve.