Critical perspectives of sustainable development research and practice

Sustainable development has been intensely debated for more than twenty years, but real progress of our societies to become more sustainable is very slow. Therefore this special issue provides a forum for critical perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice. The papers are grouped into three clusters: a. Sustainability Science, b. Economic Problems and c. Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development.Although a single special issue cannot address the entire array of issues pertaining to progress of sustainability related research, the selected papers highlight special aspects of sustainability research either due to their theoretical contributions or because they report on valuable empirical evidence. The main goal of sustainability research should be to contribute to our understanding of sustainability problems and to develop and help to implement solutions to solve them. This can be described as the relevance of sustainability research. A precondition to gain relevance is the rigor of sustainability science: it has to be based on solid scientific principles and methods. Additionally it has to be regarded that Sustainable Development is dynamic and that it has both normative and practical aspects. It is concluded that sustainability science and practice should be based upon these four central aspects: rigor, relevance, normative aspects and dynamic     

Sustainability through system transformation: lessons from Finnish efforts

This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production addresses system transformation by examining progress, stumbling blocks and opportunities for sustainable consumption and production in a specific country, Finland, set within a global context. The articles present and analyse top-down policy efforts, bottom-up efforts by municipalities, activities by companies and actions by consumers. They provide material for discussions on the shift from sustainability planning to enhancing system transformation, on the implications of globalisation for system boundaries, on the transformation of complex systems, on learning processes and on methods of assessing transitions. Without providing a singular solution, the articles show that issues of sustainability should be explored in different ways within different contexts, and experimented with. There is a continuous need for transformations and reflexive learning, since conditions are likely to become very different, not least due to climate change. The notion of change and transformation will be high on the agenda of the Rio+20 conference, as will similar efforts to promote large-scale transformations of consumption and production.     

SAFE—A hierarchical framework for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems

Sustainable development and the definition of indicators to assess progress towards sustainability have become a high priority in scientific research and on policy agendas. In this paper, we propose a consistent and comprehensive framework of principles, criteria and indicators (PC&I) for sustainability assessment of agricultural systems, referred to as the Sustainability Assessment of Farming and the Environment (SAFE) framework. In addition we formulate consistent and objective approaches for indicator identification and selection. The framework is designed for three spatial levels: the parcel level, the farm level and a higher spatial level that can be the landscape, the region or the state. The SAFE framework is hierarchical as it is composed of principles, criteria, indicators and reference values in a structured way. Principles are related to the multiple functions of the agro-ecosystem, which go clearly beyond the production function alone. The multifunctional character of the agro-ecosystem encompasses the three pillars of sustainability: the environmental, economic and social pillars. Indicators and reference values are the end-products of the framework. They are the operational tools that are used for evaluating the sustainability of the agro-ecosystems. The proposed analytical framework is not intended to find a common solution for sustainability in agriculture as a whole, but to serve as an assessment tool for the identification, the development and the evaluation of agricultural production systems, techniques and policies.     

生态社区建设的战略环境评价初探

生态社区建设,既是生态城市建设中的重要一环,也是人类社会可持续发展主题中的重要方面.对生态社区建设规划进行战略环境评价是保证生态社区建设的有效手段.讨论生态社区建设进行战略环境评价的必要性及其理论基础,并且建立了战略环境评价指标体系.这对生态社区建设,落实可持续发展战略具有十分重要的意义.     

经济发展可持续性状态与趋势定量评价方法研究

提出了基于环境绩效的可持续经济发展的定义,并设计了一个三角图．通过经济发展、资源能源消耗和环境污染三相互关系的研究,定量评价了经济发展的可持续性．利用三角图法对中国经济发展的可持续性状态和长期变化趋势进行了评价．结果表明,2000年中国的经济发展呈现出相对较弱的可持续性状态,中国大陆31个行政区大部分处于由弱不可持续性到弱可持续性的状态;1980—1991年中国经济发展表现出较弱的可持续性趋势,而1991—2000年则呈现出较强的可持续性趋势．这是中国改革开放20年来在环境保护方面不断加强的结果．案例研究表明,三角图法原理简单、计算简便、结果表现直观、评价指标和对象选择灵活,是一种值得推广的评价经济发展可持续性状态和长期变化趋势的定量方法。     

清洁生产和循环经济与可持续发展的关系

论述了清洁生产和循环经济、可持续发展之间的关系,提出发展清洁生产和循环经济诸多问题,探讨了清洁生产和循环经济与可持续发展的关系问题,探索实现清洁生产和循环经济的途径和办法。     

可持续发展视角下自然资源综合利用效益评估方法与实证

在自然资源统一调查监测评价的背景下,研究制定一套自然资源综合利用效益评价模型,对于监测各地自然资源利用效益状况、诊断自然资源利用问题、提出高效利用对策等具有重要意义。基于可持续发展理论,构建自然资源综合利用效益评价指标体系,并以2018年全国分省的自然资源综合利用效益进行实证,结果发现：（1）全国自然资源利用经济效益呈现东南地区向中部、东北部、西北部递减的趋势;（2）不同区域自然资源利用效益的限制因素不同;（3）评价结果总体上符合各省市的实际情况,指标体系可以结合评价尺度和区域进一步完善。研究成果可以丰富自然资源利用效益的理论体系以及评价的技术手段,并为提高自然资源利用效益、实现资源的可持续利用服务。     

Evaluation of the sustainability of swine manure fertilization in orchard through Ecological Footprint Analysis: results from a case study in Italy

Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA) is an environmental accounting system, in physical unit, able to quantify the total amount of ecosystem resources required by a region or by a production process. This methodology is both scientifically robust and widely diffused for territorial and productive analysis. The application of EFA to agricultural systems are still uncommon and examples in the fruit sector rare.In this work a detailed application of EFA to an experimental trial in a commercial nectarine orchard in Piedmont (Italy) is presented. The field trial is focused on the evaluation of agronomical benefit of various kinds of swine manure for fertilizing orchards. Four productive systems were established from 2008: liquid slurry (LS), covered slurry (CS), solid fraction (SF), mineral nutrition (MN). All the environmental impacts of the four systems were quantified both directly on field and with extrapolations from farmer knowledge. As previous studies suggested, we considered not only the one-year field operations, but also the whole lifetime of the orchard. The environmental costs of each system are presented and related to each other on the basis of their relative footprint value.Results highlight almost the same ecological footprint for the three manure fertilized systems (LS, CS and SF) with average of 0.96 gha t⁻¹) and the highest ecological footprint can be found in the MN system (1.14 gha t⁻¹). Interesting remarks can be done comparing the contributions to the ecological footprint of the field operations related to fertilization in the four systems. In the manure fertilized systems the fertilizer contribution goes from 0.9% to 1.2% of the total ecological footprint; but in the MN system the fertilizer contribution is 6.6% of the total ecological footprint. Results support the hypothesis that internal recycle and connections among different systems increasingly resulted in high system benefit and sustainability.     

城市化进程中战略环境评价的生态学理论基础

城市是一个自然-经济-社会复合生态系统，本文阐述了开展城市化进程中SEA的必然性及二者之间的关系；以可持续发展为核心的城市生态学理念为开展城市化进程的SEA提供了理论基础，同时城市化进程的SEA又是保证城市复合生态系统中生态与经济协调发展的有效工具之一。     

城市公共交通规划环境影响评价的替代方案分析

城市交通的可持续发展战略要求在交迎规划的制定过程引入战略环境评价。文中结合发展实际，就城市公共交通规划的环境影响评价中的4种替代方案进行了环境影响分析。     

广西近海环境与经济可持续发展水平及协调性分析

通过精心选择泛北部湾经济区广西近岸海域水环境与经济系统指标,采用主成分分析法来计算水环境系统、经济系统的可持续发展水平.结果表明,1996～2005年间,在区域经济取得较快发展的同时,近岸海域水环境质量维持原有较好的质量水平并有所改善;通过计算区域近岸海域海洋环境年均协调系数,泛北部湾经济区广西近岸海域环境与经济发展属于协调类型.     

人类发展指数的修正与可持续发展的替代指标

本文确认了全球社会-生态问题（过度消费,道德危机）的主要根源并提出了新的可持续发展的愿景,重点要关注精神、道德、心理、生理和人的智力开发（而代替以消费为导主的理念）。讨论了人类发展指标不足所涉及到的因素（寿命预期、人均国内生产总值）,提出了测量人类可持续发展的替代指标,即：健康人口的比例。生态效率也被建议作为转化可持续发展的必要条件,人的精神,根据生态中心立场（社会-生态幸福）。通过适当的教育和体制政策而实现环境和人类健康、公平和整个人类的发展。     

港口总体规划环境影响评价研究

文章基于《规划环境影响评价技术导则(试行)》,并结合目前我国港口总体规划的特点和我国多个港口总体规划环境影响评价实践工作,对港口总体规划环境影响评价评价重点内容、技术路线和评价方法等方面进行了研究和总结,为其它港口总体规划环境影响评价的实践工作提供参考和借鉴。     

青海省草地畜牧业可持续发展战略与对策

青海省有可利用草地3161×104hm₂,是我国五大牧区之一。在长期传统游牧畜牧业经营方式下 ,对草地缺乏有效的保护和科学的管理 ,片面追求牲畜存栏数 ,超载过牧现象普遍存在 ,导致草地退化问题严重 ,生态环境破坏 ,自然灾害频繁 ,畜牧业经济效益低下。在这样的基础上实施草地畜牧业可持续发展战略 ,需要执行科技兴牧 ,教育先行 ;强化畜牧业生产基础 ,经济效益和生态效益并重 ;大力促进畜牧业产业化 ,走商品化生产发展道路的方针。推行高效集约化经营的畜牧业生产模式 ,发展具有高原特色 ,具有市场竞争力的特色畜产品生产 ,在实现畜牧业向高效益产业转变的基础上顺利地实施生态环境治理和草地资源保护 ,从而达到畜牧业可持续发展的目的。     

The relationship between economic and carbon footprint changes in EU: The achievements of the EU sustainable consumption and production policy implementation

The Sustainable Consumption and Production policy is a key objective in the renewed European Union (EU) Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS). EU countries implement the targets of Sustainable Consumption and Production policy at different a level. Nevertheless, SDS targets are concerned more with production than consumption side. In addition, analysis of the carbon footprint data, which was supplied by the Global Footprint Network, showed that in all EU countries consumption-based carbon footprint caught-up and exceeded the level of production-based carbon (except Denmark and Estonia) during 1993–2010 period. The significant absolute decoupling in terms of carbon footprint from production-based perspective was observed in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, Poland, United Kingdom and Germany, meanwhile from consumption-based perspective only in Denmark, Estonia and Germany. Moreover in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Croatia the consumption-based carbon footprint grew faster than economy in general. Results imply that EU should put more focus on consumption side in terms of Sustainable Consumption and Production policy and measures taken. A commitment to reduce the environmental impact from consumption-based perspective should be more addressed covering values and lifestyles.     

“三线一单”纳入城市发展战略环评技术体系研究

将生态保护红线、环境质量底线、资源利用上线和环境准入负面清单（即"三线一单"）环境管理要求纳入战略环境评价（SEA）,是完善城市发展SEA的潜在有效手段,然而如何将两者进行有机结合尚缺乏实践经验.本文探讨了"三线一单"在城市发展SEA各主要评价环节的作用与评价内容,从重点任务和技术流程两方面建构了基于"三线一单"的城市发展SEA评价技术体系,并以鄂尔多斯绿色发展SEA为例进行检验.结果显示,对于鄂尔多斯这类空间尺度大、自然环境和产业发展异质性高的城市,该体系能够有效预防和解决战略实施过程中城镇无序扩张和产业结构失调造成的环境污染、生态功能退化和资源配置低效等问题,并推动完善城市分级分区差异化环境管控.     

净初级生产力的人类占用:一种衡量区域可持续发展的新方法

可持续发展的生态评估是当前国际生态经济学与可持续发展研究的前沿问题之一,净初级生产力的人类占用从生态系统初级生产力的角度可以定量评估一个国家或地区发展的生态持续性程度,是近年来国际上一种重要的生物物理量衡量方法。论文简要介绍了净初级生产力人类占用的基本理论与核算方法,分析了该方法应用于区域可持续发展生态评估的基本原理。综合国外相关研究的最新进展,研究认为,定量表征区域可持续发展的生态上限是净初级生产力人类占用方法的最大优点,而该方法应用于区域可持续发展生态评估的不足之处则主要表现在关键参数的不确定性、可持续性的评价阈值、研究数据的缺乏和生物量进出口问题等4方面。     

再生资源产业可持续发展需要注意的几个问题

再生资源产业的可持续发展关系到经济和社会的进步,应当给予重视和关注。就寻找再生资源与环境保护契合点,系统开展综合利用事业,注重高科技和人才战略,以及积极开展国际合作等方面,提出一些观点和建议。     

发展农村水利事业营造可持续发展的良好环境

水是生命之源,农村水利对于农村经济社会发展起着十分重要的作用。文中介绍了水利对于制约农村经济社会发展存在的问题,并提出了发展农村水利事业的对策,最后强调要加强农村水利建设,营造可持续发展的良好环境。     

Evaluating Beijing’s human carrying capacity from the perspective of water resource constraints

As the demands on limited water resources intensify, concerns are being raised about the human carrying capacity of these resources. However, few researchers have studied the carrying capacity of regional water resources. Beijing, the second-largest city in China, faces a critical water shortage that will limit the city’s future development. We developed a method to quantify the carrying capacity of Beijing’s water resources by considering water-use structures based on the proportions of water used for agricultural, industrial, and domestic purposes. We defined a reference structure as 45:22:33 (% of total, respectively), an optimized structure as 40:20:40, and an ideal structure as 50:15:35. We also considered four domestic water quotas: 55, 75, 95, and 115 m 3 /(person·yr). The urban carrying capacity of 10–12 million was closest to Beijing’s actual 2003 population for all three water-use structures with urban domestic water use of 75 m 3 /(person·yr). However, after accounting for our underlying assumptions, the adjusted carrying capacity is closer to 5–6 million. Thus, Beijing’s population in 2003 was almost twice the adjusted carrying capacity. Based on this result, we discussed the ecological and environmental problems created by Beijing’s excessive population and propose measures to mitigate these problems.