Integrating fisheries into the national development plans of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Ten years on from Barbados

The development and effective introduction of strategies designed to ensure the ecologically and economically sustainable utilization of coastal and marine resources is perhaps the major challenge for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In response, the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) called upon the SIDS to implement appropriate coastal and marine strategies and, crucially, ensure that such strategies were integrated into sustainable national development plans (NDPs). This article examines the extent to which contemporary NDPs and donor support programmes have incorporated the fisheries sector — arguably the most important coastal/marine resource for many SIDS — into such documents. Applying an assessment methodology, originally developed to identify levels of environmental mainstreaming within World Bank country assistance strategies to NDPs and donor support programmes, we are able to identify those SIDS who have most effectively integrated the fisheries sector into such documents. Comparison with data indicating the importance of the sector to the national economy (in terms of generating foreign exchange, employment generation and/or supporting domestic protein consumption levels) enables us to pinpoint those countries with substantial fisheries sectors, but a correspondingly lower than expected degree of sectoral mainstreaming. We suggest that the January 2005 review of the BPoA offers an opportune moment for such countries to redress these omissions.     

“双碳”目标下中国气候变化诉讼的法治因应

气候变化诉讼在全球范围内的兴起,不仅为国际气候治理带来新曙光,也为我国应对气候变化提供了新思路。具体而言,这一制度关涉到中国“双碳”目标的实现、应对气候变化新路径的探索、全球气候治理话语权的提升及企业抗气候风险能力的增强,在我国已具备现实的发展需求。但从实然层面而言,气候变化诉讼虽已可以在环境公益诉讼中窥见雏形,但囿于实体法与程序法的缺位,加之法院在气候治理中能动性体现不足,司法与行政关系亟待厘清,提起气候变化诉讼仍存有诸多障碍。未来我国应不断完善气候变化诉讼的落实路径,充分发挥法院在司法解释、案例指导等方面对气候变化诉讼的助推作用,并在明晰气候司法与行政关系的基础上,逐步加强公众参与。     

小岛国气候变化损害求偿困境的对策研究

小岛国是气候变化损害最为脆弱的环节,囿于当前国际法的局限性与气候变化责任主体的集体性,小岛国气候变化损害面临求偿困境,解决这一难题主要在于架构求偿权制度,而求偿权制度是以气候正义为理论基础。因此,通过气候正义厘定求偿权的正义性,设置创新性的双重排放标准,完善国际碳税征收制度,探究气候绿色基金的设立等方法,将小岛国求偿权实践模式制度化,可在一定程度上有效解决损害求偿难的问题。     

Moving from agenda to action: evaluating local climate change action plans

Climate change is conventionally recognised as a large-scale issue resolved through regional or national policy initiatives. However, little research has been done to directly evaluate local climate change action plans. This study examines 40 recently adopted local climate change action plans in the US and analyses how well they recognise the concepts of climate change and prepare for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The results indicate that local climate change action plans have a high level of ‘awareness’, moderate ‘analysis capabilities’ for climate change, and relatively limited ‘action approaches’ for climate change mitigation. The study also identifies specific factors influencing the quality of these local jurisdictional plans. Finally, it provides policy recommendations to improve planning for climate change at the local level.     

Reconstructed Streamflows for the Headwaters of the Wind River,Wyoming, United States1

Abstract: Tree rings offer a means to extend observational records of streamflow by hundreds of years, but dendrohydrological techniques are not regularly applied to small tributary and headwaters gages. Here we explore the potential for extending three such gage records on small streams in the Wind River drainage of central Wyoming, United States. Using core samples taken from Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), piñon pine (Pinus edulis), and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) at 38 sites, we were able to reconstruct streamflows for the headwaters of the Wind River back to 1672 AD or earlier. The streamflow reconstructions for Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake; the Little Popo Agie River near Lander, Wyoming; and Wind River near Dubois, Wyoming explained between 40% and 64% of the observed variance, and these extended records performed well in a variety of statistical verification tests. The full reconstructions show pronounced inter‐annual variability in streamflow, and these proxy records also point to the prevalence of severe, sustained droughts in this region. These reconstructions indicate that the 20th Century was relatively wet compared to previous centuries, and actual gage records may capture only a limited subset of potential natural variability in this area. Further analyses reveal how tree‐ring based reconstructions for small tributary and headwaters gages can be strongly influenced by the length and quality of calibration records, but this work also demonstrates how the use of a spatially extensive network of tree‐ring sites can improve the quality of these types of reconstructions.