Evidence,politics and power in public policy for the environment

Despite a recent emphasis on ‘evidence based policy’ accompanied by an abundance of ‘green’ policy instruments, experience from the European Union and OECD countries shows that decisions which truly aim to balance environmental considerations with social and economic ones remain thin on the ground. Moreover, many policies seem to fall short of, or directly contradict what the available ‘evidence’ suggests is required. This is a synthesis paper bringing together literature from the fields of political science, geography, sociology and science and technology studies to outline some of the obscurities relating to the use of scientific evidence in environmental decision-making. In this paper, we suggest that an exploration of three key inter-related issues is necessary to develop a richer understanding of why evidence and policy interact as they do. These are the nature of evidence itself; the normative, moral or ethical ‘politics’ of policy-making; and the operation of power in the policy process. Our primary goal is to bring various literatures together to better conceptualise the evidence–policy relationship. In so doing, we outline specific challenges for knowledge producers who set research priorities, and design and direct research projects. We also highlight significant implications for policy decision-making processes.     

A decision inventory approach for improving decision support for climate change impact assessment and adaptation

Assessing and adapting to the impacts of climate change requires balancing social, economic, and environmental factors in the context of an ever-expanding range of objectives, uncertainties, and management options. The term decision support describes a diverse class of resources designed to help manage this complexity and assist decision makers in understanding impacts and evaluating management options. Most climate-related decision support resources implicitly assume that decision making is primarily limited by the quantity and quality of available information. However, a wide variety of evidence suggests that institutional, political, and communication processes are also integral to organizational decision making. Decision support resources designed to address these processes are underrepresented in existing tools. These persistent biases in the design and delivery of decision support may undermine efforts to move decision support from research to practice. The development of new approaches to decision support that consider a wider range of relevant issues is limited by the lack of information about the characteristics, context, and alternatives associated with climate-related decisions. We propose a new approach called a decision assessment and decision inventory that will provide systematic information describing the relevant attributes of climate-related decisions. This information can be used to improve the design of decision support resources, as well as to prioritize research and development investments. Application of this approach will help provide more effective decision support based on a balanced foundation of analytical tools, environmental data, and relevant information about decisions and decision makers.     

Developing benchmarks for consumer-oriented life cycle assessment-based environmental information on products,services and consumption patterns

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been recognized in the EU in the context of ‘Integrated Product Policy’ (IPP) as providing “the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products currently available.” A study to promote the use of LCA-based product information was designed, with the following objectives: (a) to develop different benchmarks to which the LCA results of various products can be compared, (b) to study how consumers understand the different benchmarks and what proposals for improvement they have, and (c) to propose a few presentation formats and benchmarks for presenting LCA-based information in communications to consumers. Here we present the final results, i.e., the suggested benchmarks and presentation formats, ‘eco-benchmark’. We also present some lessons derived from the feedback gained from consumers and other stakeholders, and point out future directions for improving the benchmarks and their utilization.     

Genetic counselling and ethical issues with chromosome microarray analysis in prenatal testing

Molecular karyotyping using chromosome microarray analysis (CMA) detects more pathogenic chromosomal anomalies than classical karyotyping, making CMA likely to become a first tier test for prenatal diagnosis. Detecting copy number variants of uncertain clinical significance raises ethical considerations. We consider the risk of harm to a woman or her fetus following the detection of a copy number variant of uncertain significance, whether it is ethically justifiable to withhold any test result information from a woman, what constitutes an ‘informed choice’ when women are offered CMA in pregnancy and whether clinicians are morally responsible for ‘unnecessary’ termination of pregnancy. Although we are cognisant of the distress associated with uncertain prenatal results, we argue in favour of the autonomy of women and their right to information from genome-wide CMA in order to make informed choices about their pregnancies. We propose that information material to a woman's decision-making process, including uncertain information, should not be withheld, and that it would be paternalistic for clinicians to try to take responsibility for women's decisions to terminate pregnancies. Non-directive pre-test and post-test genetic counselling is central to the delivery of these ethical objectives. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Governance of sustainable transitions: about the 4(0) ways to change the world

Transitions are radical system innovations that usually take 1–2 generations. Using Cultural Theory as a heuristic, this paper presents four archetypical approaches to transition management. The fatalist approach refrains from transition management (motto: ‘First, disaster must happen’). The system is in a stalemate that no experiment or hierarchy can break; external events must bring the window of opportunity for change. The hierarchic approach relies on a dominant actor coalition to steer change (motto: ‘Let's put a man on the moon!’). The individualist approach relies mainly on changing the financial ground rules (motto: ‘Sustainability through the market’). Finally, the egalitarian approach relies on process management, doing experiments, etc. (motto: ‘A good transition arena will solve it all’). This approach makes sense if the situation is not clear enough to be managed via one of the other approaches, and there is a clearly identifiable learning objective.     

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.     

Stimulating learning and innovation in networks for regional sustainable development: the role of local authorities

Inter-organizational collaboration in networks and partnerships is supposed to promote the potential for learning and innovation needed for environmental transformation and sustainable development. This paper aims at exploring the roles of local authorities (LAs) in actor-networks related to regional sustainable development, and examining their potential in stimulating learning and innovation related to sustainable development. From empirical case studies it is suggested that LAs can act as ‘teachers’ or ‘tutors’ in the networks. From further analysis, drawing also from literature on partnerships, innovation management, socio-technical change, and educational science, it is proposed that in the short run both the ‘teacher’ and ‘tutor’ approach would promote incremental innovation rather than the radical system innovations needed for sustainable development. However, there is potential for stimulating more long-term, radical change if the LA takes on the role of a ‘teacher’. This approach may favour close collaboration in long-lived, multi-actor networks with potential to (i) serve as forum for continuous dialogue on sustainable development at a community level, (ii) stimulate experimentation and learning needed for system innovations, and (iii) provide a basis for strategic niche management for development and testing of new technologies.     

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.     

Risk Perception Mapping and the Fermi II nuclear power plant: toward an ethnography of social access to public participation in Great Lakes environmental management

This article reports the preliminary findings and potential applicability of an environmental anthropology fellowship at the Great Lakes Commission (GLC). The fellowship project demonstrated the utility of an ethnographic approach called Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to the public consultation and social research interests of the GLC and other regional organizations involved in Great Lakes environmental management. An RPM demonstration project was conducted in a five county area surrounding the Fermi II nuclear power plant in southeastern Michigan. The research addressed differential social access to environmental management by focusing on cultural, geographical, and social-contextual factors that influence the nature and distribution of perceived risk among potentially affected populations. Key findings pertain to perceptually-specific communities of environmental risk, with implications for what I call ‘participatory equity’ in environmental management. Potential application to Great Lakes environmental management is discussed in the context of developing equitable population-specific information and education exchanges through which more culturally sensitive indicators of Great Lakes ecosystem integrity may emerge.     

Socio-economic factors in soil erosion and conservation

Farmer decisions with regard to production and land use are strongly influenced by socio-economic factors. In the developed world, the role of agricultural subsidies, quotas and guaranteed prices is especially important. In the past there have been many examples of economic signals which led to unfortunate and unforeseen environmental consequences (‘perverse subsidies’), including soil erosion. The problems were neglected because of an emphasis on increases in productivity and the fact that many of the costs were hidden or were external to the farm and were borne by society. In recent years ‘agri-environmental measures’ have begun to reverse the trend towards environmental degradation.     

The growth discourse,growth policy and sustainable development: two thought experiments

This paper addresses three aspects of ‘growth’: the discourse, the policy, and the impacts. The growth discourse claims that the central factor for social, economic, political and environmental progress is economic growth – it is assumed to create wealth, and provide the necessary means for social and environmental purposes. On the basis of the growth discourse, different growth policies can be derived, based on different economic and political ideologies.In order to reveal the implications of de facto degrowth, two thought experiments are conducted, for physical and economic end-to-growth strategies. The latter is capable of meeting environmental objectives, but implies significant social tensions and hardships and calls for transition strategies consisting of carefully designed steps.     

Decision making in environmental matters

After a very brief introductory discussion of various approaches to the theory of decision-making (utility analysis, multiple perspectives, holistic approach) this paper introduces the idea of ‘neg-decision’ or ‘neg-option’, i.e. the analysis of the attributes of the opposite option, as a possible auxiliary for obtaining a comparable set of utility attributes.The use of the bifurcation (or ‘catastrophe theory’) in decision-making is also explored. The possible use of catastrophe theory and neg-decision are exemplified on hand of environmental decision making and cost-benefit analysis.     

Accommodating consensus and diversity in environmental knowledge production: Achieving closure through typologies in IPBES

How can a diversity of perspectives be accommodated in scientific and political consensus on environmental issues? This paper adopts a science and technology studies (STS) approach to examine how the pursuit of consensus-based knowledge and diverse participation, as seemingly contradictory commitments, have been converted into practice in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Through a series of negotiations, these commitments have been translated into a set of situated practices that now dominate this expert panel. Consensus has been achieved through the pursuit of closure, in which meetings of expert and administrator groups produce texts, tables and images that stabilise ostensibly collective decisions. Within this framework, diverse perspectives have been accommodated through the production of typologies, such as lists of comparable options, which allow for the coexistence and commensurability of a range of knowledges and experts. However there is a politics to typologies, which requires specific attention to how decisions are made (deliberation), who participates in them (participation), and the extent to which these participants are representative of broader knowledge and policy communities (representation). While the potential of typologies to accommodate consensus and diversity offers the hope of realising ‘unity in diversity’ for both environmental knowledge and policy, recognising the politics of their production is important for more equitable processes of environmental governance.     

A decision analysis approach to climate adaptation: a structured method to consider multiple options

Decision-making for climate adaptation operates in an uncertain environment. Formal processes to decision-making under uncertainty weigh the ability of a decision rule to achieve multiple and sometimes conflicting objectives in an evaluation procedure. Increasingly, computer simulation models are being applied for this reason, so that the effectiveness of decisions can be evaluated before actually implementing them in reality. In this paper, we develop a simple stochastic simulation model of beach recession under climate change in Australia and evaluate decision rules for beach replenishment in the context of three management objectives: (i) to reduce beach recession, (ii) reduce variation in beach recession, and (iii) do so cost-effectively. Results indicate that a decision to intervene and replenish the beach based on a trigger level would be effective at maintaining shoreline position, with relatively little variation, but did so at a relatively high cost of multiple interventions. A decision procedure to intervene at a fixed period resulted in greater shoreline position variation but constrained management efforts and costs. This structured approach offers an evidence-based process to decision-making that lays bare the assumptions upon which decisions are made. This, in turn, allows for a more complete analysis of all the uncertainties and better outcomes.     

Ecodesign methods focused on remanufacturing

Understanding the product's ‘end-of-life’ is important to reduce the environmental impact of the products' final disposal. When the initial stages of product development consider end-of-life aspects, which can be established by ecodesign (a proactive approach of environmental management that aims to reduce the total environmental impact of products), it becomes easier to close the loop of materials. The ‘end-of-life’ ecodesign methods generally include more than one ‘end-of-life’ strategy. Since product complexity varies substantially, some components, systems or sub-systems are easier to be recycled, reused or remanufactured than others. Remanufacture is an effective way to maintain products in a closed-loop, reducing both environmental impacts and costs of the manufacturing processes. This paper presents some ecodesign methods focused on the integration of different ‘end-of-life’ strategies, with special attention to remanufacturing, given its increasing importance in the international scenario to reduce the life cycle impacts of products.     

Environmental education: new paradigms and engineering syllabus

The issue of sustainability places particular demands on engineers to become more ‘connoisseur’ of the roots of the problems, in addition to being ‘trained’ in problem solution techniques that emphasize holistic approaches (for both the social and ecological environment). We have introduced the new E3 model, as outlined here, to chemical engineering students, with an integrated approach to translate ‘generic’ common-sense pollution prevention strategies (design, operation) into definite problems where engineering science can be put into action. New tools (such as minimization hierarchy and life cycle), as well as abilities both to identify and evaluate environmental problems, and to propose, select and implement solutions, provide methods for understanding a problem and for mitigating it through (re)design of a product or process, by emphasizing basic approaches to analysis, synthesis and integration. Additionally, control technologies can be systematized, including the best available selection procedures on which the emission limits are based. Awareness, institutional factors and normative-ethical aspects are also considered.     

The GLASS model: a strategy for quantifying global environmental security

The objective of this paper is to present a strategy for quantifying the link between environmental change and human security. We introduce the concept and preliminary calculations of a new integrated model — the GLASS model (G̱lobal A̱ssessment of S̱ecurity) — designed to link extreme global environmental changes (such as droughts, flooding, and large-scale air pollution episodes) and the risk to society due to these changes. It is hoped that model results can also eventually contribute to designing strategies to lessen security threats. The model takes a unique approach in using coupled submodels for calculating ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ global changes, and how they interact and influence the potential for crisis in society. At the core of the model is the Crisis model which relates environmental stress and susceptibility to the occurrence of crises, such as water shortages or famines. After estimating environmental stress and susceptibility, the model is calibrated to international data of crisis events (such as drought-related water shortages and famines) between 1901 and 1995. Once calibrated, the model is used for scenario analysis of the future long-term potential for environmental crises.     

Sustainability in Mexican Higher Education: towards a new academic and professional culture

This article focuses on institutions of higher education and the introduction of sustainability in the curricula of these institutions. It states that a very important part of developing new curricula is the focus on a new academic and professional culture. The key argument is as follows. Normally institutions of higher education build upon the training that students received in previous phases of education. That is why institutions of higher education can focus on education in highly specific and specialized knowledge and skills. Education for sustainability, however, cannot follow this ‘normal’ pathway because much of what students learned in their previous education does not fit into the paradigm of sustainability. That is why sustainability education should include a partial ‘re-education’ and ‘re-programming’ of students. The article presents a framework for such a new academic and professional culture focussing on sustainability. It shows how this framework is developed within the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco (UAM-A) in Mexico. The article also shows how the development of this framework is embedded in various initiatives on a national and international level. First of all the framework is developed as part of the design and implementation of an environmental plan for the whole university. The making of this plan is encouraged by the Mexican National Association of Universities and Higher Educations Institutions. Since the year 2002 this Association stimulates all major universities in Mexico to develop and implement such an environmental plan. These activities on their turn fit very well into the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” that started in January 2005. Finally the article presents the first promising results of the new course “The environmental challenges” that is based on many elements of the framework. It was started in 2005 in the Division of Basic Sciences and Engineering of UAM-Azcapotzalco, Mexico.     

Characterizing the change of land-use based on flora: application for EIA and LCA

The environmental impact of land-use can be expressed in terms of a change in biodiversity of flora. We present two models that characterize the negative effects of land-use: a model on the basis of species richness; a model on the basis of the rarity of ecosystems and their vascular plants. Each of those models may serve in the EIA (environmental impact assessment) of the urban and rural planning of expanding cities, industrial areas, road infrastructure, etc. Moreover, these models might be applied by Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) practitioners to incorporate the aspect of land-use in the environmental assessment of a specific product design. The results of both models have been applied in practice. Maps of The Netherlands are provided for both models. The map based on the rarity of ecosystems differentiates the best of what experts (biologists and ecologists) define as botanical quality of nature; the methodology is operational in The Netherlands and might be applied to other countries as well, however, detailed botanical information is required. The map based on species richness has a weaker compliance with the botanical quality of nature, however, the model can more easily be applied to a wider area of the world, since indicative data about species richness is available on a global scale. The so called ‘eco-costs of land conversion’ is proposed as a single indicator, being the marginal costs of prevention (or compensation) of the negative environmental effects on biodiversity caused by change of land-use. These ‘eco-costs of land conversion’ for the botanical aspects are part of the much broader model of the eco-costs/value ratio, which has recently been published in this journal [Vogtländer et al., Journal of Cleaner Production 2002;10:57–671].     

“一带一路”沿线国家碳排放:外商直接投资与发展要素的共同影响分析

“一带一路”倡议下,推动绿色低碳发展,共建碳达峰、碳中和目标下国际合作共赢的生态圈,已经成为“一带一路”沿线国家的共识. 本文基于“一带一路”沿线国家1997—2018年的面板数据,通过逐步回归、异质性分析和门槛回归方法探究外商直接投资(FDI)的碳排放效应. 结果显示:①“一带一路”沿线国家FDI显著增加碳排放,体现出“污染天堂”效应. ②我国提出的“一带一路”倡议注重绿色低碳发展,削弱了“一带一路”沿线国家FDI对碳排放的“污染天堂”效应,体现出我国在环境治理特别是应对气候变化方面发挥的引领示范作用. ③经济发展可削弱FDI对碳排放的“污染天堂”效应,然而经济快速发展特别是工业发展可显著增加碳排放. ④政策、创新和发展三类机制均导致FDI的碳排放效应发生显著变化,其中发展机制影响最大,创新机制的碳减排效果相对稳定. ⑤强化环境规制促进了FDI的“污染光环”效应,“一带一路”倡议则推动“一带一路”沿线各国加强了环境规制. 研究显示,为促进“污染光环”效应形成,应深化绿色“一带一路”,利用来自中国投资的低碳化特征,增加与中国的投资往来并提高负有环境责任FDI的比例. “一带一路”沿线各国也应加强绿色低碳科技创新,在此基础上协同政策、创新和发展三类机制,引导FDI投向绿色低碳领域. 此外,还应综合运用环境准入机制和环境经济手段,实现高质量发展.