Sustainable Tourism and the Touristic Ecological Footprint

There is growing interest in ecological footprint analysis in aiding our understanding of societal demands upon the biosphere. Increasingly, attention is being focused on potential new applications of the technique. Tourism is one of the world's largest industries and can play a major part in encouraging more consumerist lifestyles. It is now widely accepted that tourism development may have profound impacts on local environments, and that, consequently, the sustainable development of tourism at destination areas is an important issue. However, sustainable tourism studies rarely look beyond the destination area, and there has been no substantive recognition of the wider ecological footprint of tourism activities. This paper attempts to connect, conceptually, the realms of sustainable tourism and ecological footprint thinking. In so doing, various conceptualisations of the 'touristic ecological footprint' (TEF) are suggested, along with some potential applications. It is argued that primary research should focus on calculating the touristic ecological footprint associated with individual tourism products, throughout the product's life-cycle. As well as bringing another dimension to our understanding of tourism's actual ecological demand, it is also argued that the concept of the touristic ecological footprint may be used to clarify theoretical aspects of the sustainable tourism debate, helping to rejuvenate this debate in the process.     

科技促进宁夏可持续发展的现状分析

科技是推动宁夏进一步深化改革与发展、实施西部大开发战略、促进经济持续增长、优化产业结构、提升产业竞争实力、缓解发展过程中的资源环境约束力、实现可持续发展的核心力量.科技在促进宁夏实现可持续发展方面取得显著的成就与经验,但是在支Ё撑全区社会经济发展、改善环境以及区域科技创新能力建设方面仍存在急需解决的问题:①科技资源布局不合理;②产业工艺落后,能耗偏高:③特色优势产业发展后劲严重不足,成果转化率低;④区域科技创新能力弱.文章最后结合宁夏自然环境条件、社会经济发展状况、文化特点提出了其未来科技发展的战略思路及重点.     

Exploring the need for more radical sustainable innovation: what does it look like and why?

It has been argued in recent years that Western economies need to increase their resource productivity by 90% over the next 50 years. This is a radical aim. This paper draws on design for sustainability (DfS) thinking to scope interventions that encourage greater levels of resource productivity through reconfiguring concepts of growth and well‐being within organisational strategies, structures, systems, processes and outputs. Based on research from a UK EPSRC funded project Design Dialogues (2005–2008), this paper links together sustainable design and innovation literatures and dialogue‐based primary research that together inform the development of an approach to innovation for sustainability. The emphasis on sustainable innovation is to understand what is designed (the outputs of business) and why (the inputs: the values, beliefs, visions and objectives) within a context of ecological limits. The foundations of this approach are introduced here in order to demonstrate the potential to provoke a new way of thinking about longer‐term organisational innovation through making explicit the intrinsic connections between natural and human capitals. This paper explores the need to think differently in order to create sustainability and presents the outcome of this research: a methodology for innovation for sustainability.     

丹江口库区可持续发展能力分析

从区域可持续发展的角度出发,以湖北省丹江口库区为例,首先定性分析库区可持续发展的优势与问题,认为库区移民安置工作困难,库区可持续发展受到限制;经济增长缓慢,基础设施建设滞后;城镇化水平较低,库区社会矛盾突出;自然资源丰富与开发不足并存,库区淹没加剧土地资源稀缺;环境质量较好,生态基础脆弱。然后采用多因素综合评价模型定量分析了1999～2005年库区可持续发展的变化趋势。结果表明：库区可持续发展能力从1999年到2003年呈现明显的上升趋势,却从2004年开始缓慢下降;而人口、经济、社会、资源和环境各子系统也呈现出不同的特征。最后针对定性和定量评价结果提出相应的对策建议：做好库区移民安置,实现移民稳定就业;减少和消除移民贫困,增加基础设施建设;加快小城镇建设步伐,解决库区社会矛盾;发挥水资源优势,改善库区生态环境。     

流域开发的外部性及其内部化

流域是地表水的集水区域。流域问题的本质是水。水是可持续发展的基础和条件，是环境与发展问题的核心。流域开发是以水资源为先导和主体的综合资源开发。实现流域经济可持续发展实质就是实现流域水资源可持续开发和利用。外部性是流域开发的基本特征，水资源的特性决定了流域开发的外部性。实现流域开发的外部性内部化是流域经济可持续发展的关键。实现流域开发外部性内部化，必须界定流域资源产权，明确流域开发主体；建立税收－补贴体系，对水资源合理定价；坚持“排污者付费原则”；建立流域水资源市场，实现水资源资产化管理。同时，政府要加强流域的管理；建立健全水资源保护与流域开发的法律体系；普及保护环境和水资源的教育，建立节水观念；支持和鼓励流域开发企业实行外部成本内部化措施；调整产业结构，深化国有企业改革。     

Education for Sustainable Development: The Johannesburg Summit and Beyond

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg during 26 August and 4 September 2002, was a truly remarkable event, not least because it identified and committed the world community to what has to be done to realise Agenda 21 objectives. Discussion begins with the "means of implementation" of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI). Education for, and raising awareness of, sustainable development are the key commitments in the "means of implementation". The issues central to these commitments are discussed. The crucial role of moral philosophy in education for sustainable development is then discussed. Defining the "problem" as lack of progress (in fact negative progress between Rio and Johannesburg) towards global sustainable development, a cause–effect relationship of the "problem" is developed based on a systematic and logical analysis. It shows that the "cause" is West's profoundly materialistic, environment-degrading and exploitative attitude and activities to satisfy grossly unsustainable, hedonistic and insatiably avaricious Western life-styles – life-styles that are held up by the West as "ideal" fruits of economic "development" to be aspired by all. The "effects" are pollution of air, water and soil; mounting loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and species; relentlessly widening north–south divide, etc. It is argued that while science and technology can address some of the "effects", they cannot address the "cause". Only moral philosophy can by fundamentally re-orienting moral values genuinely to respect nature and the environment. Based on sound and tested principles of Educational Psychology, a proposal is then made for including moral philosophy in the formal curricula (content and pedagogy) of primary, secondary and higher education for instilling in children and young people genuinely environment-respecting moral values. To this end a generic syllabus for the secondary level is proposed. Finally, it is argued that if the scientific community really believes that science or technology alone can radically change the pervasive environment-degrading moral values to those that genuinely respect the environment, thus paving the way to real global sustainability, then it must demonstrate how this could be done and explain why, despite their abundant science and technology, the developed nations are the biggest polluters and consumers with grossly unsustainable life-styles. Certainly, examples would be much more convincing than rhetoric or tired old clichés about how science and technology alone could deliver global sustainable development.     

通过可持续认证推动农林牧渔领域自然资源保护

1992年里约环境发展大会后可持续发展成为各国和各界的共识,但经历了二十年的发展,自然资源保护与可持续发展之间的矛盾仍然存在,特别是农林牧渔等领域自然资源的合理开发利用仍待进一步发展。我国作为国际农林牧渔产品的重要消费国和贸易国,在积极推动国内资源的可持续利用同时,也可以通过国际贸易在全球自然资源可持续利用中发挥积极作用。可持续认证作为应对资源保护与经济发展这一矛盾的较为有效的市场手段,经过近二十年的发展已经涵盖了农林牧渔领域的多个产品,在国际上的发展势头强劲,对于自然资源的保护和可持续利用发挥了对政府政策的补充作用。但可持续性认证在我国国内的企业和消费者中还没有得到广泛认识,其通过市场机制引导企业实践可持续经营、落实企业社会责任的作用在国内还没有得到有效的发挥。因此,本研究的目的是通过对可持续认证的分析,为在我国农林牧渔领域更好地发挥其市场推动力提出政策建议。本研究首先综述了可持续认证在国际上的发展历程、产生的影响,详细论述了森林、棕榈油、野生海产品等可持续认证已经在全球贸易中占有一席之地,并在欧美等较发达国家和地区获得了消费者的支持;其次,本研究对可持续认证在农林牧渔领域的进一步发展所面临的挑战进行了剖析,肯定了可持续认证在调动企业和消费者的积极性、推动农林牧渔领域资源保护方面的正面作用,也指出认证对资源保护的预期效果没有完全达到、同一产业内认证体系可靠性参差不齐,着重强调了可持续认证在发展中国家的发展面临的困难,使其对自然资源保护的应有效果受到影响。在此基础上,本研究分析了我国农林牧渔领域在资源利用方面面临的国际和国内压力,尤其是我国在国际贸易中举足轻重的地位和进口大宗产品产地的生态脆弱性使中国在全球资源的可持续利用和保护中可以发挥重要作用,论证了可持续认证在我国的推广有利于提升中国企业的国际形象、促进贸易杠杆发挥资源保护的撬动作用、保障企业在海外开发中的长期效益,同时也有利于我国国内自然资源的可持续利用,明确得出在我国农林牧渔领域推动可持续认证的必要性。本研究建议我国政府部门应关注农林牧渔领域可持续认证在国际和国内的发展,收集相关的信息和案例可用于相关的国际谈判和对企业的指导。同时政府应鼓励国内外认证体系在中国开展认证工作,并为同一产业中的不同体系创造公平的竞争环境。另外,政府应积极支持国内农林牧渔产业的企业、专家、协会等参与到国际认证体系的建立过程中,将中国可持续发展的良好操作范例或规范国际化。政府自身的消费行为对全社会有明确的引导作用,所以在政府采购中应优选可持续认证产品,引导企业加入可持续经营的实践。     

引入资源价值补偿机制的资源税改革研究

资源是社会经济发展的基础,也是社会可持续发展的动力和保证,随着我国经济的快速发展,资源短缺现象日益突出,资源补偿不足的问题也日益凸显.国内外研究证明,资源补偿和资源税改革息息相关,资源价值补偿作为一种有效的资源补偿方式,具有很好的适用性和可操作性,是政府调控资源生产、消费和恢复的有效手段之一.长期以来,我国的资源税改革一直受到关注焦点,但学者门多关注于如何提高税率,扩大税基,而忽视了资源税改革中的资源补偿问题.本文首先回顾了相关研究成果,在此基础上借鉴国外经验,在资源税改革中引入资源价值补偿机制,并构建资源环境CGE模型(即RECGE模型),从资源价值补偿对社会经济、资源环境以及社会福利等方面进行模拟分析,研究资源价值补偿的影响.研究表明:资源价值补偿能有效缓解资源压力,改善环境状况,而合理而有效的资源补偿能有效协调经济和资源环境系统,促进社会经济的可持续发展.     

全球绿色低碳发展与公平的国际制度建设

在可持续发展和扶贫框架下发展绿色经济与国际可持续发展制度建设及改革是当前世界可持续发展的核心和关键,也是"里约+20"峰会的两个主题。首先,绿色经济是体现经济社会与资源环境相协调和可持续发展的根本途径。绿色经济的核心是以低的自然资源消费、低排放、低污染,达到高的自然资源利用效益,实现高的经济社会发展水平,提供高的生活水平和优良的生活环境。全球绿色经济的发展潮流,将引发社会形态由"工业文明"向"生态文明"转变。虽然经济发展和消除贫困是发展中国家当前首要和压倒一切的优先任务,但也必须探索新型的绿色低碳工业化和现代化道路,在实现工业文明的过程中,努力建设生态文明,实现跨越式发展。同时积极应对全球绿色低碳转型中新的经济、贸易、技术竞争规则和格局的变动,加强先进技术创新,提升自身的低碳竞争力。其次,公平获取可持续发展的理念,应成为国际可持续发展制度建设和改革的基本原则。可持续发展要求既要促进经济社会发展与资源环境相协调,促进"代际公平",又要关注欠发达地区消除贫困,提高生活质量,改善生态环境,实现"国别公平"、"人际公平"。因此,国际可持续发展制度框架的建设和改革,要体现世界各国公平获取可持续发展的理念和原则,全面均衡地反映不同国情和发展阶段国家的利益诉求。主要表现在公平享有全球环境空间、公平获得现代优质能源服务、公平适应全球环境变化、公平承担责任义务及公平的国际制度和机制。中国需要统筹国内外两个大局,走中国特色的绿色低碳发展之路。最后,中国的国情和发展阶段特征,在可持续发展领域又面临比发达国家更多的困难和更严峻的挑战。在全球发展绿色经济,努力实现可持续发展的大背景下,中国要统筹国际国内两个大局,协调推进。在国际上积极参与国际制度的建设和改革,在促进全球经济发展,社会进步和环境保护等方面发挥积极的建设性的作用。在国内加强可持续发展战略的实施,走绿色、低碳和可持续发展的路径。主要战略对策包括加速转变发展方式,强化节能优先,控制能源消费总量和CO2排放总量的过快增长;加强能源结构的低碳化,逐步建立并形成以新能源和可再生能源为主体的可持续能源体系;加强城乡统筹,地区平衡,促进生态城市建设;适应国际可持续发展制度改革的趋势,加强绿色低碳和可持续发展的制度建设;抓住机遇,顺应世界绿色低碳发展潮流,自主实现发展方式的转变,把传统的资源依赖型、粗放扩张的发展方式转变到新型的技术创新型、内涵提高的发展方式上来,基本走上绿色低碳和可持续发展的轨道。     

生态经济学为可持续发展提供理论基础

本文系统论证了生态经济学为可持续发展思想的建立提供理论基础，产邮以下主要观点，可持续发展思想的建立是生态时代的要求，用生态经济学的理论指导建立协调高效的人工生态系统，建立我国资源利用的新方针，从人与自然的关系上深化我国经济改革。     

水资源条件约束下西北农村地区生态经济发展对策

西北地区生态脆弱，社会经济发展相对落后。农业在全区经济中占有重要的地位，所以农村地区可持续发展对于实现西北地区可持续发展具有重要意义。通过分析西北地区水资源现状及特点和本区农村社会、经济发展现状，认为西北地区水资源严重缺乏，干旱化趋势将长期存在；农业结构不合理，乡镇工业污染严重、城镇化进程缓慢是制约本区农村地区可持续发展的主要因素。在此基础上，提出了在水资源严重缺乏条件下西北农村地区实现生态经济可持续发展的具体对策：积极调整农业结构，大力发展节水农业和推进农业产业化；加强小城镇社区生态环境基础设施建设，实施城镇化发展战略和乡镇企业可持续发展；建设生态型的小城镇，建立农村地区新型生态能源结构，加强小流域综合治理是改善农村生态环境和实现农村地区生态经济可持续发展的有效途径。     

可持续发展下的生态经济学理论透视

生态经济学是一门正在蓬勃发展的新兴交叉学科，可持续发展是生态经济学研究的中心问题。人类对可持续发展问题的极大关注推动了生态经济学的发展。本文从宏观角度分析了可持续发展问题的凸显和生态经济学的兴起，着重指出生态经济学是关于可持续发展的科学的认识；阐述了可持续发展条件与状态的生态经济学理论内涵；论述了生态经济系统的本质特征及其可持续发展评估的核心内容；概括了可持续发展评估与绿色国民经济核算的框架及其目标和衡量方法。     

基于生态城市建设的资源可持续利用研究 ——以常州市为例

各类资源是生态城市建设的基础条件，也是塑造城市特色的重要依据之一。基于生态城市建设的资源可持续利用，不仅要重视资源的数量问题，更需要着眼全局，综合分析城市社会、经济、环境发展的现状、目标与资源之间的矛盾，制定资源可持续利用的保障对策。基于生态城市的深刻内涵，资源可持续利用的研究视野亟待拓展，不仅要关注自然资源、生物资源的可持续利用问题，同时还必须重视对城市人文禀赋与历史文脉的传承和保护，实现古代、近代、现代和当代“四代文明”可持续发展。以常州市为例，基于生态城市建设，对其土地资源、水资源、生物资源与人文资源的可持续利用进行了系统研究,并作了概念性规划。     

Ecological economics: themes, approaches, and differences with environmental economics

This article provides a short overview of the main themes of ecological economics (EE). It is argued that EE provides a platform that fosters multidisciplinary environmental research by bringing together the core contributing disciplines – economics and ecology. In addition, EE is regarded as a pluralistic approach to environmental research that can be set opposite to, and has indeed developed as a response to, traditional environmental and resource economics. A comparison of the two fields is presented to clarify the essential differences between them. In addition, specific themes are examined in more detail. These include: sustainable development; the growth debate; international trade; dynamic processes; and behaviour and policy. Electronic Publication     

可持续城市发展的生态原则及其对策

文章论述了城市生态化及其发展对策 ,提出可持续城市发展的概念及其生态原则 ,以期推动我国城市生态化和可持续城市建设工作的开展     

中国资源税改革的政策研究

中国矿产资源税费制度是改革开放后在矿产资源开发利用时,相关经济主体利益分化且相互间进行利益博弈的过程中发展演变而成的,资源税是以资源为对象课征的税种.随着自然资源消耗日益严重,资源税日益成为一个非常重要的税种.本文在对资源税改革的相关文献进行总结的基础上,回顾了我国资源管理的历史沿革,分析了资源税调整的国际经验,同时以煤炭市场为例,应用带有异方差调整的最小二乘法回归的计量经济模型,并分析了我国资源税调整对资源价格的影响;并在此基础上针对我国目前资源税费普遍较低,导致资源市场价格偏低,不利于资源的有效保护和合理利用的现实情况,对资源税税率及征收进行了设计:即根据矿产资源在企业销售收入中的贡献率和矿产资源的性质不同分别按照从价计征、从量计征或特殊计征三种方式进行计征;最后从资源税的征收范围、方式、生态补偿机制、环保退税机制以及加强资源的利用效率等方面提出了我国资源税改革的政策建议.     

基于生态足迹的苏州市可持续发展动态研究

以苏州市为例,应用生态足迹分析法对苏州市1990~2010年生态足迹及生态承载力进行统计核算,并对苏州市可持续发展程度进行了定量研究和动态分析。研究结果表明,苏州市2010年人均生态足迹为6.48hm2,人均生态承载力为0.27hm2,人均生态赤字高达6.21hm2,远远超出了目前的生态承载力,城市生态系统处于不可持续的发展状态。通过动态分析,结果显示苏州市的生态足迹不断增大,但增长速度正在变缓,生态承载力稳中有降,万元GDP生态足迹也在下降,这表明苏州市的资源利用率不断提高。提出了苏州市需尽快进行社会经济结构调整,控制人口增长,对耕地实行严格的保护,提高能源利用效率和降低能源消耗等措施,以减少生态赤字,促进社会经济可持续发展。     

Ecological Impacts of Chile's Neoliberal Policies, with Special Emphasis on Agroecosystems

Although Chile has been touted for developing a broad market liberalization and opening to the international economy, evidence is emerging that such neoliberal economic policies are dramatically impacting biodiversity and the natural resource base. This paper examines the evidence on the plundering of forestry and fishery resources and the damming and pollution of aquatic ecosystems. Although it may be argued that economic liberalization policies have been effective in reallocating agricultural resources toward more competitive activities, the ecological toll imposed by the expansion of export-led modern agriculture has been heavy. An effective agricultural development strategy in Chile should confront such ecological costs and should promote alternatives to high input agriculture.     

Sustainable Development and the Role of the Financial World

The incapacity to finance sustainable development through philanthropic official assistance turned the Johannesburg Summit to business world and the financial industry. Pioneering financial institutions – including development banks and private banks – have developed a wide range of innovations that can support sustainable development. This article highlights a few innovative products and markets and focuses on the progress made by financial players on the level of standards, metrics and guidelines to improve sustainability management systems, reporting and accounting practices and the multi-stakeholder dynamic. The role of the socially responsible investing (SRI) community has been underexposed by the Summit. Through its voice and market success, SRI has moved from a green market niche to the mainstream, however not becoming mainstream. The invaluable levering effect of SRI has just been discovered by authorities and market regulators and is becoming instrumental. In order to show the business case of Corporate Social Responsibility and to prove the financial viability of the People, Planet, Prosperity investing approach, the SRI community should critically reflect on its own quality assurance systems, sound disclosure and verification practices.     

Coordinated management of energy and mineral resources development and control of pollution in Western China

Natural environment is fragile and harsh in Western China where rich energy and mineral resources are endowed,enabling energy and mining development to become a pillar industry of the regions socioeconomic development This paper identified the key issues and challenges faced by eco-environment as a result of energy and mining development in Western China.We argued mat mining and energy development have caused various environmental problems,and that environmental degradation is increasingly prominent in Western China,hence,we request coordinated resource development and environmental protection for sustainable development in this region.Based on the above recognitions,this paper put forward relevant policy recommendations:promoting green development vigorously and developing new green energy;formulating and enforcing environmental protection laws and regulations,improving ecological compensation mechanism;establishing green threshold;strengthening integration between western resource-based cities and coastal region to get rid of the"resource curse";improving energy and mineral resources development stakeholders’involvement;coordinating resource taxes and local development funds;and strengthening independent third-party supervision in the whole process of energy and mining development