A SWOT analysis of environmental management practices in Greek Mining and Mineral Industry

Over the last two decades, mining and mineral exploration companies have adopted various environmental management practices in response to society’s pressure for better environmental protection. The literature highlights a number of benefits and challenges for companies adopting environmental management practices with the Greek Mining and Mineral Industry (GMMI) facing similar issues. In order to analyze the challenges faced by the GMMI, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was conducted, which examined the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the industry when adopting environmental management practices. The analysis prescribes policy recommendations both for the government and industry which, if adopted, could facilitate improved environmental performance.     

Closing the open sea: Development of fishery management in four Icelandic fisheries

The article outlines the development of Iceland's fishery rights and the extension of its territorial waters between the 1950s and the mid‐1970s, whereby Iceland gained exclusive control and use of the marine resources of the waters within 12, later 50, and ultimately 200 nautical miles around the island. The article concentrates on four of Iceland's main fisheries: shrimp, herring, capelin and cod. These four fisheries are discussed separately and in depth, presenting the beginnings and growth of the industry and detailing the development of management practices and the corresponding legislation and regulatory measures. Iceland's initial concern was to gain control over the marine resources surrounding the island, but once this was achieved, the focus of attention shifted to managing first the economic and soon also the ecological aspects of its tremendous resource. Informed mainly by indigenous expertise, Iceland's concern was to limit overfishing, manage its fisheries sustainably both from the economic and ecological points of view, and find the best ways to distribute the revenues from the marine harvest. The article looks at each of the four fisheries to clarify how the individual transferable quota (ITQ) system came into being, how initial quota holdings were allotted, and analyses the circumstances under which the ITQ system became the management tool of choice. For each fishery, the process of regulatory evolution was quite unique. At the same time, there is a common pattern to all the fisheries, which may be summarized as follows. Firstly, serious attempts to reform management practices only got underway when the fishery had collapsed or was close to collapse. Secondly, stakeholders invariably started the process of regulation by limiting access to the fishery. Thirdly, a variety of rules were implemented to allocate rights to participate in the fishery to additional entrants once membership had been closed. Finally, prior to the invention of the ITQ system, prices were used to manage fisheries in Iceland. It may be concluded that the management of fisheries by ITQs may be a historical accident, rather than the end point of a logical evolution.     

Norway's offshore petroleum industry

During the past decade, Norway has become an important oil and gas producer. Annual production is six times national consumption. Development policies of the national government have been cautious, and future policies will probably follow a similar pattern. The government recently opened offshore areas poleward of 62°N latitude, a decision likely to have a significant impact on Norway's future as an oil producer. Norway maintains a tight reign on foreign oil company participation, domestic downstream processing of crude, oil company taxation and oil revenue investment within the national economy. Norway's large inflow of oil-related capital investments and production revenues have contributed to significant inflation and to changes in local labour supplies. Norway has always used its petroleum industry to further the country's overall development goals, a policy that will continue in the years ahead.     

Post-merger time series analysis: Iron ore mining

In Brazil, mergers and acquisitions are usually analyzed by the antitrust authorities ex post, following a Structure-Conduct-Performance approach close to the US Merger Guidelines. However, this framework was unable to address the complexity posed by a series of acquisitions of four mining companies by the newly privatized national champion Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (known then as CVRD, nowadays as Vale). This article extends a Vector Error Correction model estimated by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, which eventually came to reinforce the definition of the relevant geographic market and to test for structural breaks in the price series. A formal horizontal merger simulation model was not viable from the available data. Though international prices Granger-caused domestic prices in Brazil, they explain less than a third of the variance. Domestic price hikes in the acquired miners’ series were observed above the export price increase not long after the acquisitions, and a structural break could not be rejected. Since convergence of domestic prices to international levels were not to be punished, remedies eventually applied by the Brazilian Antitrust Tribunal focused on preventing CVRD from abusing dominant position to vertically foreclose competitors in logistics, a key competitive issue for the industry.     

Crisis in environmental management of the Soviet Union

The prevailing system of environmental management strongly depends on the economic and political structures of a country and is influenced by the current condition of them. Environmental degradation in the Soviet Union has been caused mainly by the political and economic misconceptions listed in this article. With the transformation of its state order to the model of Western democracies, the Soviet Union is experiencing a deep economic crisis of restructuring, reflected in a parallel crisis in its system of environmental management, which is manifest in the form of rapid transformation. This is characterized by the contradiction of the state’s old administrative institutions, which still exist, with the efforts to use market mechanisms of environmental control. Such methods include various fees and payments for the use of natural resources or for pollution and creation of specialized regional funds and banks to finance environmental programs. All these occur in the context of the strengthening of regional sovereignty, the introduction of self-accounting for economic units, the adoption of comprehensive legal enactments, and the setting up of an efficient administrative system of their enforcement. Public activism, as one of the principal actors in this structure, also has undergone quick maturation. Nevertheless the future development of the new Soviet system of environmental control remains uncertain because of the present unpredictability of the overall situation in the short run.     

Social responsibility and resource extraction: Are Chinese oil companies different?

In order to meet China’s rapidly increasing demand for oil, Chinese oil companies have been investing in oil production around the world. This article addresses one specific aspect of the more generalized fears expressed about China’s increasing demand for natural resources which is the impact that its oil companies will have on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement. In doing so, it limits its analysis to the three main Chinese oil companies: the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and their investments in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Toward effective environmental auditing at the TVA: Management audits versus compliance audits

Companies that incorporate Total Quality Management into their operations are placing increased emphasis on identifying the root causes of deficiencies and problems. This is in keeping with the TQM principles identified by Deming in Out of the Crisis. Deming states that quality comes not from inspection or from management by objectives or results, but from improvements made in the process and products in order to meet customer needs. Deming's approach demands a shift in focus from addressing symptoms to addressing causes. In this article, environmental management audits are presented as the best means to assure that adequate management controls are in place to protect the company, its managers and its employees from penalties associated with civil and criminal enforcement actions.     

Forest and Farmland Conservation Effects of Oregon’s (USA) Land-Use Planning Program

Oregons land-use planning program is often cited as an exemplary approach to forest and farmland conservation, but analyses of its effectiveness are limited. This article examines Oregons land-use planning program using detailed spatial data describing building densities in western Oregon. An empirical model describes changes in building densities on forest and agricultural lands from 1974 to 1994, as a function of a gravity index of lands commuting distance to cities of various sizes, topographic characteristics, and zoning adopted under Oregons land-use planning program. The effectiveness of Oregons land-use planning program is evaluated based on the statistical significance of zoning variables and by computing estimated areas of forest and agricultural lands falling into undeveloped, low-density developed, and developed building density categories, with and without land-use zoning in effect. Results suggest that Oregons land-use planning program has provided a measurable degree of protection to forest and agricultural lands since its implementation.     

Social licence and mining: A critical perspective

In 2002 the International Institute of Environment and Development published the landmark report Breaking New Ground: Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD). The report portrayed an industry distrusted by stakeholders and under threat from opposition groups. When read closely, the MMSD report reveals an inextricable link between industry's ‘survival’ instincts and the notion of a social licence. Within the context of a growing divergence around the expectations of minerals-led development, social licence has emerged as an industry response to opposition and a mechanism to ensure the viability of the sector. The objective of this article is to reinvigorate discussion and debate over how best to frame the industry's social and environmental obligations and how these obligations can be met by the sector. Where social licence has contributed to raising the profile of social issues within a predominantly industrial discourse, a primary failure is its inability to articulate a collaborative developmental agenda for the sector or a pathway forward in restoring the lost confidence of impacted communities, stakeholders, and pressure groups. We argue that a necessary first step in this process is for industry to reconcile its internal risk-orientation with external expectations which requires a less defensive and more constructive approach to stakeholder engagement and collaboration.     

Impact of market reforms on future patterns of non-ferrous metal consumption of the former Soviet Union

The study examines the implications of market-oriented reforms on the prospects of non-ferrous metal use in the former USSR. Past metal consumption behaviour of the USSR is found to differ considerably from prevailing patterns of the advanced market economies. The study estimates a large 'intensity- of-use' gap across metals, which can be taken as a relatively easily mobilizable source for efficiency improvements via market reforms. Two scenarios for economic reforms are modelled, notably radical and gradual. Both are shown to cause a collapse of varying intensity in domestic metal demand lasting until the mid-1990s. For the subsequent period, a turnaround in consumption trends is projected, which is sharper under the radical reform scenario. The projected collapse of domestic demand argues for an increasing exportable surplus in the former Soviet Union for a range of non-ferrous metals, with potentially severe depressive effect on world prices.     

我国大气环境管理历程与展望

随着大气环境问题从煤烟型向以PM_2.5和O₃为特征的区域复合型污染演变，我国大气污染控制模式从以污染物排放浓度控制为核心、以污染物排放总量控制为核心逐渐走向以大气环境质量改善为核心。特别是近几年，全国各地在空气质量管理、科学精准治污等领域开展一系列积极的探索与实践，取得了显著成效。本文系统回顾了近50年来我国不同阶段大气环境管理工作的特点，重点梳理了2013年《大气污染防治行动计划》实施以来，空气质量管理经验与成绩，结合减污降碳总体部署对我国2035年“美丽中国建设目标基本实现”时的空气质量进行了展望，从PM_2.5与O₃协同控制的角度出发，提出了“十四五”期间我国大气环境管理的总体思路。     

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for exploration: Consultants,companies and communities in processes of engagements

Over the last fifteen years, large-scale mining companies have started engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with the aim of contributing to developing local communities affected by their operations. Large-scale mining companies, together with the World Bank, have formulated voluntary principles and benchmarks to guide these company–community relations. Recently, it has been argued that CSR is also crucial in the early stages of exploration. Nowadays, mining consultants propagate a process approach to company–community relations, from early exploration to post-mining planning.     

From Management to Mediation: Local Forestry Management and the Forestry Crisis in Post-Socialist Russia

The local branches of the Russian Forestry Service, the leskhozy, were known for their efficiency and management skills in the Soviet era and were one of the very few community-based Soviet-type institutions to survive the transition. This article examines the role of the leskhozy in the new market economy. Our analysis is based on data from interviews with informants attached to the forestry sector in the Murmansk area. In some cases their knowledge of the leskhozy stretches back to the emergence of the system in 1947. Our principal finding is that the struggle to survive as a federal body in the current legal and economic climate is forcing the leskhozy to relegate sustainable forestry management, presumably their primary raison dêtre, to the lower portions of their list of priorities. Several consequences result. There is a heightened incidence of illegal logging, and corruption informs the allocation of forest areas to private interests. Stumpage prices have plummeted as timber from subsidized commercial cutting (ostensibly sanitary cutting or thinning) has flooded the markets. The root cause of these tribulations lies with the market-based harvesting permit system. Its introduction in the 1990s did little to eliminate the self-seeking practices of the old Soviet forestry management hierarchies. In the free market, local forestry managers can turn their dual responsibilities to their own advantage inasmuch as they control the allocation of harvesting permits while at the same time controlling logging practices.     

Havana's popular gardens:sustainable prospects for urban agriculture

With the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and its economic support in 1989, as well as the tightening of the US economic embargo, Cuba has been forced to explore sustainable agriculture as a source of food security. This paper examines Havana's popular gardens, an important feature in Cuba's recent emphasis on self-reliant agriculture. Popular gardens are small plots of state-owned land that have been promoted since 1991 throughout Havana and other Cuban cities in response to recent food shortages. The popular gardens are a unique form of socialist agriculture which offer valuable insight into urban food production during economic crisis. They have emerged in the absence of land markets, with active government support and with widespread community organization and participation. The continued success of the gardens, however, is contingent on underlying political and economic factors.     

Creating successful partnerships with hazardous waste providers

Baxter Healthcare's Cardio Vascular Group (CVG) has formed a partnership with Advanced Environmental Technical Services (AETS, formerly called AETC), an 18-year-old environmental services company based in Flanders, New Jersey. With annual revenues of nearly $100 million, AETS is the largest privately owned environmental service company of its kind. Creating a partnership with providers of hazardous waste services has become necessary for many companies that find themselves downsizing and focusing their limited resources on their core businesses. More than merely waste haulers, hazardous waste management companies are being called on to train employees, develop environmental budgets, and even serve as on-site waste managers. AETS and Baxter Healthcare's CVG have created such a partnership and have successfully reduced Baxter's hazardous waste production by 56 percent since 1992. The lessons learned from this partnership are reported in this article.     

International renegotiations: the case of the Dominican Republic and Falconbridge

In 1969, Falconbridge Ltd agreed to expand greatly the facilities operated by its subsidiary in the Dominican Republic. Over the succeeding years, the company mined, processed and exported a large proportion of the country's nickel reserves. Due to worldwide market conditions, however, the company made losses rather than profits, and the Dominican government received little financial benefit from the company's operations. Matters came to a head in November 1987 when President Balaguer of the Dominican Republic unilaterally imposed taxes on company imports and exports. This action was significant because under a long-standing agreement with the Dominican government, Falconbridge was only obligated to pay income taxes and had an exemption in perpetuity from all other taxes. When the company refused to pay the new taxes, the government began to curtail nickel exports. Meanwhile, on world markets, the price of nickel soared. This paper briefly describes how the world nickel market has evolved, and then focuses attention on the relationship between Falconbridge and the Dominican Republic. It outlines the issues that arose, describes the renegotiation process itself and analyses how matters were resolved.     

排污许可制下企业自证守法的法理定位、现状及完善

2021年3月起施行的《排污许可管理条例》是中国排污许可制改革的重要成果。排污许可制自改革之初便对自证守法理念予以关注,其后又以法律形式对相应管理要求进行了规定。但现实中对企业自证守法的理解却存在争议,需确定其含义并进一步运用规制理论进行法理定位。在此背景下,本文通过规制标准、守法监督和违法应对三方面探析企业自证守法机制之现状,并试图提出增加激励性规制和优化企业组织建制的完善建议,以期透视“受规制的自我规制”模式在中国法上的成长空间,为排污许可制的功能增进提供智力支持。     

3M international environmental management system

To meet the changing needs of 3M's expanding worldwide operations, its International Environmental Operations group is striving to enhance and integrate a global environmental management system. When well-designed, such systems not only can function to guarantee compliance with environmental regulations but also serve to help the company reap the benefits of going “beyond compliance.” They can also prepare facilities to meet the requirements of international standards, such as ISO 14000 or EMAS. An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a necessary step toward achieving sustainable development and gaining competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The challenge of constructing such a system can seem daunting to a multinational company confronted with the spectrum of regional environmental regulations/directives and its own diversity of business and social cultures. This article describes the development and implementation of the 3M International Environmental Operations global EMS initiative.     

A clash of cultures (and lawyers): Anglo Platinum and mine-affected communities in Limpopo Province,South Africa

The human rights related controversies surrounding Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena mine in South Africa's Limpopo Province hit the world stage in 2008, attracting public scrutiny and instigating much debate in the realm of international business and human rights discussions. We provide an in-depth analysis of the controversies at Mogalakwena, and Anglo Platinum's responses. This case study contributes to ongoing debates on mining company-community relations in the context of the emerging business and human rights agenda, specifically with respect to the notion of human rights ‘due diligence’. We argue that the Mogalakwena case study illustrates the risks of companies adhering to and emphasizing the technical and logistical facets of due diligence, without sufficient attention to the relational, communicative and emergent aspects, which are closely tied to corporate culture. We highlight the complexities of company-community relationships, with particular reference to the issues of legitimate community representation and participatory decision-making, and discuss the role that organizational culture plays in exacerbating or mitigating corporate-community conflict. The case study demonstrates how legal challenges often exacerbate rather than resolve the conflicts that arise due to a clash between corporate and community cultures. We suggest the need for corporate leaders to become more conscious of this cultural dimension of effective social management, particularly when interacting with communities whose cultures are markedly different from those of business corporations.     

Probability of continued Soviet mineral self-sufficiency

The USSR ranks as a major producer of virtually all energy and non-fuel minerals. Soviet minerals policy, a key component of national economic development, is based primarily on an unprecedented level of self-sufficiency. The author explains how recent changes in historical export-import patterns, decreasing ore grades, rising consumption, limitations imposed by the Soviet economic system, and depletion of easily accessible deposits could signify a future inability to sustain its supply independence. The apparent existence of vast, remote mineralized areas in Asia suggests self-sufficiency could remain an option available to Soviet leaders, but it would be even more expensive to maintain.