我国碳交易制度巩固脱贫攻坚成果的问题及对策

本文从我国碳达峰和碳中和的目标愿景、碳交易体系中的CCER抵消交易、建立巩固脱贫攻坚成果的长效机制等方面对我国碳交易制度巩固脱贫攻坚成果的宏观形势做出研判,系统梳理了我国利用碳交易制度巩固脱贫攻坚成果的主要问题。提出了完善我国碳交易制度巩固脱贫攻坚成果的建议:一是重启CCER项目申请备案,协调国内国际碳交易,增加碳交易的脱贫攻坚资源;二是统筹项目签发与碳抵消规则,调整项目类型和地域限制,提高碳交易的脱贫攻坚效率;三是建立低碳交易数据共享平台,提升项目交易活跃度,保障碳交易的脱贫攻坚质量。     

The distance between state and rural society in the PRC. Reading document no 1 (February 2004)

While the People's Republic of China appears on a daily basis in all of the important newspapers around the world with its enormous successes in modernizing its economy, life in the Chinese countryside usually does not attract international attention. However, we know from a wide range of reports that the situation in the Chinese countryside is getting more and more complicated with local corruption, pollution and poverty growing in most parts of the country. The Chinese language press reports on a growing number of local uprisings in remote areas. While some analysts regard the situation in the countryside as a potential threat to the ongoing peaceful process of economic reform in China, China seems to be well prepared to cope with this change and the state is comparatively flexible in dealing with unrest among the rural population. So far the system itself has not been challenged by peasant discontent. This article introduces the idea that the distance between state and rural society is the basis of this flexibility. It will analyze a major policy document issued by the state and party leadership in order to show how state and rural society interact on the basis of a still insurmountable distance between state and rural society.     

Prospects of localism in community energy projects in Nigeria

A notable feature of development aid since the 1960s has been a paradigm shift from centralised project planning and management to decentralised approaches. The transition from top-down to bottom-up elevates the concept of localism in project management for vulnerable groups. This change resonates well in community-based resource management schemes in privileging the locale in terms of generation of knowledge and how problems and remedies are enunciated. Localism conceptualised as devolving central-level government functions to non-state actors in social service delivery is contradictory and seems to negate state powers. This paper explores this trajectory to explicate the forms of localism and the contradictions from its multiple conceptualisations that influence energy access. Using qualitative methodology and interviews, it analyses renewable energy projects directed at poverty alleviation in rural communities in Nigeria while deploying a political ecology framework of power relations to highlight the dynamics of localism. While localism is touted as a constraint in the development process due to localism of action, the paper demonstrates its prospects and how scaling-up of operations may augur well for altering its conceptualisation and with far-reaching consequences for community sustainable energy projects.     

Cultural shift towards sustainability in the construction industry of Hong Kong

Sustainable development is forward-looking; it is a continuous mission for future developments of human society. A genuinely sustainable society is one that initiates developments in sustainable ways. The development of a genuinely sustainable society is supported by its citizens who think and act according to a recognized code of conduct - the sustainable culture. Similar to other forms of culture, sustainable culture of a society is not static, but changes over time. The changes found in a sustainable culture are reflections of the status of sustainability in a society and these changes should be measured from time to time. The resulting measurement gives very important information for decision-makers, in the government and in the private sector, to examine the magnitude of changes that have taken place in a given period of time. The results will also enable them to review and adjust policies in order to better accommodate changes according to the trends of society.This paper provides a method – the T-model, to investigate and measure the extent of change of sustainable culture through two extensive surveys among participants of the construction industry of Hong Kong. The change in sustainable culture is reflected by the change in attitude and practice among construction participants, this can be found in their performance in project development, design and construction operations. The data of these changes are collected and converted to numerical scores. The T-model synthesized these scores and revealed the change of sustainable culture within the specific study time frame.     

Poverty and biodiversity in rural areas based on two investigations in Pujiang County,China

This study presents an integrated framework for the analysis of options of agricultural development and natural resource management at the ecosystem level. Pujiang County in Zhejiang Province, China, is used as a case-study area. The IMGLP model is applied to maximize regional agricultural economic surplus and labor market conditions in Pujiang. The consequences of four poverty reduction strategies (intensification of production, diversification toward livestock production, land expansion, and exit from agriculture) are determined for a set of regional poverty and biodiversity indicators. Diversification seems to be the most promising poverty reduction strategy, but requires an efficient use of animal manure in cropping systems to avoid environmental problems. Improved nutrient management in cropping systems is effective in reducing the regional nitrogen surplus, but less effective in increasing per capita income. The exit strategy is beneficial for reducing poverty and achieving biodiversity, but may have important social consequences that are not addressed in this study. Further reduction of rural poverty is hampered by labor constraints during the harvesting period for high-value crops such as vegetables and fruits. These constraints can be overcome by intensive research and development in the field of agricultural mechanization.     

Social licences to operate: for better not for worse; for richer not for poorer? The impacts of unplanned mining closure for “fence line” residential communities

Establishing “social licences to operate” with communities has become a significant corporate social responsibility agenda. The complex dynamics of these relationships can compound the impacts for communities when these contracts are not upheld. This article documents reflections from a rapid rural appraisal conducted in the Shire of Ravensthorpe in remote Western Australia after the Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation was “mothballed” 9 months into a projected 25-year lifespan. It captures how communication about the project and its time frames created a sense of consistency, predictability, certainty and trust – enabling social licence. The raising of hope and the emergence of mistrust underpin social, environmental and financial impacts of this event for the local community. Embedded in the theoretical dimensions of social licences, this case study highlights the problematic of social licences that engage with non-contractual stakeholders as partners in “booms” but have no legal responsibility towards them in times of “bust”.     

实践与供给：面向碳中和的需求侧解决方案

碳中和目标的提出,对中国经济系统各个层面的深刻变革提出要求。社会各界对此做出积极响应,但多以行业、技术等供给侧视角为主,需求侧减排方案未得到足够重视。中产阶级崛起和人口老龄化等社会变革,推动消费结构的转型和升级,也为碳中和目标的实现带来巨大挑战,我们亟须探索需求侧的解决方案。本文将消费行为置于社会实践的框架之中,较全面地识别了不同消费实践领域中潜在的碳减排措施。从实践与供给相结合的视角,发现我国现阶段需求侧碳减排主要面临减排实践庞杂且难管理、低碳供给不足、需求难以撬动供给变革和公众环境意识薄弱等困境和问题。最后,从构建指南、实践与供给联动、政策落地和社会规范引导文化建设等方面提出建议。     

Bivariate cointegration between poverty and environment: a case study of Pakistan (1980–2009)

The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate a two-way statistical relationship between the agriculture environment and rural poverty. To recognise the relationship between the two variables, a time series, co-integration and Granger causality tests have been employed. Secondary data pertaining to Pakistan from 1980–2009 on rural poverty and environmental factors (such as commercial energy consumption, water availability and total cropped area) have been used for the analysis. The empirical results only moderately support the conventional view that rural poverty has a significant long-term casual effect on environmental proxies in Pakistan. The present study finds evidence of uni-directional causality between poverty and the environment in the context of the agriculture sector in Pakistan.     

Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Restoration Using the Clean Development Mechanism: A Case Study from Humbo,Ethiopia

Poverty, hunger and demand for agricultural land have driven local communities to overexploit forest resources throughout Ethiopia. Forests surrounding the township of Humbo were largely destroyed by the late 1960s. In 2004, World Vision Australia and World Vision Ethiopia identified forestry-based carbon sequestration as a potential means to stimulate community development while engaging in environmental restoration. After two years of consultation, planning and negotiations, the Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project began implementation—the Ethiopian organization’s first carbon sequestration initiative. The Humbo Project assists communities affected by environmental degradation including loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and flooding with an opportunity to benefit from carbon markets while reducing poverty and restoring the local agroecosystem. Involving the regeneration of 2,728 ha of degraded native forests, it brings social, economic and ecological benefits—facilitating adaptation to a changing climate and generating temporary certified emissions reductions (tCERs) under the Clean Development Mechanism. A key feature of the project has been facilitating communities to embrace new techniques and take responsibility for large-scale environmental change, most importantly involving Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). This technique is low-cost, replicable, and provides direct benefits within a short time. Communities were able to harvest fodder and firewood within a year of project initiation and wild fruits and other non-timber forest products within three years. Farmers are using agroforestry for both environmental restoration and income generation. Establishment of user rights and local cooperatives has generated community ownership and enthusiasm for this project—empowering the community to more sustainably manage their communal lands.     

Determinants of National Fire Plan Fuels Treatment Expenditures: A Revealed Preference Analysis for Northern New Mexico

The accumulation of fire fuels in forests throughout the world contributes significantly to the severity of wildfires. To combat the threat of wildfire, especially in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), US federal land management agencies have implemented a number of forest restoration and wildfire risk reduction programs. In the spirit of revealed preference analyses, the objective of this study is to investigate the pattern and determinants of National Fire Plan (NFP) expenditures for fuel reduction treatments in northern New Mexico (USA). Estimation results from a set of Generalized Estimating Equations models are mixed with respect to risk reduction hypotheses, and also raise issues regarding how risk reduction should be defined for a region characterized by both pockets of urban sprawl into the WUI and large areas of chronic rural poverty. Program preferences for project funding under the federal Collaborative Forest Restoration Program in New Mexico are shown to be distinctly different (e.g., exhibiting greater concern for social equity) than for other NFP-funded projects.     

The costs and benefits of reforestation in Liping County, Guizhou Province, China

Reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is becoming a pressing issue for the global community. Afforestation and reforestation are promoted worldwide as an effective means of sequestering carbon. For its national interest and global concerns, China has made great efforts to protect its existing forests and develop programs of afforestation and reforestation. Based on two surveys recently conducted in Liping County, Guizhou province, this paper investigates the economic changes associated with the implementation of the "Grain For Green" policy. Based on the analytical framework of benefit cost analysis, this paper concludes that the implementation of the reforestation of sloping agricultural land policy would not be possible if there were no government subsidies for the peasants. The short term economic returns of land and labour from forestation are substantially lower than those generated from grain or cash crop production on the steep slope lands. The government subsidies provide great economic incentives for peasants to take part in the project. The subsidies in fact have elevated peasant income in rural Liping. The estimated potential economic returns of plantations over the long run indicate that the removal of the government financial subsidies would not create an economic crisis for the peasants if the current market conditions continue.     

Innovative approaches to rural development: Moving from state-controlled towards market-based land reform

Among the world's poor, approximately 75% of those in extreme poverty live and work in rural areas and two‐thirds of them depend mainly on farming or farm labour for their livelihood. Policies to grant the rural poor secure access to land and water for irrigation — and to improve the economic efficiency of small‐scale agriculture — can thus play a critical role in the implementation of rural development strategies, including efforts to combat rural poverty. Since inadequate access to arable land is probably the most important cause of rural poverty, redistributive land reform is increasingly seen as crucial for socio‐economic development and poverty alleviation in many developing countries with substantial amounts of (unused) arable state land or (under‐utilized) large private landholdings. This article argues that market‐based land redistribution schemes, such as the one being implemented in South Africa, can be considered one of the most innovative approaches to land reform that have emerged over the last decade. These schemes thus provide a useful alternative to more conventional, state‐controlled land redistribution programmes. The article concludes, however, that when countries opt for market‐based approaches to land redistribution, the State still has an important role to play, without necessarily deciding which land parcels change hands.     

苏州地区农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价体系的研究

现阶段我国的环境审计处于探索阶段,在审计对象上,以环境保护资金为主,在审计类型上,以财务收支审计为主,不能综合考虑环保工程的环境效益、经济效益和社会效益。为此,根据苏州地区农村生活污水治理工程的实际情况,通过大量的调研和长期的监测,并听取了经济、审计、环保专家的意见,建立了农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价体系,提出了科学、合理、可行的农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价方法。     

The significance of environmental impacts: an exploration of the concept

Since environmental impact assessment (EIA) is concerned primarily withsignificant environmental impacts, the concept of impact significance deserves to be defined and applied rigorously. In this article use of the term over the past 15 years in EIA documentation is reviewed. Some recent attempts at elucidating the concept are summarized. Four perspectives on impact significance that emerged from a series of workshops on the ecological basis for EIA are presented. These perspectives include (a) statistical (related to problems of isolating project-induced changes from natural variation), (b) ecological (related to the importance of project-induced changes from a purely ecological perspective), (c) social (related to the acceptability of project-induced changes in important environmental attributes), and (d) project (related to whether project-induced changes will indeed influence project decision making). The following synthesis is proposed: Any exercise in judging the significance of an environmental impact should thoroughly consider (a) the importance of the environmental attribute in question to project decision makers, (2) the distribution of change in time and space, (c) the magnitude of change, and (d) the reliability with which change has been predicted or measured. The implications of considering these factors are discussed.     

Transforming time into money using water: A participatory study of economics and gender in rural India

When water supply improvements are coupled with opportunity to create income through micro–enterprises, time released from water collection is converted into income earned. This brings several benefits: reduced drudgery, higher household income, and, consequently, greater women's empowerment through changing gender relations within the household. This article documents the performance of one such scheme in Banaskantha District in the state of Gujarat in India, one of poorest districts in the state and the country. Here, due to the efforts of the Self–Employed Women's Association (SEWA), an Indian NGO, poor women are reaping the social and economic benefits of a government–run regional piped water supply scheme, a project funded by Dutch bilateral aid, focusing on women's development. If government policy–makers took the cue and formulated programmes and schemes that combined these two aspects, viz., actions that release time for rural women from daily chores (e.g., collecting water, fuel wood and fodder)and opportunities for sustainable micro–enterprises to convert time saved into income, this could become a reliable route out of rural poverty into gender–sensitive sustainable development.     

Harvesting of rainwater and brooklets water to increase mountain agricultural productivity: A case study from a dry valley of southwestern China

In semi-arid valleys of southwestern China, seasonal shortage of water is the major contributing factor to low and unstable crop yield. Harvesting of both rainwater and brooklets water in the semi-arid valleys of Ningnan county of Sichuan Province has brought about considerable economic and environmental change. Brooklet water is collected throughout the year but mainly during the rainy season in a series of ponds while rainwater is harvested in underground tanks constructed on road side or land boundaries with only a small opening above ground to save limited cropland. Increased water availability has promoted cultivation of sugarcane, tobacco, and mulberry, and increased per unit area yield of food crops. Sericulture, sugarcane and tobacco have become three important sources of farmers' income. The water harvesting has contributed considerably to increased rural income, poverty reduction, reduced soil erosion and improvement in overall environment. Government has played a key role in planning and implementation of water harvesting programmes. Financial support of government and clear ownership of water harvesting facilities are critical for the success of the programme. Application of similar water harvesting techniques in other areas with similar biophysical conditions would contribute to enhancing the rural economy and alleviating poverty.     

ESG研究进展及其在“双碳”目标下的新机遇

环境、社会和治理（ESG）是一种由资本市场发展形成的融合多利益相关方诉求的新理念,目的是推动企业提升社会责任和实现可持续发展。推进ESG理念在中国发展,对国家扩大对外开放、增强企业国际竞争力以及实现“双碳”目标具有重大意义。本研究通过综述2019年3月—2022年3月以来国内外以ESG为主题的文献,分析ESG实践特点和发展新动向。研究发现,ESG三要素在金融投资、企业或银行财务表现、企业价值、企业社会责任绩效以及可持续发展能力方面会产生多样化影响。本文建立了一个包含ESG多利益相关方、第三方机构以及ESG代表性指南政策法规的运行体系框架,形象化地凝练了ESG的内涵和实践重点;结合理论研究,运用驱动力、压力、状态影响及响应（DPSIR）分析框架揭示了ESG理念在我国“双碳”目标下的发展方向。最后,建议从三方面推进ESG理念：以工业园区为载体推动企业整体性开展ESG实践创新;推进A股企业扩大ESG实践示范试点,引领中小企业整体提升;引导投资者积极参与ESG投资,推进企业提升现代化环境治理能力。     

Learning for sustainability through CIDA's “Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture” project: a deliberative,experiential and iterative process

Community-based approaches to environmental management provide opportunities for public engagement in local decision-making processes. This qualitative case study examines learning as resulted from participation in CIDA's “Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture” project. Outcomes include learning about alternative farming practices, human and natural environments, and safer pesticide use. Many participants learnt how to work more effectively with rural communities. For some, this changed their perspective about life and their role in society. Activities that fostered learning outcomes, including sustainability-related outcomes, were: planning and implementing project activities, experimenting on farm demonstration plots, participating in outreach workshops, and students doing rural practica. The learning process, involving international university collaborators and rural participants, is analyzed particularly as it relates to cultural context, collective action, and sustainability. Findings affirm that how the public participates in environmental management decisions influences the breadth and depth of learning outcomes; practical and policy implications are discussed.     

(Mal)Adaptation opportunism: when other interests take over stated or intended climate change adaptation objectives (and their unintended effects)

This paper introduces the terminology of (mal)adaptation opportunism – a situation in which projects undertaken in the name of climate change adaptation (CCA) are overrun by interests other than the stated or intended objectives of the CCA project. A goal of CCA projects is to reduce poverty and promote social justice. The case of the threat of displacement of the community of Kewunor by the Trasacco Estate Development Company (TEDC), after the construction of the Ada Sea Defense System (AdSDS) of Ghana as a CCA, is illustrative of this concept of (mal)adaptation opportunism. Through a narrative presentation of eight different accounts concerning this issue, I demonstrate how (mal)adaptation opportunism arises and is often motivated by economic interests. This case illustrates how economic interests can take over not only CCA projects but also their maladaptive effects.     

National policies for biosphere greenhouse gas management: issues and opportunities

Biosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) management consists of preserving and enhancing terrestrial carbon pools and producing biomass as a fossil fuel substitute. The discussion of this topic has focused primarily on carbon-accounting and project-level issues, particularly relating to carbon sequestration as a source of emissions credits under the Kyoto Protocol. While international consensus on these matters is needed, this paper argues that an important domestic policy agenda also deserves attention. National policies for biosphere GHG management are necessary to bring about large-scale changes in land-use, forestry, and agricultural practices and can address some of the technical and policy issues that have proven to be particularly problematic from carbon-accounting and project-level perspectives. These policies should minimize land-use and resource-management conflicts, account for collateral benefits, and ensure institutional compatibility with existing resource-management regimes. Issues relating to project permanence, leakage, and transaction costs should also be addressed. A range of policy instruments should be used and biosphere GHG management should be one component of an integrated approach to environmental and resource management. Countries promoting biosphere GHG management as an important element of their climate change strategies should be developing these domestic policies to complement international negotiations and to demonstrate that carbon sequestration and biomass production can make an effective contribution to the stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations.