最严格环境保护制度:内涵、框架与改革思路

根据最严格环境保护制度提出的背景和被赋予的使命,可以将其理解为:在当前经济社会发展阶段和技术水平条件下,为解决突出生态环境问题、确保生态环境阈值底线不被逾越和突破,以及满足生态文明建设目标需求和要求而制定的更具刚性和约束力、且能够有效实施和执行的环境保护制度。最严格环境保护制度的基本框架包括制度目标、制度体系、制度执行与制度考核等要素,具有阶段性与动态性、科学性与公平性、区域性与差异性、可达性与有效性等基本特征。长期来看,建立和完善最严格的环境保护制度是整个制度体系的刚性化和严格化,需要对当前制度体系进行整体和系统改造,对制度框架中各要素进行普遍升级,最终建立最严格的环境法治、环境管控和环境经济制度体系。其中,环境法治制度要成为统领环境保护全局的根本性制度,法律体系要体现生态文明建设目标要求,环境司法要成为解决环境问题的主要途径和手段,环境监管和执法体系要体现独立性、权威性和刚性;环境管控制度要围绕环境质量改善和环境健康风险防控目标、为社会公众提供优良的环境公共产品、实现环境管理战略转型而进行设计和改进;环境经济制度要能够在生态环境保护资源配置中发挥决定性作用,促使经济活动朝着资源节约和环境友好的方向调整。长期来看,建立和完善最严格环境保护制度需要结合当前的环境管理能力和需求,在现有的环境保护制度框架下,将一部分亟需建立、改进或落实的制度严格化,以解决目前最为突出的环境和制度问题。     

最严格环境保护制度:现状、经验与政策建议

在总结分析当前我国环境保护制度现状及存在问题的基础上,结合国内外相关经验,提出了建立和完善最严格环境保护制度的政策建议。针对当前生态环境保护中的短板和突出问题,建立和完善最严格的环境保护制度需要围绕生态保护红线目标,加快建立以"源头严防、过程严管、后果严惩"为基础、以"经济调节、公众参与、体制保障"为配套的环境保护制度体系。在源头预防方面,建立符合生态文明建设要求的环境保护目标体系、统计体系与核算制度,建立严格的环境准入制度,将环境质量改善和环境风险可接受水平作为环境影响评价的基本准则等;在过程严管方面,建立能够充分体现地方政府环境保护工作实绩的领导干部政绩评价考核制度、科学严格的环境污染排放标准体系,以及严格监管所有污染物排放的环境监管和行政执法制度体系等;在后果严惩方面,推行党政领导干部生态环境审计和终身责任追究制度,建立生态环境损害赔偿和刑事责任追究制度等;在经济调节方面,建立绿色财税金融制度体系,推动实施排污权有偿使用与交易制度,建立平衡生态产品生产者与受益者利益关系的生态补偿制度等;在公众参与方面,在法律法规中明确公民环境权利,完善保障公众参与环境保护的信息公开与立法听证等制度;在生态环境保护管理体制方面,要从上层建筑入手,理顺生态环境保护管理涉及的顶层重大关系,在中央层面明晰资源、环境和生态三个领域的关系,明确中央和地方财权事权分配,调整环境保护系统内部的管理机构设置。     

战略环评控制温室气体排放的评价思路与指标体系

战略环评作为宏观环境管理措施在推动产业转型升级、促进区域污染减排方面发挥重要作用。温室气体排放产生大尺度区域性生态环境问题,需要环境管理制度从战略和区域层面进行控制。通过战略环评控制温室气体排放对于适应当前国内外发展形势具有积极意义,有助于碳减排目标实现,加快转变经济发展方式和推进生态文明建设。由于温室气体环境影响的区域性、长期性和不确定性,不同于常规环境空气污染物,需要超越常规环评预测评估路径,以控制指标为核心建立环境影响评价思路。国际上已有应对气候变化的管理和技术实践,通过设定排放总量和排放绩效指标引导温室气体排放控制。结合国际经验,将温室气体作为特殊"污染物"控制纳入战略环评,建立基于温室气体控制的战略环评评价指标体系的组成可包括绝对排放量、排放强度和控制绩效三类指标。温室气体控制目标的确定,可以参照国家、区域和行业层面关于温室气体控制的政策目标进行划定或分解测算。通过建立科学适用的评价目标和指标体系,为在战略环评中开展温室气体控制扫除技术障碍,也必将为我国全面落实温室气体减排承诺发挥作用。     

崇明东滩低碳农业园区建设绩效评估

低碳农业园区建设是推动温室气体减排的重要手段,低碳农业园区发展决策需要绩效评估的支持。而目前关于该类园区绩效评估尚属亟待研究的新课题。通过理论分析和实地调查，在弄清了东滩低碳农业园区基本运作现状的基础上，首次提出了低碳农业园区建设绩效评估指标体系，并利用AHP确定了各指标权重。然后利用东滩低碳农业园区的数据，并结合与常碳农业的比较，评估了该园区的建设绩效。结果显示：该指标体系能够很好地评估该园区的绩效水平，反映了其绩效结构。虽然该园区建设的社会效益等方面若干指标急需改善，但其经济效益、资源循环利用与环境保护水平得到了很大的提高，综合低碳效应非常明显,发展潜力很大。因此，低碳农业园区具有很好的推广价值     

成都市环境绩效评估研究

本文采用主题框架模型和"驱动力-压力-状态-影响-响应"模型,构建了由环境健康、生态保护、环境治理、资源与能源可持续利用4个二级指标、11个三级指标及28个四级指标构成的成都市环境绩效评估指标体系,并采用目标渐进法、均权法、环境绩效指数法等评价方法,测算了2011—2015年间成都市的环境绩效指数,研究结果表明:2011—2015年成都市综合环境绩效表现良好,总体呈上升趋势,但是二级指标中生态保护指标绩效水平最差,三级指标中噪声、生态环境、环境管理指标绩效离目标水平存在很大差距,各地区之间的环境绩效水平差距也很大。各区(市)县应有针对性的采取措施,提高综合环境绩效水平。     

负载有度:论环境法的生态承载力控制原则

可持续发展要求社会经济适度发展的同时,环境质量不退化.为达到这一目标,在环境管理中就必须以生态承载力为标准判断经济发展的规模和速度是否具有正当性和合理性,这是化解经济发展与环境保护矛盾的关键所在.环境法应当把生态承载力控制作为一项基本原则,要求人们对环境问题的预防应当以生态承载力为依据,确保向环境排放污染物的总量不得超过环境容量,并保证开发、利用自然资源不能超过生态环境在一定时期内的供给能力.这是对执法者在处理经济发展与环境保护的矛盾中所享有的过大的自由裁量权的必要制约.然而,生态承载力控制原则的实施难度较大,除了需要立法的明文规定外,还应当注重研究、建立生态承载力的核算方法体系;此外,还应当对现行环境执法体制进行改革,促使地方环保部门在环境执法中摆脱地方保护主义的不当干涉,并积极加强公众参与,通过公众监督杜绝突破生态承载力的决策的制定和实施.     

宁波市城区河道水环境综合整治效果评价方法及应用

城市河道水环境综合整治需要科学合理的评价体系来指导和评估整治工作绩效。针对城市河道的水环境特征,采用系统分析和专家调查法建立了城区河道水环境综合整治效果评价的指标体系与数学评价模型,指标体系包括目标层指标1项、准则层指标3项、评价层指标10项以及调查监测指标层15项,共4个层次。将建立的评价方法应用于2012年3~10月宁波市11条城区河道水环境综合整治效果的评价,获得城区河道综合整治效果评分值在48.4~91.4,评价结果可定量描述治理工程取得的环境效果,为城市河道水环境综合整治与定量考核提供依据。     

环保政绩:从软性约束到实质问责考核

中央政府将环境保护纳入地方政府官员政绩考核的制度安排与环保政绩考核目标从"底线控制"转向总的生态治理效果最大化紧密相关。文章基于双重激励机制的竞赛视角建立理论模型,比较转变前后两类环保政绩考核方案的实施效果与适用条件。研究结论表明,两类考核机制在各地方政府的成本参数和分布函数满足某一临界值的情况下,采用正向奖励或负向惩罚之间无差异;在各地方政府表现出区位、禀赋、生态偏好、治理能力等方面的异质性或成本参数差异时,采用奖罚并举的策略组合需要满足地方政府之间生态治理能力或成本参数差异较大(小)、中央政府加大对考核优等(劣等)地方政府的奖励(惩罚)。奖罚临界值与参与竞赛考核的地方政府信息分布函数、成本参数、参赛规模和奖罚金额等有关。信息分布函数的凸性、成本参数的增大、参赛规模的扩大以及奖罚金额的不对等都有可能扩大惩罚机制的适用范围。两类环保政绩考核方案是与经济发展阶段和公众对环保认知状态相适应的,有助于实现不同时期的发展任务。在当前经济发展阶段,将生态文明纳入地方政府领导干部政绩考核,作为其职级升迁的一项强约束指标,有助于激励地方政府加大环保努力投入水平,使竞赛机制的竞争特性贯穿环保制度制定、监督和执行的始终。基于此,从充分认识地方政府生态治理成本差异、合理界定考核机制实施范围、奖罚分明、确保惩罚机制稳定实施等方面提出完善现行环保政绩考核方案的对策建议,以期推动我国生态治理和经济发展协同共进。     

上海城市生态系统健康评价

从城市生态系统健康的内涵出发,采用压力、状态、响应机制构建出城市生态系统健康指标体系框架;运用主成分分析确定出主要指标及权重;并针对目前此类研究中指标评价标准的不确定性问题,建立模糊优选评价模型,从时间纵向上判断城市生态系统的走势;利用所建立的评价方法,以上海城市生态系统为例,最终筛选出3大类25项敏感性评价指标体系进行评价。评价结果表明：从1996-2002年间,上海城市的生态系统健康指标由0.37缓慢上升至0.46,表明上海城市自然生态环境与社会、经济发展的协调性在逐渐加强,但健康改善的程度并不显著,部分指标有所恶化,与2005年城市规划目标值0.72相比,系统现阶段离社会期望值还有很大的差距。本研究为上海城市进一步的生态规划提供可靠的背景状况和研究依据。     

中国环境基本公共服务绩效的数量测度

本文在"投入—产出—受益"三维视角下构建了2003-2009年中国环境基本公共服务绩效评估指数,并对中国式分权框架下的环境公共服务效应进行了实证检验,这为在晋升体系中考虑基本公共服务发展因素提供了有益的思路。研究结果表明:中国各省级间环境公共服务绩效水平存在显著的差异,东部地区环境公共服务绩效水平明显高于中西部地区。经济发达地区较之经济落后地区、城镇化率高的地区较之城镇化率低的地区环境基本公共服务绩效水平更高。中国式财政分权并不影响省区间环境基本公共服务的产出水平和受益程度,但是存在"诱导"地方政府降低环境基本公共服务投入的内在激励,并造成环境基本公共服务综合绩效下降。政策建议是:政府加大对经济落后地区和农村地区的环境基本公共服务投入力度,同时将环境基本公共服务绩效评估指标纳入考核。     

Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future

Integration of indigenous knowledge and ethnoscientific approaches into contemporary frameworks for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources will become increasingly important in policies on an international and national level, both in countries that are industrialised and those that have a developing status. We set the scene on how this can be done by exploring the key conditions and dimensions of a dialogue between ȁ8ontologiesȁ9 and the roles, which ethnosciences could play in this process. First, the roles of ethnosciences in the context of sustainable development were analysed, placing emphasis on the implications arising when western sciences aspire to relate to indigenous forms of␣knowledge. Secondly, the contributions of ethnosciences to such an ȁ8inter- ontological dialogueȁ9 were explored, based on an ethnoecological study of the encounter of sciences and indigenous knowledge in the Andes of Bolivia, and reviewed experiences from mangrove systems in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, and from case-studies in other ecosystems world-wide, incl. Australia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Senegal, South-Africa and Tanzania.     

Paradoxical ozone associations could be due to methyl nitrite from combustion of methyl ethers or esters in engine fuels

We review studies of the effects of low ambient ozone concentrations on morbidity that found a negative coefficient for ozone concentration. We call this a Paradoxical Ozone Association (POA). All studies were in regions with methyl ether in gasoline. All but one study carefully controlled for the effects of other criterion pollutants, so the phenomenon cannot be attributed to them. One was in southern California in mid-summer when ozone levels are highest. Because ozone is created by sunlight, the most plausible explanation for a POA would be an ambient pollutant that is rapidly destroyed by sunlight, such as methyl nitrite (MN). A previously published model of engine exhaust chemistry suggested methyl ether in the fuel will create MN in the exhaust. MN is known to be highly toxic, and closely related alkyl nitrites are known to induce respiratory sensitivity in humans. Support for the interpretation comes from many studies, including three linking asthma symptoms to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and the observation that a POA has not been seen in regions without ether in gasoline. We also note that studies in southern California show a historical trend from more significant to less significant ozone-health associations. The timing of those changes is consistent with the known timing of the introduction of gasoline oxygenated with MTBE in that region.     

湘鄂赣农业资源与专业化区域化方向

湘鄂赣地理位置优越,农业资源丰富,稻谷、茶叶、麻类、棉花、油料、柑桔和淡水产品、禽蛋、肉类等在我国居有重要的地位,因此,大力发展三省农业生产,对我国人民实现小康生活具有战略意义。今后,要加速专业化区域化进程。我们找出生产潜力所在:改造低产田、低产园、低产水面;开发“三高”技术;开垦荒地、荒山、荒水;适当提高复种指数。通过建设,三省主要农产品将自给有余,还可满足国内外市场的需要。努力方向:高效农业开发——综合农业开发,吨粮田开发,玉米带开发,饲料稻开发,山区开发;合理布局农业生产;深化农业商品基地建设,发展综合利用,搞活商品流通;全面提高农业现代化水平,加强农业社会服务体系。     

Prognosis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystems by means of universal kriging

The use of quantitative data for constructing prognostic maps of the dynamics of ecosystem degradation and restoration by nonlinear simulation methods is a topical field of landscape ecology. This method of dynamic cartography is based on fiberwise comparison of data on the state of Chernye Zemli (the Kalmyk Republic, Russia) in different years and the detailed analysis of the period on which the prognosis was based. For this purpose, materials of repeated aerial and satellite photography obtained during a long period (1954–1993) were used. Comparison of maps characterizing the dynamics of Chernye Zemli between 1958 and 1993 allows prognostic electronic maps for the next 10–15 years (with a five-year interval) to be drawn and land prognosis for the next 20–30 years (1998–2023) to be obtained. Deceased     

Distributions of personal VOC exposures: a population-based analysis

Information regarding the distribution of volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations and exposures is scarce, and there have been few, if any, studies using population-based samples from which representative estimates can be derived. This study characterizes distributions of personal exposures to ten different VOCs in the U.S. measured in the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Personal VOC exposures were collected for 669 individuals over 2-3 days, and measurements were weighted to derive national-level statistics. Four common exposure sources were identified using factor analyses: gasoline vapor and vehicle exhaust, methyl tert-butyl ether (MBTE) as a gasoline additive, tap water disinfection products, and household cleaning products. Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes chloroform, and tetrachloroethene were fit to log-normal distributions with reasonably good agreement to observations. 1,4-Dichlorobenzene and trichloroethene were fit to Pareto distributions, and MTBE to Weibull distribution, but agreement was poor. However, distributions that attempt to match all of the VOC exposure data can lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the level and frequency of the higher exposures. Maximum Gumbel distributions gave generally good fits to extrema, however, they could not fully represent the highest exposures of the NHANES measurements. The analysis suggests that complete models for the distribution of VOC exposures require an approach that combines standard and extreme value distributions, and that carefully identifies outliers. This is the first study to provide national-level and representative statistics regarding the VOC exposures, and its results have important implications for risk assessment and probabilistic analyses.     

Long-term increase in climatic dryness in the East-Mediterranean as evidenced for the island of Samos

The Eastern Mediterranean region is among the regions which were predicted to become drier under IPCC climate scenarios. Here, we document a gradual reduction of rainfall and tree growth and the loss of rural springs during the last decades of the twentieth century. Years with severe drought are associated with very low tree growth (dendrochronology) and dry falling of springs as evidenced by interviews with local stakeholders. The paper discusses the consequences of accelerating drought on natural vegetation and agriculture and points at the interaction with fire dynamics and economy, both likely to enhance the drought effect.     

Geographic Variation in the Seasonal Reproductive Strategy of the Mite Varroa jacobsoni in the Honeybee Nest

Variation in the reproduction of Varroa jacobsoni mite was studied in relation to the expansion of the range of its parasitism on the honeybee. Geographic differences in the seasonal dynamics of mite reproduction in the nests of bee families were revealed. Variation in the sex ratio of mites and the factors inhibiting their reproduction at the northern boundary of the honeybee range are considered. The forms of parthenogenetic reproduction in V. jacobsoni are discussed.     

Comparative analysis of the effect of predator odor on morphological and physiological parameters of adult male Campbell hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus campbelli</Emphasis>) and dwarf hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus sungorus</Emphasis>)

The effect of long-term exposure to natural excretions of the European polecat on the morphological parameters and hormonal status of adult male Campbell hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) and dwarf hamsters (Ph. sungorus) was studied. Exposure to volatile components of natural excreta of a potential predator did not have any significant effect on hamsters. The combined influence of volatile and nonvolatile components of the polecat’s excretions caused physiological stress in Ph. campbelli, while in Ph. sungorus, on the contrary, an increase in thymus weight and the plasma testosterone level was recorded.     

How Do Groups Solve Local Commons Dilemmas? Lessons from Experimental Economics in the Field

The use of experimental settings to observe human behaviour in a controlled environment of incentives, rules and institutions, has been widely used by the behavioural sciences for sometime now, particularly by psychology and economics. In most cases the subjects are college students recruited for one to two hour decision making exercises in which, depending on their choices, they earn cash averaging US$ 20. In such exercises players face a set of feasible actions, rules and incentives (payoffs) involving different forms of social exchange with other people, and that in most cases involve some kind of externalities with incomplete contracts, such as in the case of common-pool resources situations. Depending on the ecological and institutional settings, the resource users face a set of feasible levels of extraction, a set of rules regarding the control or monitoring of individual use, and sometimes ways of imposing material or non-material costs or rewards to those breaking or following the rules. We brought the experimental lab to the field and invited about two hundred users of natural resources in three Colombian rural villages to participate in such decision making exercises and through these and other research instruments we learned about the ways they solve - or fail to - tragedies of the commons with different social institutions. Further, bringing the lab to the field allowed us to explore some of the limitations of existing models about human behaviour and its consequences for designing policies for conserving ecosystems and improving social welfare.     

Latitudinal variation in size of freshwater pulmonate mollusks (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in Western Siberia

The size of shells in some freshwater pulmonate mollusk species abundant in Western Siberia (Lymnaea fragilis, L. terebra, Planorbis planorbis, and Anisus leucostoma) is relatively large in the south and decreases in the north. It is supposed that this phenomenon is explained by the fact that the season with conditions allowing the growth of mollusks is shorter in the north than in the south of Western Siberia.