Research priorities for managing the impacts and dependencies of business upon food,energy, water and the environment

Delivering access to sufficient food, energy and water resources to ensure human wellbeing is a major concern for governments worldwide. However, it is crucial to account for the ‘nexus’ of interactions between these natural resources and the consequent implications for human wellbeing. The private sector has a critical role in driving positive change towards more sustainable nexus management and could reap considerable benefits from collaboration with researchers to devise solutions to some of the foremost sustainability challenges of today. Yet opportunities are missed because the private sector is rarely involved in the formulation of deliverable research priorities. We convened senior research scientists and influential business leaders to collaboratively identify the top forty questions that, if answered, would best help companies understand and manage their food-energy-water-environment nexus dependencies and impacts. Codification of the top order nexus themes highlighted research priorities around development of pragmatic yet credible tools that allow businesses to incorporate nexus interactions into their decision-making; demonstration of the business case for more sustainable nexus management; identification of the most effective levers for behaviour change; and understanding incentives or circumstances that allow individuals and businesses to take a leadership stance. Greater investment in the complex but productive relations between the private sector and research community will create deeper and more meaningful collaboration and cooperation.     

A new method to quantify the impact of soil carbon management on biophysical soil properties: the example of two apple orchard systems in New Zealand

A new method to diagnose the environmental sustainability of specific orchard management practices was derived and tested. As a significant factor for soil quality, the soil carbon (C) management in the topsoil of the tree-row of an integrated and organic apple orchard was selected and compared. Soil C management was defined as land management practices that maintain or increase soil C. We analyzed the impact of the soil C management on biological (microbial biomass C, basal respiration, dehydrogenase activity, respiratory quotient) and physical (aggregate stability, amount of plant-available water, conductive mean pore diameter near water saturation) soil properties. Soil in the alley acted as a reference for the managed soil in the tree row. The total and hot-water-extractable C amounts served as a combined proxy for the soil C management. The soil C management accounted for 0 to 81% of the degradation or enhancement of biophysical soil properties in the integrated and organic system. In the integrated system, soil C management led to a loss of C in the top 0.3 m of the tree row within 12 yr, causing a decrease in microbial activities. In the tree row of the organic orchard, C loss occurred in the top 0.1 m, and the decrease in microbial activities was small or not significant. Regarding physical soil properties, the C loss in the integrated system led to a decrease of the aggregate stability, whereas it increased in the organic system. Generally, the impact of soil C management was better correlated with soil microbial than with the physical properties. With respect to environmental soil functions that are sensitive to the decrease in microbial activity or aggregate stability, soil C management was sustainable in the organic system but not in the integrated system.     

The importance of differentiating urban and rural phenomena in examining the unequal distribution of locally desirable land

Previous research addressing the unequal distribution of locally desirable land (LDL) has mainly ignored their associated environments (i.e., rural or urban). However, this study proposed a new framework that treats rural and urban regions separately. In rural areas, the LDLs included all public lands. In urbanized areas, the LDLs were defined as green open spaces. Potential inequities in the distribution of LDL were assessed with respect to socioeconomic characteristics of residents in the State of Georgia. Using US Census Bureau Data (2000), Census Block Groups (CBGs) adjacent to LDLs were compared to CBGs outside of LDLs on four socioeconomic variables (per capita income, occupation, education, and race) in urban, suburban and rural environments. Results showed that CBGs adjacent to LDLs were composed of statistically significant upper-class communities containing fewer blue-collar workers, more whites, and higher income and higher educated people in rural, suburban and urban areas.     

Effect of long-term changes in soil chemistry induced by road salt applications on N-transformations in roadside soils

Of several impacts of road salting on roadside soils, the potential disruption of the nitrogen cycle has been largely ignored. Therefore the fates of low-level ammonium-N and nitrate-N inputs to roadside soils impacted by salting over an extended period (decades) in the field have been studied. The use of road salts disrupts the proportional contributions of nitrate-N and ammonium-N to the mineral inorganic fraction of roadside soils. It is highly probable that the degree of salt exposure of the soil, in the longer term, controls the rates of key microbial N transformation processes, primarily by increasing soil pH. Additional influxes of ammonium-N to salt-impacted soils are rapidly nitrified therefore and, thereafter, increased leaching of nitrate-N to the local waterways occurs, which has particular relevance to the Water Framework Directive. The results reported are important when assessing the fate of inputs of ammonia to soils from atmospheric pollution.     

Modelling Water Blending—Sensitivity of Optimal Policies

Water blending is modelled as a combination of a linear program and a stochastic dynamic program. Optimal policies are found for linear and integer-linear formulations using both an expected monetary value and conditional value-at-risk criterion. The sensitivity of these solutions to the discretisation over volume and over time is investigated.     

对南京市发展绿色经济的思考

简述了发展绿色经济的重要性,指出了南京市发展绿色经济的有利条件及存在问题。提出,南京发展绿色经济,必须树立绿色发展理念,推动科学发展实践;制定绿色发展战略,推进可持续发展;支持绿色技术研发,培育新经济增长点;打造绿色优势产业,促进结构向高端转型;倡导绿色消费行为,推进资源节约、环境友好型社会建设;建立健全绿色制度,提供经济社会发展保障。     

Wellhead treatment costs for groundwater contaminated with pesticides: A preliminary analysis for pineapple in Hawaii

In Hawaii, trace concentrations of pesticides used in the production of pineapple were found in the groundwater supplies of Mililani Town in the Pearl Harbor Basin on the island of Oahu. Groundwater serves as the major source of drinking water and residents pay for wellhead treatment of the contaminated water, via their monthly water bill. The agricultural chemical users within the Pearl Harbor Basin do not include these wellhead treatment costs in their production costs. The agricultural industry benefits from using pesticides but does not pay the entire societal cost of using these chemicals. In this study we evaluate the specific financial cost of wellhead treatment, and not the economic value of groundwater. While wellhead treatment costs could conceivably be shared by several parties, this study focuses on the financial impact of the pineapple industry alone. This study factors annual wellhead treatment costs into annual pineapple production costs to measure the effect on annual financial return from pineapple production. Wellhead treatment costs are calculated from the existing granulated activated carbon (GAC) water treatment facility for Millilani Wells I and II. Pineapple production costs are estimated from previous cost of production studies. The inclusion of wellhead treatment costs produces different production-cost results, depending on the scale of analysis. At the local scale, the Mililani wellhead treatment costs can be factored into the production costs of the pineapple fields, which were probably responsible for contamination of the Mililani Wells, without causing a deficit in economic return. At the larger regional scale, however, the return from all of the pineapple grown in the Pearl Harbor Basin can not sustain the cost of wellhead treatmentfor the entire water supply of the basin. Recommendations point to the prevention of groundwater contamination as more cost-effective measure than wellhead treatment.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE IN CONTROLLING AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF1

Abstract: Agricultural runoff, such as dissolved mineral salts and selenium, creates pronounced downstream impacts to agricultural producers and to wildlife. The ability to manage these problems efficiently depends critically on the institutional pricing structure of irrigation water delivery agencies. An important characteristic of irrigation water delivery is whether irrigators pay per unit of water received or make one payment regardless of the quantity of water received. In this study we compare the effectiveness of agricultural runoff reduction policies in two regions that employ these different water pricing structures. We find that reduction policy is more effective and can be achieved at a lower cost when water is priced on a per unit basis and that growers have greater incentive to act on their own to reduce runoff problems. Operating under a per unit pricing system encourages water conservation and runoff reduction, which creates public benefits that are not achieved under the single-payment, fixed allotment method of irrigation water delivery.     

Leadership self‐efficacy and managers' motivation for leading change

This study develops and tests a leadership model that focuses on managers' motivation for attempting the leadership of change. The construct of leadership self‐efficacy (LSE) is defined, and a measure comprising three dimensions (direction‐setting, gaining followers' commitment, and overcoming obstacles to change) is developed. Based on Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory, the primary hypothesis is that high LSE managers will be seen by direct reports as engaging in more leadership attempts. Relationships are also proposed between LSE and several factors that are expected to influence this confidence judgment. Managers' organizational commitment and crisis perceptions are modelled as potential moderators of the relationship between LSE and leadership attempts. The model was tested through surveys distributed to managers (n = 150) and their direct reports (n = 415) in a real estate management company and an industrial chemicals firm. Positive relationships (p < 0.05) were found between the first two dimensions of LSE and managers' leadership attempts. An interaction effect involving organizational commitment was discovered for the LSE/overcoming obstacles dimension (p < 0.05). Several positive relationships were found between LSE dimensions and proposed antecedents, including self‐esteem (p < 0.05), subordinates' performance abilities (p < 0.05), and managers' job autonomy (p < 0.05). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residents' perceptions of water quality improvements following remediation work in the Pymme's Brook catchment, north London, UK

Residents' perceptions of water quality change following remediation work in the upper Pymme's Brook catchment (north London) were elicited by questionnaire and compared with monitored changes in Escherichia coli count and BMWP (The Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP)) score. The wider usefulness of consumer perception surveys was then discussed. Monthly data collected between 1990 and 1996 shows that both E. coli count and BMWP score improved following flushing of the foul sewerage system in 1992, but that only E. coli count improved following the subsequent completion of large-scale remedial engineering works. Local residents were surveyed regarding their awareness of the scheme, and the causes of pollution, together with their perceptions as to the effects of the engineering works and of the resulting water quality improvements. Most respondents selected and ranked indicators in a way that suggested they had an awareness of the significance of various indicators of pollution severity. Following completion of the remediation scheme, residents perceived the watercourse to contain less rubbish and sewage fungus, and to have an improved colour and smell, which corresponds favourably to the monitored improvements. However, respondents' perceptions were found to vary when the study population was sub-divided using a range of parameters. For instance, frequent observers of the brook were most likely to correctly identify sewage as the main form of pollution. These divergent perceptions suggest that there may be considerable difficulties when perception surveys are used to quantify 'benefits' following environmental improvement programmes. Nevertheless, the survey was clearly beneficial in enhancing residents' awareness of their environment and the role of their voice in its management.