Solution-oriented global environmental assessments: Opportunities and challenges

This article provides an introduction to the Special Issue dedicated to “Solution-oriented Global Environmental Assessments: Opportunities and Challenges”. In the follow-up to the Paris climate agreement and the adoption and early implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals involving many synergies and trade-offs, the need to shift the focus from environmental problem analysis towards the exploration of specific solution options can be observed in international environmental governance debates. To remain policy-relevant, credible and legitimate, global environmental assessments (GEAs) must carefully adapt to a rapidly evolving governance landscape. This Special Issue sheds light on the potential utility and implications of increased solution-orientation of GEAs. It builds on the research project “The Future of Global Environmental Assessment Making” that was jointly initiated in 2013 by UN Environment and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. The article collection includes research on the coevolution of GEAs and the increasingly solution-oriented governance context; conditions of success for contemporary GEAs; the treatment of divergent viewpoints, stakes and stakeholders in solution-oriented GEAs; knowledge aggregation; and the enhanced measurement of GEA effectiveness in the emerging governance landscape.     

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Environmental Dredging in South Lake,China

Environmental dredging is a primary remedial option for removal of the contaminated material from aquatic environment. Of primary concern in environmental dredging is the effectiveness of the intended sediment removal. A 5-year field monitoring study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the environmental dredging in South Lake, China. The concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphors, and heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Hg, and As) before and after dredging in sediment were determined and compared. Multiple ecological risk indices were employed to assess the contamination of heavy metals before and after dredging. Our results showed that the total phosphorus levels reduced 42% after dredging. Similar changes for Hg, Zn, As Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Ni were observed, with reduction percentages of 97.0, 93.1, 82.6, 63.9, 52.7, 50.1, 32.0, and 23.6, respectively, and the quality of sediment improved based on the criterion of Sediment Quality Guidelines by USEPA and contamination degree values (C_d) decreased significantly (paired t-test, p < 0.05). Unexpectedly, the TN increased 49% after dredging compared to before dredging. Findings from the study demonstrated that the environmental dredging was an effective mechanism for removal of total phosphorus and heavy metals from South Lake. Nevertheless, the dredging was ineffective to remove total nitrogen from sediment. We conclude that the reason for the observed increase in TN after dredging was likely ammonia release from the sediment impairing the dredging effectiveness.     

提高环评报告书质量加快浙江省环境影响评价有效性建设

影响环境影响评价(EIA)有效性的因素较多．如相应的政策法规、管理机制和技术的正确性等。文章从环评技术角度出发,以抽样选取的浙江省1997～2001年间完成的100本环评报告书(EIS)为统计对象．按建设项目环保审批6项原则为依据,从产业政策符合性、选址与总图布局合理性、清洁生产、达标排放、总量控制、区域环境质量可达性等方面进行分析．评估了浙江省EIA有效性,探讨了目前EIA中存在的问题及原冈,提出了一些提高EIS质量、加快浙江省EIA有效性建设的建议     

航运企业安全管理体系有效性评价研究

定期评价安全管理体系的有效性既是ISM规则的强制要求,更是航运企业持续改进安全管理体系,提高体系运行质量的重要手段,但目前不少企业在管理实践中对体系的有效性评价大多采取定性的方法,难以保证评价结果的客观性和科学性。通过安全管理体系有效性内涵及其表现特征的分析,将体系运行有效的符合性、目标性、适宜性、充分性和文化性5个表现特征作为一级指标,并进一步细化得到24项二级指标体系,采用层次分析法确定各指标的权重,以实例验证,为航运企业实施安全管理体系有效性评价提供科学、客观、有效的方法。     

试论区域环境影响评价的有效性和公众参与

简述了区域环境影响评价的特点，着重讨论了ＲＥＬＡ有效性的影响因素和限制条件；通过论述ＲＥＩＡ和公众参与的含义，内容以及扩大公众参与的建议等，提出公众参与对提高ＲＥＩＡ有效性的积极作用。     

基于DPSIR概念模型的土壤环境成效评估方法研究

土壤环境质量关系到农产品质量安全和人居环境健康。对优质土壤实施严格保护、对受污染土壤实施风险管控或治理与修复,构成了土壤污染防治的主体任务。为科学评价土壤污染防治成效,及时采取应对措施,切实维护土壤环境安全,文章在系统总结国内外关于指标概念框架、指标筛选方法等环境成效评估方法基础上,采用DPSIR(驱动力-压力-状态-影响-响应)概念模型,基于可统计、可分解、可考核的原则,构建了可应用于地市和县级行政区土壤污染防治成效评价的指标体系。     

Environmental risk assessment; a case study of the Colhuw Beach revetment on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales

A newly constructed coastal revetment at Colhuw Beach in the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales, UK, was analysed using a recently developed environmental risk assessment package (ERA). Conflict with Heritage Coast conservation objectives is apparent and the act of building such a structure is questioned for a location where maintenance ofnatural beauty is an axiom of the coastal management philosophy. The likelyhood of revetment related environmental consequences of significant magnitude was analysed using estimated probability values derived from Bayesian theory. The damaging impact of the structure on the natural environment is out of all proportion to the level of storm protection afforded to the site. Analyses, such as carried out via ERA, would have shown planners, engineers and environmentalists, the inadequacies of such an investment and management strategy. The ERA approach can help to introduce greater clarity and consistency into decision making processes.     

Environmental risk assessment; a case study of the Colhuw Beach revetment on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales

A newly constructed coastal revetment at Colhuw Beach in the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Wales, UK, was analysed using a recently developed environmental risk assessment package (ERA). Conflict with Heritage Coast conservation objectives is apparent and the act of building such a structure is questioned for a location where maintenance ofnatural beauty is an axiom of the coastal management philosophy. The likelyhood of revetment related environmental consequences of significant magnitude was analysed using estimated probability values derived from Bavesian theory. The damaging impact of the structure on the natural environment is out of all proportion to the level of storm protection afforded to the site. Analyses, such as carried out via ERA, would have shown planners, engineers and environmentalists, the inadequacies of such an investment and management strategy. The ERA approach can help to introduce greater clarity and consistency into decision making processes.     

Toward quantifying the effectiveness of water trading under uncertainty

This paper presents a methodology for quantifying the effectiveness of water-trading under uncertainty, by developing an optimization model based on the interval-parameter two-stage stochastic program (TSP) technique. In the study, the effectiveness of a water-trading program is measured by the water volume that can be released through trading from a statistical point of view. The methodology can also deal with recourse water allocation problems generated by randomness in water availability and, at the same time, tackle uncertainties expressed as intervals in the trading system. The developed methodology was tested with a hypothetical water-trading program in an agricultural system in the Swift Current Creek watershed, Canada. Study results indicate that the methodology can effectively measure the effectiveness of a trading program through estimating the water volume being released through trading in a long-term view. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to analyze the effects of different trading costs on the trading program. It shows that the trading efforts would become ineffective when the trading costs are too high. The case study also demonstrates that the trading program is more effective in a dry season when total water availability is in shortage.     

碱性固硫剂的固硫效果分析

本文描述了各种碱性氧化物固硫效果选择实验结果,论述了煤种,燃烧温度、钙/硫比、Fe_2O_3对固硫效果的影响。