ToSIA—A tool for sustainability impact assessment of forest-wood-chains

Within the forest sector, the sustainability concept has evolved from a narrow focus on sustainable wood production to a much broader evaluation of environmental, social, and economic sustainability for whole value chains. A new software tool - ToSIA - has been developed for assessing sustainability impacts of Forest-Wood-Chains (FWCs). In the approach, FWCs are defined as chains of production processes (e.g. harvesting-transport-industrial processing), which are linked with products (e.g. a timber frame house). Sustainability is determined by analysing environmental, economic, and social sustainability indicators for all the production processes along the FWC. The tool calculates sustainability values as products of the relative indicator values (i.e. indicator value expressed per unit of material flow) multiplied with the material flow entering the process. Calculated sustainability values are then aggregated for the segments of the FWC or for the complete chain. The sustainability impact assessment requires carefully specified system boundaries. ToSIA uses a data-oriented approach that is very flexible in the focus of the analysis and the selection of indicators of sustainability. An example of alternative Norway spruce management systems in Southern Germany and their effects on six sustainability indicators is presented. The less intensive management system with natural regeneration and motor-manual harvesting shows higher carbon storage and slightly less energy use. It creates more employment and higher labour costs, but the average rate of accidents is also higher. ToSIA offers a transparent and consistent methodological framework to assess sustainability impacts in the forest-based sector as affected, e.g. by changes in policies, market conditions, or technology. The paper discusses strengths and limitations of the approach and provides an outlook on further development perspectives of the methodology.     

环境管制对企业土壤污染防治策略的影响机制研究

环境管制和企业土壤污染防治行为之间关系的研究对于我国相关法规的制定具有十分重要的意义。本文以情境脚本的方式模拟不同外部压力情形下企业可能的土壤污染防治行为,目的在于了解我国尚未通过的《土壤污染防治法》应以何种制度设计为佳。结果发现,正式环境管制压力中违规罚金对企业的土壤污染防治行为的影响程度较大;在非正式环境管制压力中,消费者与客户压力对企业土壤污染防治行为的影响程度较大。本文最后还对模拟实验研究的结果进行了讨论。     

金融危机下民营制造业可持续发展路径与政府责任

制造业仍然是中国国民经济的支柱产业.金融危机对外向型的中国制造业造成了严重的冲击,应对危机的根本途径是在提高国际竞争力和承担社会责任之间取得平衡,走可持续发展道路.在中国制造业中,民营企业已经占据主体地位,但是国际竞争力并不强.增强民营制造业企业的国际竞争力是我国制造业乃至整个国民经济摆脱困境的必然选择.目前,我国民营制造企业虽有一定发展,但总体上还处于国际分工价值链的低端,"硬竞争力"和"软竞争力"都明显不足,既受到技术、资金的硬件限制,又没有形成优秀的品牌和企业文化.要提高其国际竞争力,既取决于民营制造企业自身的努力,又要靠政府提供有利的发展环境.民营制造业企业要自主创新、以质取胜、加强管理,并且要增加社会责任感.政府需要在准入条件、融资环境和税收环境方面提供支持.     

Variation in implementation of corporate social responsibility practices in emerging economies' firms: A survey of Chilean fruit exporters

As in many sectors in emerging economies, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become important for exporting agri‐food firms in view of their integration in global supply chains. The purpose of this research was to assess the implementation by Chilean fruit exporters of CSR practices that go beyond minimum legal requirements. The principal results are that, although socio‐economic components of CSR such as poverty reduction and socially just working conditions receive much attention, firms consider comprehensive environmental practices as less important. The results also indicate a slightly higher implementation of comprehensive CSR practices by large firms as compared to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The main conclusion is that, although CSR is increasingly considered by Chilean firms, among SMEs in particular, more attention needs to be paid to raising awareness among managers about CSR practices and to providing assistance in their implementation. This supports findings on CSR implementation in other emerging economies that an active role of civil society and industry organizations is key and that targeted support strategies are needed to install a holistic awareness of CSR and help firms to improve on those aspects of CSR that are relatively underdeveloped.     

建立基于EGSS 的中国环保产业统计框架的思路

欧盟统计署制定的环境货物和服务部门(environmental goods and services sector,EGSS)统计框架是目前国际认可的专门用于环保产业统计的框架体系,具有全面性、多维性和一致性等特点。本文分析了目前中国环保产业统计概况,初步比较了通过公开的常规统计数据收集EGSS数据和环保产业调查收集EGSS数据的可行性,提出实施"分阶段渐进式"策略逐步引入EGSS统计框架较为可行。     

北京市居民PET饮料瓶的消费及回收行为研究

2010年,中国成为世界上PET饮料瓶使用量最大的国家,但中国目前缺乏正规、完整的废PET饮料瓶回收系统,导致了严重的社会与环境问题.因此,采用街头访问的方式,对北京市PET饮料瓶的回收情况展开调研.结果显示,消费后的废PET饮料瓶,44％被消费者存放在家里以卖钱,56％被消费者直接扔进垃圾桶.通过拾荒者、流动回收人员等回收者的回收行为,北京几乎所有的废PET饮料瓶都得到了回收,其中90％是由非正规的回收者回收的.回收后的废PET饮料瓶绝大部分都被小型的、非正规的、没有环境污染防治设施的小工厂使用.     

EIA and green procurement: Opportunities for strengthening their coordination

EIA plays an important role in enhancing the environmental performance of the construction sector. In recent years, the construction sector has been developing green procurement practices. Green procurement is a process that involves the incorporation of environmental requirements during the procurement of services and products. However, discussion on green procurement is rarely seen during the EIA phase. This paper addresses possible opportunities for improving the coordination between EIA and green procurement within the construction sector. The linking of EIA and green procurement has been postulated in the paper as an aid to strengthen the coordination between project planning and implementation. The paper is based on a literature review and is an outcome of an on-going research project concerning EIA and green procurement. This study indicated that it would be appropriate to introduce green procurement during the pre-decision phase of an EIA. In the present study, the opportunities for integrating green procurement at the stage of EIA are associated with the integration of project planning and EIA. Future research should investigate the mechanism through which the link can be established.     

工业行业资源节约程度评价研究——以南京市为例

工业行业不仅是支撑和带动经济社会快速运转的核心,还能带来资源的大量消耗与浪费,恶化资源环境问题。进行工业行业资源节约评价,对加快实现资源节约型城市乃至社会具有重大意义。选取工业体系相对发达、但资源极度匮乏的南京市为例,采用对比法初步分析各工业行业资源利用与环境污染特点;从投入节约、循环节约、保护节约和技术节约4个方面构建资源节约评价指标体系,利用SPSS11.5统计分析软件,建立矩阵分析模型,通过聚类分析方法评价1988~2004年南京市13个工业行业的资源节约程度,并对评价结果进行分类,提出各类行业今后发展的重点与方向,为工业结构进一步调整及资源节约型社会建设提供理论与现实依据。     

部门水足迹及其经济效益的时空匹配特征研究

利用水足迹账户法,核算了2005—2015年张家口市市辖区、坝上和坝下三个区域的农业、工业、建筑业、服务业和生活等部门的水足迹,在此基础上分析不同产业部门水足迹经济效益的时空特征。研究结果表明：（1）马铃薯种植成为张家口市农业水足迹快速上升的最主要驱动因子。马铃薯对农产品水足迹的贡献率由10%上升至50%,成为优势农作物,但是主要集中在坝上地区。（2）工业水足迹下降了64%,市辖区下降最快;建筑业水足迹只有工业水足迹的1%~4%;服务业水足迹由571万m³上升至1436万m³,市辖区上升最快。（3）为实现节水目标,张家口市应继续调整种植业结构、最大限度利用降水,进一步减少灌溉用水;工业领域建立与水有关的投入产出表,并对工业内部产业结构和区域产业布局进行节水规划。     

On the origins of informal hierarchy: The interactive role of formal leadership and task complexity

Informal hierarchies are a common and important feature of many groups, yet we know little about the antecedent conditions that determine the strength of such hierarchies. Building on theory that has depicted hierarchy as a mechanism for reducing uncertainty and creating structure, we posit that informal hierarchies emerge most strongly in situations that are ambiguous, ill‐defined, and unstructured. Three independent studies confirm this notion, demonstrating that groups develop particularly strong informal hierarchies in situations characterized by both a lack of strong formal leadership and high task complexity. These findings support the theoretical notion that formal and informal hierarchies are closely related, but only under conditions of high task complexity in which the structuring functions of hierarchies are most crucial.