Public parks as an element of urban planning: a missing piece in Accra's growth and development

Public parks are important to urban environments, residents, and visitors. Among other functions, they provide environmental services, such as air and water purification, and they increase both recreational opportunities and the attractiveness of the urban environment. Because of their importance, urban parks serve as public spaces that provide visitors and urban residents with rights to the city. This paper identifies the dearth of urban public parks in Accra-Tema city-region as worrying. The Accra Plan 1958 underscored the significance of green spaces and designated the coastal strip for parks development but the areas have been lost to various urban uses. We argue that the continual neglect of public parks within urban planning and community development schemes in the Accra-Tema city-region is a major concern because it is depriving the citizens a right to the city and its public spaces. A number of factors have worked adversely against the provision of public parks and green spaces in the city-region. These include development pressures, undue political interference, a complex land delivery system, and ad hoc planning. The paper concludes by offering policy suggestions as to how to resolve the dearth of parks and green spaces in the city-region.     

From Policy Document to Implementation: Organizational Routines as Possible Barriers to Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation

This paper aims to understand the role of organizational routines as possible barriers to the mainstreaming of climate adaptation at the implementation stage. While the mainstreaming of climate adaptation into policy documents is relatively easy, the implementation of these policies seems to be more problematic. Barriers to climate adaptation often occur during this stage as the implementation of the policies is generally undertaken by other actors than the policy-makers. These actors act based on organizational routines. As organizational routines aim to provide stability, they tend to be reaffirmative. Reorganizing the resources and practices of these actors to initiate mainstreaming then proves difficult. Consequently, the routines could prevent change that might be necessary to address new policy objectives such as climate adaptation. An analytical framework consisting of four self-reinforcing mechanisms is used to understand and explain why and how organizational routines can hamper the mainstreaming of climate adaptation during implementation. A case study is used to illustrate organizational routines as possible barriers. The paper concludes by stating that to optimize the possibilities of mainstreaming climate adaptation, a change in routines is necessary. In order to stimulate change in organizational routines, the focus should be on reflecting on existing routines, legitimacy building and learning.     

Dynamics of Policy Networks. The Case of Organic Farming Policy in the Czech Republic

To better understand the potential for successful and long-term establishment of environmental policy, the aim of this paper is to explore the network dynamics of a policy field that has become well established in the EU: organic farming. We look at the dynamics of the organic farming policy network in the Czech Republic over a period of 10 years by applying a comparative formal network analysis. We focused in particular on the distribution of power between actors and how capacities of policy actors have evolved between 2004 (its year of accession to the EU) and 2014. We conclude that the organic farming policy network in the Czech Republic has been highly dynamic and has changed from one that was decidedly influenced by organic sector organizations to a network centralized around the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the organic farming organization managed to maintain its good reputation for competence in organic farming policy, which creates opportunities for the organization to remain active in the policy debate.     

Aligning Climate Policy with National Interest: Disengagements with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in South Africa

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) were proposed as a policy framework that could provide middle ground for meeting both the development and mitigation objectives in developing countries. While South Africa engaged actively with the NAMA terminology in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, its engagement at the domestic level has been rather lacklustre. This presents an interesting paradox. The paper studies the interplay of international norms embodied in NAMAs with South Africa's domestic policy process. Disengagement and contestation around NAMAs in South Africa is played out at three stages: decision-making stage where the symptoms surrounding this contestation first emerge; policy formulation stage where NAMAs have to not only align with the National Development Plan but also compete with a predilection for domestically familiar terminology of flagships under the national climate policy; and finally the broader agenda-setting stage of policy process, where NAMAs have to prove useful in not only pursuing the developmental state agenda but also in tackling the underlying material factors that represent country's economic dependency on fossil fuels. NAMAs faced combined resistance from ideas and interests in various degrees at all these stages resulting in their disengagement.     

铅酸电池行业环保专项行动的环境与经济影响研究

"十五"以来,我国涉重行业高速发展,造成了严重的重金属污染和多起群体性污染事故。从2009年起,环保部等九部委连续四年对重金属排放企业违法排污行为进行环保专项行动。本文以2011年铅蓄电池行业环保专项行动为例,分析重金属污染治理的环境影响、经济影响和社会影响。专项行动对行业短期赢利能力和中小企业就业有一定负面影响,但是显著改善了行业产能利用率,提升了行业整体技术水平,提高了产业集中度,促进了空间布局向工业园区、向东部地区集中。总体来看,铅蓄电池行业环保专项行动达到了预期的环境和经济目标,行业发展从高增长、高代价的"非常态"模式进入相对可持续的中高速、低代价的"新常态"。"十三五"期间,要实现经济中高速增长和环境质量总体改善的双重目标,必须加强对高污染行业的环境管理。将行政执法与刑事执法紧密衔接,通过提高企业违法成本从源头遏制违法排污行为;根据污染企业的空间布局建设相应的环保机构,加强农村地区的环保能力;在欠发达地区要保持经济规划、城镇规划和环境规划的一致性,在区域协调发展过程中实现绿色发展。     

The Introduction of the Precautionary Principle in Danish Environmental Policy: The Case of Plant Growth Retardants

In this paper, we investigate the Precautionary Principle (PP) in action. Precaution is a fairly new concept in environmental policy. It emerged back in the 1960s but did not consolidate until the 1980s, as it formed part of the major changes taking place in environmental policies at that time. The PP is examined in three contexts. Firstly, we look at the meaning of the concept and how it is disseminated through the media and public discourses to the political arenas of Denmark. Then we examine how the idea is adopted to the political level. Thirdly, we look briefly at the first Danish translation of the principle into a practical context, which includes translations into concrete scientific practices. It is concluded that if the PP shall be more than a simple “idea” or a frequently used “term,” emphasis must be put on the transformation of the concept into concrete practices, like e.g., the alternative testing regimes that we show in the case of plant growth-retarding pesticides presented in this paper.     

Why the Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources Has Not Worked

Abstract:  Genetic diversity is indispensable for long-term forest sustainability and is therefore mentioned in numerous binding and nonbinding political covenants calling for action. Nevertheless, there are significant obstacles to the conservation of forest genetic resources. We discuss hindrances to genetic conservation, mainly in Europe. We identified impediments by reviewing the literature and on the basis of the experiences of the authors in this field and their participation in related political processes. The impediments include (1) difficulties in assessing and monitoring genetic erosion and human impacts (e.g., by the lack of markers showing adaptive variation and the lack of record keeping on the use and transfer of forest-tree germplasm), (2) complexities of European national structures that make the development of a common strategy toward forest genetic conservation problematic, (3) lack of effective forest governance in many parts of the world, (4) the general unattractiveness of genes as flagships in raising public awareness, (5) lack of integration of genetic aspects into biodiversity conservation, and (6) the fact that scientists and politicians are often at cross-purposes. To overcome these impediments, forest geneticists and their peers in species conservation have to participate more actively in decision making. In doing so, they must be prepared to face challenges on 2 fronts: participating in political processes and the provision of significant research findings to ensure that decisions with respect to forest genetic diversity are politically implementable and effectively address targets.     

绿色金融改革政策的碳减排效应

以绿色金融改革创新试验区政策为例,基于2013~2019年间我国280个地级市的面板数据,运用双重差分法识别绿色金融改革政策是否具有碳减排效应以及其作用机制.研究发现,绿色金融改革政策具有显著碳减排效应（平均值为-0.375）,且呈现逐年递增.机制分析发现,绿色金融改革政策主要通过降低能源消耗强度、提升绿色技术创新水平发挥碳减排效应.此外,绿色金融改革政策具有正向溢出效应,绿色金融改革政策的碳减排效应会辐射到试点区域的周边地区.但绿色金融改革政策并未发挥多污染物减排协同效应.基于此,本文提出了扩大改革试验区范围、加大对绿色金融主体的激励和引导以及发挥绿色金融政策协同效应等政策建议.     

我国工业园区生态化轨迹及政策变迁

本文梳理了我国工业园区生态化过程中,包括生态工业示范园区、循环经济园、低碳园区、绿色园区建设的政策变迁,总结出工业园区生态化的轨迹和特点,并分析了工业园区生态化过程中的不足和未来面临的挑战。我国工业园区生态化特点包括：试点-示范-推广的一般模式、学习型的政策、逐步多样的政策工具、参与政府部门的逐步多样化与最终整合的趋势、产业共生与多种环境管理措施并行的状态。未来的工业园区生态化工作需要注重理清产业共生的内涵,确定相应的政策目标、政策工具和评价体系,同时需要注重园区的能力建设。     

理性对待 稳妥操作 切实调整完善废旧物资税征政策

围绕废旧物资增值税税征管理政策调整完善工作,论述了其在废旧物资“产废”、“收废”、“利废”三大基础环节的现状及存在的问题,提出合理平衡三大环节的经济利益及打造三大环节税征链扣的建议,为切实做好废旧物资税征政策调整完善工作提供参考。