Review of water-energy-food Nexus tools to improve the Nexus modelling approach for integrated policy making

The synergies and trade-offs between the water, energy, and food sectors are represented by the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. The Nexus Approach is an integrated decision making practice that can be used by policy makers to optimize these synergies and manage trade-offs. In this paper, the direction of the Nexus Approach regarding the development of modelling tools is explored. The objective of this paper is to review the existing Nexus modelling tools used for integrated policy making to determine and to help policy makers, practitioners, and agencies trying to implement the Nexus Approach to identify a tool that is most suited to their modelling needs. The predominant capabilities of the current tools lie in the understanding of Nexus complexity, consideration of financial elements in the tools, recognition of the importance of multiple Nexus Approach directions, incorporation of different time scales, and enhanced tool accessibility. The main limitations are the extensive data requirements of current tools, and the poor synergy between tools assessing individual Nexus areas. This enhanced overview of the existing tools allows policy makers to maximize the synergies between the Nexus areas, to avoid consumption dilemmas, and to facilitate sustainable development.     

我国北方农村生活燃煤情况调查、排放估算及政策启示

北方重灰霾频发时段与集中燃煤在冬季高度重合,引发了对农村散煤严重污染的担忧,但缺乏有力的统计数据支持. 2014年9月,在河北保定开展了当地农村生活能源使用情况入村调查,共获得5个村庄中543户家庭的能源使用数据. 结果表明:①保定农村地区散煤、电、液化气的使用覆盖率均很高,分别达到97%、100%和94%,反映了当前农村居民的能源消费更倾向于商业购置;而木柴和秸杆的使用覆盖率则较低,分别为13%和11%,表明传统的依赖于木柴和秸杆的能源方式已发生了根本改变. ②目前煤炭在农村能源结构中仍居主导地位,占近80%(其中散煤占76%,蜂窝煤占2%),其次为电力(10%)、液化气(5%),秸杆和木柴的比例(小于5%)均较低. ③调查估算,保定农村地区在2013年冬季采暖季(2013年11月─2014年3月)散煤用量超过500×104 t,高于《中国能源统计年鉴(2013)》中河北全省2012年农村散煤的用量(467×104 t),表明现有能源统计体系有待进一步完善. ④保定农村地区散煤的烟粉尘(即PM)和SO₂排放量分别为5.4×104和11.2×104 t,均超过了《中国环境统计年报(2013)》中保定的工业废气和城镇生活领域相应的排放量(甚至超过2个领域排放量之和),表明农村散煤燃烧的排放问题确应引起特别关注.由于农村散煤燃烧排放高度较低,其单位排放对空气污染的贡献要远高于高架源排放,因此,建议国家和地方将农村能源结构调整置于当前能源结构调整计划的最优先领域,采取综合措施,消除农村散煤使用的污染排放,这可能是应对当前冬季灰霾问题的关键举措之一.      

“耕地总量动态平衡”政策驱动下中国的耕地变化及其生态环境效应

土地政策是影响土地利用及生态环境变化的一个重要的驱动因素。论文分析了“耕地总量动态平衡”政策对中国的耕地变化及其生态环境效应的影响,结果表明,“耕地总量动态平衡”政策对中国耕地的数量变化产生了积极作用,主要表现为:非农建设占用耕地的势头总体上得到遏制,全国及各省(市、区)基本实现耕地占补平衡,促进了农地整理工作的开展。但是,该政策对中国耕地的质量变化的影响却相反,在全国实现耕地占补平衡的情况下,耕地的总体生产能力呈下降趋势,同时,对生态环境产生了一定的负面效应。在此基础上,论文提出了重新审视“耕地总量动态平衡”政策的可行性,以“保护和提高耕地综合生产能力”替代“耕地总量动态平衡”以及根据土地资源区域差异采取不同的具体措施等对该政策加以调整的思路。     

对废旧物资回收业的管理政策分析

如何从源头做到城市生活垃圾减量化、资源化和无害化，实现物资回收再利用，获得物资回收在经济和环境效益的和谐统一，一直是理论界和现实生活中一个长期争论的问题。从政策管理的角度出发，尝试找到一个实现个人利益和政府管理角色和谐统一的方法，以期能通过政策管理，利用经济手段，从源头实现城市生活垃圾的减量化、资源化和无害化。     

Evaluating the impacts of sea level rise on coastal wetlands in Languedoc-Roussillon,France

Sea-level rise due to climate change creates new risks of submersion in coastal areas that must be taken into account. Although these are long-term risks for 2100, it is important to anticipate possible consequences in order to identify the most vulnerable areas or issues and develop the appropriate adaptation policies. The aim of this paper is to examine the consequences of such sea-level rise for wetlands in the Languedoc-Roussillon region (France) which is particularly at risk of submersion. The analysis is based on the worst case scenario of a one meter sea level rise by 2100, with a variety of adaptive strategies: denial, laissez-faire and strategic retreat of infrastructure and buildings. This latter strategy assumes that the retreat wetlands is unconstrained. The evaluation examines the losses and transformations of ecological habitats, depending on their distance from salt water. Estimating damages and benefits requires first, to study the evolution of the services supplied by different habitats and second, to estimate the value of the economic impact. This approach demonstrates the superiority of a strategic retreat policy which would halve the damages resulting from submersion.     

Modelling individual preferences for environmental policy drivers: Empirical evidence of Italian lifestyle changes using a latent class approach

Degraded air quality severely affects the health of citizens worldwide. The design of effective policies requires exploring public preferences for environmental and air quality policy instruments. Within the EC-FP7 SEFIRA project, using a choice experiment that stresses the trade-offs between attributes, this study investigates public preferences for environmental policy drivers in Italy. The main objective is to investigate the role played by selected policy drivers in determining policy preferences, complemented by elasticity and willingness to pay estimations. Preference heterogeneity and the role of socio-economic and attitudinal variables are explored with a latent class model over 2400 respondents sampled across Italy. The results allow identifying the different role played by the policy drivers across the classes. It emerged that most of the respondents (43%) are particularly sensitive to the cost components (cost sensitive respondents). The remaining respondents instead show an important sensitivity towards personal engagement in term of changes in the mobility and eating habits (lifestyle-change sensitive respondents). However, while 29% of them perceive these habits’ changes as negatively impacting on the personal utility, the other 28% of respondents translate the potential changes in the habitual behaviour of driving and eating as environmental and health benefits. Based on the modelling results, potential policies are simulated reporting respondents’ reaction to selected scenarios. It shows the crucial role played by reduction of premature deaths due to atmospheric pollution and measure cost.     

Impacts of agri-environmental policy on land use and nitrogen leaching in Finland

Agri-environmental policies are challenging to be evaluated since they are often implemented in combination with other policies and regulations affecting agriculture. Also input and output markets affect agriculture. We provide impact assessment of agri-environmental scheme implemented in Finland 2007–2013 based on integrated economic and hydrological modelling and counterfactual scenarios. Development of crop specific fertilisation and land use changes, simulated using a multi-regional economic sector model, is included in a nutrient leaching model implemented in a typical agricultural region. Our results on agricultural production, land use, and nitrogen leaching show that the agri-environmental policy successfully mitigates nutrient leaching in intensive production regions but some mitigation potential is lost in less intensive regions.     

An integration of net imported emissions into climate change targets

There is an international divide between net emissions importers and net emissions exporters, with industrialised nations mainly falling into the former and emerging economies the latter. Integrating emissions transfers into climate policy, so as not to disadvantage export-intensive countries, has been suggested to increase participation in international emissions reduction commitments. Consumption-based scenarios are presented for the UK identifying the geographic and sectorial source of emissions to meet future consumer demands given the current international climate policy landscape. The analysis is applied to the UK yet the discussion is applicable to international climate policy; assigning national responsibility for global emissions reductions; and extending the mitigation potential for net importing countries. Two trajectories for UK consumption emissions are calculated in which (1) international reduction targets are consistent with those pledged today equating to four degrees of temperature rise and (2) international reduction targets achieve a two degree future. By 2050 it is estimated that UK consumption emissions are 40–260% greater than UK territorial emissions depending on the strength of global reduction measures, and assuming the UK meets its 80% reduction in 1990 emissions by 2050 target. Cumulative emissions are presented alongside emissions trajectories, recognising that temperature rise is directly related to every tonne of carbon emitted. Whilst this paper argues that the current UK emissions targets underestimate the UK's contribution to global mitigation for two degrees, it shows how expanding the focus of policy towards consumption introduces new opportunities for reduction strategies at scale. The paper advocates the implementation of consumption-based emissions accounting which reveals underexploited policy interventions and increases the potential to break down barriers that exist between industrialised and emerging economies in international climate policy.     

How robust is public support for unilateral climate policy?

Most governments emphasize the need for reciprocal (“give and take”) international commitments in global climate policy. Nonetheless, existing public opinion polls indicate strong support by individual citizens for unilateral climate policies as well. This raises the question of whether governments could, without risking electoral punishment, afford to pursue more ambitious unilateral climate policies, or whether surveys may have overestimated support for unilateralism due to measurement problems. Based on conjoint and framing experiments embedded in representative surveys in the world's two largest democracies, India and the United States, we engage in a critical re-assessment of earlier survey results. We find robust public support for unilateral climate policy in both countries. Such support declines with increasing costs and increases with growing co-benefits and problem solving effectiveness. We also find, however, that policy conditionality and possible institutional design mechanisms against free-riding by other states (which make the policy “less unilateral” by providing for reciprocation) play no significant role when citizens form their preferences with respect to climate policy. Neither is public support affected by whether policies focus on adaptation (which limits benefits to the investing country) or mitigation (which benefits all countries globally). Overall, these findings suggest that, in view of very slow progress in global climate policy, governments of rich and poor countries could politically afford to push ahead with more ambitious unilateral climate policies.     

餐厨垃圾国家政策及地方法规研究和思考

文章介绍了餐厨垃圾的产生和危害,以及目前国家及地方在餐厨垃圾处理方面颁布和制定的指导性文件、政策性法规、及行业标准。通过总结苏州、宁波、西宁、乌鲁木齐等城市在治理餐厨垃圾过程中的经验,结合这些地区在餐厨垃圾处理方面的地方法规、收集运输系统、无害化处理体系的建立过程,通过分析思考,提出了适用于一般城市的关于餐厨垃圾收集、运输、处理过程系统性的工作框架。指出了餐厨垃圾处理目前面临的主要问题,并对未来如何推进和完善餐厨垃圾处理工作提出了合理化建议,对政府未来的决策具有一定程度的参考意义。