Perspectives on corporate social responsibility in the chemical sector: A comparative analysis of the Mexican and South African cases

In recent years, the debate on corporate responsibility has shifted from a focus on environmental management towards a broader concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This article examines the chemical industry's approach to CSR from the perspective of two emerging economies: Mexico and South Africa. The global chemical industry was one of the first to respond to public concerns about environmental pollution, toxic waste and human health by adopting an industry‐wide code of practice, known as Responsible Care. This article examines the extent to which the chemical industry has responded to the broader debate on CSR. On the basis of a comparative case study, this article argues that the response to social issues by Mexican and South African chemical companies has tended to be limited to the ‘community awareness and emergency response’ (CAER) or community dialogue component of the international voluntary management framework, Responsible Care. Similarities and differences in regulatory and institutional conditions, as well as different levels of civil society engagement, reveal additional limitations for CSR, beyond that of the Responsible Care framework. This article argues that the socio‐political context influences the extent to which companies embrace CSR, especially in emerging economies, and highlights several challenges for the chemical industry in moving forward on CSR: credibility, stakeholder engagement, value‐chain accountability, disclosure and transparency. Reflecting on these challenges, the authors conclude by recommending a renewed focus on: (1) developing a broader set of CSR management practices beyond Responsible Care; (2) institutionalizing stronger accountability measures, such as reporting and verification; and (3) developing multi‐stakeholder partnerships that complement regulation and build public sector regulatory and guidance capacity.     

Protecting the environment through public procurement: The case of South Africa

This article deals with the use of the procurement or purchasing power of governments to protect the environment. The focus is on South Africa and the aim is to show that South African organs of state can use procurement as an environmental policy tool to contribute to sustainable development as they have commendably done so to address past discriminatory policies and practices. It is argued that such use does not fall outside the current legislative framework governing procurement and suggestions are made as to how environmental considerations could be incorporated throughout the procurement process, namely the preparatory stage; the drawing up of tender or technical specifications; ensuring the capability or responsibility of contractors; the use of criteria to compare different tenders; and ensuring that eventual performance under a contract is environmentally sound.     

从协调到协同：跨区域环境治理中的监管体制改革与路径——基于万达开川渝统筹发展示范区视角

区域环境协同治理理论可为跨区域环境监管体制改革提供重要理论支撑。在政策和法律法规的推动下,近年来我国跨区域环境治理取得了一定成效,但是仍存在中央与地方权责划分不明,跨区域环境监管缺乏权威性,环境监管垂管制度改革不彻底等问题。现有机制无法有效支撑地方政府开展跨区域环境监管和深层次的环境协同高效治理。为进一步突破现有的制约障碍,提高跨区域环境协同治理效率,应当进一步加快中央层面的跨区域统一立法和地方层面的跨区域协同立法,以法律保障跨区域环境监管体制改革向纵深推进,将中央与地方政府环境保护的权责在法律中进行明确和细化,中央政府成立专门的跨区域环境治理机构,地方层面成立跨区域环境治理协同机构,理顺跨区域环境治理中的纵向和横向关系,进而推进我国生态文明体制建设。     

盆周山区热量资源的特点及其利用

本文根据1982～1985年四川盆周21个山地剖面气候考察资料,分析了盐周山区热量资源特点。着重指出盆周山区的热量资源较同纬度的华中、华东山地具有明显优势;还指出山区逆温的生成对山区气象要素随高度的垂直变化有较大影响;最后提出了利用山区热量资源、开发山区农业的建议。     

日本、韩国环保产业发展经验对中国的借鉴

节能环保产业作为战略性新兴产业的七大重点领域之一,新形势下发展具备有利条件,特别是十二五以来我国环保产业得到了飞速发展,但是由于体制机制、技术、市场等多方面原因环保产业发展也面临诸多挑战和障碍。日本与韩国,环保产业已进入技术成熟期,逐渐成为本国国民经济的支柱产业和世界环保市场的主力,借鉴日韩环保产业的发展经验,提出中国推动环保产业发展的对策建议。     

Economic Incentives to Conserve Wildlife on Private Lands: Analysis and Policy

Some believe that provision of private property rights in wildlife on private land provides a powerful economic incentive for nature conservation because it enables property owners to market such wildlife or its attributes. If such marketing is profitable, private landholders will conserve the wildlife concerned and its required habitat. But land is not always most profitably used for exploitation of wildlife, and many economic values of wildlife (such as non-use economic values) cannot be marketed. The mobility of some wildlife adds to the limitations of the private-property approach. While some species may be conserved by this approach, it is suboptimal as a single policy approach to nature conservation. Nevertheless, it is being experimented with, in the Northern Territory of Australia where landholders had a possibility of harvesting on their properties a quota of eggs and chicks of red-tailed black cockatoos for commercial sale. This scheme was expected to provide an incentive to private landholders to retain hollow trees essential for the nesting of these birds but failed. This case and others are analysed. Despite private-property failures, the long-term survival of some wildlife species depends on their ability to use private lands without severe harassment, either for their migration or to supplement their available resources, for example, the Asian elephant. Nature conservation on private land is often a useful, if not essential, supplement to conservation on public lands. Community and public incentives for such conservation are outlined.     

基于OMI数据的四川盆地对流层甲醛时空分布特征

基于OMI卫星遥感反演的对流层甲醛柱浓度资料,对2005—2016年四川盆地对流层甲醛柱浓度的时空分布特征及其影响因素进行了分析.结果表明,12年间甲醛柱浓度年际变化总体呈上升趋势,年均增长率为1.17%.12年间甲醛柱浓度具有波动性,年均最低值和年均最高值分别出现于2005年和2012年.2005—2008年四川盆地甲醛柱浓度相对较低;2011年对流层甲醛柱浓度达到最大且高值区范围最大,2012年后浓度逐渐降低.四川盆地甲醛柱浓度季节变化表现为夏季春季秋季冬季.一年之中,月均甲醛柱浓度最小值基本出现在每年的11—12月,最大值则出现在6—8月.甲醛柱浓度空间分布的高值区主要分布在盆地内西南部的成都平原地区,低值区则多处于人为源排放较低的重庆东北部山区.能源消耗、生产总值及机动车保有量与对流层甲醛柱浓度具有显著的正相关关系.工业源、居民源和交通源排放对甲醛柱浓度具有重要贡献.四川盆地独特的地形及区域内风场对甲醛的扩散也有重要影响.     

旅游景区(点)系统空间分布的分形发育及演化特征——以四川省为例

论文以四川省为例,借用分形理论中的网格维测算方法分析旅游景区(点)系统的空间分形特征,用位序-规模双对数拟合方法研究旅游流的规模分布规律,得到以下结论:①旅游景区(点)系统分形是演化的分形,分形结构是逐步进化而来的。1980年以前,四川省旅游景区(点)的空间分布尚未发育分形结构,直至1990年,分形结构才逐渐形成;②旅游景区(点)空间分布的分形发育与旅游流流量规模分布的分形演化在总体趋势上是一致的,但具体过程有不同步性;③旅游景区(点)空间分布的分形发育为旅游业发展提供了良好的载体平台,但并不意味着旅游流的规模分布就一定会发育成理想的分形结构,还需要对相关要素进行调控,才能使旅游流的规模分布也具有分形特征。     

四川盆地大气NO2特征研究

利用臭氧观测仪(OMI)卫星遥感反演的NO2柱密度数据,分析了2004年以来四川盆地对流层NO2柱密度和总NO2柱密度的时空特征.结果表明,对流层NO2柱密度和总NO2柱密度呈逐渐上升的趋势,年平均增长率分别约为5.14%和3.42%,而且对流层NO2柱密度的变化特征和总NO2柱密度的相似(r =0.91).春、夏季对流层NO2柱密度和总NO2柱密度明显大于秋、冬季,对流层NO2柱密度与总NO2柱密度比率的最小值和最大值分别出现在6月和12月,分别为0.51和0.66,比率的变化特征呈现了人为排放影响的特征.在重庆市、成都市等经济较为发达的城市地区出现NO2柱密度高值中心,对流层NO2柱密度更为明显,多年平均值分别达10.52′1015和8.92′1015 molec/cm2.对流层NO2柱密度和总NO2柱密度的变化呈现强的正相关,大部分地区的相关系数>0.95(比率>0.5),特别是在成都市和重庆市等经济较为发达的城市地区,相关系数接近1,比率达到0.8以上,突出了人为排放NO2的作用.     

A preliminary investigation on the occurrence and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in the Beijiang River, South China

The occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) was investigated and quantified in 20 water samples collected in the Beijiang River, South China. Sulfonamide- and tetracycline-resistant bacteria were present in 17 and 14 of the collected 20 samples. For sulfonamide ARGs, sulI and sulII were frequently observed in the Beijiang River. The levels of sulI were higher than sulII (p < 0.05), with the mean values of (1.41 ± 1.12) × 10-2 and (1.58 ± 1.71) × 10-3 copies/16S rDNA, respectively. For tetracycline ARGs, tetG had the highest frequency, 100%, followed by tetA (85%), tetO (85%), tetC (70%), tetX (60%), tetM (40%) and tetQ (20%), while tetE and tetS were not detected in all the samples from the Beijiang River. On the other hand, tetC had the highest concentration, ranging from 8.30 × 10-2 to 13.20 copies/16S rDNA. The poor correlation between ARGs and antibiotic concentrations revealed that the self-amplification and persistence of ARGs were the reasons that made ARGs exist in the water environment even though the antibiotic selecting pressure was absent. Because so few field measurements have been conducted for investigating the levels of ARGs in rivers in South China, this study provides an important insight on better understanding the occurrence and spread of ARGs in such an ecosystem.