执行水污染物总量收费政策效果评价

通过对排放水污染物总量收费政策在无锡市实施情况的调查与分析 ,评价了总量收费政策的执行效果 ,并对达标排放停总量收费的做法进行了利弊分析。指出 ,应完善总量收费政策 ,以发挥其在环境管理中的经济杠杆作用     

促进环保产业园区创新创业机制政策作用力研究

文章研究分析了环保产业园发展不同阶段的特征,采用单因素评价法、专家咨询法和模糊综合评价法等方法研究分析了科技人才政策、财税激励政策、金融政策、规范引导政策和配套服务政策等五类环保产业园创新创业促进政策在环保产业园发展的诞生阶段、成长阶段、成熟阶段和衰退阶段以及园区建设全过程的作用力情况,分析得出环保产业园区建设各阶段应...     

Policy for management of water resources in Greece

The quantities of water are not distributed uniformly in space and time. Greece compared to some other Mediterranean countries is found in advantageous position regarding the availability of water resources. However, there are regions with great in quantity water reserves and others with intense deficiencies. The management of water resources in Greece is concentrated in the systematic spatiotemporal monitoring and forecast of two basic multidimensional parameters, the availability of water resources and the water demand, as well as, in the implementation of necessary measures for the satisfaction of needs, regarding the fields of economy and environment. This work describes and analyses the existing status of water resources in Greece, as well as, the framework of applied policy. Furthermore, measures and actions for the management of water resources are proposed.     

Biodiversity Offsets: Two New Zealand Case Studies and an Assessment Framework

Biodiversity offsets are increasingly being used for securing biodiversity conservation outcomes as part of sustainable economic development to compensate for the residual unavoidable impacts of projects. Two recent New Zealand examples of biodiversity offsets are reviewed—while both are positive for biodiversity conservation, the process by which they were developed and approved was based more on the precautionary principal than on any formal framework. Based on this review and the broader offset literature, an environmental framework for developing and approving biodiversity offsets, comprising six principles, is outlined: (1) biodiversity offsets should only be used as part of an hierarchy of actions that first seeks to avoid impacts and then minimizes the impacts that do occur; (2) a guarantee is provided that the offset proposed will occur; (3) biodiversity offsets are inappropriate for certain ecosystem (or habitat) types because of their rarity or the presence of threatened species within them; (4) offsets most often involve the creation of new habitat, but can include protection of existing habitat where there is currently no protection; (5) a clear currency is required that allows transparent quantification of values to be lost and gained in order to ensure ecological equivalency between cleared and offset areas; (6) offsets must take into account both the uncertainty involved in obtaining the desired outcome for the offset area and the time-lag that is involved in reaching that point.     

Risk-based management of contaminated land in the UK: Lessons for China?

The management of contaminated land is now assuming greater attention in Chinese debates on environmental governance. However, the existing management system appears ineffective as it lacks a clear policy framework and technical basis. In the United Kingdom (UK), contaminated land issues are dealt with through a risk-based approach. This approach emphasizes the application of risk approaches in both technical and integrated management systems. Conceptually, this paper outlines generic issues related to transferring programmes from one place to another. We argue that too much emphasis has been placed on the barriers to effective transfer, rather than focusing on methods of abstracting lessons for application in foreign settings. We then examine the Chinese system and its problems in managing contaminated land before turning to the UK risk-based approach to see what lessons can be learned from it. Four aspects are analyzed and compared: legislative and policy framework; administrative structure and capacity; technical approaches; and incentive strategy. Based on the experience of the UK in practice, some suggestions are then proposed for China in order to improve its management of contaminated land. We suggest that this should include: a focus on the problem sites; development of a risk-based technical approach and integrated management system; the introduction of financial incentives; and the use of planning control as a management strategy. It is believed that a risk-based integrated management approach may be helpful for China to achieve sustainable solutions for contaminated land.     

Investments in agricultural water management for poverty reduction in Africa: Case studies of Limpopo,Nile, and Volta river basins

Much of Sub‐Saharan Africa is burdened with water scarcity and poverty. Continentally, less than four percent of Africa's renewable water resources are withdrawn for agriculture and other uses. Investments in agricultural water management can contribute in several ways to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability. Increased yield and cropping area and shifts to higher valued crops could help boost the income of rural households, generate more employment, and lower consumer food prices. These investments can also stabilize output, income and employment, and have favourable impacts on education, nutrition and health, and social equity. Investments in agricultural water management can cut poverty by uplifting the entitlements and transforming the opportunity structure for the poor. The overall role of investments in agricultural water management in eradicating hunger and poverty is analyzed. This paper contributes to the present debate and efforts to identify strategies and interventions that can effectively contribute to poverty reduction in Africa. It provides an overview of population growth, malnutrition, income distribution and poverty for countries in three case study river basins — Limpopo, Nile, and Volta. With discussions on the contribution of agriculture to national income and employment generation, the paper explores the linkages among water resources investments, agricultural growth, employment, and poverty alleviation. It examines the potential for expansion in irrigation for vertical and horizontal growth in agricultural productivity, via gains in yield and cropping area to boost the agricultural output. Factors constraining such potential, in terms of scarcity and degradation of land and water resources, and poor governance and weak institutions, are also outlined. The paper argues that increased investments in land and water resources and related rural infrastructure are a key pathway to enhance agricultural productivity and to catalyze agricultural and economic growth for effective poverty alleviation.     

Coastline management in The Netherlands: human use versus natural dynamics

The boundary between land and sea in The Netherlands changes continuously. Every kilometre of the present position of the Dutch sandy coastline is the result of the interface between natural dynamics initiated by the sea and man-made action on land. Before 1990, each year ca. 20 ha of dunes disappeared through coastal retreat. In 1990 the Dutch government decided to stop any further long-term coastal recession and chose for ‘dynamic preservation’, which primarily aims, at ensuring safety against flooding and sustainable preservation of the values and interests attached to the dunes and beaches. Five years later, a first review of the benefits and bottlenecks of the new coastal defence policy could be presented. The overall conclusion is that the 1990-choice for dynamic preservation was right. The considerable losses of dunes and beaches do not occur any longer. Sand nourishment is an effective method of coastline maintenance, which also serves the functions of the beach and dune area for human society. However, serious erosion of the deeper part of the shoreface threatens the coastline of the 21st century. Nearly a doubling of the nourishment volume is necessary to prevent a renewed landward shift of the coastline. An anticipated accelerated sea level rise (ca. 60 cm/century) will increase the sand losses by another 25%. Plans are being finalized for large-scale land reclamation in front of the coastline as an answer to growing spatial problems on land. In other plans polders, now safely protected by sea dikes, will be returned to the sea in order to restore ecologically valuable salt marshes and mud flats. The position of the coastline will continue to change in the coming decades. Besides natural dynamics, human use of the coastal zone will certainly affect this process: measures to maintain the coastline at its 1990 position need to be seen in perspective: the coastline as a part of the coastalzone.     

Firms' and states’ responses to laxer environmental standards

On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change. Despite this decision, American firms continued investing in low-carbon technologies and some states committed to tougher environmental standards. To understand this apparent paradox, this paper studies how a weakening of environmental standards affects the behavior of profit-maximizing firms. It finds that a relaxation of emission standards (i) may increase firms’ incentives to adopt clean technologies, but not to pollute less; (ii) may negatively affect industry profitability if it is perceived as temporary; and, when this is the case, (iii) the unilateral adoption of stricter standards by large states may increase the expected profitability of every firm.     

A data mining approach to deriving safety policy implications for taxi drivers

Introduction: Traffic safety issues associated with taxis are important because the frequency of taxi crashes is significantly higher than that of other vehicle types. The purpose of this study is to derive safety implications to be used for developing policies to enhance taxi safety based on analyzing intrinsic characteristics underlying the cause of traffic accidents. Method: An in-depth questionnaire survey was conducted to collect a set of useful data representing the intrinsic characteristics. A total of 781 corporate taxi drivers participated in the survey in Korea. The proposed analysis methodology consists of two-stage data mining techniques, including a random forest method, with data that represents the working condition and welfare environment of taxi drivers. In the first stage, the drivers’ intrinsic characteristics were derived to classify four types of taxi drivers: unspecified normal, work-life balanced, overstressed, and work-oriented. Next, priority was determined for classifying high-risk taxi drivers based on factors derived from the first analysis. Results: The derived policies can be categorized into three groups: ‘the development of new policies,’ ‘the improvement of existing policies,’ and ‘the elimination of negative factors.’ Establishing a driving capability evaluation system for elderly drivers, developing mental health management programs for taxi drivers, and inspecting the taxi's internal conditions were proposed as new policies. Improving the driver's wage system, supporting the improvement of rest facilities, and supporting the installation of security devices for protecting taxi drivers are methods for improving existing policies to reinforce the traffic safety of taxi drivers. Last, restricting overtime work for taxi drivers was proposed as a policy to eliminate negative factors for improving taxi traffic safety. Practical Applications: It is expected that by devising effective policies using the policy implications suggested in this study, taxi traffic accidents can be prevented and the quality of life of taxi drivers can be improved.