How developing countries can engage in GHG reduction: a case study for China

It has been clearly recognized that future global climate change will limit the possibilities for sustainable development in China. To minimize these negative effects, as a practical strategy, we suggest that the Chinese government engage in international cooperation as a key contributor in the prevention of global warming. This suggestion results from numerical estimations of China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends accompanied with economic growth up to 2100. The results show that China’s gross domestic product (GDP), measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), may overtake the sum of the GDPs of the United States and Canada in 2020. It is predicted that GDP per capita may reach US$20,000 and $80,000 in 2050 and 2100, respectively; meanwhile, CO₂ emissions in China will increase from 6.6 billion tons (in carbon equivalent units) in 1990 to 54.6 billion tons in 2100. This means that the global peak concentration of GHG cannot be practically reduced without significant contributions from China. For international cooperation in mitigating global climate change, we introduce a new option, “per-capita emission restricted by assigned amount,” as an accounting rule for GHG reduction. This baseline classifies global CO₂ reduction actions into three categories: compulsory reduction, self-imposed reduction, and voluntary reduction. We suggest that China contribute to world CO₂ reduction according to the following timetable: voluntary reduction until 2012, self-imposed reduction until 2020, and compulsory reduction from 2020. The simulation results also indicate that China can benefit from this strategy in terms of improvements in its domestic economy and environment, for instance, by reducing fossil fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants.

Effective environmental management through life cycle assessment

Unplanned and unsustainable development (particularly rapid industrialisation) has placed great pressure in every dimension of the environment (air, water, soil, health, etc.). The resulting disturbance in the natural ecological balance is a serious concern. Sustainable development is the need of the hour; it can only be achieved through effective environmental management. Environmental management will become indispensable in the future as regulatory restrictions tighten and public expectations of environmental performance increase. The day is not far away when a customer will prefer to buy products produced by an environmentally committed organisation. In short, the environmental commitment of an organisation will become a market strategy.

Environmental management is a set of actions based on a structured methodology to ensure that an organisation is committed to the environment and that the production process has minimal/no adverse affect on it. This article emphasises environmental management in the real engineering sense of the term, and discusses how to develop an effective environmental management system through life cycle assessment. It further demonstrates through a real life case study how an industry has achieved landmark success in managing its environment, production, as well as winning the good faith of society.     

清洁生产理论基础

重点分析了清洁生产的物流基础、价值基础、经济基础,并与末端治理对比,从而论证了清洁生产是实现经济效益和环境效益的最佳模式,是实现可持续发展的必然选择。     

吐鲁番地区生态环境特点及可持续发展

就吐鲁番地区生态环境特点,提出可持续发展的对策和建议。     

三峡工程对长江流域可持续发展的影响

可持续发展观念应该正确理解,研究可持续发展不能脱离国家或地区的发展水平。在分析长江流域可持续发展的限制因子（频繁的洪水灾害、偏低的防洪能力、落后的社会经济水平及脆弱的生态环境）的基础上,从三峡工程的防洪作用、发电效益、航运效益以及三峡工程效益发挥的可持续性方面,研究了三峡工程对长江流域可持续发展的促进作用。同时论述了三峡工程的建设对长江中上游地区生态环境综合治理及库区社会经济发展的带动作用。认为三峡工程的建设符合我国当今可持续发展战略,是全面促进长江流域社会经济环境可持续发展的关键性工程。     

江苏沿江开发研究

随着中国加入WTO和经济全球化进程的加快,长江三角洲以其独特的滨江临海的区位和发达的制造业基础,正在成为新的投资热点地区。江苏省沿江地区是长江三角洲重要的组成部分,拥有800多km的长江岸线和8个经济发达、人才资源优势明显的经济中心城市。传统的制造业基础和相对低廉的加工成本、商务成本,使江苏沿江开发既有对外来资本的吸引力,又有自我发展的内生机制。重点研究了全球化背景下江苏沿江开发的战略问题,主要包括：①江苏沿江地区开发的环境和条件比较分析;②沿江产业带重组与实施跨江开发;③再造新战略据点;④打破行政区界限沿江联动实施区域一体化,等等。最后指出：加快江苏沿江开发,必须科学规划、统筹安排,做到空间合理、时间有序,同时考虑沿江的环境容量有限,应实施可持续发展和南北联动的开发战略,拓展沿江的开发空间,提升沿江的产业发展水平。     

我国非煤矿山安全生产现状、研究与发展

对我国非煤矿山的安全生产现状进行了系统调查,探讨了我国非煤矿山在21世纪开采条件的不利变化以及潜在的事故隐患,提出了确保非煤矿山的安全生产亟待开展的研究课题以及长远安全科技发展规划。     

生态示范区建设的模式及其实践的几点思考

就生态示范区建设的重要性、生态示范区建设模式进行探讨,分析了生态示范区建设模式的成功范例,最后提出创建生态示范区的建议。     

云南省锡矿资源与可持续发展

云南省锡矿资源储量居全国前列,锡产量在世界锡工业中举足轻重。虽然云南省锡矿资源开发程度高,但“四矿”(矿业、矿山、矿工、矿城)问题严重,锡矿资源的开发与可持续发展矛盾突出。需加强锡矿资源的地质勘探和宏观调控,加大人才、资金、科技投入和产业支持力度,将锡矿资源优势转化为锡工业优势,应充分利用云南省的地理优势扩大对外交流,实现锡矿资源的可持续发展。     

Reflections on 40 years of Disasters, 1977–2017

This reflection, based on a keynote address to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Disasters on 14 September 2017, begins by considering some of the prevailing assumptions that existed at the time of the journal's creation. Next is a summary of significant milestones during the past 40 years, covering major global trends, changing disaster impacts, and key developments in disaster risk management. Contrasting approaches in the first and fourth decade of the journal's history are then followed by examples of changes in terminology in the disaster field as an indication of shifting values. The paper goes on to explore the context of 2017, with observations of problem areas such as the loss of knowledge, failures to tackle the root causes of disasters, shortfalls in international assistance, and some negative attitudes. It closes by evaluating some current positive occurrences, including a reduction in casualties, sharing of experience, technological advances, and dramatic improvements in disaster warning.