Assessment of GM Crops in Commercial Agriculture

The caliber of recent discourse regarding geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs) has suffered from a lack of consensuson terminology, from the scarcity of evidence upon which toassess risk to health and to the environment, and from valuedifferences between proponents and opponents of GMOs. Towardsaddressing these issues, we present the thesis that GM should bedefined as the forcible insertion of DNA into a host genome,irrespective of the source of the DNA, and exclusive ofconventional or mutation breeding.Some defenders of the commercial use of GMOs have referred to thescientific work of GMO critics as ``junk science.' Such a claim isfalse and misleading, given that many papers critical of both theutility and safety of GMOs have been published in peer reviewedjournals by respected scientists. In contrast, there is a dearthof peer reviewed work to substantiate the frequently heardassertions of either safety or utility in GMOs. The polarity,which now characterizes much of the public discourse on GMOs,reflects not simply scientific disagreement, but alsodisagreement in underlying value assumptions. Value differencesstrongly affect the assessment of both benefit and harm fromGMOs.The concept of substantial equivalence occupies a pivotalposition in the GMO risk assessment process that is used in bothCanada and the US. A GMO judged to be substantially equivalent toa conventional product – as have all submissions to date – ispresumed to be safe enough for commercialization. The conclusionof safety – from both human health and environmental perspectives– should be based on scientific evidence, corroborated by actualexperimentation. However, regulators infer safety largely fromassumptions-based reasoning, with little or no experimentalvalidation. The judgement of safety because of substantialequivalence is a dubious argument by analogy.     

Beyond Substantial Equivalence: Ethical Equivalence

The concept of substantial equivalence,introduced for the risk assessment of geneticallymodified (GM) food, is a reducing concept because itignores the context in which these products have beenproduced and brought to the consumer at the end of thefood chain. Food quality cannot be restricted to meresubstance and food acts on human beings not only atthe level of nutrition but also through theirrelationship to environment and society. To make thiscontext explicit, I will introduce an ``equivalencescale' for the evaluation of food chains (GM or notGM). By contrast with substantial equivalence, whichinvolves mainly quantitative, analytical methods ofevaluation, ``qualitative equivalence' refers to ``less'or non-substantial factors that require new methodsof evaluation based on qualitative principles.``Ethical equivalence' refers to factors that show themoral value contained in food products. To analyze thedifferent levels at which ethics is needed in foodchains, I will use the French principles: ``Liberty,Equality, Fraternity,' or freedom, equality,solidarity, and add a fourth principle:sustainability. Sustainability, solidarity, andfreedom can be applied to the evaluation ofenvironmental, socio-economic, and socio-culturalethical equivalence, respectively. Equality refers tojustice and should operate so as to guarantee thatsustainability, solidarity, and freedom are satisfied.I suggest that ethics can provide a basis for arenewal of the food chain concept. Besides QualityAssurance, it is now essential to develop an ``EthicalAssurance' and this equivalence scale could provide abasis to set up ``Ethical Assurance Standards' (EAS)for food chains.     

“时—空—人”交互视角下的国土空间公共安全规划体系构建

公共安全事件是特定情境下“时—空—人”多要素交互作用时空过程的结果,国土空间公共安全规划和相应的能力建设是应对公共安全事件长期而重要的抓手。在构建公共安全规划中“时—空—人”互动的研究框架基础上,分别对“预防、预警、应急、灾后”四个阶段的相关研究和工作重点进行审视,并在此基础上构建国土空间公共安全规划的内容、技术方法和保障支撑体系。首先,在内容体系方面,与国土空间规划的全国—省—市—县—镇等多层级规划编制体系和全国一盘棋的应急响应机制相适应,开展综合规划与专项规划编制,重点解决面向应对自然灾害、事故灾难、公共卫生事件、社会安全事件等方面的空间、设施、应急等方面的规划和管理问题;在技术方法体系方面,构建和完善公共安全事件的时空要素识别与分析、时空过程模拟与预警分析等方法和技术支撑体系;在保障支撑体系方面,基于时空大数据的新基建建设,构建和完善时空可达的公共安全设施体系和公共安全导向下的社会治理体系。     

水资源约束力的内涵、研究意义及战略框架

针对世界和我国快速城市化进程中水资源对社会经济发展制约作用不断加强的态势,首次较为系统地提出了水资源约束力的概念,并在阐述其基本内涵和研究意义的基础上,就水资源约束力研究的战略框架进行了初步探讨。研究认为:水资源约束力研究是我国和世界21世纪水安全研究的重要内容之一;在水资源承载力、水资源压力研究的基础上,进一步研究水资源约束力,可以完整地揭示水资源系统与社会经济系统之间的相互作用和关系,对水资源科学的发展具有重要的理论和现实意义;当前应尽快建立并完善水资源约束力研究的理论体系,加强水资源约束力的基本理论、量化方法和实证研究,重点加强区域水资源约束力的产生、影响因素、影响机制、变化规律、调控途径等的研究,并不断拓展研究领域,加强水资源约束力与水资源科学其它领域的集成研究。     

新型MIL-100(Fe)基MOFs材料的制备及其对Sr2+的吸附

采用水热法和溶剂热法制备了金属有机骨架材料——MIL-100(Fe)和MIL-100(Fe)-DMA.利用FTIR、XRD、SEM、XPS和N₂吸附/脱附对材料结构进行了表征.通过静态吸附实验,探究了初始Sr²⁺浓度、吸附时间、溶液pH值和不同共存阳离子对材料吸附性能的影响,研究了两种材料对Sr²⁺吸附过程的吸附动力学和吸附等温线模型.表征结果表明:两种材料基本骨架一致,吸附Sr²⁺对材料骨架影响均可忽略;虽然MIL-100(Fe)-DMA比表面积小于MIL-100(Fe),但由于晶粒尺寸小,堆积形成的介孔结构更有利于Sr²⁺的扩散.吸附实验结果表明:随着反应时间和初始Sr²⁺浓度的增加,两种材料对Sr²⁺的吸附量先迅速增大再逐渐达到平衡;随着pH值的增大,两种材料对Sr²⁺的吸附量增大,且碱性条件下吸附效果好;两种材料吸附过程均符合准二级动力学模型、颗粒内扩散模型和Langmuir吸附等温模型;采用三价铁盐作为铁源以及DMA作为有机溶剂可提高MIL-100(Fe)材料对Sr²⁺的吸附效果.     

中国西部绿色发展概念框架

综合绿色发展的国际经验,以自然资本、经济资本、社会资本与人力资本四大资本为核心,提出了中国西部地区绿色发展概念框架.中国西部地区绿色发展概念框架是以“发展中促转变,转变中谋发展”的良性循环发展原则为指导原则,分析西部地区社会经济发展及生态环境和自然资源保护两个方面在发展过程中相互促进和制约的关系,并根据西部地区当前经济资本、环境资本、社会资本以及人力资本数量,通过政府适当干预,如区域规划、区内调整,最终实现社会经济与生态环境和自然资源相协调的绿色发展.该框架综合考虑了中国西部在绿色发展道路上特有挑战与机遇,阐明了社会经济发展与资源环境承载力之间的相互作用机制,明确了中国西部地区“生态友好、社会包容和内生增长”的绿色发展目标.最后,本文针对该绿色发展框架提出了中国西部地区绿色发展的政策建议:提出“西部地区绿色发展战略”是当前西部地区绿色发展进程中最为迫切的需求,中央政府应当尽快制定和实施“西部地区绿色发展战略”,同时西部地区政府在省级和地方层面将保护中国西部生态环境与区域扶贫开发相结合,加大对以提升西部地区人力资本为目的的各类工程的投入,强化区域绿色基础建设和生态服务供给,缓解西部地区贫困,提升区域绿色发展进程的速度和质量;开展财政体制机制改革,以提高各级财政资金的使用效率;结合各省发展需求与条件实施以生态城市为发展目标的可持续城镇化发展模式,制定差异化的城镇化发展战略;在西部地区重点和限制开发区尤其是贫困集中和区域发展潜力较大地区,鼓励具有区域特色的新型绿色产业的发展.在发展过程中不断加强制度创新以引导长期绿色发展.     

生态文明体制全面改革的“四然”问题

生态文明体制改革的问题导向性、目标适应性、统筹兼顾性,既是现实的环境问题所迫,也是生态文明理论和建设目标的内在要求。近两年来,为了促进生态文明体制的全面改革,中央发布了《关于加快推进生态文明建设的意见》、《生态文明体制改革总体方案》等系列文件。其中,《生态文明体制改革总体方案》因对生态文明体制改革作出全面部署,理论性和实践性相结合,科学性和民主性相结合,制度规范与考核评价相结合,成为统帅生态文明体制改革的纲领性文件。系列改革文件在治理理念、治理策略、治理主体、治理结构、治理依据、治理方法、治理功能和治理体系的运转方面,逻辑自洽,提出了自己的历史使命。"十三五"时期,要使改革的措施和要求落地生根,须在营造氛围和措施的具体推进方面,开展相关的工作。     

非甲烷总烃测定中若干问题的研究

结合环境监测工作的实际情况,应用双柱双检测器气相色谱法,比较了非甲烷总烃不同的测定方法,探讨了在实际环境监测分析中非甲烷总烃测定过程的一些关键性技术问题,对色谱条件提出了几点优化建议,发现非甲烷总烃测定结果以甲烷计更接近实际监测情况,并验证了HJ/T 38—1999和HJ 604—2011方法中2种总烃标准曲线绘制方法的等效性,但在实际环境监测中HJ 604—2011方法操作更加简捷。双柱双检测器气相色谱法测定非甲烷总烃也存在严重的不足,基于FID响应值的非甲烷总烃不能准确全面反映空气有机污染程度,可能会掩盖空气中某些有机污染。     

A Report on the International Conference on Climate Policy after Marrakech: Towards Global Participation

The East-West Center convened the international conference on climate policy in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 4–6, 2003. Sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan), and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan), this major event covered almost every important issue and featured perspectives from the most important parties and stakeholders in formulating and implementing climate policies and taking international climate negotiations further. It brought together a remarkable cross-section of world opinion on climate policy after Kyoto. This report provides a summary of each presentation and highlights discussions organized under the following six session headings: Session 1: Climate Change in Focus – From Science to Policy; Session 2: U.S. Climate Policy and Perspectives; Session 3: European Union Climate Policy and Perspectives; Session 4: Challenges for other Major Industrialized Countries; Session 5: Issues Related to Developing Countries; and Session 6: Panel Discussions: Where Do We Go from Here?.     

On the sustainability of common property resources

We provide a model where a common property resource is managed by two types of agents, cooperators and non-cooperators, who adjust their extraction strategies in response to persistent differential payoffs. In our model, the social approval of cooperators works as a reward mechanism which, as we show, favors both the pervasiveness of cooperative behavior and the sustainable management of natural resources. Specifically, we show that in the presence of such a reward mechanism a stable equilibrium can be reached with both strategies being practiced simultaneously and a decentralized and sustainable management of common property resources is possible.