The relationship between mining and socio-economic well being in Australia’s regions

This paper examines the relationship between quality of life indicators and the gross value of minerals production from Australian regions. We used quality of life indicators, aggregated for 71 local government areas containing mining activities, of household income, housing affordability, access to communication services, educational attainment, life expectancy, and unemployment. We find no evidence of systematic negative associations between quality of life and the gross value of minerals production. Instead, mining activity has a positive impact on incomes, housing affordability, communication access, education and employment across regional and remote Australia. Whilst we do not establish causality between mining activity and quality of life, our analysis prompts a rethink of the resource curse as it applies within a single country. We did not find evidence of a resource curse, at the local government level, in Australia’s mining regions. Nevertheless, we note observations by many other researchers of negative social impacts on specific demographic sectors, localities, families of fly-in fly-out mining operations, and individuals. This contrast may be a scale issue, with the regional benefits of mineral wealth masking highly localised inequalities and disadvantage. We suggest that there is a need to better understand these impacts and, more importantly, the types of policy mechanisms government and industry can adopt to mitigate or avoid them.     

An inequality study of ambient nitrogen dioxide and traffic levels near elementary schools in the Tampa area

Environmental equity has been identified as a challenge and goal of national to global air quality management. Here, relationships between traffic-related air pollution measures and the social demographics of elementary schools are investigated. Ogawa passive samplers were used to measure ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) levels near 75 randomly selected elementary schools in the county containing Tampa, FL over one week in March 2008. Concentrations were determined using colorimetric reaction using Hach nitrite reagent and photometric detection at 545 nm. NO(2) levels, two metrics of traffic (highest annual average daily traffic count within 500 m and 1000 m), and school enrollment data by demographic subgroup (racial/ethnic and socioeconomic) were then compared. Data were analyzed for distribution statistics, linear correlations, and differences in subgroup category means. Weighted average values of NO(2) and traffic count were also calculated for each subgroup. All measured NO(2) levels were low, with a mean of 2.7 ppbv and range from 0.8 to 4.7 ppbv. Values were largest at sites near downtown. Results from all analyses show comparatively higher potential exposures to measured NO(2) and traffic count for black school children, and lower values for white and Asian or Pacific Islander school children. The economically disadvantaged and Hispanic subgroups were also associated with higher levels of NO(2) and traffic counts, but the relationship was not as strong or robust. Although measured NO(2) levels were low and the differences between groups are small, results suggest disparities by racial/ethnic and economic status in children's exposures to air pollution for the Tampa area.     

Post-conflict health reconstruction: search for a policy

Despite increasing experience in health reconstruction in societies emerging from conflict, the policy basis for investing in the development of equitable and effective health systems in the wake of war remains unsettled. Consideration of post-conflict health reconstruction is almost entirely absent in donor policies on global health. Practically by default, health programmes are seen increasingly as an element of stabilisation and security interventions in the aftermath of armed conflict. That perspective, however, lacks an evidence base and can skew health programmes towards short-term security and stabilisation goals that have a marginal impact and violate the principles of equity, non-discrimination, and quality, which are central to sound health systems and public acceptance of them. A better approach is to ground policy in legitimacy, viewing health both as a core social institution and one that, if developed according to human rights principles, including equity, non-discrimination, participation and accountability, can advance the effectiveness and the quality of governance in the emerging state.     

Local energy generation projects: assessing equity and risks

Micro- and small-scale low-carbon energy generators embedded within villages, towns and cities can provide a valuable income stream for local communities among other potential benefits. There are a range of social, political, technical and environmental factors that may impact upon the success of a planned energy generation project; however, these factors are rarely considered in unison. The aim of this research is to investigate and understand the concerns relating to equity and distributional justice that impact upon local groups interested in developing energy projects and to determine whether a whole systems approach can be used to draw out perceived issues. This has been achieved by working with two small village groups to test a newly developed energy equity assessment tool. This paper reports research findings from two villages in the UK both planning energy projects that intended to benefit their respective villages and examines perceived issues relating to equity and distributional justice associated with the proposed schemes. The research highlights some challenges facing community groups when planning micro- and small-scale energy projects and demonstrates the commitment, tenacity and high levels of personal risk that these groups have to bear in order to bring their projects to fruition and comments as to the type of actions that may be required to more wholly consider equity issues while developing future energy policy.     

对外经济贸易对中国碳排放的影响:基于省级面板数据的实证分析

改革开放以来,我国的对外经济贸易有了显著的发展,外商直接投资和进出口的快速增长有效地推动了经济的快速发展。然而在经济发展的同时,我国碳排放水平日益提高,已成为全球最大排放国。为了更好地管控碳排放,研究外商直接投资(FDI),对外贸易与碳排放的关系具有重要意义。本文通过对我国1995—2011年29个省(市、自治区)的FDI、对外贸易对碳排放的动态效应分析发现,FDI与进出口水平的提升均有利于降低我国碳排放的水平,“污染天堂”假说在我国并未得到证实。同时,本文验证了“环境库兹涅茨曲线”在我国的存在,证实了我国的碳排放水平与人均GDP存在倒“U”型关系。     

城市雨水系统中低影响开发与绿色水基础设施及其实例

城市化进程的急剧加快使得中国城市饱受暴雨侵袭的困扰。传统的排水机制是雨水排得越快越好,这就需要加大排水管径、增加排水泵站等,因此更多的的成本和更大的地下空间不可避免。另一方面,雨水完全可以成为资源,而不是污染源。基于以上事实,低影响开发(LID)技术被提出并正在成为城市雨水系统发展的趋势。LID技术从源头减少并延迟暴雨径流和峰值,使开发后的城市水文循环接近开发前的自然水文状态。而基于LID技术的绿色水基础设施如雨水花园、透水性铺装、植被浅沟和景观雨水调蓄池等正在越来越多的应用在城市,尤其是一些发达国家在这方面的技术十分成熟。中国起步较晚,只有少数发达城市进行了LID技术的尝试。但从可持续发展的角度来看,LID技术必将得到推广和应用。可以将LID技术与现有的雨水处理设施相结合,构建符合中国国情的城市雨水系统。     

国内外污染场地环境管理比较研究

本文通过国内外污染场地环境管理比较研究,从完善法律法规角度提出相关政策建议,以期为我国进一步加强污染场地环境管理提供决策参考。具体建议：一是从立法角度看,我国对污染场地管理采取专门立法的模式;二是从框架要素看,进一步建立和完善完整有效的配套法规、标准和指南;三是从责任体系看,建议根据“污染者负担”原则,应明确定义各类责任人在何种情况下承担修复责任;四是从因地制宜的管理目标看,中央政府应制定全国统一的风险管理的政策,并制订指导性的修复筛选值,省市政府可以根据本地区的土地规划和开发需求,制定当地的法规和标准。     

中国绿色发展和外商直接投资政策选择

随着全球各国对环境问题认识的不断加深,我国政府对绿色发展日益重视,并将其设定为实现未来经济发展终极目标的必然过程.然而对我国经济发展一直起到重要作用的外商直接投资(FDI)在拉动经济增长的同时,也带来了较为严重的环境污染问题.从上世纪90年代初至今,随着我国经济和FDI的快速增长,主要污染物排放指标包括工业废水、工业废气以及工业SO2等却基本上呈逐年增加的态势.这一关联的背后是否隐藏着发达国家对我国的污染转移问题,引发人们对于“污染天堂”假说在中国是否存在的担忧.尽管公认跨国公司的环境业绩一般会比本土企业做得更好,但是我国外商直接投资长期和总量的增长是否会对我国环境产生影响,是否会带来更多的污染避难所现象?就这个问题,目前研究都以实证或案例分析为主,尚缺乏贸易理论角度的分析.本文创新的将FDI理论与贸易污染转移理论模型相结合,推导出FDI污染转移模型,得到结论认为以降低成本为目的的垂直型FDI的确会集中于污染密集型行业.为了验证该理论模型,本文使用我国第三次工业普查数据进行实证检验,实证研究结果与理论分析相一致.相比内资企业,外资企业的确集中于污染密集型行业,尤其是制革与毛皮鞣制业、造纸业等重度污染行业,这与我国的绿色发展路径是相悖的.因此,我们建议我国需要从环境保护角度出发调整外商直接投资的行业政策,在行业层次设定环境准入门槛,从源头上有效控制污染企业的进入.     

Application of optimal harvesting decision model to the analysis of Chinese forestry economic policy

This paper firstly extends the single period forest optimal harvesting decision model to infinite periods,in order to indicate how to determine the optimal rotation period aimed at maximizing forest revenue in all directions when repeat planting and harvesting trees on the same plot of earth till infinite future.The study also analyzes the influence of discounted rates,timber price,harvesting costs,planting costs,and tax on the determination of optimal rotation period;and how the optimal rotation period will change when we introduce the factors of continuously rising timber price and ecological revenue.Secondly,the authors introduce the intergenerational equity principle into the above model to design a resource-exploiting mode which satisfies bom the dynamic efficiency principle and the intergenerational equity principle.Last but not least,the research applies the above model to the analysis of Chinese forestry economic policy and explains the economic theory of institutions such as Government Purchasing Ecological Forest,Tree Compensation,and Forestry Subsidization,which provides a necessary theoretical foundation for future application of these new institutions.Besides,in regard to mis theoretical framework,the authors analyze the necessity of the Natural Forest Protection and Grain for Green projects which are currently being implemented in China.We also point out the emphasis of work to insure the project sustainable and successful.Finally,the research discusses the enterprise’s incentive to over-the-quota harvesting and the government’s means of restricting such behavior,which highlights the fact mat improved supervision and higher penalties are helpful in restricting over-the-quota harvesting.     

More than just linking the nodes: civil society actors as intermediaries in the design and implementation of payments for ecosystem services–the case of a blue carbon project in Costa Rica

While in many cases the benefits of ecosystem services (ES) can be enjoyed on different scales, the provision of ES requires engagement and commitment at the local scale. Therefore, the local level becomes important when thinking about compensation schemes or payments for ecosystem services (PES) as an approach to managing ES. The difficult task of bringing together different actors and institutions at different scales for specific conservation projects at the local level often remains in the hands of intermediaries. In this paper, we investigate the role of a civil society organisation (CSO) as an intermediary organisation in a PES scheme, the Community Blue Carbon Project (CBCP) in Costa Rica. To assess the role of intermediaries in a PES scheme, we rely on social network analysis and examine the position and role of the intermediary organisation. Based on Net-Map interviews, which is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualise, discuss and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes, we find that the intermediary organisation in the CBCP is composed of several institutional and individual intermediaries who create both formal networks for connecting the international to the local level and informal networks for creating trusting relationships among the actors. Different spatial levels are reflected within the CSO’s organisational structure, and the CSO mitigates the distributional, procedural, recognition and contextual aspects of environmental justice.