A new tool to map the major worldviews in the Netherlands and USA,and explore how they relate to climate change

For addressing climate change, public support for changes in policy is needed, as well changes in individual lifestyles. Both of these appear to be intimately related with people’s worldviews. Understanding these worldviews is therefore essential. In order to research and ‘map’ them, we translated the theoretical ‘Integrative Worldview Framework’ (IWF) into an empirical, quantitative approach. We constructed a worldview-scale aiming to distinguish between four major worldviews – labeled traditional, modern, postmodern, and integrative – and explored their interface with opinions and behaviors with respect to climate change. The survey was conducted with representative samples of citizens in the Netherlands and the USA (n = 527 and n = 556). The hypothesized worldviews were found in the data with a reasonable degree of reliability, especially in the Dutch sample. We also found consistent relationships between these worldview-clusters and a range of opinions, political priorities, and behaviors. In both countries postmoderns and integratives displayed significantly more concern about climate change as well as more sustainable behaviors, compared with moderns and traditionals. The implications of these findings for environmental policy and social science are noteworthy.     

Testing emissions equivalency metrics against climate policy goals

The climate impacts of energy technologies are frequently assessed using equivalency metrics, which convert emissions of multiple greenhouse gases to a common scale. Numerous metrics have been proposed that incorporate, in different ways, information about the time-dependent impacts of gases. However, more focus has been placed on proposing metrics than on testing their performance in real-world use cases. Here we present a testing approach that simulates how metrics would affect the selection of energy technology portfolios that comply with a CO₂-equivalent emissions cap. Unintended radiative forcing outcomes can occur, emphasizing the need to test metrics in a practical context. We demonstrate the approach for policies designed to limit radiative forcing and discuss extensions to limits on temperature or economic impacts. Metric performance is evaluated by (i) how much actual radiative forcing overshoots the intended stabilization level and (ii) the level of energy consumption permitted. We use this testing approach to study a variety of metrics based on an estimated radiative forcing stabilization time under two climate policy goals. We find that these goal-inspired metrics, if chosen carefully, can exhibit performance improvements over the standard global warming potential (GWP) while maintaining its transparency and ease-of-use. These alternative metrics can significantly reduce the overshoot in radiative forcing observed with the GWP, at a small cost in energy consumption. Moreover, simple metrics can exhibit similar performance improvements to more complex ones.     

Climate change in the urban environment: Advancing,measuring and achieving resiliency

Climate change poses new and unique challenges that threaten lives and livelihoods. Given the increasing risks and looming uncertainty of climate change, increasing attention has been directed towards adaptation, or the strategies that enable humanity to persist and thrive through climate change the best it can. Though climate change is a global problem often discussed at the national scale, urban areas are increasingly seen as having a distinct role, and distinctive motivation and capacity, for adaptation. The 12 articles in this special issue explore ways of understanding and addressing climate change impacts on urban areas. Together they reveal young but rapidly growing scholarship on how to measure, and then overcome, challenges of climate change. Two key themes emerge in this issue: 1) that we must identify and then overcome current barriers to urban adaptation and 2) frameworks/metrics are necessary to identify and track adaptation progress in urban settings. Both of these themes point to the power of indicators and other quantitative information to inform priorities and illuminate the pathway forward for adaptation. As climate change is an entirely new challenge, careful measurement that enables investment by private and public parties is necessary to provide efficient outcomes that benefit the greatest number of people.     

Pathways of system transformation: Strategic agency to support regime change

There is a well-recognised need to transform existing systems of production and consumption towards a more sustainable orientation. However, there is much uncertainty about how to achieve sustainability transitions in practice, and what transition advocates and actors can do to catalyse and steer regime transformation. We therefore need evidence of how transitions are operationalised, in order to better understand the on-ground dynamics of regime change. To address this gap, this research paper examines three contemporary cases of transformational change in the Australian urban water sector and the dominant strategic approach to change adopted in each city. It focuses on the strategic behaviour of actors, in particular examining how agents navigate and respond to the opportunities and constraints of their context, and what initiatives (or combination thereof) can facilitate innovation diffusion and regime transformation. The results reveal three distinct patterns of change, each of which favour particular strategic interventions by transition proponents.In order to incubate transformational change, the results suggest that actors may be best served by initially employing strategies that are immediately compatible with their existing context. However, examination of the strengths and weaknesses of each pattern confirm that no single strategic approach is in itself sufficient, and in order to embed a novel innovation and bring about regime change, actors will eventually need to broaden the range of interventions used. The results also reveal the possibility of a ‘pattern-dependence’ that actors need to deliberately work to overcome in order to fully mainstream the desired change. These findings therefore provide insight into the links between regime transformation, patterns of change and actor strategies while also offering practical guidance that can be used to inform the design and implementation of regime transformation agendas and programs.     

Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

江苏省工业污染排放特征及其成因分析

采用环境库兹涅茨曲线模型模拟江苏省1991年以来经济增长和工业污染之间的动态演进关系,应用分解分析法对2001～2004年间部分污染物排放变化的成因进行了定量分析.结果表明,江苏省工业污染排放量和人均GDP之间的关系类型有U型、倒U型、U型+倒U型以及N型4种,目前大部分污染物呈增长态势.将污染物排放变化的成因分为规模效应、结构效应和广义技术效应3类,结果显示,规模效应促进污染物排放量增加,结构效应和广义技术效应的作用方向不确定,但广义技术效应对污染物控制有决定性作用,强力的环境政策和管理措施能够有效地控制污染物排放.     

SOUND POLICY OR SMOKE AND MIRRORS: DOES ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT MAKE SENSE?1

ABSTRACT: Protection of ecosystems as entities on the landscape has attracted a wide range of support. Ecosystem-based public policies are claimed to be more effective, efficient, and scientifically sound than other approaches to environmental and natural resource policy. The ecosystem concept was never intended to serve as a public policy guide or to determine landscape units for land management purposes. This paper critically examines the use of the ecosystem concept in public policy and land use management and analyzes the proposed rule to manage the National Forest System according to ecosystem management principles. The concept is found to be unsuitable as a basis for guiding environmental and natural resource public policies in general while the proposed rule to manage the national forests according to ecosystem management principles is shown to be incoherent.     

水资源的可持续开发与利用

水是一切生物生存环境的最重要支撑,只有可持续地开发利用水资源,才能创造一个可持续发展的社会和生存环境。针对日趋严重的淡水资源危机,本文以水资源的可持续存在为基础,从整体的角度出发,而不是就水论水,探讨了可持续开发、利用水资源的五个途径:经济向生态效益型转向、可持续开发水资源、建立水资源核算体系、建立水资源政策分析机制、人人参与水资源管理,从而实现环境完整性、经济效率和平衡三个基本目标。     

国家环境经济政策进展评估报告2021

本年度报告采取实地调研法和政策分析法,针对2021年我国环境经济政策实践开展系统评估,总体认为2021年环境经济政策体系建设不断健全,环境经济政策改革与创新工作取得了重要进展,在深入打好污染防治攻坚战、持续改善生态环境质量、支撑服务全面绿色低碳发展转型中发挥了重要作用,成为生态文明与美丽中国建设的重要动力机制。在快速变化的宏观经济社会形势和新冠肺炎疫情的巨大冲击下,环境经济政策改革与创新需要进一步统筹国内国际发展新形势,在协同推进高质量发展和高水平生态环境保护工作中发挥更加重要作用。     

CLUE-S模型对村镇土地利用变化的模拟与精度评价

利用航片、IKONOS和Quickbird影像得到研究区3期（1991、2001和2009年）土地利用历史数据,运用CLUE S模型,基于1991、2001年的土地利用数据对2009年土地利用格局进行模拟预测,并将模拟结果与2009年真实土地利用数据进行比较。类型水平上,选择ROC曲线统计和偏离度指数分别对各地类的Logistic回归拟合精度和CLUE S模型模拟精度进行评价;景观水平上,采用景观指数和Kappa指数系列方法,从综合预测能力、景观格局、数量和空间位置等方面对CLUE S模型的模拟精度进行全面评估。结果表明:①CLUE S模型对各土地利用类型的模拟精度均较高,各地类的Logistic回归的拟合精度随着模拟分辨率的提高而逐渐增加;②随着模拟时间的缩短,CLUE S模型对整体景观格局的模拟精度提高;③该模型对土地利用数量的模拟精度明显优于其对空间位置的模拟精度。总体而言,CLUE S模型在村镇尺度的模拟效果良好,预测精度较高,但在空间位置和景观格局精度方面还有待提高