The power of environmental norms: marine plastic pollution and the politics of microbeads

Emerging environmental norms gain strength and diffuse more quickly when scientific evidence of harm is consolidating, when activism is intensifying, and when political and corporate resistance is relatively weak. The anti-microbead norm – that plastic microbeads should be removed from personal care products – has been gaining global influence since 2012; witness the upsurge in anti-microbead activism, public concern, voluntary corporate phasedowns and governmental bans. By 2018, the world was on track to eliminate microbeads from ‘rinse-off’ products within a decade, reducing microplastics flowing into oceans by 1–2%. This confirms the power of environmental norms, but how and why this phaseout is occurring – unequally across jurisdictions, with firms creating loopholes, missing deadlines and limiting the scope of reforms – also reveals innate weaknesses of bottom-up, ad hoc norm diffusion as a way of improving marine governance. These weaknesses are heightened when economic stakes are high, solutions are complex and costly, authority is fragmented across jurisdictions and corporate resistance is strong.     

The sound of one hand clapping: transparency without accountability

Does increasing government transparency in an authoritarian regime, absent electoral forms of accountability, change outcomes? The case of China, which has adopted a number of open governance and public information laws, is examined to see whether increased transparency by local environmental protection bureaus affects key environmental outcomes, specifically reductions in air and water pollution. Several unique environmental performance measurements, developed by the authors, are used to supplement standard government-reported measurements of environmental outcomes, and a widely used environmental transparency index (the PITI). By testing information that is newly supplied to the public, but already available to government, government and public monitoring are distinguished from one another, and the effect of public knowledge of government functions is tested. In the absence of a mechanism for the public to hold local government accountable, public transparency alone has no impact on outcomes other than information provision itself.     

Negotiating energy democracy in practice: governance processes in community energy projects

There is a growing ‘energy democracy’ (ED) movement which regards the transition to renewable energy as an opportunity for socio-economic transformation, as well as technological innovation. The literature on ED tends to associate greater democratic control of energy systems with increased community control over the means of energy generation and distribution. Nonetheless, this literature often assumes rather than demonstrates that the forms of governance it promotes are more democratic than the status quo. This analysis contributes to the emerging field of ED by assessing the complex and varied ways in which communities in Scotland practise energy governance. By focusing on three key governance processes (decision-making, accountability and dispute resolution), the importance of local contexts for the establishment and negotiation of democratic practices is demonstrated. This local specificity, however, also raises further questions regarding the universal applicability of the ED concept.     

生态环境损害赔偿制度改革实施研究--以山东省为例

企业污染,环境利益受损,政府买单在很长一段时间内成为生态环境损害的解决路径,从2018年起,全国开始试行生态环境损害赔偿制度,实现损害担责是生态环境问题的解决之道。山东作为全国生态环境损害赔偿制度改革的7个试点省市之一,开展了生态环境损害赔偿制度的积极实践探索。山东省对"10.21济南章丘重大非法倾倒危险废物事故"生态损害赔偿案件的处理对于我国生态环境损害制度的发展提供了重要的实践创新经验。本文以山东省的改革实践作为研究视角,面对我国生态环境损害赔偿制度现存问题,结合山东的试点实际分析了实施成效,从赔偿磋商、鉴定评估、资金管理三个方面对生态环境损害赔偿制度提出完善建议。     

环境监测对环境治理的促进性作用探讨

本文首先概述了环境监测的内容;其次分析了环境监测对环境治理的促进性作用;最后探讨了应用环境监测进一步提升环境治理水平的对策。     

推动环境信息披露能改善投资效率吗？

落实企业环境责任,推动环境信息披露,有利于推动结构调整和高质量发展。本文根据《环境信息公开办法（试行）》,对发布企业社会责任报告的上市公司环境信息披露进行刻画,基于Richardson投资期望模型对投资效率进行测度,分析环境信息披露对上市公司投资效率的影响。研究发现,环境信息披露能在一定程度上缓解投资不足,但对过度投资的影响并不显著,而且环境信息披露对投资不足的缓解作用在国有企业、两权分离度高等代理成本较高的企业中表现更为显著。本文因此提出推动环境信息披露的建议,一方面发挥政府作用,加大监管压力,确保企业环境责任的落实,健全环境治理企业责任体系;另一方面发挥市场的决定性作用,强化诱致企业披露环境信息的动力,让市场形成对环境信息披露的强需求,促使企业提升环境信息披露水平。     

“十四五”生态环境保护国际合作思路与实施路径探讨

生态环境国际合作是构建人类命运共同体建设的重要内容。"十三五"时期,我国在推动生态文明建设取得显著成效的同时,生态环境保护国际合作取得积极进展。本文在分析生态环境保护国际合作现状、不足以及面临新形势的基础上,提出坚持底线思维,突出重点,精准对接,以我为主、以外促内等合作原则,建议"十四五"时期加强战略规划和引领,提升生态环境国际合作的地位和作用,以建设性姿态参与全球环境治理,努力实现国内环境治理、全球环境治理以及全球治理良性互动,提升生态环境国际合作在服务国家总体发展战略中的地位和水平。并为此提出五大重点举措:即打造绿色"一带一路"成为区域环境合作的平台高地;更具建设性加强我与周边国家双边及多边环境合作;坚决维护多边主义的立场,主动参与全球环境治理体系变革;助力擦亮绿色底色,全力支撑服务打赢污染防治攻坚战;加快能力建设形成生态环境国际合作与交流的大格局。     

财政分权与环境治理——基于动态视角的理论和实证分析

基于动态视角,对财政分权与环境治理的关系进行理论分析,提出研究假说,并利用1997—2016年的省级面板数据,对两者的关系进行实证检验。理论研究认为:财政分权在不同的经济发展阶段对环境治理的影响不同。当经济发展水平较低时,财政分权对环境治理的影响以负向的替代效应为主,财政分权不利于环境治理;而当经济发展水平较高时,财政分权对环境治理的影响以正向的收入效应为主,财政分权有利于环境治理。实证研究表明:①在样本时期内,整体而言,我国的财政分权不利于环境治理。该结论在通过模型设定、指标选取以及内生性控制等检验后,仍然成立。②随着经济发展水平的不断提高,财政分权对环境治理的负向效应不断减弱。③面板门槛模型的结果表明,当人均GDP达到3.123万元时,财政分权对环境治理的影响才有可能出现拐点。若以环境污染治理投资总额和行政处罚案件数作为被解释变量时,人均GDP分别要达到4.379万元和6.276万元时,拐点才有可能出现。以上发现的政策启示在于:一方面,尽管现阶段我国的财政分权对环境治理存在负向影响,但是这种负向影响仅是阶段性的,不能因为这种阶段性特征,而否定财政分权制度本身;另一方面,由于我国大部分地区仍处在经济发展的中等收入阶段,为了缓解财政分权的负向效应,可能还需要中央政府进行适当的干预以消除地方政府在环境治理方面的扭曲。     

环境治理中府际合作的逻辑

公共事务的积累只是为制度化解决提供了必要性,当政者维护政权的根本利益需要决定了公共事务处理的优先序列。客观问题的属性和解决的迫切程度只有在政府最高层统治集团认为维系权力存续的手段具备充分的支撑条件时,才会愿意在正式制度上进行调整,为解决问题提供制度供给。新中国成立后很长一段时间内,我国环境问题并不突出,中央政府根据社会主要矛盾需要制定了以发展经济为重心的制度体系。这种制度结构使地方政府和辖区企业形成了利益共容关系。为适应竞争的需要,地方政府庇护辖区企业环境行为,机会主义地执行环境管理制度,使环境问题积累成为影响安全价值的显著因素。在国内外政治压力下,中央政府最终做出了战略调整,地方政府在中央政府制度调控下,自发地合作治理环境问题。     

城市天然气加气站噪声影响分析及噪声控制技术简

城市天然气加气站位于城市道路和居民区周边。由于加气站地理位置特殊,声源复杂,与周边道路对环境的影响叠加,还要考虑通风散热等问题,噪声治理难度大。目前,国内关于城市天然气加气站的噪声控制研究的报道较少。本研究以合肥市长江西路天然气加气站为例,根据城市天然气加气站加气工艺噪声源及邻近交通噪声对周围环境进行叠加影响预测,根据预测结果和通风散热等工艺要求设计冷却塔安装进风、出风消声器和隔声罩,压缩机安装局部通风隔声罩及压缩机房东墙内安装隔声墙及通风隔声窗等措施。经检验,研究结果好于《工业企业厂界噪声排放标准（GB12348-2008）》中的2类标准的夜间50 dB（A）的标准。该研究设计技术工艺、参数先进合理,费用低且实际简单,为国内天然气加气站噪声预测及治理提供较好的示范作用。