Governing climate change in Dutch cities: anchoring local climate strategies in organisation,policy and practical implementation

Although Dutch cities were among the forerunners in local climate policy, a systematic overview on climate mitigation and adaptation policy is still missing. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing 25 Dutch cities using indicators for the level of anchoring in policy, organisation and practical implementation as well as multi-level relations. Since Tilburg, Amsterdam, Den Haag and Rotterdam show a higher performance than other Dutch cities, these four cities are used as reference cities. The findings suggest that structural integration of climate mitigation and adaptation is limited in Dutch cities. The study points at three recent trends in local climate governance in the Netherlands: (i) decentralisation within municipal organisations, (ii) externalisation initiatives that place climate policy outside the municipal organisation and (iii) regionalisation with neighbouring municipalities and the provincial government.     

Complementary safeguards for robust regional watershed governance in a federation: New York City and its municipal water supply

In federations such as the United States, governments at various levels are experimenting with new watershed governance arrangements to protect water quality for both ecosystem health and human consumption. Such arrangements may bring previously uncooperative governments together to credibly commit to resource protection under the auspices of new and intricate formal institutions. Given the risks of cooperation, theory indicates that a robust arrangement will contain means of holding governing actors accountable to each other. This paper examines a purportedly successful case, the New York City watershed governance arrangement, to identify how safeguards against intergovernmental opportunism promote lasting cooperation. Using the qualitative method of process tracing, this paper finds that the New York City watershed governance arrangement uses structural, judicial, and popular safeguards against opportunistic behaviors by governing actors that might threaten the resource or the arrangement. The results indicate that such safeguards are present and interact with other safeguards and rule institutions at the state and federal level to maintain compliance.     

The four faces of the environmental state: environmental governance regimes in 28 countries

The primary task for the environmental state is to address problems related to the market’s externalisation of environmental costs. It has four main resources at its disposal: regulation, redistribution, organisation, and knowledge generation. The way these four resources are deployed make up a state’s environmental governance arrangements. Using data on environmental regulation, taxes, public administrations, and knowledge production from 28 countries, and a hierarchical cluster analysis, four different types of environmental states are identified: established, emerging, partial, and weak. This is followed by some suggestions for further research on the environmental state in a comparative perspective.     

“十四五”生态环境政策和法制宜增强针对性和灵活性

"十三五"时期,我国通过政策和法制改革有效地促进了污染防治和生态环境保护工作。"十四五"时期,须进一步加强政策和法制的针对性和灵活性,从充分性和均衡度两个方面提升我国区域、流域和行业生态环境国家治理的综合绩效。为此,需要发挥党内法规和国家立法的相互支持作用,促进国家立法的有效实施;中央与地方签订行政协议,调动地方深入开展生态环保工作的积极性;推进流域与区域的专门立法或者协同立法,通过体制制度和机制的集成创新促进实际问题的解决;按照流域与区域生态环保目标设立生态环境标准,体现生态环保工作的针对性和因地制宜性;实行"法定义务+企业承诺"履行制度,因企制宜地落实各生产经营单位的生态环保责任;国家需要总结和推广一些地方探索和有效实施的灵活性工作制度,并发挥市场机制对生态环境资源和生态环保产业发展的调节作用。     

Alleviating Poverty Through Ecotourism: Promises and Reality in the Monarch Butterfly Reserve of Mexico

The Monarch butterfly reserve in west-central Mexico attracts more than 250 000 visitors during the four-month annual overwintering period and yet the project has been unable to generate an impetus for local development among the indigenous and peasant communities in the region. This chapter explores the reasons for this failure and evaluates a proposed alternative development strategy. In addition to the usual problems of the paucity of local linkages, the problems involved with property rights and participation in decision-making and management suggest the need to reevaluate the model for successful and sustainable tourist development. An alternative model is presented that might contribute to overcoming the obstacles.     

Using adaptive governance to rethink the way science supports Australian drought policy

In this paper we show how ideas from a longstanding but little recognised literature on adaptive governance can be used to rethink the way science supports Australian drought policy. We compare and contrast alternative ways of using science to support policy in order to critique traditional commentary on Australian drought policy. We find that criticism from narrow disciplinary and institutional perspectives has provided few practical options for policy makers managing these complex and interacting goals. In contrast, ideas from a longstanding but little recognised literature on adaptive governance have potential to create innovative policy options for addressing the multiple interacting goals of Australian drought policy.From an adaptive governance perspective, the deep concern held by Australian society for rural communities affected by drought can be viewed as a common property resource that can be sustainably managed by governments in cooperation with rural communities. Managing drought assistance as a common property resource can be facilitated through nested and polycentric systems of governance similar to those that have already evolved in other arenas of natural resource management in Australia, such as Landcare groups and Catchment Management Authorities. Essential to delivering these options is the creation of flexible, regionally distributed scientific support for drought policy capable of integrating local knowledge and informing the livelihood outcomes of critical importance to governments and rural communities.     

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。