Food Security in Complex Emergencies: Enhancing Food System Resilience

This paper explores linkages between food security and crisis in different contexts, outlining the policy and institutional conditions needed to manage food security during a crisis and to rebuild the resilience of food systems in periods of relative peace. The paper reviews experiences over the past decade of countries in protracted crisis and draws lessons for national and international policy. It assesses the different alternatives on offer in fragile countries to address, for example, the disruption of institutional mechanisms and the decreasing level of support offered by international donors with respect to longer-term expectations. It proposes a Twin Track Approach to enhance food security resilience through specific policies for protracted crises that link immediate hunger relief interventions with a long-term strategy for sustainable growth. Finally, the article analyses policy options and the implications for both short- and longer-term responses vis-à-vis the three dimensions of food security: availability; access; and stability.     

Steady-state analyses for reactive distillation control: An MTBE case study

An approach, based purely on steady-state analyses, for synthesizing effective control structures for reactive distillation (RD) columns is presented. The main idea is to analyze the steady-state relationships between the manipulated (input) variables and the potential controlled (output) variables to identify input–output (IO) pairings that are sensitive and avoid steady-state multiplicities providing a large range of nearly linear operating region around the base case design. Traditional SISO control loops are then implemented using these IO pairings to obtain control structures that maintain the column near the design product purity and conversion for the anticipated primary disturbances. The Niederlinski Index is used to eliminate dynamically unstable pairings in control structures with multiple loops. The approach is demonstrated on an example MTBE RD column. The impact of steady-state multiplicities on control structure design is highlighted.     

民族生态系统的可持续发展模式--以哈尼梯田为例

从民族生态学的角度分析哈尼梯田民族生态学实践,阐述了哈尼梯田民族生态系统可持续发展的限制性因素.从认识论、方法论和技术三个层面构建了哈尼梯田民族生态系统的可持续发展模式,旨在为民族生态系统的可持续发展和新的文化生态伦理观的确立提供有益借鉴.     

生态示范区可持续发展灰色评估系统设计应用

介绍了如何在国家级生态示范区的可持续发展评估中运用灰色系统理论构建定量评估系统模型,并给出了关系型指标表、量纲模型、多元灰色预测模型和发展系数模型以及应用实例.根据该评估系统模型所开发的灰色评估系统由数学模型、计算机软件和硬件组成,可自动完成量纲统一、指标预测、相关分析、综合评估和趋势图表的运算和输出.     

美国环保超级基金制度及其实施

对美国环保超级基金制度的概念和内容作了简要的介绍,并指出了其实施过程中的成功与不足,以期为我国环境法制的完善提供有益的借鉴。     

企业可持续发展评价指标体系的选定原则及构建框架

为了制定企业可持续发展的战略决策,须制定可持续发展的指标体系,并依据这一体系对数据和资料进行收集、整理和分析,从而确定可靠而有效的政策方针。文中论述了可持续发展指标体系的定义、选定标准、原则和可持续发展的评价指标体系,提出了压力-状态-响应框架模型以及不同层次的指标体系框架。该指标体系分为总体层、系统层、状态层、变量层和要素层五个等级。对于持续发展的表征指标及对目前发展的可持续性评估,还需要长时间和切合实际的探讨。     

地理信息系统技术在环境中的应用

地理信息系统(GIS)技术现已广泛应用于环境领域。简要介绍了该技术的功能特点,并从大气、水、土壤、噪声四个方面探讨了GIS在环境保护中的应用。研究结果表明,GIS是研究环境子系统协同效应的实用技术。     

论我国绿色会计理论体系的构建

运用系统论的思想和方法,对我国绿色会计理论体系的基本框架进行了构建,提出绿色会计理论体系作为系统是由若干个要素或子系统组成的有机整体.这些子系统之间既具有一定的联系,又都有其特定的功能作用,都要受到一定的社会、经济和生态资源等外部环境因素的影响.绿色会计理论体系的组成要素包括绿色会计的理论基础、职能、目标、对象、假设、原则、确认、计量和报表等内容.在此理论的基础上,提出了一些具体实施的可行性建议.     

Use of Microbial Community to Evaluate Performance of a Wetland System in Treating Pb/Zn Mine Drainage

The performance of a wetland system in treating lead (Pb)/zinc (Zn) mine drainage was evaluated by using the polyurethane foam unit (PFU) microbial community (method), which has been adopted by China as a standardized procedure for monitoring water quality. The wetland system consisted of four cells with three dominant plants: Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis and Paspalum distichum. Physicochemical characteristics [pH, EC, content of total suspended solid (TSS) and metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cu)] and PFU microbial community in water samples had been investigated from seven sampling sites. The results indicated that the concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, and TSS in the mine drainage were gradually reduced from the inlet to the outlet of the wetland system and 99%, 98%, 75%, 83%, and 68% of these metals and TSS respectively, had been reduced in concentration after the drainage passed through the wetland system. A total of 105 protozoan species were identified, the number of protozoa species and the diversity index (DI) gradually increased, while the heterotrophic index (HI) gradually decreased from the inlet to the outlet of the wetland system. The results indicated that DI, HI, and total number species of protozoa could be used as biological indicators indicating the improvement of water quality.     

Environmental Auditing and the Role of the Accountancy Profession: A Literature Review

This review of the literature on environmental auditing and the potential role of accountants distinguishes between compliance audits and audits of the environmental management system. After an extensive introduction to the concept, this review focuses on the similarities and differences between an environmental audit and a financial statement audit. The general approach to both types of audits is similar, except that environmental audits are largely unregulated. Both audits place an emphasis on the evaluation of control systems, which is an argument in favor of external auditors playing a role in environmental audits. Another argument for including external accountants is their code of ethics. However, these professionals seem to be reluctant to enter the field of environmental auditing. It is argued that this reluctance is because of a lack of generally accepted principles for conducting environmental audits. If external accountants are engaged in environmental auditing, they should be part of multidisciplinary teams that also include scientists and engineers to avoid a too strong focus on procedures. Rather than treating these audits as totally different, it is proposed that there be a move towards integrated, or even universal, audits.