Energy performance certification and time on the market

This paper analyzes whether energy performance certificates (EPCs) serve as means to reduce the information asymmetry among market participants during the sale of homes. Using a sample of 876,000 single-family homes in the Netherlands, we examine the impact of EPC adoption on the speed of sale. Our results indicate that energy-rated homes sell faster than non-energy-rated homes, an effect that varies by 7–12 percent depending on model specifications and increases when positive (green) ratings are granted. The information conveyed by these certificates reduces the information asymmetry between buyers and sellers, which helps to reduce the uncertainty of quality.     

Industrial land expansion in rural China threatens environmental securities

• China’s rural industrial land (RIL) area quadrupled from 1990 to 2015. • RIL expansion cost 9% of China’s crop production and threatened human/ecosystem safety. • The underprivileged population bears a disproportionally large share of the risks. China’s rural industrialization has been a major driver for its rapid economic growth during the recent decades, but its myriad environmental risks are yet to be fully understood. Based on a comprehensive national land-use data set, our study shows that the area of China’s rural industrial land (RIL) quadrupled during 1990–2015, reaching 39000 km² in 2015, comparable to urbanization in magnitude but with a much greater degree of landscape fragmentation which implies stronger ecological and environmental impacts. About 91% of the protected areas in the central China were within 50 km from rural industrial land, thus exposed to industrial disturbances. Accelerated rural industrial land expansion, particularly in regions under high geo-hazard risks, led to dramatically increased environmental risks, threatening the safety and health of both rural industrial workers and residents. Moreover, negative effects from rural industrial land expansion could partially offset the crop production growth in recent decades. The underprivileged rural population in the west bears a disproportionally large share of the increased environmental risks. China urgently needs to design and implement sustainable policies to restrict and reshape its rural industrialization. This study aims to inspire policy makers and researchers to rethink the current model of industrial expansion and improve rural industrial land planning, which is important for achieving the sustainable development goals of China.     

环境权与自然资源权的关系及其合并问题研究

从环境权与自然资源权的标的－环境与自然资源－的对比分析入手，对环境权与自然资源权的联系与区别进行了探讨，证明了环境权与自然资源权是两个相对独立而不是绝对独立的部门法权。     

沈阳市利用国家开发银行贷款推动环保产业发展浅析

沈阳市政府从2005年开始到2007年11月末,通过沈阳恒信国有资产经营有限公司融资平台从国家开发银行融入贷款资金近295．17亿元用于老工业基地改造。据统计,共有139亿元开发银行贷款用于沈阳市“沈阳西部污水治理工程（西部细河改造）”等环保工程、环境治理等项目,占全市开行贷款总数的47％。项目的实施改善了我市的生产和生活环境,对提高沈阳市的城市品位,完善城市功能起到了积极的促进作用。但由于部分项目前期准备工作不充分、管理主体缺位、二级平台不健全、配套资金筹措不及时等原因,影响了项目进展和资金有效使用,为提高沈阳政府融资信誉,有关部门应通过建立我市开行贷款项目的储备制度、加强二级平台建设、多渠道筹集配套资金、建立有效的防范债务风险的机制等项措施,努力防范和化解财政风险。     

论生态类项目竣工环境保护监测验收

论述了环境监测在生态类项目环保管理中的重要作用及如何进行生态类项目的环境监测工作,通过监测与监督,使施工期的环境污染问题降至最低,更好地保护生态环境及公众的身体健康,建设生态文明,构筑人和自然和谐共生的社会环境。     

基于ArcView的空间型苏州河环境信息系统原型研究

根据流域污染源调查的大量第一手资料,依据GIS开发设计中原型法的思想,以结构化系统分析为主要技术路线,以ArcView为主要软件平台,采用面向对象的编程语言Avenue所开发的苏州河环境综合整治管理信息系统,探讨了系统开发中的主要技术问题,包括确立系统开发的构想与目标、系统分析与设计、系统开发、系统应用等。笔者认为,流域环境管理信息系统的建立将为苏州河环境综合整治的规划与管理提供高效、科学的信息支持,从而提高规划与管理的水平。      

Environmental Impact Assessment Under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

US government actions undertaken in Antarctica are subject to the requirements of both the Protocol and the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). There are differences in the scope and intent of the Protocol and NEPA; however, both require environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the planning process for proposed actions that have the potential for environmental impacts. In this paper we describe the two instruments and highlight key similarities and differences with particular attention to EIA. Through this comparison of the EIA requirements of NEPA and the Protocol, we show how the requirements of each can be used in concert to provide enhanced environmental protection for the antarctic environment. NEPA applies only to actions of the US government; therefore, because NEPA includes certain desirable attributes that have been refined and clarified through numerous court cases, and because the Protocol is just entering implementation internationally, some recommendations are made for strengthening the procedural requirements of the Protocol for activities undertaken by all Parties in Antarctica. The Protocol gives clear and strong guidance for protection of specific, valued antarctic environmental resources including intrinsic wilderness and aesthetic values, and the value of Antarctica as an area for scientific research. That guidance requires a higher standard of environmental protection for Antarctica than is required in other parts of the world. This paper shows that taken together NEPA and the Protocol call for closer examination of proposed actions and a more rigorous consideration of environmental impacts than either would alone. Three areas are identified where the EIA provisions of the Protocol could be strengthened to improve its effectiveness. First, the thresholds defined by the Protocol need to be clarified. Specifically, the meanings of the terms “minor” and “transitory” are not clear in the context of the Protocol. The use of “or” in the phrase “minor or transitory” further confuses the meaning. Second, cumulative impact assessment is called for by the Protocol but is not defined. A clear definition could reduce the chance that cumulative impacts would be given inadequate consideration. Finally, the public has limited opportunities to comment on or influence the preparation of initial or comprehensive environmental evaluations. Experience has shown that public input to environmental documents has a considerable influence on agency decision making and the quality of EIA that agencies perform.     

Spatial systems approach to sustainable development: A conceptual framework

Even though “sustainable development” seems to have emerged as the development paradigm of the 1990s, a great deal of vagueness still surrounds the meaning, definition, and theoretical underpinnings of the concept. There is also a general lack of emphasis on the spatial dimension of sustainable development when developing relevant conceptual or environmental accounting frameworks. In clarifying the concept, this article proposes a definition that explicitly incorporates the temporal as well as the spatial dimension of sustainability. It also develops a logically consistent conceptual framework for the analysis and evaluation of sustainable development, following a spatial systems approach. Five interconnected aspatial subsystems or subsets of a spatial system are identified and their respective operational dimensions discussed. A proposed composite index calleddegree of stainable development (DSD) and its five component indicators are also outlined. The difficulties involved in operationalizing the DSD measure and the conceptual framework are noted, and the various tasks that need to be undertaken in this regard are specified. It is concluded that future research utilizing the proposed conceptual framework should not only foster the development of appropriate methodologies for the comparative evaluation of sustainable development at global, national, or regional scales, but also offer insights to appropriate decision makers at various levels regarding available options and alternative actions for the healthy development of their respective societies.     

一种基于Landsat 8 OLI影像的水体信息提取方法研究

提出一种基于Landsat 8 OLI影像提取水体信息的斜率比值法（SR）,比对不同方法、不同类型水体和不同季节影像的数据,结果表明：SR法相比归一化差异水体指数法（NDWI）和改进的归一化差异水体指数法（MNDWI）,水体信息提取精度更高,且对阈值精确度的要求低,阈值一般设定为2.0;SR法适用于清澈水体、浑浊水体、浅水河滩等水体,对河流干流和较大支流的提取精度达到99%,细小支流、沟渠的提取精度为66%,面积较小的水体提取精度为65%;在冬季太阳高度角较低时,SR也能较好地去除阴影。     

对我国环境自动监测发展的思考

阐述了我国环境自动监测的现状,指出环境自动监测的发展势头迅猛异常,国产自动监测仪器设备的发展前景广阔,而仪器设备标准化和监测系统规范化问题比较突出,建议自动监测系统的建设发展速度适度控制,重视自动监测信息建设与数据共享问题,加强监控管理,理顺管理体制和运行机制.