MULTIPLE CRITERIA SCREENING OF A LARGE WATER POLICY SUBSET SELECTION PROBLEM1

ABSTRACT: A new screening approach is applied to a large‐scale multiple criteria water management problem to remove actions that cannot possibly be in the best subset. An inherent advantage of the approach is its ability to identify inferior actions by examining them individually, rather than within subsets. In a case study involving the selection of actions to address high water levels in the Great Lakes‐St. Lawrence Basin, two statistical indicators, the mode and the mean, are used to aggregate the opinions of experts and representatives of interest groups on the impacts of actions according to various criteria. Application of the screening approach shows that some of the proposed actions can be removed as they can never be in the optimal subset, thereby reducing the size of the problem.     

International environmental agreements with consistent conjectures

We introduce consistent conjectures into Barrett (1994) canonical model of international environmental agreements. The existing literature assumes inconsistent Nash conjectures, despite the fact that policymakers recognize that abatement levels are strategic substitutes and increases in abatement generate carbon leakage. With consistent conjectures much of the conventional wisdom is reversed. The non-cooperative abatement level is below the Nash equilibrium. The difference between Nash and consistent conjectures is greatest when benefits are large and costs are small. We find that large coalitions cannot form. However, small coalitions can result in substantial increases in abatement relative to the non-cooperative outcome.     

An interregional ecological approach for modelling sustainability in a globalizing world—Reviewing existing approaches and emerging directions

In recent decades international trade has become a major source of supplying the need and wants of billions of people around the world. Virtually everyone now consumes resource commodities and manufactured products imported from ‘elsewhere’. In effect, globalization and trade enable consuming populations to support themselves on the output of distant ecosystems half a world away. However, while economic integration implies greater ‘connectivity’ within the global village, the spatial separation of material production (including resource extraction) from consumption eliminates some of the signals i.e., the negative feedbacks coming from supporting eco-systems from reaching those who depend on these ecosystems for their sustainability. At present, despite increasing global connectedness, most environmental studies and models apply to a single spatial scale: local, national or global; analysing diverse pressures on human well-being and ecosystems integrity. This paper argues that both economic globalization and global ecological change should force us to add an interregional scale for quantifying and modelling sustainability. Such an approach recognizes that, in a globalizing world, the sustainability of any given region increasingly depends, directly and indirectly, on the sustainability of many other regions. The following pages describe the interregional approach and illustrate some existing and emerging methods for quantifying, analysing and modelling interregional linkages. It then identifies some of what is still missing, and discusses some of the implications in a changing world.     

集成化水资源管理模式探讨

文章在简单介绍美国，加拿大，英国和日本４年国家水资源管理概况的基础上，从集成管理的立法保障，集成的内容和范围以及反映集成化管理思想的机构设置等角度全面总结了了这几个国家的集成管理经验，最后得了了几点结论。     

“绿色壁垒“之我见

我国出口贸易深受绿色壁垒影响.这一问题由环境标准引起,但实质还是经济利益问题.本文对我国出口贸易遭受"绿色壁垒"的原因进行了分析,并进一步提出相应战略对策,以期能促进我国突破绿色壁垒能力的逐步增强.     

室内环境前沿研究动态

综述了第11次室内环境国际大会的专题报告会、主题发言和热点论坛的内容,梳理分类了专题报告会和热点论坛,指出值得关注的焦点问题、新理念、新动向。     

Sustainable development as a framework for developing country participation in international climate change policies

The paper presents a number of ideas on how climate change policy implementation in developing countries can be supported by alternative international cooperation mechanisms that are based on stakeholder interests and policy priorities including broader economic and social development issues. It includes a brief review of current development policies, technological research and promotion efforts, and climate change that demonstrates that mutual policy initiatives undertaken by governments and the private sector actually have major positive impacts on climate change without being initiated by this global policy concern. Furthermore a number of examples are given on how future development objectives in Brazil, China, and India jointly can support economic and social goals and global climate change concerns if these goals are taken into consideration and supported by international cooperative mechanisms. The paper proposes international cooperative mechanisms that can support the implementation of integrated development and climate change policies. The mechanisms include an international sustainable development (SD) and Climate Finance Mechanism (SDCFM), technology development and transition programmes, technology standards, and other measures.

Characteristics and availability of fatal road-crash databases in 20 countries worldwide

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the characteristics and availability of fatal road-crash databases worldwide. METHOD: The study involved two parts. First, the major international road databases were briefly reviewed. Second, the national databases in 20 selected countries were examined. RESULTS: (a) the available international databases of fatal road crashes typically include aggregated data; (b) there is a national database of fatal road crashes in each country examined; (c) all countries provide aggregated crash data, but there are substantial restrictions on the availability of disaggregated data; and (d) overall, the crash data at the accident level are relatively similar, but there are substantial differences in the information at the person level. CONCLUSION: The results imply that international road safety research would greatly benefit from expanded availability of disaggregated fatal crash data worldwide.     

东北亚中亚区域可持续发展——首届“东北亚中亚区域可持续发展国际论坛”在北京举行

首届"东北亚中亚区域可持续发展国际论坛"在北京召开。与会专家围绕着"全球气候变化背景下东北亚和中亚区域可持续发展"主题展开充分讨论,并形成重要研究结论。来自中国、俄罗斯、蒙古国、乌兹别克斯坦和以色列等国20多个研究机构的7位科学院院士、9位研究所所长和200多位专家学者讨论认为,面对积极应对全球变化的国际态势,加强东北亚中亚可持续发展国际合作研究具有重大战略意义,并向东北亚和中亚地区各国政府和专家学者发出共同倡议。此次国际论坛对加强东北亚和中亚地区在全球变化背景下资源生态环境与可持续发展科学问题与规律的国际合作研究具有重要推动作用。     

我国水环境污染现状与化学计量应用分析

水环境的质量关系到个人的健康和国家的可持续发展,是环境领域研究和监测的重要组成部分。数据质量控制是水环境研究中的一个重要问题,其重要性早已受到重视。数理统计可对不同处理间的差异程度以及假设条件进行分析,但无法替代保证数据准确性的计量学方法。文章对我国目前水环境状况及研究进展进行分析,并对环境监测、评价和预警体系中核心内容的数据质量和溯源体系以及测试仪器性能评价进行介绍,从学科发展角度探讨水环境监测和治理对量值溯源和化学计量的需求,为水环境数据质量控制提供计量支持。水环境的发展要求从更大范围的时间和空间尺度对环境问题进行分析,依赖化学计量学手段提供的溯源支持和有效性证明。