National policies for biosphere greenhouse gas management: issues and opportunities

Biosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) management consists of preserving and enhancing terrestrial carbon pools and producing biomass as a fossil fuel substitute. The discussion of this topic has focused primarily on carbon-accounting and project-level issues, particularly relating to carbon sequestration as a source of emissions credits under the Kyoto Protocol. While international consensus on these matters is needed, this paper argues that an important domestic policy agenda also deserves attention. National policies for biosphere GHG management are necessary to bring about large-scale changes in land-use, forestry, and agricultural practices and can address some of the technical and policy issues that have proven to be particularly problematic from carbon-accounting and project-level perspectives. These policies should minimize land-use and resource-management conflicts, account for collateral benefits, and ensure institutional compatibility with existing resource-management regimes. Issues relating to project permanence, leakage, and transaction costs should also be addressed. A range of policy instruments should be used and biosphere GHG management should be one component of an integrated approach to environmental and resource management. Countries promoting biosphere GHG management as an important element of their climate change strategies should be developing these domestic policies to complement international negotiations and to demonstrate that carbon sequestration and biomass production can make an effective contribution to the stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations.     

Trying harder: Developing a new sustainable strategy for the UK

The UK reviewed its National Sustainable Development Strategy during 2003 and 2004, and produced a new strategy — the third for the UK — in March 2005. Having established that the main weakness of the previous strategy was in its delivery, the review and the resulting new strategy set out to put a much stronger emphasis on delivery mechanisms. In support of this, the process included more participative ways for those involved in delivering to contribute their views and ideas, including web‐based dialogue, participative events and seminars, and community level discussions. The key points for the success of the project were the involvement of stakeholders; project management of the process; a marketing and communications strategy; cross‐departmental governance; and involvement of an external challenge function (fulfilled in the UK by the Sustainable Development Commission).     

Assessing national sustainable development strategies: Strengthening the links to operational policy

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, it was agreed that all countries should develop a national sustainable develop‐ment strategy (NSDS) as a key component of implementing the goals of Agenda 21. Progress has been limited. Few countries have established a formal strategy, and many of the strategies that exist have been only partially implemented. This article proposes an approach that addresses the need to improve existing strategic planning mechanisms. The approach is based on a periodic assessment of existing systems, to evaluate the extent to which they incorporate NSDS principles, and identify areas to be strengthened. The article describes an assessment methodology, presents examples of its use, and discusses ways in which current approaches to NSDS may be complemented by continual review and improvement of existing planning processes.     

Innovation in the minerals industry: Australia in a global context

The pattern of innovation in the global minerals industry is changing as the industry becomes increasingly globalised. In this paper, we look at the structure of innovation in the industry and the drivers of change. We first consider the broad international trends and then examine these more closely with special reference to the Australian industry. Issues addressed include the apparent decline in corporate research and development spending, changing patterns in research collaboration and outsourcing, and the uptake of information and communication technologies in the industry. We also look at the potential implications of these trends for step-change technological developments and at the role of technological innovation in the future development of the industry.     

DEBRIS FLOW IN WEST DEVELOPMENT

ＴｈｅｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｒｅｇｉｏｎｓｏｆＣｈｉｎａ (ｏｒＷｅｓｔＣｈｉｎａ)ｉｎｃｌｕｄｅ 1 2 ｐｒｏｖｉｎｃｅｓ/ａｕｔｏｎｏｍｏｕｓｒｅ ｇｉｏｎｓ/ｍｕｎｉｃｉｐａｌｉｔｉｅｓ:Ｑｉｎｇｈａｉ,Ｇａｎｓｕ ,Ｓｈａａｎｘｉ,Ｓｉｃｈｕａｎ ,Ｙｕｎｎａｎ ,Ｇｕｉｚｈｏｕ ,Ｘｉｎｊｉａｎｇ ,Ｔｉ ｂｅｔ ,Ｎｉｎｇｘｉａ ,Ｇｕａｎｇｘｉ,ＩｎｎｅｒＭｏｎｇｏｌｉａａｎｄＣｈｏｎｇｑｉｎｇ .ＳｉｎｃｅｔｈｅＰｌｅｉｓｔｏｃｅｎｅｏｆｔｈｅＱｕａｔｅｒ ｎａｒｙＰｅｒｉｏｄ ,ｔｈｅｍｏｕｎｔａｉｎｓｉｎｔｈｅｗｅ…     

利用造纸黑液制备水煤浆添加剂

利用造纸黑液中有效成分，经过适当处理制备水煤浆添加剂，并且对添加剂的性能进行了测试。结果表明，依照该工艺生产的添加剂，性能优良，能够满足工业生产需要。     

中学化学教育中的可持续发展教育

本文阐述了中学化学教育中实施可持续发展教育的意义，认为化学教师作为可持续发展教育的实施者应努力更新知识结构、转变观念，承担起可持续发展教育的责任。着重介绍了在中学化学教育中结合实际如何对学生进行环保、可持续发展教育。     

环境化学进展动态

本文概述了近年来环境化学包括环境分析化学、环境污染化学、环境污染控制化学、生态化学等方面研究的一些新进展     

我国环保产业技术现状与发展方向

本文对我国环保产业技术现状进行了全面分析，并指出我国环保产业技术与国外的差距和不足，同时针对环保产业技术落后的各种因素和实际需要，提出了我国环保产业技术的发展方向。     

西部大开发中的新疆生态环境建设

新疆地处祖国西北边陲，其国土面积、资源储备和战略地位都在西部开发中居于重要地位。长期以来，由于人们对自然资源的不合理利用，加之经济发展滞后，使得该地区的生态环境遭到严重破坏，土地沙漠化、水土流失、森林、草场严重退化。正确认识和评价新疆的生态环境现状及其承载力，制定遏制生态环境恶化的有效方法，促进生态系统的良性循环，实现人与自然的和谐统一，是西部大开发中实现新疆经济、社会可持续发展的基础。