Integrating Top-Down with Bottom-Up Conservation Policy in Africa

Abstract:  Developed nations intervened in conservation policy across Africa during the 20th century to address needs to protect species and biodiversity that were based on their own perceptions and priorities. In the 21st century, conservationists in Africa have revised these perceptions and begun the process of identifying conservation priorities from an African perspective and in consideration of Africans' priorities. Although foreign conservation interveners struggled to identify mechanisms to which local people would respond, African conservationists are now demonstrating how to integrate the continent's unique socioeconomic circumstances into efforts to protect biodiversity. In Africa effective conservation policy must include the generation of wealth, reduction of disease and hunger, and support of traditional land-use practices.     

Priorities for Improving the Scientific Foundation of Conservation Policy in North America

Abstract:  The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) can enhance conservation of biodiversity in North America by increasing its engagement in public policy. Toward this end, the North America Section of SCB is establishing partnerships with other professional organizations in order to speak more powerfully to decision makers and taking other actions—such as increasing interaction with chapters—geared to engage members more substantively in science-policy issues. Additionally, the section is developing a North American Biodiversity Blueprint, which spans the continental United States and Canada and is informed by natural and social science. This blueprint is intended to clarify the policy challenges for protecting continental biodiversity, to foster bilateral collaboration to resolve common problems, and to suggest rational alternative policies and practices that are more likely than current practices to sustain North America's natural heritage. Conservation scientists and practitioners can play a key role by drawing policy makers' attention to ultimate, as well as proximate, causes of biodiversity decline and to the ecological and economic consequences of not addressing these threats.     

解决全球变暖问题,发达国家与发展中国家的分歧

本文论述了全球变暖对经济发展的影响。论述了在联合国气候变化峰会上,发达国家与发展中国家发生严重分歧。说明了我国坚持共同但有区别的责任原则,实现互利共赢,促进共同发展。会议无果而终。     

中国居民碘营养健康风险评估

我国碘元素的天然分布极不均匀,因此对地域差异缺乏考虑的全民食盐加碘政策(USI)并非碘缺乏病的最适宜的防控策略,甚至还增加了“碘过量”导致的潜在健康风险.近年来,中国卫生部多次调整食盐加碘政策,但亟需从健康风险评估的角度对该政策进行科学的论证和解读.通过解析全国碘缺乏病监测数据中8～10岁儿童尿碘浓度的数据,采用有阈值的剂量效应曲线,评价了中国居民碘营养健康状况,并计算出全国31个省级地区8～10岁儿童因碘过量导致的“亚临床甲状腺功能减低(亚甲减)”的发病率,最后利用5％基准剂量(benchmark dose,BMD),并结合我国居民膳食营养结构的调查结果,提出了考虑地域差异的分层次的食盐加碘     

城市生态敏感性分析

在总结国内外对生态敏感性研究的基础上,应用生态因子评分方法和GIS技术对广州市城市生态系统进行敏感性区划,将广州市划分为最敏感区、敏感区、弱敏感区和非敏感区4个等级,其中北部林区多属于最敏感区,大部分园地属于敏感区,和水源相邻的耕地属于弱敏感区,其他分散的林地和未利用土地则属于非敏感区.并提出了相应的保护对策,为该市今后产业合理布局,区域生态环境保护提供科学依据.     

Vertical fiscal externalities and the environment

We show that imposition of a state-level environmental tax in a federation crowds out pre-existing federal taxes. We explain how this vertical fiscal externality can lead unilateral state-level environmental policy to generate a welfare gain in the implementing state, at the expense of other states, even absent any environmental benefits. Using a computable general equilibrium model of the Canadian federation, we show that vertical fiscal externalities can be the major determinant of the welfare change following environmental policy implementation by a state government. Our numerical simulations indicate that – as a consequence of vertical fiscal externalities – state governments can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 20 percent without any net cost to themselves.     

Credibility and advocacy in conservation science

Conservation policy sits at the nexus of natural science and politics. On the one hand, conservation scientists strive to maintain scientific credibility by emphasizing that their research findings are the result of disinterested observations of reality. On the other hand, conservation scientists are committed to conservation even if they do not advocate a particular policy. The professional conservation literature offers guidance on negotiating the relationship between scientific objectivity and political advocacy without damaging conservation science's credibility. The value of this guidance, however, may be restricted by limited recognition of credibility's multidimensionality and emergent nature: it emerges through perceptions of expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness. We used content analysis of the literature to determine how credibility is framed in conservation science as it relates to apparent contradictions between science and advocacy. Credibility typically was framed as a static entity lacking dimensionality. Authors identified expertise or trustworthiness as important, but rarely mentioned goodwill. They usually did not identify expertise, goodwill, or trustworthiness as dimensions of credibility or recognize interactions among these 3 dimensions of credibility. This oversimplification may limit the ability of conservation scientists to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Accounting for the emergent quality and multidimensionality of credibility should enable conservation scientists to advance biodiversity conservation more effectively.     

中国ESG政策探索与实践进展研究

践行环境（E）、社会（S）和治理（G）理念是全面推进美丽中国建设的重要举措,也是企业现代绿色治理的关键手段。本文系统分析了我国ESG政策的发展脉络,将ESG在我国的发展分为萌芽起步阶段、探索发展阶段和深化提升阶段三个阶段。通过深入剖析我国ESG体系现存的若干问题,提出加大推广和实践ESG理念的力度和深度、分批分阶段有序推进ESG信息披露标准制定、加快构建具有中国特色的ESG评级标准、强化对ESG投资的指引和规范,以及加快建设健全的ESG监管体系等政策建议。     

Discovering meaningful information from large amounts of environment and health data to reduce uncertainties in formulating environmental policies

This study uses knowledge discovery concepts to analyze large amounts of data step by step for the purpose of assisting in the formulation of environmental policy. We performed data cleansing and extracting from existing nation-wide databases, and used regression and classification techniques to analyze the data. The current water hardness in Kaohsiung, Taiwan contributes to the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but exacerbates the development of renal stones (RS). However, to focus on water hardness alone to control RS would not be cost effective at all, because the existing database parameters do not adequately allow for a clear understanding of RS. Analysis of huge amounts of data can most often turn up the most reliable and convincing results and the use of existing databases can be cost-effective.