Social responsibility and resource extraction: Are Chinese oil companies different?

In order to meet China’s rapidly increasing demand for oil, Chinese oil companies have been investing in oil production around the world. This article addresses one specific aspect of the more generalized fears expressed about China’s increasing demand for natural resources which is the impact that its oil companies will have on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement. In doing so, it limits its analysis to the three main Chinese oil companies: the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and their investments in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and development in Africa: Redefining the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors in the mining sector

This paper revisits the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), suggesting the usefulness of adopting a holistic and historical perspective. It underlines the importance of taking into account the evolving regulatory frameworks within which mining activities take place in order to consider the changing roles played by the various actors involved, whether multilateral, national or local, public or private. In this broad context it then becomes possible to revisit issues of legitimacy, responsibility, and accountability, which CSR strategies aim to address. The article draws attention to the shortcomings of strategies, whether bilateral or multilateral, public or private, which, in an attempt to respond to problems of risk and legitimacy faced by mining companies, have put forward measures in the name of CSR that do not address the origins that give rise to such problems and, in so doing, tend to mask the very nature of the difficulties at hand. The analysis leads to quite different conclusions as compared to those that result from the adoption of a shorter term and investment-led perspective.     

A clash of cultures (and lawyers): Anglo Platinum and mine-affected communities in Limpopo Province,South Africa

The human rights related controversies surrounding Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena mine in South Africa's Limpopo Province hit the world stage in 2008, attracting public scrutiny and instigating much debate in the realm of international business and human rights discussions. We provide an in-depth analysis of the controversies at Mogalakwena, and Anglo Platinum's responses. This case study contributes to ongoing debates on mining company-community relations in the context of the emerging business and human rights agenda, specifically with respect to the notion of human rights ‘due diligence’. We argue that the Mogalakwena case study illustrates the risks of companies adhering to and emphasizing the technical and logistical facets of due diligence, without sufficient attention to the relational, communicative and emergent aspects, which are closely tied to corporate culture. We highlight the complexities of company-community relationships, with particular reference to the issues of legitimate community representation and participatory decision-making, and discuss the role that organizational culture plays in exacerbating or mitigating corporate-community conflict. The case study demonstrates how legal challenges often exacerbate rather than resolve the conflicts that arise due to a clash between corporate and community cultures. We suggest the need for corporate leaders to become more conscious of this cultural dimension of effective social management, particularly when interacting with communities whose cultures are markedly different from those of business corporations.     

Optimum cutting age for timber resources with carbon sequestration

Determining the optimum cutting age for timber resources has proved to be a very challenging problem for both economists and silviculturists. Based upon Samuelson's seminal work on this issue, the majority of economists have concluded that the optimum felling age occurs at a time when the net marginal benefits fall below the current rate of interest. Recently, concern about climate change has increased the importance of forestry projects, since trees act as natural biological scrubbers by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. By incorporating these carbon sequestration benefits, this paper re-determines the optimum cutting age using a multiple rotation model. The results of this reformulation show that, in afforestation projects, trees should remain in the ground longer than the period suggested by a timber-only model in order to absorb more CO₂.     

Chinese resource security policies and the restructuring of the Asia-Pacific iron ore market

This paper reviews the restructuring of the Asia-Pacific iron ore market in the wake of the rise of the Chinese steel industry. Prior to the 2000s, this market was characterised by two key features—high firm-level concentration on both the producer and consumer sides, and price determination through annually negotiated benchmark pricing between Australian mining and Japanese steel firms. However, owing to rapid growth in the Chinese steel industry and its emergence as the region's principal iron ore consumer, the Asia-Pacific iron ore market has been dramatically restructured during the last decade. This process has been accelerated since 2005 by Chinese governmental resource security policies, which have sought to address current record high iron ore prices through the use of foreign investment to sponsor new market entrants and the formation of an import cartel amongst the Chinese steel firms. This paper evaluates how these policies have driven restructuring in the Asia-Pacific iron ore market, through an analysis of the growth of China's steel industry, Chinese resource security policies aimed at lowering iron ore import costs, and their effects upon the regional market's ownership structure and price determination mechanisms. It argues that while Chinese investment and cartelisation policies have catalysed significant changes to the ownership and pricing structures of the Asia-Pacific iron ore market, they have carried only mixed benefits for the Chinese steel industry's resource security.     

Mineral reserves under price uncertainty

National reporting organizations and regulatory bodies for the minerals and mining sector are requiring publicly reported Ore-Reserve estimates to take account of uncertainties. Whilst methodologies that account for physical uncertainty appear relatively well developed, methodologies which can take account of economic uncertainty appear much less so. To counter this shortfall, we present an efficient and general methodology which can quantify the effect of price uncertainty within reserve estimates, providing both the expected reserve size and the associated distribution (box whisker plot). This statistical information can be used by interested parties to understand precisely where the reserve risks lie, which we highlight in a worked example.     

陆地生态系统呼吸温度敏感性及影响因素研究

陆地生态系统是全球第二大碳库,生态系统呼吸的任何细微变化都会在很大程度上影响着全球碳循环,改变大气中CO2浓度,而气候变化(如气候变暖)反过来会影响生态系统呼吸,从而增强温室效应.呼吸对温度的敏感性系数(Q10)是定量气候-碳循环反馈的一个关键参数,其相关研究仍存在较大的不确定性.本文探究了Q10的影响因素、时空变异性及机理解释,阐述了表观Q10和内在Q10的机理差异,指出内在Q10是有机物分解对温度的敏感性,更能反映生态系统碳循环对气候变化的本质反馈.     

黄土高原不同侵蚀区生物结皮土壤CO2通量日动态特征及其温度敏感性

利用LI-8100土壤碳通量自动观测系统监测了黄土高原不同侵蚀区(水蚀区、水蚀风蚀交错区、风蚀区)生物结皮土壤CO2通量的日变化,分析了土壤呼吸的温度敏感性.结果表明:以去除生物结皮为对照,具有生理活性的生物结皮降低了土壤CO2通量,其中,水蚀区、交错区和风蚀区土壤日平均CO2通量分别降低了5.0％、8.9％和20.5％.水蚀区、交错区和风蚀区生物结皮土壤CO2通量日动态均呈单峰型曲线,峰值出现在12:00-14:00左右,大小分别为1.64、1.64和1.37 μmol·m-2·s-1,但日变化幅度差异明显.土壤呼吸速率随温度的升高呈上升趋势,指数函数能够较好地描述二者的关系.生物结皮土壤呼吸的温度敏感性指数Q10在空间尺度上存在一定变异,其中,水蚀区、交错区Q10值变化范围为1.93～ 2.43,而风蚀区Q10值变化范围为4.80～ 5.56,说明风蚀区生物结皮土壤呼吸对温度的敏感性大于水蚀区和交错区.本研究表明,在探求黄土高原地区土壤碳交换时,应当考虑生物结皮的影响及不同侵蚀区生物结皮土壤CO2通量的差异性.     

万宁滨海与西沙群岛大气腐蚀性对比研究

统计分析了西沙群岛和万宁试验站近海场的润湿时间、空气中二氧化硫和氯离子沉积速率,根据环境因素法和标准金属法评定了两地的大气腐蚀性,两地的大气腐蚀等级同为C5级,但西沙群岛的腐蚀性稍弱于万宁试验站近海场。Q235钢、镀镍钢、镀铬钢、不锈钢钝化件在两地的试验结果证实了上述结论,试验结果表明,万宁试验站近海场积累的大量试验数据可应用于西沙群岛。     

通过日记温度湿度数据统计年润湿时间--4次、24次数据法对比研究

与常规方法不同,根据全国58个基准气象台站10年的日记温度湿度数据采用每天2点、8点、14点、20点的4次数据统计了各台站3种临界相对湿度(80%、70%、60%)时的年润湿时间,并对比分析了24次(每天整点)数据的统计结果.研究表明从这两种数据所统计的相应有效年润湿时间非常接近,而且随着临界相对湿度值的降低,这种趋势更为明显,证实了采用4次数据统计年润湿时间是可行的.这样可以充分利用全国550多个基本气象台站所上报的4次温度湿度数据来研究全国润湿时间分布规律,为评估我国各地的大气腐蚀等级奠定了基础.