关于排污权交易的若干探讨

从排污权交易的基本概念，排污权的初始分配，交易机制等方面讨论中，提出应按我国的环境管理模式排污权交易政策，发挥其在总量控制以及环境管理的特殊作用；排污权初始分配应实行偿形式；其交易适宜在较大的总量控制区域；政府在交易中可抽取一定比例排污权作为“交易税”等观点。     

污染物排放总量交易政策及实施

文章对污染物排放总量交易政策的重要影响、在总量控制和许可证制度中的地位与作用进行了论述 ,提出了污染物排放总量交易原则、交易条件、交易方式和总量交易的实施与管理。     

WTO对与环境有关的贸易争端的解决机制

环境与贸易的联系日趋紧密,与环境有关的国际贸易争端将越来越多.WTO为解决这类争端做出了有益尝试和不懈努力,并初见成效.该组织的争端解决机制包括法律渊源、参与争端解决的机构、解决纠纷的程序三个方面,其中解决纠纷的程序包括磋商、成立专家小组、专家小组工作、专家小组报告、上诉、复审、仲裁,已有明显的司法化特点.这一机制仍有许多不足之处,应从多方面进行完善和发展.但它使国际贸易法史上有了一个能有效进行国际环境、贸易争端处理的超国家机构,具有重大意义.中国入世后,更要研究这一机制,利用其规则维护国家环境权益.     

关注国际经贸中的环境因素

当今世界环境问题倍受关注，环境问题在国际经贸中的影响日益突出，环境壁垒即绿色壁垒极有可能成为国际贸易中最重要的贸易壁垒。本文着重论述环境因素对国际经贸的影响并对本国企业如何应对提出个人对策建议。     

Can a water market avert the “double-whammy” of trade reform and lead to a “win–win” outcome?

This paper focuses on the linkages between water and trade policies, using Morocco as a case. This country is typical of many in that policy protects its import competing agricultural and industrial sectors while water in irrigated agriculture is priced below its marginal value product. Changing water policy without correcting for these other distortions leads to a more inefficient allocation of water. On the other hand, reforming trade policy alone can make farmers growing crops protected pre-reform worse off. Using an intertemporal, applied general equilibrium model, we find that trade reform actually creates an opportunity to pursue water policy reform. Creating a water user-rights market post trade reform not only compensates for the decline in farmers’ profits caused by the trade reform, but also raises the efficiency of water allocation and hence benefits the economy as a whole.     

Achieving environmental goals in a world of trade and hidden action: the role of trade policies and eco-labeling

Importing countries often resort to trade policies and consumer actions in order to reduce negative environmental impacts of the products they consume. Traditionally, these policies were non-discriminatory, i.e., they treated all imports equally, without considering the actual damages caused by the product. More recently, there is a trend towards process-discriminatory policies which attempt to discriminate against environmentally unsound imports while encouraging sound alternatives. We develop a theoretical model of the consuming country's optimal trade policy, allowing for asymmetric information and costly monitoring, and analyze what type of policy is preferable under what conditions.     

Developing a CFD heat transfer model for applying high expansion foam in an LNG spill

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is widely used to cost-effectively store and transport natural gas. However, a spill of LNG can create a vapor cloud, which can potentially cause fire and explosion. High expansion (HEX) foam is recommended by the NFPA 11 to mitigate the vapor hazard and control LNG pool fire. In this study, the parameters that affect HEX foam performance were examined using lab-scale testing of foam temperature profile and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of heat transfer in vapor channels. A heat transfer model using ANSYS Fluent® was developed to estimate the minimum HEX foam height that allows the vapors from LNG spillage to disperse rapidly. We also performed a sensitivity analysis on the effect of the vaporization rate, the diameter of the vapor channel, and the heat transfer coefficient on the required minimum height of the HEX foam. It can be observed that at least 1.2 m of HEX foam in height are needed to achieve risk mitigation in a typical situation. The simulation results can be used not only for understanding the heat transfer mechanisms when applying HEX foam but also for suggesting to the LNG facility operator how much HEX foam they need for effective risk mitigation under different conditions.     

Volcanic hazard warning system: Persistence and transferability

This study examines the normative functioning of the volcano warning system on the Island of Hawaii. The research seeks to identify the combination of factors, both environmental and social, which allows the system to operate with success. On the basis of the findings, several recommendations are offered for improving environmental hazard warning systems.     

Vocal alliances in Chacma baboons (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Papio hamadryas ursinus</Emphasis>)

Theory predicts that females in species with matrilineal dominance hierarchies should use nepotistic support systems to maintain their family’s rank. Female Old World monkeys, however, form alliances against other females at surprisingly low rates. Nonetheless, in many species, females utter threat vocalizations when observing others’ disputes, suggesting that these vocalizations may function as ‘vocal alliances’. We describe a playback experiment testing the efficacy of vocal alliances in free-ranging female baboons. Subjects were played the same female’s threat-grunts under three separate conditions: after being threatened by the signaller’s close relative to mimic kin support, after being threatened by a female maternally unrelated to the signaller to mimic non-kin support, and after a friendly interaction with the signaller’s close relative as a control. Subjects responded more strongly to the playback and avoided the signaller and her matrilineal relatives for a longer period of time in kin support trials than in either non-kin support or no aggression trials. In contrast, there was no difference in subjects’ behaviour between non-kin support and no aggression trials. These results corroborate observational data showing that vocal support occurs at a higher rate than physical support in female baboons, and that kin are more likely to provide vocal support than non-kin. We conclude that vocal support plays a similar role as physical support in the alliances of female baboons.     

Environmental economics reality check: a case study of the Abanico Medicinal Plant and Organic Agriculture Microenterprise Project

This paper presents a case study of the Abanico Medicinal Plant and Organic Agriculture Microenterprise Project in the Arenal Conservation Area, Costa Rica. Microenterprise is the Sustainable Development and the Women in Development model for gender equity and environment of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and large non-government organizations, like the World Wildlife Fund-Canada. The authors of this paper argue that debt-for-nature investment in microenterprise and ecological economic models are not distinct from neoclassical economic and development models that created the environmental, social and cultural crises in the first place. This case study shows that the world market accommodates only one model of development: unsustainable export-oriented production based on flexible labour markets, low wages, indebtedness and low cost production. Working standards in those micro-enterprises are eroded due to many factors,including indebtedness. What happened at a national level in non-industrial countries with the international debt crisis is now mirrored in individual indebtedness through microenterprise. Is current development policy creating a new form of indentured servitude? Medicinal plants, prior to commodification, were a source of women's power and upon commodification in international development projects, are the source of their exploitation.