从清洁生产到循环经济

清洁生产和循环经济是20世纪90年代以来在我国引人注目的两项实践。正确认识、积极推进清洁生产和循环经济,对于转变我国经济增长方式与发展模式、促进可持续发展具有重要意义。在将资源环境要素纳入经济系统内部,转变经济增长方式,促进资源环境和经济结合一体化发展模式的概念意义下,本文从宏观历史层面阐述了我国清洁生产和循环经济的发展过程、必然趋势及其长期曲折、交错推进的过程特征。分析了以废物循环作为循环经济的认识和实践误区,提出了以清洁生产为基础推进产业生态化,结合强化末端管制,以及围绕建立“绿色”市场进行制度创新为基本内容的发展我国循环经济的建议。     

中国收入差距与环境质量关系的实证检验--基于对环境库兹涅茨曲线的扩展

在对环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC）假说扩展的基础上,分析和验证了收入差距与环境质量之间的关系。应用联合国统计司公布的中国1986—2002年度二氧化碳排放总量数据,通过计量模型论证收入差距与环境质量之间的假设。结果发现,收入差距扩大会刺激二氧化碳排放,收入差距越大这种影响的效果就会越恶劣。而且收入差距因素还会通过作用于经济增长,促使经济增长对环境的污染程度加强。延迟转折点的到来。因此,我国目前在促进经济增长的同时,要以提高社会整体福利为目的,缩小居民收入差距,这将有利于环境质量的改善和提高。     

How Run-of-River Operation Affects Hydropower Generation and Value

Regulated rivers in the United States are required to support human water uses while preserving aquatic ecosystems. However, the effectiveness of hydropower license requirements nationwide has not been demonstrated. One requirement that has become more common is “run-of-river” (ROR) operation, which restores a natural flow regime. It is widely believed that ROR requirements (1) are mandated to protect aquatic biota, (2) decrease hydropower generation per unit flow, and (3) decrease energy revenue. We tested these three assumptions by reviewing hydropower projects with license-mandated changes from peaking to ROR operation. We found that ROR operation was often prescribed in states with strong water-quality certification requirements and migratory fish species. Although benefits to aquatic resources were frequently cited, changes were often motivated by other considerations. After controlling for climate, the overall change in annual generation efficiency across projects because of the change in operation was not significant. However, significant decreases were detected at one quarter of individual hydropower projects. As expected, we observed a decrease in flow during peak demand at 7 of 10 projects. At the remaining projects, diurnal fluctuations actually increased because of operation of upstream storage projects. The economic implications of these results, including both producer costs and ecologic benefits, are discussed. We conclude that regional-scale studies of hydropower regulation, such as this one, are long overdue. Public dissemination of flow data, license provisions, and monitoring data by way of on-line access would facilitate regional policy analysis while increasing regulatory transparency and providing feedback to decision makers.     

Elements of a cost-benefit analysis for improving salmonid spawning habitat in the River Wye

Contingent valuation methods were used to derive an economic value for salmonid spawning habitat restoration. Anglers' willingness to pay for such restoration and farmers' willingness to accept compensation for lost productivity due to the restoration were investigated using questionnaire and face-to-face surveys, respectively. These elements were combined with the Wye Habitat Improvement Project (WHIP) budget into a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) based upon direct use values only. The CBA assumed that the WHIP will improve salmonid stock. Different levels of investment were considered and the CBA gave a positive net present value indicating an economically viable project and benefit-to-cost ratios greater than one for minor projects. However, the number of anglers using the Wye would need to double or triple in order to justify the full WHIP budget. Management of an environmental resource must consider users' and stakeholders' needs and opinions. It was found that anglers on the Wye value habitat/scenery in its own right and that this played an important part in the activity. Farmers' agreement regarding involvement in such projects was more likely to be determined by their political and ethical views than receiving an economic compensation.     

Value for Money: Protecting Endangered Species on Danish Heathland

Biodiversity policies in the European Union (EU) are mainly implemented through the Birds and Habitats Directives as well as the establishment of Natura 2000, a network of protected areas throughout the EU. Considerable resources must be allocated for fulfilling the Directives and the question of optimal allocation is as important as it is difficult. In general, economic evaluations of conservation targets at most consider the costs and seldom the welfare economic benefits. In the present study, we use welfare economic benefit estimates concerning the willingness-to-pay for preserving endangered species and for the aggregate area of heathland preserved in Denmark. Similarly, we obtain estimates of the welfare economic cost of habitat restoration and maintenance. Combining these welfare economic measures with expected species coverage, we are able to estimate the potential welfare economic contribution of a conservation network. We compare three simple nonprobabilistic strategies likely to be used in day-to-day policy implementation: i) a maximum selected area strategy, ii) a hotspot selection strategy, and iii) a minimizing cost strategy, and two more advanced and informed probabilistic strategies: i) a maximum expected coverage strategy and ii) a strategy for maximum expected welfare economic gain. We show that the welfare economic performance of the strategies differ considerably. The comparison between the expected coverage and expected welfare shows that for the case considered, one may identify an optimal protection level above which additional coverage only comes at increasing welfare economic loss.     

山东省水环境污染的经济损失研究

通过对区域水污染经济损失核算方法的研究，采用恢复费用法估算山东省1997—1999年的水污染损失。山东省年均水污染损失占GDP的0．38％；其中淮河流域的年均污染损失最大。占总损失量的66．82％；单位水量的污染损失以海河流域最大，为0．43元／m^3；淮河、海河流域由于水污染，工农业增加的水处理成本占其工农业总产值的比例分别为0．43％和1．34％。结果表明，山东省由于水污染造成的经济损失已经影响到了山东省的经济发展。     

The use of cost–benefit analysis in environmental policies: Some issues raised by the Water Framework Directive implementation in France

This paper aims to practically contribute to the literature on the use of cost–benefit analysis (CBA) and economic evaluation in environmental decision-making through a practical case study: the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in France, for the first cycle (2010–2015). The WFD requires that Member States achieve “good status” for all water bodies in 2015. However, exemptions can apply, if justified, on natural, technical or economic reasons. For the latter, EU guidance documents recommend to use CBA. In France, the water agencies carried out 710 CBAs on proposed restoration projects for water bodies. This article reports on this experience. Issues concerning these analyses are discussed, especially the assessment of non-market benefits. Finally, this article questions the use of economic analysis in the implementation of environmental policy.     

A Conceptual Analysis of the Application of Tradable Permits to Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract: Tradable permits have been applied in many areas of environmental policy and may be a response to increasing calls for flexible conservation instruments that successfully conserve biodiversity while allowing for economic development. The idea behind applying tradable permits to conservation is that developers wishing to turn land to economic purposes, thereby destroying valuable habitat, may only do so if they submit a permit to the conservation agency showing that habitat of at least the equivalent ecological value is restored elsewhere. The developer himself does not need to carry out the restoration, but may buy a permit from a third party, thus allowing a market to emerge. Nevertheless, the application of tradable permits to biodiversity conservation is a complex issue because destroyed and restored habitats are likely to differ. There may be various trade‐offs between the ecological requirements that destroyed and restored habitats be as similar as possible, and the need for a certain level of market activity to have a functioning trading system. The success of tradable permits as an instrument for reconciling the conflicts between economic development and conservation depends on the existence of certain economic, institutional, and ecological preconditions, for example, a functioning institutional framework, sufficient expert knowledge, and adequate monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.     

Basic Environmental Requirements for EU Accession: An Impact Study on Hungary

It can be stated in general that (with the exception of agriculture) the Hungarian economy, because of its outdated technologies, is a bigger threat to the environment than countries of Western Europe. However, as the volume of economic output, per capita consumption and the number of motor vehicles is considerably lower than those in more advanced industrial nations, by most indicators low per capita figures put Hungary in a better position. Still, we must remember that the EU's environmental policy puts heavy emphasis on the efficient utilization of resources and environmental efficiency, calculated against pollution generated in the course of creating units of national wealth and the amount of energy and natural resources required to it. By these standards, Hungary lags far behind the West European model.The problem is compounded by the fact that, while nations of Western Europe had created environmental infrastructure (i.e., wastewater disposal and treatment, waste management) in an earlier phase of their economic development, Hungary is only now embarking on a similar project. Indeed, the existing gap between utility services of drinking water and sewage disposal and treatment, and large amounts of untreated and illegally dumped waste lead to serious environmental damage. Although the state of the country's natural environment is considered satisfactory, factors outlined above indicate there are many responsibilities ahead of us if we are to meet western environmental standards.     

经济体制改革对环境保护的影响及其政策调整

本文研究了我国由计划经济体制向市场经济体制转变过程中对环境保护产生的积极作用及其面临的问题，探索了适应社会主义市场经济体制实现环境与经济可持续发展的政策措施。