Comparing petroleum fiscal regimes under oil price uncertainty

This study investigates and compares five upstream petroleum fiscal systems under crude oil price uncertainty. The fiscal systems analyzed are: the Alberta Canada tax and royalty system, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) (pre-2003) traditional Rate of Return (ROR) system, the Sao Tome and Principe/Nigerian Joint Development Zone (SNJDZ) Production Sharing Contract (PSC), the Tanzanian PSC/ROR hybrid system and the Trinidad and Tobago PSC. Contingent claims analysis is used to value the governments’ tax claims under uncertainty using a numerical approach, viz., Monte Carlo simulation. Each system is tested to obtain the after-tax value accruing to firms as well as the distortionary effects introduced by the fiscal systems. The results are then ranked. The Alberta Canada and PNG fiscal systems provide companies with the highest after-tax values while also being the least distortionary. The Tanzanian system is the lowest in both rankings, providing relatively low after-tax values and introducing strong distortionary effects. The SNJDZ PSC imposed a relatively high tax burden on companies with median distortionary effects. The Trinidadian PSC generated a median tax burden on companies but has strong distortionary effects.     

S210线轻钢结构滚石防护棚洞动力响应与优化研究

以2013年芦山7.0级地震生命通道S210线滚石灾害防治为背景,在崩塌滚石灾害特征调查和研究的基础上,根据S210线应急抢险的需求,提出一种新型轻钢结构滚石防护棚洞技术:采用钢板和槽钢为主骨架,双层钢板夹EPS材料为顶板,并将顶板设为20°~25°以提高抗冲击能力。通过动力有限元数值模拟,开展滚石冲击荷载下轻钢结构棚洞动力响应机理与优化设计研究。计算结果表明:轻钢结构棚洞具有较强的抗滚石冲击能力,能承受1 500 k J滚石冲击能量,且施工方便快捷,不影响正常交通,是S210线应急保通较为理想的滚石防护措施。目前轻钢结构棚洞已在S210线滚石危险区段投入使用,效果显著,对确保震后S210线畅通和灾后重建发挥了重要作用,也可在类似山区公路滚石灾害防治中推广应用。     

Reinvigorating the sustainable development research agenda: the role of the sustainable development goals (SDG)

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) contain a set of 17 measures to foster sustainable development across many areas. It offers a good opportunity to reinvigorate sustainable development research for two main reasons. First, it comprises many areas of SD research, which have become mainstream thanks to the UN SDGs. Second, the fact that the UN and its member countries have committed to attaining SDGs by 2030 has added a sense of urgency to the need to perform quality research on SD on the one hand, and reiterates the need to use the results of this research on the other. Even though the basic concept of sustainability goes back many centuries, it has only recently appeared on the international political agenda. This is partly due to an awakening of the fact that the human ecological pressure on the planet is still much larger than what nature can renew or compensate for. Based on this state of affairs, this paper presents an outline of the process leading to the agreement on the UN SDGs, and looks at some of the ecological aspects as a result of continued pressure of human activities on natural resources. Furthermore, a set of research needs is proposed – also based holistically on updated research trends – discussing the degree of urgency of some measures and explaining why the UN SDGs need to be accorded greater priority in international sustainable development research efforts.     

环境战略的新发展

论文指出,环境战略从环境领域延伸到经济社会领域,将发展下环境作为一个整体对待,环境战略重点从污染防治转向资源和生态系统的保护,污染防治从尾端治理转向发展清洁生产,即从产业规划、产品规划,技术和工艺开发,产品设计,废物的综合利用和合理处理实行全过程的管理;从发展经济消除贫困寻求保护生态环境的正确道路,切断“贫困－过度开发自然资源－生态环境恶化－自然灾害加剧－更加贫困”的恶性循环,中国环境战略应与全球