新时代生态文明法律体系统筹协调与集成创新的进展和建议

在“五位一体”总体布局内,生态环保法律体系通过内外协调,进入以生态文明理念为指导的全面升级时期。绿色、循环、低碳要求的统筹协调和集成创新不断加强,明确了一些流域或区域的综合保护立法。对照生态文明体制改革要求,协同推进降碳、减污、扩绿、增长的法制建设不足,山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和系统治理的法制建设不足,一些改革措施并未写入法律法规,一些概念和部门的职责并不清晰,一些特殊区域和流域缺乏综合性保护专门立法,影响绿色、循环、低碳发展的综合绩效。建议全面开展法制梳理,提升降碳、减污、扩绿、增长类法律法规的衔接性和互助性,促进山水林田湖草沙各要素法律法规的兼容性和协同性,针对特定流域和区域的保护、重点行业的绿色、循环、低碳发展及国土空间规划、自然资源资产管理等领域开展专门立法;界定有争议的概念,区分相关监管和监测职责;加强一般立法与流域、区域保护立法的衔接。     

智能合约嵌入碳汇产品交易：法律挑战与应对路径

在全面推进乡村振兴背景下,探索碳汇产品价值实现是对习近平生态文明思想的践行,也是实现生态保护补偿和绿色发展的重要市场化手段。进入数字时代,基于区块链技术的智能合约,因技术优势带来的发展优势,其与各行业不断融合,并形成新的发展思路和发展业态。探索将智能合约技术嵌入碳汇产品交易,可以降低碳汇产品交易成本,提高碳汇产品交易效率。然而,新兴技术的应用是一把双刃剑,智能合约能够为碳汇产品价值实现带来诸多优势,但同时也将引发实体法、程序法以及新业态监管方面的挑战。因此,为实现智能合约在碳汇产品价值实现领域的全面可持续应用,应当从实体法、程序法以及新业态监管机制等方面,探索法律应对路径的理性回归。     

旅游发展价值取向与制度变革：美国国家公园体系的启示

通过对旅游发展的价值取向与管理体制分析发现,美国国家公园体系让国民享受到保护较好的遗产资源和舒适生态的游憩环境,国家公园提供的国民精神教育与实在的公益性服务提高了国民的凝聚力。相比而言,我国国家级保护区体系缺乏统一协调的发展理念、管理部门职能交叉、法律基础薄弱、管理及维护经费无稳定保障、公共服务意识缺失。因而,我国必须改变保护区内以经济利益为核心的旅游发展价值取向,建议对现有制度作如下调整：严格规范准入机制,重新梳理国家级保护区名录;完善现有立法,切实保护各类具有国家意义的遗产资源;逐步推进大部门体制改革,形成统一化管理的国家级保护区体系;启动淘汰机制限制保护区的数量扩张,将中央财政集中到确需保护的保护地;推出原住民资助计划,推进文化保护与社会公平;提高保护区体系从业人员素质,为各保护区建立具有科学性和教育性的解说系统,发挥国家级保护区体系对国民精神教育的重大作用.     

我国北方沙漠化治理的行为模式与制度安排分析

本文依据制度经济学和发展经济学理论,阐述了制度安排对于实现我国北方沙漠化地区沙漠化逆转的关键意义,提出激励不相容的制度安排是影响我国沙漠化治理成效的根本原因。指出要摆脱治沙所面临的困境,必须加紧进行制度安排的调整。     

Sustainability and environmental enhancement in changing cirumstances

Natural environment has endured fast economic growth and population explosion sine the 20th century,which has soil erosion,land desertification,ozone layer depletion,bio-diversity reduction and persistent toxic and harmful pollutants are among the major environmental challenges.     

建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会:基于新制度经济学的视角

建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会,需要在人与自然和谐发展的共有信念下,通过制度创新和制度变迁,实现个体理性向集体理性的收敛。制度变迁是构建资源节约型、环境友好型社会的关键所在,而制度变迁的内在机理是资源相对价格和人们消费偏好的变迁。通过强制性制度变迁,建立完善的法律法规体系、政策支持体系、技术创新体系和激励约束机制,形成低投入、低消耗、低排放和高效率的节约型增长方式;通过诱致性制度变迁,唤起公众的节约意识和环保意识,从而提升整个社会的环境责任感,让足够的认知成为公众自觉行动的能力。     

Water,Adaptation, and Property Rights on the Snake and Klamath Rivers1

Abstract: Water demand in a viable economy tends to be dynamic: it changes over time in response to growth, drought, and social policy. Institutional capacity to re‐allocate water between users and uses under stress from multiple sources is a key concern. Climate change threatens to add to those stresses in snowmelt systems by changing the timing of runoff and possibly increasing the severity and duration of drought. This article examines Snake and Klamath River institutions for their ability to resolve conflict induced by demand growth, drought, and environmental constraints on water use. The study finds that private ownership of water rights has been a major positive factor in successful adaptation, by providing the basis for water marketing and by promoting the use of negotiation and markets rather than politics to resolve water conflict.     

Land Cover and Use Changes in Relation to the Institutional Framework and Tenure of Land and Resources in Eastern Tanzania Miombo Woodlands

In Tanzania, well-defined land tenure and resource protection apply in forest reserves which account for 30% of forested land, while the remaining 70% (mostly miombo woodlands) are village and general lands with very limited protection. The aim of this study was to determine local peoples ownership rights, knowledge and institutional capacity for sustainable management of resources in forest reserves and general lands. Data were collected using participatory rural appraisal, structured and semi-structured interviews, as well as aerial photographs and landsat images. In general lands, woodlands declined by 50% between 1964 and 1996, bushlands and croplands increased by 599%, and settlements and homegardens increased by 277%. These land use and vegetation structure changes are attributed to harvesting for charcoal production and shifting cultivation. The continued decline in aerial woodland cover in the general lands suggests that common property regimes do not function in the area. Local institutional capacities are weak in enforcing control mechanisms to check the overuse of resources, which tends to approximate open access conditions. The issues of land tenure and village empowerment are not only institutional, but also political in nature. Government institutions should provide and motivate for an enabling environment, including acknowledgement of traditional knowledge, well-defined property rights and operational village by-laws. In order to ensure equity and sustainable development of natural resources, the paradigm shift in management is important whereby communal goods are to be managed for the benefit of the local society.     

A CASE STUDY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT AMENDMENTS1

ABSTRACT: A general model of the policy implementation process is utilized to facilitate a discussion of the way Section 208 of PL 92-500 is being carried out on an areawide basis. A study of four “208 areas” in the “New York-Philadelphia corridor” highlights the operation of several variables used in the model. The varying political and socioeconomic conditions in geographic areas which have similar water quality problems are leading to the evolution of vastly different implementing structures, or institutional arrangements. The analysis suggests that these differences may have important implications for the success of the program in each of these areas. A major underlying theme is that such problems are characteristic of the 208 process nationwide and reflect general difficulties associated with managing water quality in a federal system.     

Legitimizing Fluvial Ecosystems as Users of Water: An Overview

We suggest that fluvial ecosystems are legitimate users of water and that there are basic ecological principles guiding the maintenance of long-term ecological vitality. This article articulates some fundamental relationships between physical and ecological processes, presents basic principles for maintaining the vitality of fluvial ecosystems, identifies several major scientific challenges and opportunities for effective implementation of the basic ecological principles, and acts as an introduction to three specific articles to follow on biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and riparian communities. All the objectives, by necessity, link climate, land, and fresh water. The basic principles proposed are: (1) the natural flow regime shapes the evolution of aquatic biota and ecological processes, (2) every river has a characteristic flow regime and an associated biotic community, and (3) aquatic ecosystems are topographically unique in occupying the lowest position in the landscape, thereby integrating catchment-scale processes. Scientific challenges for the immediate future relate to quantifying cumulative effects, linking multidisciplinary knowledge and models, and formulating effective monitoring and assessment procedures. Additionally, forecasting the ecological consequences of changing water regimes is a fundamental challenge for science, especially as environmental issues related to fresh waters escalate in the next two to three decades.