Can climate mitigation help the poor? Measuring impacts of the CDM in rural China

This study examines whether investment in climate change mitigation contributes to poverty alleviation. We investigate the impacts of the renewable energy-based clean development mechanism (RE-CDM) projects on rural communities in China. The impacts of RE-CDM projects are estimated by combining propensity score matching with the difference-in-differences approach. We found that the biomass-based CDM projects significantly contribute to income improvement and employment generation in rural communities in China. Our estimation results also reveal that wind energy-based CDM projects have the potential to increase income and the share of labor force in the primary industry in rural areas. These results suggest different channels through which renewable energy sources affect income.     

生态补偿助力脱贫攻坚：协同、拮抗与对接

中央政府提出的“生态补偿脱贫一批”标志着生态补偿扶贫正逐步成为我国打赢脱贫攻坚战的重要途径之一。2020年是脱贫攻坚战的决胜之年，生态补偿如何有效助力脱贫攻坚成为研究的热点。本文以实践与政策为导向，运用文献研究法和逻辑分析法，在厘清生态补偿扶贫理念形成与发展的基础上，解析生态补偿与脱贫攻坚之间存在的协同效应和拮抗效应。研究发现生态补偿与脱贫攻坚在地理空间位置、实施主客体、标准、方式和途径等方面相耦合容易产生协同效应，在价值诉求、农户资源禀赋、政府部门工作等方面矛盾产生拮抗效应。生态补偿有效助力脱贫攻坚的关键在于构建对接机制以强化协同效应、弱化或去除拮抗效应。为此，通过建立精准的瞄准制度、稳定脱贫的长效机制、政府部门内部生态补偿扶贫协调机制等举措，构建生态补偿与脱贫攻坚的对接机制，以促进二者高效协同发展。     

秦巴集中连片特困区多维贫困度量及其空间格局

连片特困区贫困是特殊的区域性贫困,实现持久脱贫,关键在于识别和评估区域的贫困程度以及深究其致贫原因。基于此,通过构建经济维度硬现状、社会维度软现状及自然维度潜在状态3维的多维贫困度量指标体系,应用均方差权重法测算了2006、2010及2014年秦巴集中连片特困区及各子区域的多维贫困度,并分析了多维贫困及其各维度的时空演变规律。结果表明：（1）秦巴集中连片特困区多维贫困度得分偏高,表明该区域贫困程度较深,且多维贫困在不同贫困维度上呈现显著差异。（2）2006—2014年秦巴集中连片特困区多维贫困度都呈减弱趋势,且表现出以甘肃省徽县至湖北省房县为轴带的中部地区集聚的空间演变趋势。（3）在整体多维贫困显著改善的同时,不同连片扶贫区及不同的贫困维度在减贫路径上也体现出不同的演化特征。所得结论为该区域内县域尺度贫困类型特征识别以及扶贫工作前期评估以及后期验收成效等提供一定技术支持,也为后期实施因地制宜的脱贫措施提供科学的辅助决策支撑。     

Smoke alleviates adverse effects induced by stress on rice

Smoke and salinity are environmental hazards. Smoke produced DNA damage, inflammatory, and oxidative stress in humans while salinity reduced plant yield. However, smoke from plants is beneficial towards plant growth. In this study, smoke of two plants, Buhania varegata (1:1000 and 1:5000 dilutions (v/v)) and Cymbopogon jwarancusa (1:500 and 1:1000), were used to determine effects on different physiological and biochemical parameters in rice Basmati-385 (B-385) and Shaheen Basmati under different saline concentrations (control: 50, 100, and 150 mM). With increasing salinity, germination%, seedling growth, K⁺, Ca⁺, cell membrane stability, and total nitrogen and protein contents were decreased while Na⁺ content increased. However, seeds primed with different dilution of smoke significantly diminished the adverse effects of salinity and shown to produce positive responses in all of the above parameters. The most effective dilutions were 1:5000 for Buhania varegata and C-500 for Cymbopogon jwarancusa. It seems that priming with plant smoke solution is a potent stimulant for plant growth exerting a significant role in physiology and biochemistry of rice plants under saline condition.     

Shaped by race: why “race” still matters in the challenges facing biodiversity conservation in Africa

This article uses experiences from South Africa to argue that, despite progress made in making biodiversity conservation compatible with social, political and economic changes, progress could still be limited by reluctance of social actors to acknowledge and engage with the issue of race. The article argues that acknowledging the history of conservation in Africa, including close ties to racially charged colonialism, could be a positive impetus in the transformation of conservation to make it more socially, economically and politically justifiable.     

Population,development,and environment in India

High population growth and continued economic development have caused serious environmental damage in the Asia Pacific region.However,the recent experience is that the pace of environmental degradation is faster in developing countries than in developed countries.To this end,the study seeks to assess the impact of population pressure on India’s environment,with particular reference to the degradation of natural endowments like land and water resources and the resultant environmental pollution in the six regions of India.The rapid economic growth and expansion of infrastructure development in recent decades have not come without serious environmental consequences particularly in the southern,northern,and western regions.But in the eastern,north-eastern,and central regions of the country,environmental damage has been mainly due to rapid population growth.     

Genetic Engineering in Agriculture: Who Stands to Benefit?

The use of genetic engineering inagriculture has been the source of much debate. Todate, arguments have focused most strongly on thepotential human health risks, the flow of geneticmaterial to related species, and ecologicalconsequences. Little attention appears to have beengiven to a more fundamental concern, namely, who willbe the beneficiaries of this technology? Given the prevalence of chronic hunger and thestark economics of farming, it is arguable thatfarmers and the hungry should be the mainbeneficiaries of agricultural research. However, theapplication of genetic engineering appears unlikely tobenefit either of these two groups. This technology islargely controlled by the private sector, and itscontinued development hinges on its profitability.Thus, the only likely beneficiaries of the applicationof genetic engineering in agriculture are companieswith the capacity to use it.     

Global justice and the opportunity costs of conservation

Opportunity costs can represent a significant portion of the costs associated with conservation projects and frequently outstrip other kinds of cost. They are typically understood to refer to the benefits someone would have obtained if conservation projects had not required them to give up current activities, such as farming or hunting or if the land had been available for uses other than conservation. This familiar way of identifying opportunity costs is flawed, however, because it threatens to condone, or take advantage of, the injustices that many people face that affect their opportunities. I integrated ideas from the political theory of global justice to examine how the analysis of opportunity costs illustrates the importance of considering conservation and issues of global justice together, rather than thinking about them in isolation. I distinguish four baselines for defining opportunity costs. A status quo baseline defines opportunity costs by asking what people would have earned had a conservation project not happened. A willingness to accept baseline defines them by asking people what it would take to make them indifferent to whether a conservation project takes place or not. An antipoverty baseline suggests that opportunity costs have been met when people affected by a project are not left in poverty. An egalitarian baseline suggests opportunity costs have been met when people are not left in relative disadvantage, with worse than average opportunities. I argue that the egalitarian baseline is the most acceptable from the point of view of justice. Such a baseline would suggest that, in practice, many of the world's poor are being unjustly treated, or even exploited, as a result of conservation activities.     

对防震减灾工作依法行政的探讨

《中华人民共和国防震减灾法》等一系列法律、规章的出台实施，规范了防震减灾的管理体制、行政执法，并将地震部门作为行政主体推向了依法行政的前沿。笔者结合自己在行政办事中心“窗口”的工作实际，对防震减灾依法行政工作的特点和存在问题进行一些简单的探讨。     

纳板河自然保护区参与性有效管理研究初探

纳板河自然保护区内农民落后的耕作方式，对土地的不合理利用以及政策和社会发展等因素对热带雨林带来巨大压力。对其实施有效管理，合理利用土地和野生生物资源，开征资源补偿素，完善管理体制和规章制度，可在帮助当地农民脱贫的同时，有效地保护热带雨林及其生境。