“免疫系统论”视角下的碳审计模式构建

经济的快速发展,使全球环境问题日益严重,尤其是全球气候变暖已经严重威胁到人类社会的可持续发展,并成为世界性的政治、经济、法律和技术问题。碳审计作为现代审计中有效应对全球变暖等环境问题的新举措,是一种全新的环境规制工具。论文将从“国家审计免疫系统论”的视角下,结合目前国内外碳审计的研究现状,探索分析适合我国国情的碳审计模式,以期发挥碳审计在经济社会环境的免疫作用。     

Global environmental risks: between political hazards and policy decisions

Environmental risks are both decision forcing situations and action forcing events. Rethinking the nature, scientific soundness and democratic character of environmental policy decisions have become critical political issues. And, although the environmental policy approach to address environmental risks enjoys ample support, the newly acquired custody has not been assumed without a degree of political hazard. It is this subject matter which circumvents the analysis of the risk political model, which Munch characterizes as a contingency of double political risks. Since environmental policy inaction is not an option, my interest here is simultaneously with a workable and legitimate model of reaching decisions driven by demands that set explicit goals, acceptable to concerned parties, implementable by policies, with positive impact on the protection against environmental risks. Filtered through the medium of deliberation, environmental risk protection is likely to gain public support and grow into a collective project, thus possibly offsetting the contingency of political hazards. A democratic model of deliberation, however, must be tested not simply by its formal procedural attributes, but also by its ability to deliver. Hence a deliberate model without explicit time frameworks will not do. Any deliberative process preoccupied with environmental risks must seriously consider the pragmatics of time . This implies stipulations of time limits per decision units. After all, time frameworks are embedded within the structuring of rules and decision-making processes, and as such, time has been transformed into both a scarce and a non-renewable resource. This is the more relevant in the context of environmental policy as the intensification of decision-making has been exacerbated in the process of globalization where scientific, technological and economic developments have generated a host of global environmental problems increasingly difficult to address in any decisive form.     

Free market environmentalism and the neoliberal project: The case of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board

In the absence of good social, political, economic and environmental policy, the ecological status of the planet continues to deteriorate. In this paper, we argue that environmental decline has provided scope for new forms of policy-making, yet these emergent policies and policy-making bodies remain poorly understood. Drawing on the work of political geographers and political economists this paper explores the impact of neoliberalism on the development of global environmental regulation. We argue that climate disclosure practices and regulation have provided an opportunity to reinforce the ideological landscape of neoliberalism. In order to anchor this argument, we show that the origins of carbon regulation have emerged almost exclusively from within non-elected coalitions of multinationals operating through private, not-for-profit entities. These organisations continue to shape community expectations and influence government of climate change abatement strategies. To explore the impact neoliberalism has had on the environment, we examine the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), its role, and its global impact on the regulation of reporting firms.     

Development of accounting regulation in Jordan

This study examines the development of accounting regulation in Jordan with emphasis on the dominant environmental factors that influence it. In order to have a better understanding of Jordan's present accounting practices, and its future development tendencies, we examine the path of accounting in Jordan since the early days of the nineteenth century, and analyze how Jordan's accounting environment — political, economic, legal and cultural — influenced the development of accounting in Jordan. We also examine Jordan's recent move towards full adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and find that Jordan's colonial past has exerted a strong influence. In addition, we conclude that political and economic factors, through privatization and the resulting accounting reforms, contributed more to the development of accounting practices than other environmental factors. Privatization led to reforming Jordan's disclosure regulation and laying down of the corporate-governance policy framework. Our conclusions could be of interest to other countries, particularly developing countries, who want to improve the quality of their accounting disclosures and practices.     

Transitions in a globalising world

The increasing complexity of our global society means that sustainable development cannot be addressed from a single perspective or scientific discipline. By using the concept of transitions, we examine current and future tensions between welfare, well-being and the environment, and focus on four major issues that are of global importance: two of our key natural resources, water and biodiversity; the health of human populations; and the developments related to global tourism. In our global assessment, we base ourselves on the most recent scenario efforts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Future developments are explored along the lines of four development paths (scenario groups), defined along two dimensions (global versus regional dynamics and emphasising economic objectives versus environmental and equity objectives.     

Sustainable development: The impact of political risk,macroeconomic policy uncertainty and ethnic conflict

We examine the impact of political risk, macroeconomic policy uncertainty, and social risk on sustainable development for a panel covering 47 developing economies from 1991 to 2020. We present an augmented green Solow growth model linking policy risk and uncertainty to sustainable development through their interaction with pollution abatement activities. We employ a political risk index to capture the composite impact of risk factors relevant to political rule and regulation, a macroeconomic policy index to evaluate the uncertainty associated with inflation, exchange rate, and fiscal policies and an index of ethnic fractionalization to appreciate social risk. The empirical results confirm that all the risk and uncertainty factors examined exert significant negative short- and long-run impacts on sustainable development. The findings highlight the importance of risk management as a key control policy when designing sustainability policies promoting pollution emissions abatement.     

The impact of foresight on environmental science and technology policy in the Netherlands

Globalisation, high tech development and environmental issues have made policy makers aware again of the possibilities of future studies for policy making. However, the lack of systematic knowledge about their impact is a major obstruction to a proper use of future studies. Especially since future studies no longer claim to predict the future, but are seen as a strategic tool for improving strategic interaction between key actors and for anticipatory policy making, insight in the dynamics of future studies is indispensable. In this article we review four future studies in the Netherlands with an eye on their methods and related impact on research in sustainable technology. Although in content the four studies were quite similar, they were complementary in linking research strategies and policy objectives.     

Industry versus ecology: environment in the new Europe

This paper examines the role of the environment in Central and Eastern European states by pursuing the incompatibility between the economic development needed to maintain the democratic institutions already in place, and the crisis levels of environmental degradation in so many areas of Eastern and Central Europe. It is believed that costs of reversing environmental damages in these areas, and the implementation of sustainable development policies and technologies, are so great that the Eastern European states will be unable to meet them, which may lead to a further decline in the environmental quality in both CEE and the EU. This ability to impact the EU's environment could be the major factor in a decision by the EU to implement environmental taxes against these states. As a result, the possibility is raised that Russia may provide an alternative to the EU in the formation of a economically based bloc, with implications for trade, environment and security issues.     

Urbanization: the challenge for the next century

This article summarizes a new 1996-97 report from the World Resources Institute, the UN Environmental Program, the UN Development Program, and the World Bank, which describes a future with increased levels of urbanization that were reshaping the physical and social environment. Urbanization increased economic growth and environmental degradation. By the year 2000, 50% of the world population will live in urban areas. Cities are the center of economic activity. Consumption is the highest in cities. Cities produce the most pollution and waste. Three issues are particularly crucial to survival: the water supply, sanitation, and water resource management. Neglect of these and other environmental issues is likely to have important consequences in both developing and developed countries. The greatest growth in urban areas is occurring in developing countries. Cities in developing countries have huge populations living in poverty. The poor in either rural or urban areas are confronted with lack of access to clean water, to sanitation, and to housing. There is overcrowding and exposure to industrial wastes and air pollution. There is a need for policy reform, stronger institutions, and enlightened political leadership. Cities need to improve their environment and to strengthen local government and implement poverty reduction programs. Reform of urban policies must be accompanied by effective urban governance. Community-based approaches are essential. Broad-based support is needed for changes in strategies and practices and for attainment of a more sustainable environment.     

Effects of the institutional environment on public-private partnership (P3) projects: Evidence from Canada

The purpose of this paper is to understand the effects of the institutional environment on project outcomes in order to contribute to the accumulating accounting literature on P3s. Based on an empirical study of Alberta’s institutional environment, using Edmonton’s Anthony Henday Highway P3 projects, we analyze how the: a) political environment enables or disenables P3 outcomes; b) policy/business environment impacts project development and implementation; and c) organizational capacity affects P3 outcomes and vice versa.Adopting a neo-institutionalism perspective and a case study approach, we investigate the effects of the institutional environment on P3 project outcomes. This research is based on 35 semi-structured interviews of public sector executive managers, political actors, senior industry executives, project consultants/advisors, labour union, media specialists, community advocates and public policy analysts in the P3 industry who participated in Alberta’s P3 projects from 2004 to 2016.We find that the institutional environment has significant influence on project performance, and program permanence/continuity. Our study suggests that P3 enabling environments present: 1) relevant P3 policy measures and committed political support by field actors; 2) a path-dependent response to project outcomes; and 3) institutional environment elements that are mutually re-enforcing with synergistic effects.In effect, we document that a strong political leadership support for P3s, a favourable policy environment, and effective organizational capacity are pre-requisite factors for the successful implementation of P3s. Given the unsettled debate about various methodological approaches to value for money (VfM) determination for assessing P3s, we are unsure whether our findings are partly influenced by inconsistent accounting standards for P3s across jurisdictions.Our study highlights critical P3 enabling attributes that would be beneficial to accounting researchers interested in institutional environment studies and co-operative arrangements, accountants, public sector policy managers, regulators, and private sector partners saddled with the task of developing and implementing P3 projects in various institutional and/or contextual settings.     

An Agenda for Re-inventing Local Government

A new government will find a major agenda of issues if trust between local and central government is to be re-built and the place of local government re-established. There will be challenges for both sides, but Ministers will need to take initiative in signing the European Charter for Self-Government, developing a concordat, being clear about roles and doing something about finance. Local political management and democracy and the policy process also need attention.     

建设环保型社会的税收政策构想

在实现经济可持续发展的进程中,税收政策将起到不可替代的重要作用。但是,我国有关环境保护的税收政策还存有不科学的方面:环境税收严重缺位;税收对环境保护的调节力度不够等。为此,本文在分析有关环境保护税收政策现状的基础上,提出了发挥税收调节作用、建立环保税制的具体构想。     

The environment for development

This overview of the World Bank 1992 World Development Report reveals some of the means to close the gap between policy and practice in linking environmental and development policy. The nature of the problem is defined and win-win policies which show mutual support for environment and development concerns are differentiated from negative links. Sound environmental management can be achieved with improved information, enhancing institutional arrangements, and involving local people. The rapid implementation of policies and programs will involve both political and financial costs and a shift in policies and priorities. The challenges ahead are tremendous and include overcoming poverty and turning population growth and environmental pollution around. World consumption of energy and manufactured goods is expected to triple; without curbs on emissions, mortality increases, water shortages, and forest and natural habitat loss will ensue. It is not entirely true that economic activity hurts the environment when positive forces of substitution, technological innovation, and structural change outweigh the negative consequences. Environmental consequences change with income levels. Some problems decline with income increases. Some problems deteriorate temporarily and then improve as incomes rise, i.e., air and water pollution and some types of deforestation and habitat dislocation. Some problems continue to grow with income increases, such as carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions. Win-win policies are ones that foster and end to excessive resource use, clarify property rights and stop open access to land, accelerate education and family planning programs, accelerate agricultural extension and research, and invest in sanitation and water supply. These policies will not sacrifice economic growth. Tradeoffs must be identified and costs and benefits of alternative policies assessed; priorities and standards must be established in consort with costs and benefits. Behavior change can be achieved with properly designed practical and cost-effective policies.     

Privatization,political risk and stock market development in emerging economies

This paper investigates whether privatization in emerging economies has a significant indirect effect on local stock market development through the resolution of political risk. We argue that a sustained privatization program represents a major political test that gradually resolves uncertainty over political commitment to a market-oriented policy as well as to regulatory and private property rights. We present evidence suggesting that progress in privatization is indeed correlated with improvements in perceived political risk. Our analysis further shows that changes in political risk in general tend to have a strong effect on local stock market development and excess returns in emerging economies. We conclude that the resolution of political risk resulting from successful privatization has been an important source for the rapid growth of stock markets in emerging economies.     

Incorporating environmental factors into a highway maintenance cost model

As infrastructure ages, the maintenance cost of highways is becoming a major international concern that hitherto has been overlooked by public sector researchers. This paper begins to fill this gap by focusing on the nature and extent of the impact of environmental cost drivers on costs of highway maintenance. By linking a cost driver framework with engineering theory, and using geographic information systems methodology, it has been possible to demonstrate that the physical geological environment has a significant effect on the cost of highway maintenance activity. In addition to advancing highway maintenance cost behaviour understanding, the research illustrates that to gain new insights, researchers must be prepared to base causality enquiries on theoretical foundations advanced by other disciplines and to work with data and methods of analysis which are appropriate to each situation. From a strategic cost management perspective, this study elevates environmental factors in importance as major drivers of cost and in particular, highlights their related interaction with management strategy and policy. The paper discusses aspects of the cost driver framework and application to planning and control accountability, describes dynamic inter-relationships between activity-based costing and activity-based management and suggests directions for further research.     

环境保护税收政策的国际实践及借鉴

目前世界各国都力求遵循可持续发展的基本思想,实现人与自然、环境的和谐统一,其中环境保护问题是各国面临的共同难题。从上世纪70年代起,西方发达国家采用税收政策保护环境,已取得了明显的效果。学习西方发达国家环境保护税收政策的实践经验,对其在税种的开征、税收收入的使用、税收征管等方面进行研究、总结,对于我国采用税收手段保护环境,注重经济增长质量的提高具有借鉴意义。     

Ireland: contested precaution and challenged institutions

Irish policy on GMOs has generally cited precaution as its basis, although the official responses to marketing applications demonstrate a generally favourable attitude towards the technology. The official policy assumes that the current safety regulation can ensure that products reaching the market are safe, and that consumers can make their own ethical and political choices regarding GMOs, facilitated by full labelling of such products and ingredients. This view has been made more explicit with recent official statements. A national consultation process resulted in a report which strongly favours GM technology, but the whole process has been questioned by critics of GM crops. Many disagreements remain, particularly around the range of issues open to discussion. Many actors and organisations opposed to GMOs argue that the debate has been too narrowly focused on scientific aspects of health and environmental protection; they attempt to widen the scope to include other aspects, such as political and ethical concerns. This effort challenges the mediating institutions and their capacity to regulate an issue which involves uncertainty.     

“多言寡行”的环境责任表现能否影响银行信贷获取——基于“言”和“行”双维度的文本分析

基于我国推行绿色信贷的政策背景,本文考察了企业“多言寡行”的环境责任表现能否影响银行的信贷决策。研究发现:(1)从总体来看,“多言寡行”的环境责任表现有助于企业获取更多的银行借款。(2)相比于长期银行借款,“多言寡行”对于短期银行借款的正向影响更为明显。(3)《关于构建绿色金融体系的指导意见》的出台抑制了“多言寡行”对银行借款的正向影响。(4)进一步分析发现,相比于环境责任表现“少言多行”以及“少言寡行”的企业,企业“多言寡行”的环境责任表现对于银行的信贷资源具有显著的正向影响;“多言寡行”对银行借款的正向影响在无背景关联、价值较低以及市场环境更差的企业中更为明显。本文有助于信贷机构认识到绿色信贷政策面临的执行风险,为确保绿色信贷的健康发展提供了新的决策参考。     

Exposure Triggers and Allocation Methods: Learning Lessons From Prior Court Rulings

This study provides a review of some of the major court rulings that have shaped and continue to shape the commercial general liability (CGL) market. The evolution of the concepts of "triggers" and allocations systems is examined to gain a perspective on the way in which courts reinterpret contract language to apply to new and emerging exposures. A review of the issues impacting the CGL provides valuable insights into the way court rulings can create a significant impact in the insurance market. A stream of court decisions provides the backdrop for today's challenges, including the reemergence of asbestos claims. The study also fills a gap in the literature related to the crisis in the CGL marketplace and changes in the pricing, regulation, and solvency of insurers operating in those lines. As old risks continue to evolve and new risks emerge, courts have begun to reinterpret liability contracts in much the same way as they reinterpreted contracts with regard to pollution and products in the 1970s and 1980s. Recent rulings related to asbestos and environmental liability underscore the importance of these issues in today's marketplace. By reviewing these events related to the CGL policy, insurers, insureds, and regulators may gain a new perspective on the importance of developing a clear standard wording that will be consistently interpreted in light of new exposures.     

Domestic and international violence : A forecasting approach

This article is directed at the need for the development of forecasting techniques for non-environmental issues, especially political and military concerns. It describes a major research project in this area completed by Dr Weil and his colleagues at Consolidated Analysis Centers, Inc. The article defines the concepts and operational measures forecast, describes the development of a regression-based forecasting model and simulation experiments performed on that model, and presents selected long-range forecasts of significant political, economic, military, and social variables for the European region.