Accountability and legitimacy in earth system governance: A research framework

Along with concerns over the effectiveness of earth system governance, ways of enhancing its accountability and legitimacy are increasingly coming to the fore in both scholarly debate and political practice. Concerns over accountability and legitimacy pertain to all levels of governance, from the local to the global, and cover the spectrum of public and private governance arrangements. This conceptual article elaborates on the sources, mechanisms and reform options relating to more accountable, legitimate and democratic earth system governance. We proceed in four steps. First, we conceptualize accountability and legitimacy in earth system governance. Second, we place questions of accountability and legitimacy within the larger context of earth system transformation, which, we argue, poses special challenges to the pursuit of accountability and legitimacy. Third, drawing on the contributions to this special section, we analyze different sources and mechanisms of accountability and legitimacy and their effects on the democratic potential and effectiveness of governance. Fourth, in concluding, we outline reform options that may help alleviate persisting deficits in the democratic potential of earth system governance.     

The economic and environmental performances of rural districts in Italy: Are competitiveness and sustainability compatible targets?

This paper analyses the economic performances of the rural system and the level of land sensitivity to degradation in Italy. Three indicators (district value added, share of agriculture on total product, and a composite index of land sensitivity) were used to classify 784 Italian local districts into eight performance classes. Four classes share a combination of high environmental quality (in terms of land degradation), high (or low) economic performances, and high (or low) productivity of the primary sector. The remaining four are characterised by a combination of low (and declining) environmental quality, high (or low) economic performances, and high (or low) productivity of the primary sector. The eight classes were grouped into four ‘environmental quality’ types and four ‘target performance’ categories to discriminate among high- and low-performance districts by considering twelve additional variables within a Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA). 148 high environmental performance districts (18% of total) were identified mainly across the Alps and Apennine while 314 districts (41%) were classified in the lowest performance class and concentrated in flat areas of southern Italy. The districts with high environmental performances were characterised, on average, by medium to low district value added, moderately low economic weight of the primary sector, and tourism specialisation. Districts with high economic performances and low environmental performances were characterised by high sensitivity to LD, low district value added, high share of agriculture in total product, and the lowest productivity of labour in all economic sectors. In these districts the risk of entering a downward spiral of rural poverty and environmental degradation is potentially high.     

Greening transportation fleets: Insights from a two-stage game theoretic model

The greening of organizational transportation fleets, especially trucks and automobiles, has gained increasing attention by companies in a variety of industrial sectors. The reasons for this concern and attention are due to regulatory and competitive pressures, but also increasing costs of fossil-fuels. Surprisingly the amount of research and modeling for fleet management overall has been rather limited, with the focus on managing green vehicle investments virtually non-existent. In this study we develop a two-stage game theoretic model that helps evaluate, from both policy and organizational perspectives, the implications of greening of transportation fleets. Various parameters are evaluated including factors such as innovations in green vehicle technology, levels of service differences, cost of fuel, adjusting tax policy, regulatory compliance requirements, and adaptation costs. This evaluation provides practical insights into actions that could be considered by regulators and organizations to encourage environmental investments.     

“碳关税”措施在GATT/WTO体制中的合法性研究

碳关税措施的规定是针对国内产品征收的碳税所进行的边境税调整,但国内碳税并不在WTO的边境税调整范围之内。碳关税不符合非歧视待遇原则中的国民待遇原则;由于各国环境政策和环保措施不同,碳关税也违反最惠国待遇原则。碳关税措施不符合GATT第20条(b)款与(g)款的规定,但专家组和上诉机构的解释可能对于碳关税措施符合GATT/WTO的相关规则具有积极的意义。考虑到碳关税对我国部分产业和对外贸易的影响,应该依据上述理由予以反对,驳斥欧美部分国家对于碳关税措施在GATT/WTO中具有合法性的观点。     

美国服务贸易出口的环境效应分析：以商业存在为例

本文以商业存在为例,分析了美国服务贸易出口的环境效应。结果表明,美国服务贸易出口对环境具有显著影响,一方面可以降低一氧化碳、非甲烷有机挥发物、氮氧化物的污染排放,另一方面也会增加二氧化硫污染排放。进一步地分行业分析表明,美国服务业各部门出口的环境效应存在明显差异。     

Informal settlements’ needs and environmental conservation in Mexico City: An unsolved challenge for land-use policy

The aim of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of land-use policy in Mexico City in controlling the expansion of informal human settlements in peri-urban zones of high ecological value. It is argued that Mexico City's land-use policy has been reactive and internally inconsistent, failing to take informal settlements into account, has not offered the poor access to housing with adequate services and greater security in terms of land tenure, and lacks the necessary financial resources and institutional capabilities for providing solutions to these problems. Through a case study of informal settlement management policy in the Tlalpan Delegation,¹ applied in what has been termed SC or “Conservation Land,”² we conclude that local government exhibits an inability to confront the new challenge of urban sustainability, that it resorts to conventional solutions which give rise to contradictory situations where political decision-making prevails over ecological considerations, so land-use policy is permissive and does not halt informal urban expansion in areas of high environmental value.     

河北省高新技术产业发展环境系统定位研究

知识经济时代高新技术产业的发展需要良好的环境系统来支撑。本文在对河北省高新技术产业现状分析的基础上,结合高新技术产业发展的一般规律,构建了河北省高新技术产业发展的环境系统模型,并给出了具体的系统运行评价方法,对当前的环境系统运行状况进行了测评,最后提出了今后环境系统高效运行的政策建议。     

制造业信息化的必由之路——绿色制造

信息技术促使制造技术在发生质的飞跃,在制造业信息化的过程中,为尽可能地避免环境污染和提高资源的利用效率,绿色制造是趋势。它不但使社会健康地发展,而且使制造业赢得市场竞争优势,是人类社会可持续发展战略在制造业中的体现。     

科技金融政策能否降低环境污染？——基于“促进科技与金融结合试点”的准自然实验

在创新驱动城市发展的背景下,科技金融发展为生态环境治理提供了新动力和新方向。本文基于中国2003—2018年262个地级市数据,将“促进科技与金融结合试点”实施视为一次准自然实验,运用双重差分法考察了科技金融政策的环境治理效应及其影响机制。研究发现：首先,科技金融政策的实施对环境污染具有明显的抑制作用,并且与水污染相比,科技金融政策对于空气污染的治理效果更为明显;其次,从城市区位来看,科技金融政策对于东部和北部地区的环境治理效果要优于中部、西部和南部地区;从城市等级来看,科技金融政策对于高等级城市具有更为明显的治污排污效果;最后,中介效应分析表明,金融发展、技术创新和经济规模是科技金融政策改善环境的有效路径。此外,科技金融政策实施对于邻近地区的环境治理具有显著的空间溢出效果。上述分析首次尝试将环境污染纳入到科技金融政策的评估框架中,丰富和完善了环境治理的相关研究,有效地回应了学术界关于科技创新、金融发展和环境治理的争论,为推动经济高质量发展提供了经验证据。     

国际投资中污染产业转移的实证分析

国际投资中污染产业转移的问题受到了发达国家和发展中国家的普遍关注。理论分析认为,由于各国的环境标准存在差异,因而导致污染产业从环境标准高的国家转移到环境标准低的国家。在实际中是否存在这种现象以及转移的范围及程度多大则需要实证分析来验证。本文的实证分析表明:环境标准与污染产业转移之间并不存在必然的联系。