Corporate Carbon Strategies in Responding to Climate Change

With climate change emerging as one of the most important issues affecting the business circle, companies have begun considering the carbon issue in their overall strategic positioning. However, few studies have examined the corporate carbon strategies in developing and advanced developing countries, where climate change regulation is extensive and market uncertainty is relatively high. In addition, there has been growing interest among researchers and practitioners concerning the relationship between the carbon strategy and firm performance. This paper presents a framework for identifying the corporate carbon strategy. The cluster analysis of 241 Korean companies indicates six types of corporate carbon strategy: ‘wait‐and‐see observer’, ‘cautious reducer’, ‘product enhancer’, ‘all‐round enhancer’, ‘emergent explorer’ and ‘all‐round explorer’. This study empirically examines whether there are differences between these carbon strategy types in terms of the sector, firm size and firm performance. The results indicate a significant relationship between a firm's carbon strategy and its sector and size but a significant relationship between the carbon strategy and firm performance is not confirmed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

A NUCLEAR FUTURE? UK GOVERNMENT POLICY AND THE ROLE OF THE MARKET

Nuclear power should be a feasible non‐carbon option in a liberalised market for electricity generation. However, if it is to be so, there needs to be a stable carbon price and a tax system which does not treat nuclear generation in a similar way to carbon‐based electricity generation. Further major reform of the electricity generating market will also be necessary.     

坚强智能电网--服务国家碳减排目标

发展坚强智能电网是贯彻落实科学发展观、实现电力行业碳减排目标的重要途径。在深入剖析发展智能电网必要性的基础上，阐述了坚强智能电网的内涵和作用，研究分析了其碳减排效益，及对实现我国碳减排目标的贡献，并提出了促进我国智能电网建设的几点建议。     

Tourists' Perception of International Air Travel's Impact on the Global Climate and Potential Climate Change Policies

Tourism's increasing contribution to climate change, especially through the use of air travel, is now acknowledged. This study seeks to explore tourists' knowledge and awareness of aviation's impact on the climate, their sense of personal responsibility and their reactions to specific climate change policies. A focus group approach – informed by interviews with international tourists leaving New Zealand – was chosen to involve tourists in discussing climate change and travel. In the focus groups, three policy options were discussed: voluntary initiatives, a global air travel charge and a per capita carbon budget. The global air travel tax emerged as a realistic compromise between restricting travel and achieving emissions reduction. When discussing individual responsibility for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tourists distinguished between their travel and their everyday life, where responsibility for mitigation was perceived to be greater. The value of freedom to travel is firmly established in the minds of many tourists and limiting travel is considered unacceptable by the (hyper) mobile tourists who participated in this research. Only major societal changes to bring about behavioural change seem likely to reduce air travel's contribution to climate change.     

碳金融的资源配置功能研究——基于碳市场和石油市场的实证分析

碳金融可通过动员储蓄引导资金和技术倾向低碳产业;通过市场机制,使碳排放权具有商品属性,利用价格的信号传递功能,影响到企业的项目选择。对国际碳市场和石油市场的实证分析表明,碳价和原油价格间发生了正向的相互影响关系,碳金融在生态环境保护和低碳产业导向上发挥了作用。     

The Open2-Innova8ion Tool—A software tool for rating organisational innovation performance

The Open2-Innova8ion Tool is an interactive, multi-media, web-based software tool for rating organisational innovation performance. This tool was designed for organisations to use as an adaptation of the European Commission's work on developing empirical measures of national innovation performance with the Summary Innovation Index (SII). It is designed for users with experience of employment in an organisation, from senior managers to all types of employees, with an interest in rating the innovation performance of their organisation. The Tool is quick and intuitive to use, and provides textual feedback, together with graphic ratings using Google meters. Feedback is based on user perceptions of organisational indicators of Innovation Enablers, Activities, and Outputs to provide an overall rating of innovation performance; this can be compared with a self-rating of innovativeness to allow some interpretation of the congruence between the user and their organisation. This prototype Tool was trialled and evaluated during a workshop on low carbon vehicle innovation, with participants (innovators) representing organisations from the surface transport industry as part of the U-STIR programme with EU Framework 7 funding. This publically available web-tool has applications to education, training, and research http://design.open.ac.uk/itool/.     

The Triple Inefficiency of Uncoordinated Environmental Policies

When pollution is transboundary and there is international trade, a domestic inefficiency may arise in addition to the well‐known inefficiencies at the international level. More precisely, there will be a Nash equilibrium in which each country chooses a policy that gives it lower welfare than would otherwise be possible given the emission levels of all countries. However, there will also be a Nash equilibrium in which each country chooses tradable emission quotas as its policy instrument to achieve its desired level of emissions. In this Nash equilibrium, welfare in each country is maximised given the emission levels of all countries.     

探析高层建筑设计中的低碳设计理念

本文通过阐述高层建筑的特点与低碳节能设计的必要性以及建筑低碳设计理念的重要意义,进而对低碳设计理念应用于高层建筑设计的策略进行分析。     

新疆经济发展中碳排放总量的影响因素分析

新疆目前正处于工业化初期阶段,耗能型产业结构特征明显,经济增长中高投入、高消耗、高污染、低水平、低效益问题突出,能源利用率不高,浪费严重,使得经济发展中碳排放量居高难下。虽然新疆生态环境脆弱,但却具有发展新能源的得天独厚的条件,分析新疆经济发展中的碳排放问题对于新疆经济的可持续发展具有十分重要的战略意义。     

石油企业低碳经济战略转型研究

在简要介绍了低碳经济的概念和内涵的基础上,指出实施低碳经济战略是石油企业未来发展的必然选择。结合低碳经济的要求和国内外形势,利用SWOT分析方法,从多方面阐述了石油企业低碳经济战略转型的优势和劣势,认为石油企业既要善于抓住低碳经济发展的战略机遇,也要迎接多方面的挑战。最后,提出了石油企业低碳经济战略转型的途径。