Managing global change for sustainable development: technology,community and multilateral environmental agreements

The purpose of this paper is to consider how international law has sought to mediate between the promotion of environmentally sound technologies and local community participation. It will be suggested that the paradigm of sustainable development presents the most sensible framework through which to consider these issues. The paper will then present three short case studies centred around various aspects of the ongoing implementation of the Rio Conventions, namely the endorsement of sequestration activities within the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the development of an access and benefit sharing framework under the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and further encouragement of community participation in the 1994 UN Convention to Combat Desertification. In conclusion, the paper will suggest that community participation must be given comparable status with the promotion of technological advances if long-term success is ever likely to be attained.

Social organization as a correctional ideology: Breaking new ground

This paper examines the importance of the prison environment and its social organization as factors which reinforce the continued socialization of criminal careers. The authors analyze contemporary research findings within the context of prison administration and conclude that if behavioral change is to become a realistic by-product of incarceration, then we may need to reformulate the correctional ideology upon which penal policies rest. A social organization framework; consistant with empirical data, is then provided as the basis for an ideology leading to new generation prisons.     

我国可持续发展法律制度之构建

可持续发展是人类未来的共同发展战略 ,它将人类社会发展与资源开发和环境保护结合起来 ,是当前最新的一种发展理念 ,并正在成为我国立法的一项指导原则。然而 ,能否在这一原则之下制定我国专门的可持续发展法律制度 ,以及可持续发展法律制度在现有法律体系和法律部门中如何定位和构建等 ,是法学界颇有争议的问题。本文认为 ,我国应当建立符合可持续发展内在要求的可持续发展法律制度 ,并应将其纳入我国社会主义市场经济法律体系之中予以规范。     

论经济可持续发展中政府的生态责任

随着经济的发展,人们越来越清醒地认识到以污染环境和破坏生态来换取一时经济繁荣的矛盾日益突出,如果不尽快解决好这个矛盾,经济的可持续发展就会受到严重制约。面临环境污染、资源浪费、水土流失、土地沙漠化等生态环境恶化问题以及由此产生的“生态贫困——经济落后——环境退化”的PPE恶性循环怪圈,政府应当担当起经济可持续发展中的生态责任来。本文先分析了制约我国经济可持续发展的生态问题,然后在此基础上论述了政府在经济可持续发展中的生态责任。     

Environmental policy integration among multilateral environmental agreements: the case of biodiversity

The system of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) comprises hundreds of conventions and protocols designed to protect the environment. Institutional interaction within the MEA system raises issues of environmental policy integration (EPI), i.e. balancing different environmental objectives and considerations. Mainstream proposals for enhancing EPI in environmental governance build upon the assumption that environmental institutions are fragmented. However, recent research reveals that the MEA system has been defragmenting over the years such that EPI is less a problem of institutional fragmentation than of effective management of institutional interplay. This paper examines the factors affecting EPI among MEAs by looking at experiences in the cluster of biodiversity-related multilateral agreements. The analysis is based on a series of interviews with MEA secretariat officials and international experts conducted between September 2011 and January 2012. The paper identifies institutional, political and cognitive barriers constraining interplay management efforts. While some have proposed regulatory changes in the cluster, national-level co-ordination appears to be the best way to advance EPI.     

Global governance principles for the sustainable development of groundwater resources

A normative framework for the governance of groundwater is emerging at the global level. However, existing analyses have not comprehensively covered all the governance texts that have a bearing on transboundary groundwater resources or looked at them from the perspective of sustainable groundwater governance. Therefore, this paper responds to the questions: What are the global governance texts (including international laws) applicable to groundwater resources; to which forms of the resource do they apply; which principles have been included over time; and what are the implications for sustainable development of groundwater resources now and in the future? The analysis highlights key groundwater concepts, discusses twelve global groundwater governance texts and the thirty principles therein, classifies the principles into ideal–typical categories based on the sustainable development concept; and assesses the gaps and conflicts between the principles and texts. The paper has three key findings. First, groundwater governance is rapidly evolving and there are a number of principles available to promote sustainable development. Second, however, these collective principles do not adequately address (a) the link with all water resources; (b) the potential impact of climate change on water resources; and (c) the impact of trade on equitable sharing of groundwater and protection of groundwater-related ecosystems. Third, to the extent that this collection of principles can contribute to sustainable development, they are inconsistently included in the legally binding groundwater governance texts. Therefore, much progress is needed to ensure a global normative framework that can guide the sustainable governance of groundwater resources.     

Breaking up is hard to do: the economic impact of provisional funding contingent upon evidence development

Funding contingent upon evidence development (FED) has recently been the subject of some considerable debate in the literature but relatively little has been made of its economic impact. We argue that FED has the potential to shorten the lag between innovation and access but may also (i) crowd-out more valuable interventions in situations in which there is a fixed dedicated budget; or (ii) lead to a de facto increase in the funding threshold and increased expenditure growth in situations in which the programme budget is open-ended. Although FED would typically entail periodic review of provisional or interim listings, it may prove difficult to withdraw funding even at cost/QALY ratios well in excess of current listing thresholds. Further consideration of the design and implementation of FED processes is therefore required to ensure that its introduction yields net benefits over existing processes.     

Making the investment provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty sustainable development friendly

The International Energy Agency estimates that $16 trillion of investment will be needed to meet world energy requirements from 2003 to 2030. The world's poorest countries, where some of the fastest rates of increase in energy production are expected, will require a significant portion of this investment. Energy investment, both as a source of foreign exchange and to expand local access to electricity and other forms of energy, is integral to socioeconomic development. It is reasonable to expect that this anticipated investment will witness a significant number of disputes between investors and host governments. A fair and just dispute settlement system can help promote the needed investment and sustainable development. The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) takes a comprehensive approach to the international energy sector, including coverage of trade, transit, competition and the environment, but its investment provisions have proven most significant with three international arbitral tribunals having issued decisions under the treaty and more disputes pending. While much of the ECT's effort has been to bridge the former East–West economic divide, the Treaty's scope of application is potentially worldwide, and given the inextricable link between energy, development and the environment it makes sense that the Treaty process forge a developing-country regime, one that promotes the development of energy resources and sustainable development. Drawing upon the work of Konrad von Moltke and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and in light of tribunal decisions to date, this essay maintains, inter alia, that the ECT should impose basic transparency and good faith requirements on investors and create a special developing-country regime, promoting sustainable development.

Land-based negative emissions: risks for climate mitigation and impacts on sustainable development

This paper focuses on the risks associated with “negative emissions” technologies (NETs) for drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and storing it in land-based sinks or underground. Modelled mitigation pathways for 1.5 °C assume NETs that range as high as 1000 Gt CO₂. We argue that this is two to three times greater than the amount of land-based NETs that can be realistically assumed, given critical social objectives and ecological constraints. Embarking on a pathway that assumes unrealistically large amounts of future NETs could lead society to set near-term targets that are too lenient and thus greatly overshoot the carbon budget, without a way to undo the damage. Pathways consistent with 1.5 °C that rely on smaller amounts of NETs, however, could prove viable. This paper presents a framework for assessing the risks associated with negative emissions in the context of equity and sustainable development. To do this, we identify three types of risks in counting on NETs: (1) that NETs will not ultimately prove feasible; (2) that their large-scale deployment involves unacceptable ecological and social impacts; and (3) that NETs prove less effective than hoped, due to irreversible climate impacts, or reversal of stored carbon. We highlight the technical issues that need to be resolved and—more importantly—the value judgements that need to be made, to identify the realistic potential for land-based NETs consistent with social and environmental goals. Given the critical normative issues at stake, these are decisions that should be made within an open, transparent, democratic process. As input, we offer here an indicative assessment of the realistic potential for land-based NETs, based on a precautionary assessment of the risks to their future effectiveness and a provisional assessment of the extent to which they are in conflict with sustainable development goals related to land, food and climate.     

吉林省西部生态环境可持续发展问题探究

受观念、利益、体制与法律等因素影响,吉林省西部生态环境面临着气候稳定性差,自然灾害频繁发生;人为破坏严重,生态环境脆弱敏感;财政供给不足,生态设施建设滞后;发展模式尚待优化,生态环境面临威胁等问题.为此,应该转变观念,提高认识;完善法律法规,实现依法治理;加大财政投入力度,保障设施建设;健全制度架构,保障动力机制;加强研发合作,保障技术支持.以期解决吉林省西部生态环境面临的突出问题.     

创新社会治理机制：从单方强制到多元协作

创新社会治理机制是社会主义和谐社会建设的重要内容。我国计划经济时期的社会治理机制具有单方性、强制性和索取性的特点。新时期,创新社会治理机制应该实现三个方面的转变:在治理理念上实现从"索取"到"服务"的转变,在社会治理主体上实现从单方到多元的转变,在社会治理方式上实现从强制到协作的转变。     

Correction to: Effects of funding mechanisms on participation in multilateral environmental agreements

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - In the original publication of the article, there were few mistakes in the text, tables and figure. The corrected text has been...