An Assessment of the Impact that Participation in Local Climate Networks Has on Cities’ Implementation of Climate,Energy, and Transportation Policies

Much of the attention surrounding local climate protection in the United States is associated with two networks: ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability's Cities for Climate Protection and the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement (MCPA). However, the impact of these networks on member‐city actions has not been clearly established. This paper examines whether, and to what extent, participation in climate networks leads to the implementation of greenhouse gas (GHG)‐reducing policies, above and beyond what would have been done in their absence. To account for the possibility that cities which join climate networks are systematically different from those that do not and control for self‐selection induced bias, three statistical techniques—propensity score matching, Heckman full information maximum likelihood, and instrumental variables—are employed to estimate the “treatment effect” of participation. Results suggest that impact is network specific: ICLEI membership causes small to moderate increases in cities’ GHG‐relevant activity, whereas the MCPA has no such effect. The characteristics of each network are evaluated in light of these findings.     

贵州发展现代农业的新指南——学习国发2号文件有感

2012年1月12日,国务院下发的《关于进一步促进贵州经济社会又好又快发展的若干意见》,既是对贵州全面发展的支持,又是对贵州加速发展的要求。其核心内容是要统筹推进工业化、城镇化和农业现代化,发挥后发优势和比较优势,走出一条符合贵州自身实际和时代要求的后发赶超之路。     

Negotiating climate legislation: Policy path dependence and coalition stabilization

This article investigates the nature of policy path dependence through analysis of climate policy formation in the United States. In 2008 the US Congress attempted to pass the Lieberman–Warner bill, a comprehensive climate and energy package that would have capped greenhouse emissions and established a nationwide cap and trade program. In the same year, California successfully enacted the Global Warming Solutions Act. This article explores the circumstances of both cases and raises the question of why legislation at the state level was successful and took such a divergent form from legislation at the federal level. The divergence of these cases is used to highlight the nature of coalition formation and policy path dependence in the legislative process. Explanations of policy tend to gravitate toward either the generalizability of game theoretic approaches or the empirical depth of case studies. This article suggests a combined approach that uses case studies to analyze the positions and motivations of actors and to then model policy development over time. The approach examines policy through the formation and negotiation of policy coalitions. Drawing on the Advocacy Coalition Framework and omnibus analysis, the approach expands these coalition theories first by analysing legislative development at the interface of legislators and constituent interest groups, and second by adding temporal dimension to the analysis. The findings suggest that policy is path dependent in that it is negotiated between coalitions that in turn create stability in the policy process and insulate policy fields from external shocks. Policy path dependence suggests that theory alone is insufficient to predict policy outcomes; policy results depend strongly on prior policy efforts, historically and socially contingent coalitions, and the resulting framing of policy possibilities.     

Fractured International Environmental Governance and the Potential Role of the Commonwealth in Biodiversity and Climate Change

Abstract

This paper begins by examining the reasons behind most failures of governance, including fault lines in institutional and professional specialisation, and in ideology. These three, forever competing within and between themselves, frustrate attempts to find solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Not least among these are environmental challenges, where preferences and priorities that are geographically, professionally or ideologically narrow inevitably fail to achieve solutions for the greater good. What role can the Commonwealth play in addressing the fracture lines that bedevil solutions for climate change and biodiversity? It may help to stimulate global action on these issues if it can encourage agreement across multidimensional global boundaries. We know the Commonwealth is not a leading global force for controlling climate change or biodiversity loss; but if it had the political will it could be an exemplar of how, between a group of vastly diverse countries across the globe—and on the global political stage—binding agreement and positive action on climate change and biodiversity could be promoted and perhaps achieved. One of the strongest features of the Commonwealth is the generation of long-standing legal and ethical norms whose appeal is obvious even if their implementation is lacking. These norms should not be limited to the rule of law, democracy and human rights, but should include environmental norms because these too are fundamental to a satisfactory human condition.     

气候变化损害的国家责任:虚幻或现实

人类活动导致的气候变化是当前全球生态系统和人类生存所面临的最大威胁之一。受历史积累因素的影响,无论各国如何控制、削减温室气体排放,气候变化造成的损害仍不可避免,而气候变化损害的国家责任也日益成为国际社会无法回避的现实问题。作为一种特殊的跨界损害,气候变化损害无论在国际不法行为的认定还是因果关系的确定方面,都对现行国家责任制度提出了挑战。由于诸多障碍的存在,追究气候变化损害的国家责任在目前尚不具备充分的现实可行性。不过,来自国家责任的潜在压力至少有助于敦促各国积极改善温室气体排放政策,并就气候变化损害的救济尽快制定切实有效的全球性解决方案。     

论气候变化语境下的国际服务贸易法适用问题:以一般例外规则为视角

各国日益重视采用服务贸易措施应对气候变化,我国WTO服务承诺亦与气候变化相关。因措施通常视成员是否承担减排义务而给予不同待遇,容易违反非歧视原则,一般例外是判断措施合法性的关键。一般例外适用于气候变化时将面临措施性质认定、必要性测试、发展中成员可否利用引言获得特殊待遇等诸多难题。为确保一般例外适用的可预见性并妥善平衡贸易与气候变化,需强化贸易与气候变化的相互支持,解决一般例外法理的连贯性不足等缺陷,避免僵化解释,力争规则更新修改。     

Reform of Nuclear Disasters＇ Legislation Adapting to Climate Change

核灾害的应对重在预防,而气候变化改变了核灾害的成灾机理,强化和放大了灾害风险。适应气候变化的核灾害应对制度变革：立法理念必须从减轻灾害向减轻灾害风险转变;内容创新必须重点突出核设施选址中夯实程序的完整性、非居住区和规划限制区制度中补充发展权补偿内容、防灾规划在体系完善基础上“融入主流”等三个方面;运行机制改革应该在国际层面创建多中心的灾害风险治理框架,在国内层面推进“三元、三级”的统舍与协调。     

The Myth of the ‘Land Grab'

正Researchers debunk the theory that the Chinese Government is tackling food security by buying African land By Corrie Dosh It’s the kind of headline that sells magazines:"China Buys Up the World."It appeared in a November 2010 issue of The Economist,illustrated by a faceless,militaristic figure loading cars,oil barrels,power lines and various manufactured goods into     

浙江争创应对气候变化“重要窗口”的机遇与路径

气候变化是人类社会面临的严峻挑战。在共同应对气候变化的国际共识业已形成,中国日渐成为全球气候治理引领者的大背景下,应对气候变化理应成为浙江建设“重要窗口”的核心组成部分。为此,浙江必须持续推进产业、能源和运输等领域的结构性减排,实现高质量碳达峰;采取超常规措施挖掘自然碳汇和人工碳汇潜力,尽早谋划碳中和实现路径;完善碳排放权和碳汇交易机制;建立健全气候治理的领导机制、市场机制和社会机制,为争创应对气候变化“重要窗口”提供制度保障。     

Environmental Harm or Natural Hazard? Problem Identification and Adaptation in U.S. Municipal Climate Action Plans

A number of cities in the United States have devised climate action plans (CAPs) to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, few of these plans address strategies to adapt to the long term effects of climate change that will occur in the near and distant future. The research presented in this article examines why cities choose to embed adaptation provisions in their CAPs. Our study codes the content of CAPs for all cities (N = 98) in the United States with populations greater than 50,000. We find cities that frame problems associated with climate change in the language of hazards are more likely to include adaptation strategies in their CAPs than cities that focus on other types of environmental harm. Our findings suggest that more robust efforts to plan for climate change will require the activation of communities of interest beyond those that have been instrumental in setting the current climate agenda.