生态文化建设及环境教育

生态文化是一种生态文明观，是生态保护、生态建设的物质成果与精神成果总和。生态文化建设包括发展生态产业，实施生态工程，进行生态体制、生态社会及生态社会风气建设。环境教育是生态文化建设的重要途径，其主体有学校、政府组织、企事业单位等。     

论框架公约——以国际环境条约为例

本文以国际环境条约为例,介绍了框架公约的发展历程,集中讨论了框架公约方法的优缺点,指出框架公约的实质是协调国际立法中的政治性因素和技术性因素。框架公约不仅是国际法在形式上的创新,同时也包含了在条约法上新的表达同意的方式,由此引发了在国际法中主权、效率与合法性三者之间的紧张关系。     

On the Regulation of the Discretion of Environmental Administrative Punishment: Based on the Framework of the Modernized Environment Governance System

With the increasing environmental risks, the limitations of legislative regulation, negative judicial regulation and weak administrative regulation make it difficult to regulate the exercise of the discretion of environmental administrative punishment, which also increases the difficulty of the implementation of environmental administrative penalty decisions. The government, enterprises and the public three-dimensional main body structure constructed by the modern environmental governance system provides a new framework for the discretionary regulation of environmental administrative punishment. Based on the traditional theories of administrative Law, three regulation mechanisms can be formed,which include administrative self-control, negotiation regulation, and the social regulation. These three regulatory mechanisms working together in the whole process of environmental administration would regulate and restrict the exerting of discretion of environmental administrative punishment.     

澜沧江-湄公河次区域合作的国际法问题

澜沧江—湄公河流域是东南亚的一个次区域,连接6个国家。在东盟推进合作的行动中,该区域成为了重要的目标和对象。有关该区域水资源的共享、开发、利用和保护等规则须依托国际法的基本原则和规则而形成。本文从国际法角度分析了国际水道共享中的有关问题,明确了澜沧江—湄公河次区域合作中的基本法律规则和原则。     

美国“自然的权利”诉讼

动物等自然物是否有资格提起诉讼,其诉讼行为能否通过人类代为行使是自然的权利诉讼所面临的问题。自然的权利诉讼理论根基可以追溯到环境伦理学中的各种学说,最早的自然的权利诉讼出现在美国,但是,至今美国法院对自然的权利诉讼所表现出的态度却有所差别。     

Tradable Permits for Common‐Pool Resources: An Assessment

Scholars often attribute deterioration in common‐pool resources (CPRs) to ill‐defined property rights and suggest privatization and tradable permit markets as a solution to the commons problem. CPRs are heterogeneous, differing in physical characteristics and use patterns. Regulating their use requires tailored policy solutions that cohere with these characteristics. This paper examines factors that contribute to a well‐performing tradable permit market. While the literature offers rich empirical analyses of individual tradable permit markets, it has not provided an analytical framework enabling comparative analysis of these markets. This paper develops and employs an analytical framework for comparing across markets. The comparative analysis of market performance suggests that markets are not successful in all environmental problems and all demand situations. Further, it shows that even some markets frequently cited as exemplary successes have been that for nonmarket‐related reasons. On the other hand, this comparative analysis identifies sources of success for markets that partial analytical frameworks would have predicted to fail.     

The economic significance of “insignificant” rules

We know relatively little about the economic effects of “insignificant” rules because they are not typically analyzed. Yet, these rules could be cumulatively important. We provide an economic analysis of one proposed rule to control hazardous air pollutants, which is not considered to be economically significant. This rule is of particular interest because it is one of the first in a long series of rules that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will consider for limiting hazardous air pollutant emissions. Our analysis suggests that the proposed controls that EPA has considered are not likely to pass a benefit–cost test. We recommend that an agency base its decision to allocate additional resources to benefit–cost analysis on the expected value of the improved information. In addition, agencies should consider applying a rule of thumb that would specify a threshold level of risk reduction that needs to be achieved before some kinds of regulation are considered.     

论环境友好行为的形成与培养

环境友好行为划分为目的导向型和结果导向型环境友好行为。因此要采取更新环保观念、健全环保制度和转变发展及消费模式等多元化途径培养环境友好行为。     

Investments in Global Warming Mitigation: The Case of “Activities Implemented Jointly”

This paper examines bilateral cooperation between developed countries (home country) and developing countries (host country) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance carbon dioxide sinks. With the home-host country pair as the unit of analysis, our logistic regression model examines 158 Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) investment projects from 1993 until 2002 across 2541 country-pairs. Because the marginal costs of reducing emissions may be lower in developing countries, the AIJ projects served as a policy laboratory to assess whether such investments might be advantageous to both countries in the event future regimes allowed emission credits from such bilateral projects. Instead of investing in home countries where maximum pollution reductions (or carbon sequestration) might be possible, home countries invest in locations where they can conduct their policy experiments at low transaction costs. Prior trade and aid relationships were used as a proxy. Regarding energy projects, location decisions are driven by home countries’ desire to reduce air pollution that they receive from abroad. Geography – proximity of a host country to a home country – in interaction with host country's coal production, is a very important driver of location decision in AIJ energy sector projects. Location of sequestration projects is impacted by the host country's potential for avoiding deforestation as well as by previous aid and trade patterns between a home and a host country. Proximity is not important in this case.     

Regulatory Commitment to Negotiated Agreements: Evidence from the United States, Germany, The Netherlands, and France

Negotiated Agreements (NAs) are arrangements between firms and regulators in which firms voluntarily agree to reduce their pollution. This article analyzes the institutional features that facilitate or hamper the implementation of NAs. We illustrate the analysis with case studies on the implementation of NAs in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. We find that NAs are implemented when regulators are able to commit credibly to the objectives of NAs. Institutional environments marked by fragmentation of power and open access in policymaking reduce regulatory credibility and thus hamper the implementation of NAs.