Implementing EU emissions trading: success or failure?

This article assesses and explains the implementation of the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). It argues that implementation in terms of ambitiousness has been only moderately successful so far, but significant differences between the Member States are also observed. Similarities and differences are then explained within a multi-level governance approach emphasizing the need to search for explanations at national, EU, and global levels. The EU ETS case shows that the multi-level governance approach can be as relevant for understanding implementation as for explaining policy-making. In addition to factors located at the national level, the decentralized nature of the EU scheme itself is important for understanding how the system works in practice. At the global level, the link to the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol is particularly important for determining how well the EU ETS will perform in the future.     

论我国清洁空气法的差别责任原则

由于不同地区、不同主体在历史的、经济的、意识的及现实需要等方面的差别,滥觞于国际环境法的差别责任原则也应该是我国清洁空气法的一项重要法律原则。在内容上,差别责任包括共同责任和区别责任,但区别责任绝不是不承担责任。以移动源排放标准为例,我国应坚持差别责任原则,不同地区、不同产业应区别对待,制定和实施不同的排放标准,而不能一刀切。     

Improving Cost-effectiveness and Facilitating Participation of Developing Countries in International Emissions Trading

This paper discusses ways in which the next climate agreement – a renegotiated Kyoto Protocol or a second-period agreement – can be made more cost-effective. The discussion focuses on the design of international emissions trading to facilitate early participation by developing countries. Four aspects are highlighted: the design of compensation rules, the need to regulate the use of the CDM, the effect of allowing borrowing and the implications of a Commitment Period Reserve.     

Volatile Emission of Decomposing Pig Carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) as an Indicator for the Postmortem Interval

This study aimed at correlating selected carcass borne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with the postmortem interval (PMI). Selected volatiles should 1st be reliably emitted during vertebrate decay, 2nd be emitted at high concentrations, and 3rd show a reproducible quantitative dynamic during the decaying process. Four pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) were placed in a deciduous forest in different seasons and volatiles emitted during the decaying process were sampled. Seventeen compounds were identified and quantified by GC-MS. Electrophysiological experiments on the antenna of female Calliphora vicina and additional data of Dermestes maculans were used as an evolutionary tuned information filter to evaluate the 1st criterion. The relative quantitative emission of hexanal, nonanal, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, 1-butanol, and phenol were correlated with the PMI, and the observed stages of decay and the limitations of this model were discussed.     

The world trading system: In the fog of uncertainty

The Uruguay Round of trade negotiations was a transformative event in the world trading system in many ways. Most importantly among its unintended consequences were a North–South divide and a catalyst for new actors in the political economy of trade policy—the Non-Governmental Organizations or NGOs. After considerable difficulty a new round was launched in Doha, Qatar in 2001. But the system has changed once again by the “new geography,” an emerging shift of power to the South. JEL codes F13 · F15 · F42 · L31     

CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emission allowance allocation mechanisms,allocative efficiency and the environment: a static and dynamic perspective

The object of this paper is to place allocation mechanisms into a framework of Emission Trading Systems and thereby to establish a typology. It analyses how various assignment mechanisms deal with issues such as price determination, allocative efficiency and environmental considerations in a static and dynamic economy model. It analyses how allocation mechanisms are to be ranked and whether they serve the attainment of the general equilibrium. First the paper examines how market-based allocation mechanisms (auctions) perform in light of the above issues. Second the paper distinguishes between the two types of administrative allocation mechanisms: (1) financial administrative allocation mechanisms, combining payment schemes with bureaucratic expertise, and (2) free administrative allocation mechanisms, based inter alia on industrial policy considerations and on passed emission records (grandfathering). In particular, the value added of relative performance standards, which are for example included in the “Performance Standard Rate” (PSR) Emission Trading System, are examined as a means to provide allowances. The overall finding is that in a closed static economy and in the presence of an efficient trading market, different allocation methods produce equally efficient outcomes in allocative and environmental respects. With regard to an open dynamic economy, the impact of initial allocation mechanisms resembles those of a static closed economy. In such an economy the upper limit to the internalisation of negative externalities is given by operator’s costs of environmentally harmful relocation and hence the cost burden placed upon operators is crucial. Auctions and financial administrative allocation mechanisms perform less well than free administrative mechanisms. Relative standard base mechanisms, constituting an important element of the PSR Emission Trading System, perform better than grandfathering schemes because they take into account abatement possibilities of industries, minimise stranded costs and do not give rise to time shifting of abatement projects. It is therefore concluded that allocation mechanisms merit more attention than the discussion relating to capped trade and trade without a cap.      

环境管理中经济刺激制度的运行机制——兼对“太湖蓝藻事件”的法律经济学分析

轰动全国的"太湖蓝藻事件"是2008年中国环境污染大事簿中无法令人释怀的一件。文章以该事件作为文章论述的引子,采法律经济学视角解读环境污染根源,着重分析建立在两大环境经济手段理论上的两大经典经济刺激制度的运行机制,即运用科斯定理的明晰产权制度和使用著名的"庇古税"理论的排污费制度。文章的创新在于摆脱了"枯燥"的理论讲解,以"太湖蓝藻事件"贯穿全文作为解读对象,运用理论解读太湖渔塘的产权问题、太湖渔民与化工企业的产权交易问题,以此对中国的环保管理政策与制度加以评述,并指出目前作为中国经济刺激制度的排污费制度的实质。     

国家制定法与民事习惯之秩序——以酒店12时退房法律问题为个案

酒店12点退房是国家法律没有明确规定的行业习惯，也是交易习惯，属于广义上的民事习惯范畴。酒店12点退房习惯引起的争议说明国家法律对民事习惯有必要留有一定空间，民法典或者立法法中承认习惯法的法源地位，并对制定法和民事习惯的援用秩序作出一般性规定，以便法院审理涉及民事习惯的案件，也未来的民法典的社会适应性提供必要的张力。     

生物超弱发光在法医学中的研究应用展望

生物超弱发光携带着生物体新陈代谢和能量转化的信息,已成为生命学科的重要研究领域。本文回顾生物超弱发光的研究历史、特点及在医学领域的研究应用现状,展望生物超弱发光在法医学,尤其是死亡时间推测和损伤方面的研究应用前景     

辟建东宁铁路口岸的探讨

中国加入WTO，使黑龙江省对外贸易面临新的挑战。挑战之一，就是随着进出口贸易物流量的增加，原有的铁路口岸和港口十分紧张，急需寻找和辟建新的出海贸易分流通道。用生产要素互补性与合作发展互利性原则衡量，东宁县具有各方面的优势，并同俄罗斯受益各方取得共识。省地方铁路局(铁路集团公司)在多次考察的基础上，形成了可行性研究报告，因此，辟建中俄铁海联运大通道新节点——东宁铁路口岸已势在必行，条件基本成熟。