From discourse to policy: US policy communities’ perceptions of and approaches to climate change and security

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, a diverse set of policy communities, including those with defence, development and environmental mandates, frame climate change as a security threat. Most often this discursive formation labels climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’. This framing, however, is vague, linear and leaves many questions unanswered regarding how institutions can develop and implement policy that addresses the joint challenges of climate change, conflict and security. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, and grounding data collection in US policy communities, this article examines how policy actors and institutions integrate climate-security discourses into policy processes. The objective of this research is to provide direct insight into how the discourses and technical understandings of climate-security transition into policy priorities and implementation realities. This research identified three common approaches to climate-security: (1) A challenge of adaptation and resilience; (2) A potent political argument; and (3) An issue of limited importance and feasibility. These approaches, however, are inconsistent across sectors and within organisations, suggesting a lack of cohesion and considerable challenges in identifying and responding to climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’.     

漓江旅游业可持续发展与水生态保护

漓江是桂林的母亲河,是桂林旅游业的精华和精品。要更好地治理漓江,经营漓江,促进漓江旅游业的可持续性发展,必须注重水生态的保护与修复。     

环境权:一种新兴的现代人权

人权是最基本的权利,环境权来自人权。生存权位于人权的核心,而环境权作为一项基本人权是不可剥夺、不可放弃和替代的权利。如果没有环境权,传统人权体系中的生存权就不可能得到完善的保障。环境权源于生存权,但超越了生存权,因此它是一种新兴的现代人权。     

洗钱罪的保护客体探析 --兼论本罪在刑法分则体系中的地位

洗钱罪保护的客体即洗钱罪所保护的利益,洗钱犯罪既侵害了司法机关的正常活动又侵害了经济管理秩序,但洗钱犯罪所主要侵害的法益为司法机关的正常活动.今后,随着<反洗钱法>的出台,刑法分则中惩治洗钱行为的具体罪名也应加以修订,应将洗钱罪置于妨害司法罪之中,同时鉴于惩治金融机构及其工作人员洗钱犯罪的特殊性,刑事立法有必要创设新的罪名给予特殊保护.     

论植物人的法律人格及权利行使和保护

Although human vegetables lose their capacities of will and do not have the intrinsic attribute of civil subjects, they still have legal personalities and the status of civil subjects. The law has not provided for defects of their legal personalities, and thus civil law shall include human vegetables as objects of guardianship. The system of adult guardianship shall be constructed to supplement and correct the legal personalities of human vegetables. When human vegetables enter into a permanent vegetative state or state of brain death, law may declare the termination of legal personalities of the human vegetable. Due to the unique life state and capacity of act of human vegetables, the exercise of their civil rights faces a series of legal difficulties and challenges, mainly involving important issues such as the right of treatment for life rescue, marital right and reproductive right. The civil law shall ensure that the civil right of human vegetables can be fully enjoyed and effectively protected. Zhang Li, associate professor in civil and business law at Fujian Normal University, and also an invited researcher on civil law, international economic law and international private law, co-operated with Law School of Renmin University of China. Till now, she’s already released 23 theses in law journals and a monograph of the Survey of International Private Law. In addition, she was a member in doing studies (2006) on the legislation of Chinese tort law and presides over the researching (2007) of the legal personality and rights of disabled persons.     

Democracy, rule of law and human rights protection under gradually developed constitutionalism

With the shifting of the economic pattern and the developing of administrative law, the modern constitutionalism of China has adopted a progressive development process. Over 20 years, the development of democracy, the rule of law and the human rights protection clearly illustrate this point. For the gradually developing constitutionalism, the theory of limited rational is a theoretical basis, the stability of society is a social basis, the changing economic system is a economic basis, and Confucianism is a cultural basis. Constitutionalism of China should continue to go in such an active, steady and gradual way. Wang Zhuojun, Professor and Director of Administrative Affairs of Soochow University (till now) and as a visiting scholar in the Department of Government & Politics, University of Maryland, USA (1996.1–1997.1), whose research focuses on culture, politics and science of law. So far, his publications are “The Political System in the Perspective of Culture”, “A History of Epistemology”, “A Study of the External Economy of China’s Universities”, and his translations include “Introduction to Culture and Anthropology”, “Challenge to Culture from Science and Technology”, etc. Moreover, He has presided several research projects sponsored by The Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Education Department of Jiangsu Province, China.     

区域性人权保护制度对全球性国际人权保护的启示

尽管目前已存在为数不少的国际人权公约,国际社会成员也越来越多地加入这些公约,但全球范围内国际人权保护的效果并不明显。相比而言,区域性人权保护制度更具可行性。区域性人权保护制度在人权保护中取得了显著成绩,对全球性国际人权保护有重大启迪作用。     

环境税收制度的价值定位及改革方向

伴随着工业化进程所带来的严重的生态危机,人类不断探寻更为有效的保护环境的新举措。建立环境税收制度,将税收和环保结合起来,可以发挥税收在控制污染、调节资源配置方面的作用;应以可持续发展为核心,以生态利益为本位,以实现代际公平为主要目标;应改革传统排污收费制度、调整资源税和消费税、完善税收优惠政策和征管制度,从而构建我国新型的环境税收制度。     

全球化环境中的知识产权保护——全球化与知识产权保护国际会议综述

全球化环境下知识产权保护存在很多值得探讨的问题。由中国政法大学民商经济法学院举办、中国政法大学民商经济法学院知识产权法研究所承办、美国Kenyon&Kenyon LLP和National Economic Research Associates,Inc.提供赞助的全球化与知识产权保护国际会议于2007年1月20—21在北京召开,近二百名国内外知识产权专家学者探讨了全球化环境下知识产权保护的一系列问题。本次会议对于推动国内外知识产权理论与实践问题的研究具有深远意义。     

完善我国未成年人犯罪司法保护制度

未成年人犯罪是一种特殊的犯罪类型,它在犯罪的成因与认定、刑罚的适用、诉讼的方式及犯罪的预防等方面都具有与成年人犯罪不同的特点,从而形成了相对独立的未成年人犯罪法律制度。从我国未成年人犯罪呈现的几大特点来看,现行未成年人犯罪法律制度存在着诸多不尽完善的地方,而且也越来越不能满足现实的要求。因此我们有必要加以重新审视,以进一步提高对未成年人的司法保护水平,完善中国的未成年人司法制度。