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This study investigates the impact of Hofstede's dimensions of national culture on environmental sustainability across 57 countries. Hofstede's national culture construct reflects and gauges the extent of the inclination of a particular national person toward either economic development or environmental preservation. Climate change and pollution have continuously devastated the environment in recent decades. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aim to achieve a more sustainable future and prevent further environmental destruction. This study aims to explore whether national culture significantly influences national environmental sustainability. We use national environmental performance as the proxy for national environmental sustainability and adopt the ordinary least squares regression model to explore the possible relationship with two datasets of international indices; one is proposed by Hofstede, and the other is proposed by Germanwatch. Our results show that the power distance index has a strong negative impact on the climate change performance index (CCPI), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy, and energy use. Further, the masculinity index is negatively related to CCPI and GHG emissions. The individual index is also negatively related to renewable energy. Furthermore, indulgence is positively associated with climate policy. These findings support the notion that nations should consider their cultural characteristics to improve environmental sustainability. Thus, conducting a national environmental policy that aligns with national culture is suggested to achieve environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability has been a key policy goal of the European Union (EU), particularly under recent EU Cohesion Policy strategic frameworks. This paper contributes to the analysis of the relevance of EU Cohesion Policy-related environmental sustainability investments, by assessing the impacts of the Operational Programme for Sustainability and Use of Resources (POSEUR 2014–2020), in the Portuguese North NUTS II. In detail, the impact scores of the following five analytical dimensions related to this programme were obtained: (i) low-emissions economy, (ii) adaptation to climate change, (iii) risk prevention and management, (iv) environmental protection and (v) resource efficiency. The analysis was supported by a territorial impact assessment methodology (TARGET_TIA) which was complemented by an online analytic geographic information system (GIS) policy evaluation platform (Impact-WEB_GIS). The results showed that the POSEUR's regional implementation efficiency fell short of the stakeholders' expectations. This can be explained by factors such as the obstacles posed by the prior underdeveloped infrastructural conditions, coupled with the panorama created by the Covid-19 outbreak. Nonetheless, the risk prevention and management dimension had a solid positive impact score that reflected the efficacy of POSEUR in tackling environmental threats, mostly in rural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies individual-level attitudes towards long-term investment policies using novel survey data for the case of Germany. Building on a budding literature on the relationship between environmental and social policy attitudes, our first contribution to research is to show that citizens, when prompted to think about their support for long-term investment policies, support welfare state related policies such as investments in education and pensions to a greater degree than non-welfare state issues such as public infrastructure investment or renewable energy. Citizens are most supportive of using present-day redistributive policies – in our case: increasing income taxes on the rich – in order to finance long-term investment. We also find evidence that political trust is positively associated with support for long-term investment policies, but in particular investments in education and renewables. Furthermore, our analysis reveals the importance of individual political ideology. These findings have implications for public demand for tackling the long-term issues faced by society today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practicing the concept of sustainable development is the only viable solution to minimize the negative effects of economic development, aiming to preserve human health and increase the well-being of current and future generations, and simultaneously emphasizing the protection of the environment. In this context, one of the areas that should be given special attention is waste management. In order to protect human health and the environment from pollution and destruction, waste should be properly handled or managed. The term 'waste management' refers to the process of collecting, transporting, processing, recycling or depositing and monitoring waste materials. In order to protect people and the environment, waste management must meet sustainability criteria. When analyzing the situation in Kosovo from this aspect, it can be said that although efforts are being made to manage waste in Kosovo, the management is not sustainable at all. Therefore, numerous measures should be taken both by the central government and by the local authorities in order to introduce sustainable measures for waste management to achieve sustainable development in this sphere, preserve human health and protect the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia's plans have evolved over the years, highlighting several goals to sustain economic growth and development in all constituent states of Malaysia. The five-year development plan comprises a comprehensive and integrated plan, policies, and strategies to lead the government in achieving the desired economic and socioeconomic goals. The first Malaysia plan was introduced in 1966-1970, and the development of Malaysia's plans has continued since then. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan, the government emphasised sustainable management, responding to global climate change, and focusing on strategies and mitigation adaptation to ensure sustainable growth. Keeping environmental sustainability is a global commitment, especially in the construction industry, which contributes the most to environmental issues. Green procurement has been introduced to the construction industry as a way forward and a strategy towards sustainability. The primary objective of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the five-year development plans policies, initiatives, and strategies that have been proposed by the government on green procurement practices in Malaysia's plans. The study employs integrative literature review to analyse the contents and features of Malaysia's plans and its related government policy documents on green procurement. The findings of this study will assist stakeholders in better understanding the significance of green policies, initiatives, and strategies on green procurement implementation in Malaysia's plans towards achieving inclusive, sustainable development in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside production and consumption, bio-waste management is central to the food systems debate. To achieve sustainable food systems—an essential component of the Sustainable Development Goals and the world they envision—public authorities must address the shortage of current bio-waste-management policies and strive towards a new paradigm of bio-waste management, where environmental justice primarily informs policy design and decision making. In order to achieve fair environmental policies, particularly in the context of food systems and bio-waste management, it is essential to understand what drives public policy in these matters. In the present review, we seek to contribute by closing a gap in the literature by proposing a set of bio-waste-management drivers in the European context. Moreover, we focus on the "policy and legislation" driver, hoping to examine its main components and understand both their limitations and the opportunities they provide. Finally, we explore the role that co-creation can play as a facilitator of a public-governance paradigm that promotes sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Man's overdependence on the environment in the pursuit of economic growth has continued to degrade it. This degradation calls for proper resources management through regulations so that a balance is maintained. However, in Nigeria despite decades of efforts at achieving environmental sustainability the problem of degradation and pollution is on the increase. Relying chiefly on existing literature, the paper examined drivers of environmental degradation in Nigeria and appraised the existing national environmental policies and programmes for the attainment of environmental sustainability. This paper concluded that rethinking existing economic, social, political and technological decisions and approaches that induce harmful practices and evaluating the current policies in the light of current reality will steer Nigeria towards environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) constitute an ambitious comprehensive global framework including monitoring mechanisms and indicators to evaluate progress towards precise targets of sustainable development. Most European countries have adapted their national sustainability indicator systems to conform to the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, introducing new indicators and monitoring frameworks and governance processes in which these are embedded. What do we know about the political processes and struggles of implementing this important global framework? How does the politics of indicators differ in national contexts? We propose a classification of national indicator systems along dimensions of indicator selection, appraisal landscape, participatory nature, and political communication. We empirically explore these dimensions for four European national sustainability indicator systems through a comparative analysis based on national policy documents, indicator databases, and web portals as well as inputs from workshops and expert interviews. Given the considerable variation with respect to the trajectory of national sustainability indicator systems, we posit that these differences correspond to different national interpretations of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For the last century, crude oil exploitation and exploration have occurred in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. While oil and gas account for a significant 85% of the national GDP, it has caused catastrophic effects on the environment. This is of particular concern, considering the Niger Delta is the breadbasket of Nigeria, inhabited by 31 million people. However, indiscriminate pollution has arisen from oil spills emanating from exploration activities and gas flaring. Since 2014 alone, more than 550 oil spills have been reported. To address this, the Nigerian federal government has developed environmental policies and laws targeted to regulate environmental management. However, the efficacy of these policies remains in question because of the government's unwillingness to enforce the laws. The aim of this paper is to appraise of the effect of the national policies on environmental management with emphasis on the "Guidelines and Standards for Environmental Pollution Control, 1991". We ask the following questions: What are community perceptions of the direct and indirect impacts of oil spills on ecosystems, health, livelihoods, migration and conflict? What are current and desired compensation provided by government bodies, NGOs and oil companies to support local livelihoods impacted by oil spills? What are key statutory and legal frameworks on environmental protection in Nigeria, how effectively are they performing and what are key challenges confronting compliance with regulatory guidelines and standards? To answer these questions, we recruited the activities of 11 focus groups comprising of chiefs, farmers, youth leaders, members of community and social activists groups from each Niger Delta state and engaged them on qualitative focus group discussions and interviews to identify the impacts of oil spills on settlement's socio-economic and environmental conditions. Results were then analyzed with thematic templet analytic techniques. This study reveals a high impact on settlements with diverse factors that have contributed to the increase in social aspects. Existing policies to regulate and control environmental pollution, but the enforcement of standards has been poor. Consequently, biodiversity has been impacted, affects agricultural soil, human health and the source of farming and farming livelihoods of the indigenous people has had to be abandoned by many living in this region. We argue, Nigeria's reliance on revenue generated from crude oil encourages the uninspiring and lackadaisical approach of the government to enforce these policies in the region. To this end, we recommend various environmental policies should be merged and harmonized under one by-law to ensure uniformity and there is an urgent need to implement the 2006 UNDP report which prioritized environmental sustainability, promotes human partnership development and upholds the goals for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing urgency of environmental problems, such as climate change, pollution, and waste management, has highlighted the importance of eco-innovation. It includes the development of sustainable solutions for goods and services. As corporations adopt sustainability practices, governments are increasingly essential in propelling eco-innovation. Innovation and economic growth are inextricably linked since innovation helps reduce costs, increases productivity, and builds knowledge. Eco-innovation, requiring stakeholders' collaboration and knowledge sharing where public policy plays a critical role in fostering eco-innovation, is frequently catalyzed by climate change and environmental issues. This paper provides an assessment of the public policy of several countries and its part in promoting eco-innovation. It explores how policy tools such as research and development investments, regulations, incentives, and infrastructure can be used successfully. It also explores how such instruments influence small and medium enterprises due to their importance in environmental sustainability policy. This research contributes to knowledge and adds to the literature by offering a global approach to the subject, complementing previous regional/single-country studies. It demonstrates the worldwide consequences of policy actions on eco-innovation and provides recommendations for policymakers, businesses, academics, and environmental stakeholders. The results highlight how governmental support is integral to ensuring the sustainability of a green future with economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2030 Agenda has influenced the design of public policies in Colombia and other countries in the region, but there are many gaps in the way a global policy can be interpreted and adapted to the territories. Thus, this article aims to critically evaluate the public policy of sustainability implemented in the Colombian Caribbean and to suggest contributions from an intercultural socioenvironmental justice perspective. For this purpose, the public policy of sustainability that orients the plans for the use of insular ecosystems in Cartagena de Indias has been examined and confronted with local evidence that shows significant changes in the forms of life and ecological degradation in multi-temporally analysed coverages. Methodologically, this research is based on three aspects: the theoretical discussion of the notions of sustainability and justice in public policies, spatial databases to analyse the transformation of landscapes and ethnographic work with Afro-descendant peoples to recognise their socioecological systems. We found that the public policy of territorial planning aligned with the 2030 Agenda nominally includes a rights approach, but management practices or governance structures do not consider the very high asymmetry in land tenure, the growing private and non-participatory regulation of coasts and the sea or the exclusion of Afro-descendant peoples who claim tenure and autonomy rights. Then, we propose integrated dimensions of sustainability that overcome the socioecological negativity observed and articulate criteria of intercultural justice in public, social and environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments develop policies that set strategic directions on matters of national significance, referred to in this paper as strategic policies. Australia's Commonwealth Government develops and influences national environmental and sustainability policies despite having limited constitutional powers in the management of natural resources. The Commonwealth Government has, over the past three decades, developed strategic policies aimed at sustainably managing forests, water, soils and agricultural lands. The design and implementation arrangements of environmental policies that have endured is not well studied, and this paper addresses this knowledge gap in the context of a federal system. The National Forest Policy Statement, the National Water Initiative and the Natural Heritage Trust have endured centre-left Labor and centre-right Coalition Governments, and serve as case studies. These policies have required structural adjustments to industries to varying degrees to limit impacts on the environment, leading to contestations about policy objectives. The policy cycle serves as the primary heuristic for analysis and the research finds that policy objectives are constrained by the Commonwealth Government's limited constitutional powers on environmental matters. Its participation in strategic policies is driven through notions of resolving a crisis and the policies endure in a phase of indifference to the original policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we assess the sustainability of the electricity sector and explore the correlation between government environmental policies and the sector's sustainability. We find that at the national level, the sustainability of the electricity sector has exhibited a notable upward trend in recent years. However, this trend has not been evenly distributed across different regions of the country. Second, government environmental policies have a significant positive impact on promoting the sustainability of the electricity sector. Third, the impact of government environmental policies on the sustainability of the electricity sector is more pronounced in the western region of China. • We explore the impact of government environmental policy on the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Government environmental policies can significantly promote the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Technological progress is an effective channel between government environmental policies and the sustainability of the electricity sector. • The sustainability of the electricity sector is most significantly impacted by the environmental policies of the government in western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Environmental Paradigm envisions a green social economy demanding substantial changes in the leadership and managerial attitude, public policy and governance framework, technological innovation, and mass communication and outreach. At the international level, the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals seek to address the global challenges related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, peace, and justice. Notwithstanding such ideological grandstanding, ecological entrepreneurs are often stranded at the margins of the mainstream economy. This study posits that the global aspiration for a paradigm shift to an eco-friendly mode of production and distribution founded upon socio-environmental justice cannot be possible as long as all the stakeholders of the mainstream economy including the global policy behemoths do not come forward through consensus and commitment to promote Ecological Entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental assessments and sustainable finance frameworks: will the EU Taxonomy change the mindset over the contribution of EIA to sustainable development? Keywords: EIA; ESG; environmental impact assessment; sustainable finance taxonomies EN EIA ESG environmental impact assessment sustainable finance taxonomies 110 112 3 03/10/22 20220301 NES 220301 About Rufus A Howard Rufus has been studying and practicing impact assessment across the UK and internationally since 1997. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of how macro (country)—level dynamic capabilities (DC), such as government environmental policies, legal and market requirements, and technological advances, and micro (firm)—level DC, such as organizational size, culture, and managerial characteristics, are related to emerging economies multinationals' environmental sustainability policies and practices. Limited studies explore linkages between macro-and micro-level DC and environmental sustainability, which urge emerging economies' multinationals to reconsider their environmental policies and practices in order to compete with enterprises from developed countries. We develop a theoretical framework and offer propositions about the fundamental links between macro and micro DC and emerging economies environmental sustainability efforts. The propositions can be empirically tested in subsequent studies using country-level and firm-level data to examine the interactions between macro-and micro-level capabilities, in relation to sustainable policies and procedures, for multinationals in emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Policy & Complex Systems is the property of Policy Studies Organization and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pursuing economic, environmental and social sustainability requires networks endowed with persistent relationships between stakeholders. Networks serve as the vehicle to coordinate diverse policy goals among stakeholders. Within the networks, stakeholders inevitably experience some level of distrust due to the complexity and uncertainty of the unstructured problems on the sustainability. However, little is known about why stakeholders often distrust with one another in the networks. By analysing a local fracking policy network in NYS, we suggest that distrust is influenced by incongruent ecological worldviews, policy goals incongruence in the triple bottom line of sustainability, characterization framing, policy communications and knowledge exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, building a simple model that incorporates static and dynamic elements, the relationship of financial development and economic growth to environmental degradation is investigated together with the validation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Our analysis is based on an unbalanced panel data set covering the OECD countries over the period 1970-2014. Our approach thoroughly accounts for the presence of cross-sectional dependence between the sample variables and utilizes second generation panel unit root tests in order to investigate possible cointegration relationships. The empirical findings do indicate that local (NO x per capita emissions) and global (CO2 per capita emissions) pollutants redefine the EKC hypothesis when we account for the presence of financial development indicators. Specifically, in the case of global pollution an N-shape relationship is evident in both static and dynamic frameworks, with a very slow adjustment. Lastly, our study calls for a strengthening of the effectiveness of environmental degradation policies by ensuring sustainability of the OECD banking system in order to drastically reduce emissions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research works to create a clearer understanding of sustainability in water policy through an examination of current water policies in San Francisco and San Jose, California. San Francisco was selected because it appears on various lists of as one of the “Most Sustainable US Cities.” San Jose was chosen as a control city based on being similar in demographics, climate, and in the same state, but did not appear on any sustainability lists. A comparison of the sustainability of water policies between the two cities was undertaken based on the traditional pillars of social, economic, and environmental themes highlighted in the literature. The results suggest that, as expected and for the most part, San Francisco has more sustainable policies than San Jose, although there is overlap. The environmental pillar was the least included of the three traditional pillars in each city while economic interests were the most prevalent. San Francisco was only missing two of the twenty-one themes while San Jose was missing ten. This cursory research suggests that to increase sustainability within water policy city agencies, policy writers, and water board members should address these themes in the writing of water policy. The study did not attempt to address the effectiveness of any policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combustion of fossil fuels in the transport sector represents the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, governments are fostering diversification of energy sources by creating a set of governmental environmental policies and initiatives. In this context, biofuels are expected to represent a substantial part of source diversification, but it is necessary to assess the sustainability of their market to explore its effect on economical, technological, social, political and environmental dimensions. This research presents a dynamic simulation modelling of the Colombian biodiesel market and analyzes the policy support instruments for creating and managing it. A system dynamics based model is proposed to enable decision-makers to understand the influences between the different variables that describe the system and the impact of the biodiesel government policy in Colombia. The primary focus of this paper is to establish the characteristics of each sustainability dimension for the case of study and apply the system dynamics methodology with different types of validation. Finally, the Colombian market status and a sensitivity analysis are developed. The results show that in order to support the development of this sector, it is necessary to diversify the raw materials for the production of biodiesel in the medium term, which means raw materials without competence for the primary rainforest or competition with food productive lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation since the 1980s has led to substantial loss of ecological services in China. As a responsive strategy, China launched the most ambitious reforestation efforts in the developing world. However, like many other environmental policies, forestry policy has not been effectively implemented, mainly due to the fragmentation nature in China's environmental governance institution. This paper highlights the impact of central-local conflicts on forestry policy implementation. With insufficient motivation, local governments tend to minimize their efforts in planning, monitoring, and supporting reforestation activities, which poses great challenges on the sustainability of the reforestation benefits. With extensive field experiences, this paper also raises three innovative strategies to solve the financial dilemma that leads to the effort minimization phenomenon, with both the advantages and disadvantages for each strategy critically discussed. It finally recommends ways by which the central government could improve design of reforestation policies, or other large-scale ecological programs, which involve local governments as a key liaison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability policymaking presents numerous challenges to local governments. Municipal leaders, especially in smaller cities and towns, report that they lack the fiscal capacity and/or technical expertise to adopt many environmental protection policies. This paper investigates whether the more than 2000 municipally owned utilities in the United States have the potential to mitigate those problems. Data from two surveys of USA local governments (n = 861), modeled in a pair of negative binomial regressions, find a positive correlation between those cities with municipal power companies and those with an increased number of community-wide sustainable energy policies. Follow-up interviews with officials reveal the potential mechanisms driving sustainability by local governments that own power companies. These mechanisms are the increased capacity that publicly owned utilities provide by virtue of income generated and access to energy-specific grants as well as the local nature of their operations, which allows a better fit of sustainable energy measures to local circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, increasing environmental concerns have spurred the need for information and stimulated the development of numerous indicators, yet without a real impact on corresponding policies. To better account for this weakness, a political sociology approach to analyze how these government tools was developed in two cases: the French generic system of sustainable development indicators; and the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive based on indicators of water status. Comparative analysis shows that in both cases a coalition of actors successfully resisted the effective use of indicators by redesigning them and limiting the impact of quantified environmental information on policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

American cities vary considerably in the degree to which they pursue sustainability. What explains this variation? One plausible cause of such differences is that sustainability may be more appealing to high-income cities than to more economically challenged cities. Yet such strict economic determinism seems simplistic and removes politics from an inherently political process. The hypothesis here is that any such relationship between income and commitment to sustainability is conditioned by a city's level of environmental advocacy. The data utilized in this analysis are derived from two large-scale data sources. One is a comprehensive inventory of sustainability programs and policies in 50 large American cities. The other is a set of surveys in those same 50 cities. The multivariate model supports the hypothesis. Controlling for income growth and the predisposition of policymakers to be supportive of sustainability (as well as other alternative explanations), a city's commitment to sustainability is strongly linked to the advocacy of environmental and sustainability groups in the policymaking process. The example of Sustainable Seattle is used to illustrate the linkages that would seem to underlie the statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization entails increased interdependence and interconnectivities among distal regions and social-ecological systems. This global interregional connectedness – telecoupling – gives rise to specific sustainability challenges, which require new governance solutions. Moving beyond ‘scaling-up’ governance to address global environmental problems, and exploring the implications of telecoupling for state-led environmental governance, ways the state can effectively address telecoupled environmental issues both within and beyond national borders are addressed, drawing on the example of soy trade between Brazil and Germany. This builds on recent contributions to the literature on governance of interregional ecological challenges to elaborate potential policy and governance options, ranging from classical bilateral, multilateral, and international agreements, to information-based, economic, and hybrid governance modes. While telecoupled environmental problems create governance challenges related to scale, knowledge gaps, coordination, and state capacity, the state has an important role to play. To explore this further, interdisciplinary inquiry is required that includes but moves beyond the state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses how varied policy analytical capacity can be evaluated at the systemic level through observed gaps in environmental data monitoring and reporting among countries. Such analytical capacity at the knowledge system level facilitates transparency and credibility needed for nation-states to cooperate on issues requiring global coordination, including “super-wicked” environmental issues like climate change. So far there has been relatively sparse attention paid to whether countries will have the ability – or policy analytical capacity – to report the necessary data and indicators required for the next round of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being proposed. In this paper, I argue that the varied policy analytical capacity within the global environmental knowledge system necessitates the participation of new institutions and actors. Identifying gaps in data availability at a global, systemic scale, this paper presents a proxy measure of policy analytical capacity based on publicly-reported national statistics of air and water quality performance. Such discrepancies evaluated at a systemic level make a case for channels by which citizen scientists, independent watchdogs, private sector companies and third-party organizations can participate to enhance the policy analytical capacity of governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) is usually described as a promoter of global environmental governance, committed to sustainability and the precautionary principle. Regarding international fisheries management, however, the EU has repeatedly deviated from these principles. This article analyses the EU's policy in two Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs): the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The EU's deviation from its environmental principles is explained by the weakness of the pro-environmental advocacy coalition in the EU's fisheries policy subsystem and the overcapacity of the EU's fleet, which first arose when European fishing nations were excluded from traditional fishing grounds during the creation of Exclusive Economic Zones in the 1970s. At the same time the article finds evidence of a trend towards sustainability and precaution in the EU's external fisheries policy since the mid-2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial companies are to an increasing extent faced with requirements for better sustainability performance. Green market expands and green purchasing is regarded as a contribution to sustainable development. This paper examines impacts of implementing environmental management systems on enterprises' competitiveness in international supply chains at the example of Estonian ship-building enterprises. The theoretical concept of supplier selection process is used. The alignment problems of green procurement requirements and conditions are considered. The paper focuses on the relationships in the chain affecting the procurement and selection processes. The ship's chain and life cycle of the product specifics are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, certain attempts to promote sustainable transport have fallen victim to the impact of ‘unintended consequences’ on decision-making and policy outcomes. The pressure that European Union biofuel targets place on global food production and the role they play in facilitating deforestation are well-known examples. This paper highlights how policy-makers’ failure to consider evidence relating to the potential impacts of biofuel mandates in the early 2000s led to a host of complex problems developing over subsequent years. Drawing on the concept of problem ‘framing’, the article then examines the extent of policy learning that has taken place since the Biofuels Directive was implemented in 2003. While acknowledging that not all eventualities can be prepared for, the article highlights the importance of enhanced communication and collaboration across different levels and departments of government in policy-making processes as a means of promoting learning, especially when dealing with complex cross-cutting and international social, environmental and economic problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social and environmental justice across generations is a fundamental attribute of sustainable development. In this article, which is also a call for papers for a future theme in Public Money & Management (PMM), we develop our case for further research on how governments and public service organizations seek to address sustainable development in their decision-making processes. We believe that accounting for social and environmental aspects is an underdeveloped area of research and practice that is worthy of further critical enquiry. We therefore call on researchers and practitioners to submit their research to a themed issue of PMM on managing and accounting for sustainable development in public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ESSACHESS is the property of ESSACHESS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reports an analysis of municipal policies through a population health-promotion lens; its purpose is to identify potential grounds for intersectoral collaboration. Template analysis methods based on widely accepted determinants of health (DOH) and health-promotion strategies were used to study policies from six Western Canadian municipalities: Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Edmonton, Calgary and Strathcona County. To illustrate overlapping concepts, findings regarding rich descriptions of social environments (one determinant of health) are highlighted. Similarly, social inclusion as a desired goal and community capacity building (as both process and outcome), appear to be concepts around which health promotion and social sustainability frames converge. These findings identify potentially fertile partnership opportunities: health promoters can deepen their understanding of DOH such as social inclusion and municipal leaders can learn from the evidence of effectiveness in health-promotion strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] This paper uses the framework of the co-production of knowledge and social order to examine how knowledge–action systems work in the context of urban sustainable governance. [•] The paper presents and applies the knowledge–action systems analysis (KASA) approach to operationalize dynamics of co-production. [•] Existing institutional configurations and dynamics shape how knowledge is produced and used in policy-making. [•] Sustainability involves managing networks, politics of knowledge, and diverse social visions. [•] KASA can be used as a foundation to design new knowledge systems or joint-knowledge production efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the sustainable lending, a financial product which has gained traction internationally as a response by market participants to the convergence of for-profit capitalism and non-profit charitable endeavours. It mentions that companies that focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and policies are able to increase their profitability. It also mentions that sustainability linked loans have superseded green loans.

Abstract: The opportunities and limitations of electrically driven mobility are currently widely discussed in public debates on vehicles and future transport. E-mobility has by and large been communicated in the context of sustainable mobility and its central idea is an urban e-car. Questioning the hype for this technology, this paper presents the development of the hegemonic discourse of e-mobility focusing on the actors involved. The study is based on a media analysis of selected German print media. The various phases of the e-mobility discourse were reconstructed by the detailed study of thematic focuses brought about by various actors such as politicians, electric supply companies and traditional automotive industry, and by the temporal distribution of the articles dealing with e-mobility. In addition the actor configuration is clarified by reference to the statements of the actors in the articles. The phases in the e-mobility discourse can be explained by a certain constellation of actors and how they manage to enforce their claims and interests. While the government plays a prominent role in the current development of the e-mobility discourse, the change of the automobile industry''s common position towards the electric vehicle and the rising interests of the power supply industry also play an important role. Finally, the paper reveals the internal and external driving forces of the e-mobility discourse and evaluates whether it is promoted in a sustainable way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Why do some governments implement more sustainability practices than others? Based on a national survey of U.S. cities, this article finds moderate levels of sustainability efforts and capacity in U.S. cities; about one-third of the sustainability practices identified in this article have been implemented. The authors conclude that, first, capacity building is a useful conceptual focus for understanding sustainability implementation in U.S. cities. Capacity building involves developing technical and financial support and increasing managerial execution. Second, sustainability is strongly associated with managerial capacity, which includes establishing sustainability goals, incorporating goals in operations, and developing a supportive infrastructure. Third, getting stakeholders involved furthers the capacity for sustaining sustainability efforts. Citizen involvement is strongly associated with securing financial support for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 200 years society's response to coastal flooding or erosion has been to provide defences to combat or eliminate that threat. A combination of economic pressures, a better understanding of coastal processes and of the impact of those defences on these processes has led to the development of new approaches to coastal management. This paper will show how, by linking planning policies to various types of intervention, a workable, sustainable and equitable approach can be achieved. The need to work closely with communities is emphasised with examples and case studies. Development in zones at risk should be restricted, but equally development should be permitted, perhaps by exception, in other areas to ensure the continuing viability of coastal communities. While the headline issues are around the loss of homes, a part of this process is to ensure that community assets, lost or threatened by coastal change, are also replaced or relocated. The UK's North Norfolk District Council was the recipient of a £3 million grant from the government's coastal change fund to trial a number of different approaches that can be made, working closely with partners and the coastal communities affected. The paper will describe the various projects (e.g. relocating a village hall, removing derelict defences, acquiring and replacing housing, supporting businesses), programme governance, communications, discuss the problems encountered, how they were addressed and report on the undoubted success of many of the measures that were trialled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Evidence on the role of information and knowledge for policy making shows that policy actors seldom use information as a direct input to their decisions. Similar patterns of (non)use have been identified in the case of indicators in the environmental and sustainable development policy domains. The objective of the paper is to elucidate the patterns of environmental indicator use and to argue for the introduction of a ‘politics of policy indicators’. With a limited set of characteristics (e.g. legitimacy, credibility and salience) of indicators, which help to apprehend the usability of indicators, we argue that the usability profile of indicators can be analysed as a matter of construction and deliberation by indicator creators and policy actors. The performance of indicators as policy tools – as rendered with their usability profile – is co-dependent of the institutional embeddedness of the indicators. Our conclusion makes the case that if environmental improvements towards more sustainability are partly relying on the quality and uptake of information into policy processes in order to steer decisions, then the ‘usability profile’ of indicators itself should be subject to collective and conscious steering. This call to ‘steer the steering’ is supported by the wider calls to initiate patterns of ‘reflexive governance’ within the sustainability policy domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Transition Management literature has examined how long-term transitions could be directed toward greater sustainability. However, it has mostly taken a sectoral approach which neglects the potential relationships between environmental changes and policy dynamics in different sectors. This paper examines parallel and interrelated dynamics in the Israeli water and energy sectors by combining insights from the literature on policy dynamics, transition management, co-evolution, and policy integration. The developed approach examines how sectoral transitions may be coupled and technological regimes may co-evolve. Israel has battled water, energy and other scarcities from its formation. Consecutive dry years, the loss of stream flows, salinization of the coastal aquifer, and severe pollution are problems facing water managers, while air pollution, imported fossil fuels and carbon emissions are salient energy issues. Water and energy sectors are both in transition because earlier policies have resulted in socially-induced scarcity, degradation of environmental assets and loss of adaptive capacity to respond to future challenges. Current approaches to water and energy scarcities have evolved around technological configurations which emphasize traditional supply side solutions such as seawater desalination and additional power plants. They may be difficult to change without explicit integrative transitions management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper assesses technical performance in the water industry in the Southern European region of Andalusia, while accounting for sustainability in the management of water. This allows the opportunity cost of producing sustainability to be evaluated. Given the low cost of raw water in Spain in relation to the estimated opportunity cost of saving this natural resource, wasting water becomes a profitable strategy for utility managers from a private perspective. However, this managerial strategy has a huge social cost in an area of Europe where the sustainable management of water is a pressing need. The conclusion is that environmental policy aimed at discouraging this wasteful behaviour is urgently needed. For this reason, a suitable mix of environmental taxes on water abstraction and institutional reforms is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Shifting from traditional, large, centralised infrastructure to alternative, distributed technologies is widely accepted as essential for enabling sustainable water management. Despite technical advances in sustainable urban water management over recent decades, the shift from traditional to more sustainable approaches remains slow. Current research on socio-institutional barriers suggests this poor implementation relates to a limited understanding of the different forms of governance needed to support alternative approaches, rather than the potential ineffectiveness of the technologies and practices. While some governance scholars express preferences for ideal hierarchical, market or network governance approaches, others suggest a hybrid of these approaches may be more appropriate for achieving sustainability. Currently, there is limited commentary about the potential characteristics of sustainable urban water governance. To extend the current scholarship, this paper systematically draws on the tacit knowledge of expert sustainability practitioners to identify potential governance characteristics of sustainable urban water management. In comparison with current urban water scholarship, which is supportive of a network governance approach at a conceptual level, the results strongly suggest that sustainability practitioners see the need for hybrid governance arrangements at a practical and operational level. These hybrid arrangements tended to comprise network and hierarchical approaches with market governance instruments. These insights from practitioners to help identify future research needs, focused on examining interaction among governance approaches at a variety of scales and locations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The relationship between the level of resilience and the level of sustainability plans and policies found in 40 American urban areas is examined. The resilience index reflects motivation, capacity and information; sustainability plans and policies are measured by a content analysis of city documents. The results show that: the presence of sustainability plans and policies is related to resilience, but not to aggregate measures of diversity, formal education or proportion of persons living in poverty; resilience has a significant impact on sustainability plans and policies even when controlling for diversity, education, poverty, and inequality; resilience is more likely to be present in a communitarian political culture; and resilience retains its impact on sustainability plans and policies even when controlling for type of political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent debates on environmental problems and policies, the strategy of “degrowth” has appeared as an alternative to the paradigm of economic growth. This new notion is critically evaluated by considering five common interpretations of it. One conclusion is that these multiple interpretations make it an ambiguous and rather confusing concept. Another is that degrowth may not be an effective, let alone an efficient strategy to reduce environmental pressure. It is subsequently argued that “a-growth,” i.e. being indifferent about growth, is a more logical social aim to substitute for the current goal of economic growth, given that GDP (per capita) is a very imperfect indicator of social welfare. In addition, focusing ex ante on public policy is considered to be a strategy which ultimately is more likely to obtain the necessary democratic–political support than an ex ante, explicit degrowth strategy. In line with this, a policy package is proposed which consists of six elements, some of which relate to concerns raised by degrowth supporters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a survey on the developments of the environmental legislative proposals from the European Union (EU). Some of the developments made by the European Commission include the classification of hazardous substances under the classification, labeling and packaging (CLP regulation) and the publication of a report on the implementation of the EU's 2005 waste strategy. Moreover, the EU has published a policy paper on resource sustainability in Europe.

In order to implement environmental policies for sustainable and resilient land use we need to better understand how people relate to their agricultural land and how this affects their practices. In this paper I use an inductive, qualitative analysis of data gathered from interviews with kiwifruit orchardists and observations of their orchards to demonstrate how their interpretation of their relationship with their orchards affects their management practices. I suggest that these orchardists experience their orchards as having agency in four different ways-as wild, challenging, needy, and passive-and that these different perspectives result in practices which produce orchards that impact differently on sensory faculties-sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell. This finding implies that land use policies that seek to change sensory aspects of the land which are in conflict with producers', farmers', or growers' sense of relationship with the land-and how the land 'should be'-are unlikely to succeed. That these orchardists produce fruit which is compliant with two comprehensive audit systems-one of which is organic-and also serve an international market, indicates that the constraints of such systems still allow orchardists to exercise autonomy, express their identity, and make sense of their orchard activities in different ways, indicating a potentially resilient and sustainable production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes the Ecological Modernization Theory (EMT) as aparadigm for environmental policy making within the tourism destinations in order to improve their sustainability, competitiveness and commercial success. The use of the Ecological Modernization Theory for the „greening of tourism‟ is an attempt to get rid of flaws and difficulties in implementing the concept of "sustainable, development". While the ecological modernization within the tourism industry makes necessary the introduction of new technologies to bring about economic and environmental benefits, the state needs new policy instruments and approaches to deal with these new paths. Policy making process and ecological restructuring of the tourism sector is analyzed using as a tool the network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]