Search

The transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry is supported by smart and green manufacturing, which have great potential to empower the nation's green development. This study examines the impact of the Made in China 2025 industrial policy on urban green economic growth. This study applies the super-slacks-based measure model to measure cities' green economic growth, using the double machine learning model, which overcomes the limitations of the linear setting of traditional causal inference models and maintains estimation accuracy under high-dimensional control variables, to conduct an empirical analysis based on panel data of 281 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2021. The results reveal that the Made in China 2025 strategy significantly drives urban green economic growth, and this finding holds after a series of robustness tests. A mechanism analysis indicates that the Made in China 2025 strategy promotes green economic growth through green technology progress, optimizing energy consumption structure, upgrading industrial structure, and strengthening environmental supervision. In addition, the policy has a stronger driving effect for cities with high manufacturing concentration, industrial intelligence, and digital finance development. This study provides valuable theoretical insights and policy implications for government planning to promote high-quality development through industrial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the environmental approach is included in the legal regulations of countries to achieve sustainable development. The development of public policies that demand the care and preservation of the environment is an urgency for the territories. In Ecuador, social and legal transformations led to the inclusion of the environmental perspective in the Constitution of the Republic, and subsequently to the development of the Organic Code of the Environment (CODA). Environmental principles are considered in the various legislations; however, no priority is established among them. The objective of this work is to determine the priority established in the environmental principles of CODA. For this, it was necessary to consult experts and, based on their criteria, the Pareto Diagram technique was applied, the fundamental principles were selected, and a hierarchical order was determined based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP Saaty, with a neutrosophic approach, for the decision making. The most relevant principles were Comprehensive Responsibility, Best Available Technology and Best Environmental Practices, and Comprehensive Repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the island of Guåhan (Guam) native and endemic species are an integral part of the CHamoru language, rituals, and practices. They are interconnected with their culture and honored together with the ocean, the land, and their ancestors. Presently, this spiritual connection is being jeopardized as military expansion threatens the sacred lands of Tailalo' and Litekyan. Phylogenetic and ethnographic research, connected to the principles of environmental justice, has brought attention to the social movement to protect the last håyun lågu tree (Serianthes nelsonii) at Tailalo'. This opinion piece is a rallying cry to safeguard the last håyun lågu and to confront the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as its regulations do not mirror the island's social and cultural system and fail to incorporate Indigenous and scientific perspectives to protect Indigenous biocultural heritage. [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]

The current environmental crisis and intense degradation of natural capital make it increasingly evident the importance of including solutions for the conservation and recovery of ecosystems, such as the Payment for Environmental Services (PES). With an interdisciplinary character and survey of quantitative and qualitative data, the research carried out an evaluation of the ecosystem services and the potential of implementing a PES program in the region of Angra Doce, Paraná, Brazil, which is classified as a Special Area of Tourist Interest and is be listed as a priority area in accordance with the National Payment Policy for Environmental Services (PNPSA). From the results obtained, the region demonstrated that it has the potential to create municipal public policies for PES based on the cultural services established in the guidelines of the PNPSA an experience that can also be used by other Brazilian municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green New Deal has been defined as "an unprecedented mobilization of resources to achieve 100% renewable energy to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions" (NEF, 2019, p.4). Currently there is consensus about its purpose, however, little has been theorized about its establishment in Colombia. In this sense, our objective is to identify the institutional changes required to establish a Green New Deal in Colombia, using a Delphi methodology, appropriate for interviewing experts. As a result of this research, it was found that, of the twelve useful public policies for their establishment identified in the theoretical framework, seven comply with the guidelines for assessing environmental policy instruments proposed by Labandeira et al. (2007) and therefore are considered necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. However, the indirect effects of environmental policies in the process were not sufficiently considered. This study uses a panel threshold methodology to examine the nonlinear impact of environmental policy stringency on the relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions in 25 OECD countries. Our results show a negative relationship between FDIs and GHG emissions if the countries have environmental policy stringency index above a threshold level of (2.22). The results are also supported by the fixed effects model, which indicates a threshold effect of (2.88). The threshold effect is mostly due to the stringency of nonmarket-based environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ecological Economic Zoning (EEZ) is an environmental management tool established in the National Environmental Policy (PNMA) and present in all states of Brazil. Since the 1990s, it has been implemented in Brazil; however, the attempts at implementation and the results obtained so far do not provide evidence of its effectiveness. Thus, this article seeks to understand the implementation of EEZ in Tocantins by analyzing the perceptions of local actors through the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method. The conclusion is that EEZ in Tocantins has not been implemented. Among the identified causes, institutional factors such as low administrative capacity, governance, and "political will" associated with the disconfiguration of its normative character prevail. [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]

As our planet faces more frequent and severe environmental threats due to climate change (including threats to biodiversity), environmental justice will be essential to ensure that the costs and burdens of combating these threats are shared equally, borne by all people worldwide in a fair and equitable manner. If the past is any indicator, however, environmental problems—and their "solutions"—disproportionately affect poor communities and communities of color, including Indigenous communities. Despite these past injustices, Indigenous lands, which make up only 20 percent of the Earth's territory, contain 80 percent of the world's remaining biodiversity—evidence that Indigenous peoples are among the most effective stewards of the environment. A primary reason for this remarkable statistic is the use and practice of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge; ecological wisdom which has been passed down for generations and has been shown to strengthen community resilience in response to the multiple stressors of global environmental change. While the United States government has been slow to acknowledge the value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, it has recently begun to incorporate that knowledge into environmental policy in response to the worldwide climate crisis. Continuing the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into government environmental policy will ensure that such policies will be more effective at the federal, state, and local levels and more equitable in their application. Western scientists, government officials, and global leaders need to build trusting and co-equal relationships with Indigenous communities by actively listening to all cultures and respecting the many kinds of knowledge systems required to conserve the natural world and all living beings. This paper will address how incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into U.S. policy would help safeguard the environment from further biodiversity loss and other ecological destruction, and advance environmental justice to ensure the fair treatment of all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic carbon emissions have the potential to trigger changes in climate and ecosystems that would be catastrophic for the well-being of humans and other species. Widespread shifts in production and consumption patterns are urgently needed to address climate change. Although transnational agreements and national policy are necessary for a transition to a fully decarbonized global economy, fluctuating political priorities and lobbying by vested interests have slowed these efforts. Against this backdrop, bottom-up pressure from social movements and shifting social norms may offer a complementary path to a more sustainable economy. Furthermore, norm change may be an important component of decarbonization policies by accelerating or strengthening the impacts of other demand-side measures. Individual actions and policy support are social processes—they are intimately linked to expectations about the actions and beliefs of others. Although prevailing social norms often reinforce the status quo and unsustainable development pathways, social dynamics can also create widespread and rapid shifts in cultural values and practices, including increasing pressure on politicians to enact ambitious policy. We synthesize literature on social-norm influence, measurement, and change from the perspectives of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and economics. We discuss the opportunities and challenges for the use of social-norm and social-tipping interventions to promote climate action. Social-norm interventions aimed at addressing climate change or other social dilemmas are promising but no panacea. They require in-depth contextual knowledge, ethical consideration, and situation-specific tailoring and testing to understand whether they can be effectively implemented at scale. Our review aims to provide practitioners with insights and tools to reflect on the promises and pitfalls of such interventions in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper authorities have tightly controlled local budgets, especially at the administrative township level. Taiwan has been facing this particular phenomenon for a long period. This article explains how a township, before general elections, sees the choice of an improved environmental administrative work plan as a political advantage and uses simple and easy-to-use collective decision-making to assist. Then, survey residents' perceptions of implementing the new environmental policy. The research results are discussed not only as suggestions to improve the effectiveness of township public environmental policies and to respond to the needs of civilians appropriately but also to lead future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, as the instrument of the National Environmental Policy is an essential tool for the environmental license, Law 6938/81, in its article 2, item III, instituted the evaluation of environmental impacts. With the development of the license studies, it was found that the environmental agencies, no matter how better equipped they were, would not have the conditions to proceed with the environmental impact assessment studies of certain activities and large-scale projects. Thus arose the need for these studies to be synthesized in a special document. The synthesis document was called, in the licensing system for polluting activities of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Deliberation CECA 3, of 12/28/1977), the "Environmental Influence Report" (RIMA), currently called "Environmental Impact Report". [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]

How has the food issue evolved in Portugal and what are the potentialities and challenges for the construction of fairer, healthier and more sustainable food systems? This article addresses these questions by analysing the convergences and divergences between (i) government discourses and public policies around food, (ii) the alternative food networks developed by civil society and local power, and (iii) the proposals and initiatives of the organized family farming sector. It concludes that there is broad interest in the country for the issue of food transition, but that the social and environmental justice dimension is still largely missing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of public management performance is the key to identify the effectiveness of the work of public administration, and public policy is an important guarantee for the orderly promotion of the work of public administration; therefore, it is important to analyze the effectiveness of public management policies to evaluate public management performance. Taking environmental protection policies as an example, this paper constructs an environmental-economic DEA efficiency analysis model using the DEA method to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of EEE in different provinces of China. It is found that EEE is highly correlated with the regional economic development level and is highly influenced by policy fluctuations, but the overall EEE of different provinces from 2016 to 2020 tends to be consistent and has a certain degree of stability. The conclusions of this paper have important implications for policy guidance, emphasizing the need to focus on the coordination of economic development and environmental protection, and the need for the improvement of the environmental policy system to be continuously optimized in an incremental manner, taking into account the actual situation of local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents data about the emergence and consolidation of the public policy creation of protected areas between 1940 and 2000 in the territory of the state of Espírito Santo. Methodologically, this is a case study. It aimed to analyze processes involving collective action strategies from the perspective of social conflicts. The paper presents considerations about the civil society participation in the transition between a personalized model -- more susceptible to individual wills (government actions) -- and another based on public debates, institutionalized (state policy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the limited government involvement in the distribution of economic resources and outcomes in society, and government should consider rather than ignore distributional consequences both in the design of legal rules and during legal transitions in the U.S. Topics include unintended effects of government policies such as trade, immigration, and environmental policy; tax-and-transfer adjustment assumption for the policies; and an account of Targeted Assistance Programs.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) contributing to smog formation, have been an important indicator of atmospheric governance during China's "14th Five-Year Plan". VOC would be possibly incorporated into the scope of environmental protection tax, but previous studies have seldom explored impacts of VOC control policies at national and regional levels. Here, we design a national uniform VOC control policy, as well as two regionally differentiated policies based on regional disparities in PM 2.5 concentrations and energy intensity by using a cross-scale dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. Our analysis is to assess the impacts of these policies on VOC, CO 2 , sulfur dioxide (SO 2), nitrogen oxides (NO X), and PM 2.5 emissions, air quality and environmental equity, and to estimate health benefits, policy costs and net benefits. We find that national and regionally differentiated VOC control policies generally lead to VOC emission reductions and generate co-benefits on emission reductions in CO 2 , SO 2 , NO X and PM 2.5 at national and provincial levels. However, regional emission leakage exists due to differences in the provincial costs of VOC mitigation. The regionally differentiated VOC pricing policies are found to be more effective to enhance environmental equity than the uniform policy. In particular, the regionally differentiated VOC control policy based on provincial energy efficiency is found to be superior to other policies in terms of improve air quality. Furthermore, the human health benefits associated with VOC pricing policies would partially offset policy costs at both the national and regional levels. Our results suggest that policymakers would pay attention to developing regions with low energy efficiency which have the great emission reduction potential. Advanced producing technology and further end-of-pipe control measures to reduce non-combustion PM 2.5 emissions are needed. VOC policy designed based on provincial energy efficiency provides great insights for environmental policy making to accomplish 2035 goal of building a Beautiful China. • National and regionally differentiated VOC tax policies are designed. • VOC tax generates climate co-benefits. • Regional emission leakage exists associated with regionally differentiated policies. • Regionally differentiated VOC tax are effective to enhance environmental equity. • Human health benefits associated with VOC tax partially offset policy costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities depend on the feasibility of extracting non-renewable resources, so the interruptions of the mining cycle are intrinsic issues to mining, depending on economic, social, or technical factors that can obstruct the continuity of the process. This article addresses the characterization of different types of interruptions, encompassed here within what we call the post-mining stage, emphasizing on the perception of the population that is linked to the sites where mining is interrupted. Five case studies are taken that reflect different types of post-mining activities and processes, framed in the situation observed in 2018, using qualitative methods from the geography of perception. The contribution of the research lies in unveiling how the actions carried out by companies and governments overlap, contrasting with the perception of the populations that are linked to mining. This work is an approach to the understanding of what happens with the towns and the populations linked to mining once it ceases: how the relationship with the site and with its daily life is modified throughout the post-mining phase of differentiated way in each case presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the implementation of a forest conservation program in indigenous communities analyze how the indigenous population understands the state as an environmental ruling institution and how they perform as users of public policy. The results of this ethnographic study suggest that the implementation of this scheme of economic incentives for conservation generates a weak connection of the state as an environmental institution but reinforces the role of the state as a provider of development opportunities. With this scheme, the indigenous population has constructed alternative interpretations of forest conservation as an asset to attract future development opportunities and of economic incentives as rewards and tips. The main state effect of the program is the bureaucratisation of communities to adapt then to the state ideal of installing an audit culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the seriousness of environmental problems, it is necessary for municipalities to acquire a greater role, develop strategies and capacities in order to preserve their natural resources for the benefit of current and future generations. In this context, it is examined, from the perspective of different actors--officers, businessmen and academics--the effectiveness of the programs and actions developed by the municipalities of Ahome, Guasave and Sinaloa to attend the main environmental challenges faced in the region. The study is based on the analysis of the development plans of these municipalities located in the northern area of Sinaloa and on the semistructured interview with the actors already defined. The interviewees agree that there is no authentic environmental public policy that marks the way forward to attend the environmental problems of the region, nor is there a necessary culture or environmental awareness by the population, which is worrying, since the natural environment begins to show signs of exhaustion and today is the time to act and to avoid waiting for irremiadable consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5 W there is clearly wasteful spending in the military when it comes to weapons (not just nuclear, but that is the most blatant example) and cutting the budget in these areas could fund better environmental policies, the aim is not to cast the military as a villain. Cover Page Footnote Cover Page Footnote Alexander Amoroso is a Public Administration Candidate at American Public University. [Extracted from the article]

This article makes a bibliographical review of the Natural Areas (NA) and the way in which the relevance charged at the global level went in its protection and subsequent sustainable use, through categorizations and international appointments that were taken as a basis to make their own in the national context, due to the existence of an important Natural acquis. However, the transcendence of the care of the Natural Heritage (NH), it is still necessary to work in the unifying of criteria in the State authorities that allow to concretize an effective conservation of the natural patrimony. In this same context, the verticality of environmental public policies, had prevented local stakeholders from engaging in Natural Heritage care, until the importance of community participation in these activities, was demonstrated to using a management tool, that combines state and community collaboration: The Natural Areas Intended Voluntarily to Conservation (NAIVC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaps between public policy goals and the state of the environment are often significant. However, while goal failures in environmental governance are studied in a number of disciplines, the knowledge on the various causes behind delayed goal achievement is still incomplete. In this article we propose a new framework for analysis of delay mechanisms in science and policy, with the intention to provide a complementary lens for describing, analysing and counteracting delay in environmental governance. The framework is based on case-study findings from recent research focusing on goal-failures in policies for climate change, hazardous chemicals, biodiversity loss and eutrophication. It is also related to previous research on science and policy processes and their interactions. We exemplify the framework with two delay mechanisms that we consider particularly important to highlight—denial of science and decision thresholds. We call for further research in the field, for development of the framework, and not least for increased attention to delay mechanisms in environmental policy review and development on national as well as international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For multifunctional forests that seek to fulfil societal, environmental and economic demands, active forest management is key. However, like in many other western European countries, Switzerland's small-scale private forest owners increasingly do not manage their forests. By applying and adapting the Institutional Resource Regime (IRR), a framework for environmental policy analysis that considers use rights both from public policies and property rights, we analyse the situation in Switzerland. Subsequently, we propose a Swiss forest gift programme – based on the Canadian Ecological Gifts Program (EGP) – consisting of different policy instruments that would ultimately lead to a transfer of property rights from the current to new owners. In sum, we argue that our proposal would lead to more "coherence", with regard to the IRR's sustainability dimension, and consequently to clearer responsibilities for the sustainable management of forests in Switzerland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text deals with the environmental public policies in the rural space directed to the conservation of the water resources. The main objective of the article is to highlight the projects aimed at the recovery of degraded areas in Rio de Janeiro River Basins, specifically in the Hydrographic Regions I, II and III, which serve the supply of approximately 12 million people living in the Metropolitan Region. At the level of analysis was based on the Program Producer of Water and Forests - PAF, developed by the National Water Agency - ANA, to identify potentialities and limitations, as well as propose the incorporation of new properties to the program in the rural area of Rio de Janeiro. In this sense, the research realized a continuous logic of investigation, whose data will be obtained in cabinet work, was carried out a broad literature and field review, to conduct interviews with the actors involved in the process. The initial results showed that public policies aimed at conservation and maintenance of water stocks are deficient. Partly due to the bureaucratic and legal framework in the municipal instances and partly due to the lack of consolidated state policies aimed at conserving water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing awareness of sustainability issues in industrialized countries has resulted in an unprecedented rise in the number of environmental innovations produced worldwide. However, while this is a general tendency, the amount and importance of environmental innovations is far from consistent across industrialized countries. The influence of countries' policy network styles – referring to which and how interest groups participate in making public policy choices is a dimension that has been subject to growing interest and controversy. We propose that companies from pluralistic countries will generate more environmental innovations, but the importance of environmental innovations will be higher in neo-corporatist countries. Our analysis, based on a longitudinal analysis of 84,274 environmental patents from the United States, Japan, Germany, and the UK during the period 1976–2003, indicates support for our prediction that neo-corporatist countries tend to generate more important environmental innovations than pluralistic countries. Yet, our findings do not support our hypothesis suggesting that pluralistic countries are more likely to generate a higher number of environmental innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the Brazilian authorities approved the National Policy on Solid Waste (NPSW) with the aim of promoting the recycling and reuse of solid waste. However, assessing the distribution and progress of recyclable material recovery following the implementation of this key government policy remains a challenging task. Therefore, this study employs a spatial-temporal analysis to investigate the impact of the NPSW on the recovery of recyclable waste in Brazil. We employed spatial statistical techniques such as Getis-Ord Gi* and Global Moran's I. The results revealed significant and heterogeneous clustering of recycled materials among municipalities, both before and after the implementation of the NPSW. The analysis demonstrated that recycled waste tended to cluster in more developed and urbanized areas, while a considerable number of cold spots were observed in less developed regions or densely populated areas, indicating low recycling rates. These findings raise environmental concerns for policymakers and emphasize the need for interventions to enhance recycling efforts. The study highlights the urgency of improving municipal solid waste management and raising awareness among local communities about the economic and environmental benefits of recycling, particularly in areas characterized by unsanitary living conditions, poverty, and low-income disparities. Therefore, it is recommended to tailor the legal framework to local realities, considering the vast and socioeconomically diverse landscape of Brazil. [Display omitted] • This study examined the spatial-temporal trends in the recovery of recyclable waste. • The recovery of recycled waste exhibits significant heterogeneity in Brazil. • Increasing recycling rates poses a challenge and raises concerns for the environment. • It is crucial to adapt laws in local contexts in order to enhance recovery rates. • Governments and stakeholders should explore the potential of recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with a scenario in which popular participation, materialized in participatory institutions, is in full expansion and constitutes a demand for environmental public policies. And considering that this type of policy affects everyone in general and not just a specific segment. This article seeks to carry out a theoretical-conceptual discussion about the true meaning of popular participation, pointing out characteristics that contribute to the strengthening and also to the weakening of the participation process, as well as to bring to the fore ways of making it more effective and attractive to the citizens. It was realized that the great challenge is not necessarily to promote popular participation, but rather to promote an effective participation of society in environmental causes. It was identified a series of aspects that can contribute to the effectiveness of the popular participation in environmental causes, but highlighting the access to the information as primordial in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distance between the normative wish and the observable results in relation with environmental question suggest that the analyses on the subject of the bureaucratic capabilities of the state is an urgent matter of concern. This work suggest that need of an analysis at the national level in Argentina in order to produce public policies for the environmental sector. The work gives some conceptual and empirical elements to allow the acknowledgment of the bureaucratic capabilities of the state within the environmental field. It also describes the evolution of the subject at the national level and suggest a few propositions in order to led its discussion and future improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is about the fight of the riverside peoples for the conservation and preservation of the natural resources of their territories and it aims at analyzing the organizational, educative, and socio-environmental practices of the Amazonian riverside people as strategies of resistance and existence in the origin territory. It is an unfolding of a master degree research in Society and Culture in the Amazon, of the Federal University of Amazonas entitled “The meaning of the practices of socio-environmental sustainability of the Living Nature Environmental Group - GRANAV along with the Riverside Communities of the Municipality of Parintins, State of Amazonas”, that occurred from March 2014 to May 2016 in the lowland region of this municipality. It was orientated by a qualitative approach, based on the dialectic conception and its intense relationship with the reflections, analyses, and discussions about the data collected. In the results obtained, it is possible to point out that the organizational, educational, and socio-environmental practices have contributed with the improvement of public policies towards the environmental, social, educational, cultural, territorial, and economic conditions of the riverside peoples of the Amazon. It is important to report the ample process of sensitization by means of the popular education which extrapolated the limits of the communities involved, empowering the socio-environmental fights and the mobilization of the riverside peoples in defense of the living nature, as strategy of resistance and existence in their territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is about the fight of the riverside peoples for the conservation and preservation of the natural resources of their territories and it aims at analyzing the organizational, educative, and socio-environmental practices of the Amazonian riverside people as strategies of resistance and existence in the origin territory. It is an unfolding of a master degree research in Society and Culture in the Amazon, of the Federal University of Amazonas entitled "The meaning of the practices of socioenvironmental sustainability of the Living Nature Environmental Group - GRANAV along with the Riverside Communities of the Municipality of Parintins, State of Amazonas", that occurred from March 2014 to May 2016 in the lowland region of this municipality. It was orientated by a qualitative approach, based on the dialectic conception and its intense relationship with the reflections, analyses, and discussions about the data collected. In the results obtained, it is possible to point out that the organizational, educational, and socio-environmental practices have contributed with the improvement of public policies towards the environmental, social, educational, cultural, territorial, and economic conditions of the riverside peoples of the Amazon. It is important to report the ample process of sensitization by means of the popular education which extrapolated the limits of the communities involved, empowering the socio-environmental fights and the mobilization of the riverside peoples in defense of the living nature, as strategy of resistance and existence in their territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent expansion of agribusiness in Tocantins state's savannah has brought several kinds of changes to this biome territory, among them environmental ones. Its consequences may affect the climate, water resources, socio-biodiversity, and people's ways of life, particularly those who live in the countryside and rely directly on nature to support themselves. Grounded on such a context, this paper offers an overview of the current scenario of municipalities in Tocantins state based on indicators concerning agriculture and cattle raising (e.g. planting/pasture areas and cattle) as well as the environment (e.g. accumulated deforestation and deficits of legal reserves and permanent protection areas). The study verified, within the limits of each municipality, the existence of traditional communities and rural settlements, groups regarded as more exposed and vulnerable to agribusiness' negative effects on the environment. This paper ultimately aims to learn more about the context surrounding this topic at state level and identify municipalities that demand priority in the production of in-depth studies and the enforcement of public policies for environmental monitoring, inspection, and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) are stakeholder-derived principles with measurable and enforceable criteria to promote sustainable production outcomes. While institutional commitments to use VSS to meet sustainable procurement policies have grown rapidly over the past decade, we still have relatively little understanding of the (i) direct environmental benefits of largescale VSS adoption; (ii) potential perverse indirect impacts of adoption; and (iii) implementation pathways. Here, we illustrate and address these knowledge gaps using an ecosystem service modeling and scenario analysis of Bonsucro, the leading VSS for sugarcane. We find that global compliance with the Bonsucro environmental standards would reduce current sugarcane production area (-24%), net tonnage (-11%), irrigation water use (-65%), nutrient loading (-34%), and greenhouse gas emissions from cultivation (-51%). Under a scenario of doubled global sugarcane production, Bonsucro adoption would further limit water use and greenhouse gas emissions by preventing sugarcane expansion into water-stressed and high-carbon stock ecosystems. This outcome was achieved via expansion largely on existing agricultural lands. However, displacement of other crops could drive detrimental impacts from indirect land use. We find that over half of the potential direct environmental benefits of Bonsucro standards under the doubling scenario could be achieved by targeting adoption in just 10% of global sugarcane production areas. However, designing policy that generates the most environmentally beneficial Bonsucro adoption pathway requires a better understanding of the economic and social costs of VSS adoption. Finally, we suggest research directions to advance sustainable consumption and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries, coal power plants still play a major role in the power sector and they are considered as a major emission source of air pollution. Strict regulations have compelled the coal power plants to improve environmental performance by reducing carbon emissions and the emission of pollutants. However, due to cost disadvantages, the coal power plants often lack motivation to internalize environmental externalities through investing in green technology. This situation raises a question: is there any alternative to reduce pollutants in operations economically? With a focus on service supply as well as a consideration of government policies, this paper develops a model to investigate the opportunity of outsourcing a pollutant-reduction service to meet the environmental constraint. The service supply chain consists of a coal power plant (end user) and a pollutant-reduction service provider, with the former outsourcing the service to the latter. We study the policy for improving the profit of this service supply chain whereas the benefit allotment is adjusted through outsourcing price negotiation between the two partners. The results show that the green service outsourcing price is interrelated with the government incentive policy which defines the shares of the two partners. Our key contribution lies in integrating the complex factors affecting the supply chain collaboration such as green service, financial feasibility, environmental constraint, government policies, outsourcing price negotiation, and profit sharing. Our research findings have the following implications: considering environmental externalities, the government should motivate the collaboration between supply chain partners; the economic scale of output and sales price subsidy of electricity generation are the primary factors affecting the price of outsourcing green service and, consequently, the allotment of supply chain profits. The study results indicate the collaboration is potentially effective in improving environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent need to revert the ecological and social equity crises of the current development model and realize the potential of sustainable development has led several disciplines to converge on the socioecosystem concept as the most appropriate theoretical framework for research and public policy. The socioecosystem approach recognizes that social systems are integrated with natural systems and seeks to adaptively comanage socioecosystem coevolution for the sustainable development of both systems. We hypothesize that incorporation of this approach into environmental policy in Mexico could help resolve many of the problems that currently undermine policy effectiveness. To find out to what extent policy professionals might concur with this hypothesis, and what the opportunities and obstacles to implementing socioecosystem-based policy might be, research was conducted to elicit the expert opinion of officials responsible for formulating and implementing environmental policy in Mexico. The principle opportunities consist in the fact that experts intuitively understand the socioecosystem approach, and that most perceive advantages in adopting it because its policy attributes can potentially help to resolve many of the factors they identify as limiting the success of current environmental policies. Obstacles to its adoption include institutional barriers and the vested interests that benefit from the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of environmental public policies with regard to theadministrative process of environmental warranting is well-known. Current study analyzes the legality of the Simplified Environmental Report (RAS) as an environmental study in warrants for socially-built houses. Analysis questions the mandatory aspect of such studies in the warrant processes. Research also analyzes the Term of Reference (TR) prepared by IDEMA, COPAM and COEMA, and contrasts the TRs of RN, PB and CE, respectively, taking into consideration the information quality in the document and forwarding suggestions for any improvement. Due to the fact the that information mentioned above and the aspects related to the legality of RAS as an environmental study aim at the building of socially-built houses, the TR by IDEMA attends its goal. However, the item on Biotic Medium should be complemented to lessen the possibility of problems in the elaboration of RAS. However, due to difficulties in accessing TR of COPAM and COEMA, an evaluation of items of the respective TRs was unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using policy cycle model as a heuristic, this article studies Indian, Brazilian, and South African engagement with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) by (a) comparing NAMA policy process and (b) identifying factors driving or limiting the framework’s domestic application. India largely remained uninterested in NAMAs, Brazil aligned its domestic climate policy and NAMAs, while South Africa had a more nuanced engagement when formulating NAMAs. Four factors influenced these countries’ NAMA engagements: the level and necessity of international support, the availability of domestic policy provisions to tackle climate change, the domestic institutional capacity to coordinate interministerial functioning, and the role of individuals in the institutional apparatus. As an international climate policy framework, studying NAMA engagement provides learnings for nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for designing the instrument, ensuring clarity on support provisions for ratcheting up ambitions, and enhancing institutional capacity, to expedite transition from policy formulation to implementation and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survival of humanity is one of the environmental problems, the biggest one facing planet Earth today, which is why the need to preserve and contribute to the care of the environment takes on special significance. To stop the accelerated and irrational exploitation of natural resources, strategies are drowning up and various complex tasks were carried out. With the construction and maintenance of indicators, these actions can be monitoring and controlling. The objective of this work is to contribute its environmental performance evaluation in a Cuban organization. Methodological Steps to diagnosis the environmental behavior of the organization was designing and different tools and techniques were applying to analyze the current state of environmental performance evaluation in the organization. A was made of the according to the methodological steps and the environmental indicators that are implemented were identified, as well as the environmental performance criteria considered by the interested parties. Insufficiencies in environmental policy, objectives, goals, and indicators were detecting. The environmental policy was reformulating; new objectives new goals and indicators harmonized with each other we are creating and calculated according to the available information. The results of the environmental policy were quantified in a summarized manner and were determined the level of environmental performance which enabled the organization to adopt new decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A slow rate of economic development and a national commitment to sustainable development has enabled Cuba to maintain some of the best preserved marine ecosystems in the Caribbean region. Still, important environmental threats persist, at the same time that changes in the rate and magnitude of marine environmental impacts are occurring because of increased globalization, new relations between Cuba and the United States, and efforts to reform Cuba's economic model. Since Cuba lacks an explicit overarching national ocean policy, marine conservation is implemented through a combination of policy instruments. We evaluated nine major policy instruments to understand whether and how they create conditions for sustainable use and conservation of marine resources. Our evaluation is based on five key attributes identified in the literature: attention to multiple levels of ecological organization, operation at multiple spatial scales, coordination of interacting uses, adoption of precautionary and adaptive approaches, and establishment of a sound scientific basis for management. Although our evaluation suggests that Cuba's marine environmental-policy framework is relatively strong, with individual policies scoring on average 68% of the maximum for the five key attributes, we found a marked bias toward terrestrial ecosystems and issues. We also found that too little attention is paid to the inclusion of precautionary and adaptive approaches, which received a score of 22%, a significant deficiency in the face of ongoing ecological and socioeconomic changes. Cuba should develop a forwardlooking national ocean policy that integrates existing and future laws and policies, as current limitations in the policy framework could undermine the country's ability to achieve its sustainability and environmental protection goals as economic development pressures grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been many initiatives and policy commitments in natural capital accounting in the recent years. Based on a survey for statistical offices, ministries and independent experts worldwide, we provide some preliminary evidence that there is very little use of natural capital accounts for public policy decisions and, more so, in developing countries. The most relevant obstacles are the lack of political support by key people and institutional leadership unable to promote policy use by other ministries. Concerning developing countries, the factor which is considered as the most relevant in preventing the use of natural capital accounts for policy making is the stage of development of the country. In addition, respondents from statistical institutes and developing countries are firstly, concerned about institutional obstacles and secondly, about data availability and cooperation. Respondents from ministries and independent experts are particularly concerned about design obstacles. Not many accounts may be available to be used in the policy-making process due to data gaps, design challenges and the required investment, the problem being more acute in developing countries. A key result of the survey is the need to evaluate the added value of natural capital accounts with respect to statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the government policies related to waterways and water use in Colombia. The author comments on the role of the government in developing environmental protection policy and examines the environmental responsibility of institutions. The impact of everyday water usage on resource management is also explored.

China has the world’s highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and its adoption of optimal measures to address climate change is extremely important. In this article, we assess the performance of various Chinese policies aimed at addressing climate change in terms of cost effectiveness, cost-benefit efficiency, and their contribution to a reduction in emissions with a new single-region model, DEMETER-CCPE. Our analysis shows that the performance of these Chinese policies strongly depends on the principles and indicators used in the evaluation. When climate-specific cost indicators are considered, the mixed policy performs best in terms of cost reduction. When cost-efficiency indicators are used, a single policy performs better to some extent. From the perspective of evaluating the contribution to emissions reduction, the development of non-fossil-fuel-based energy technologies offers the greatest opportunity for reducing emissions in a mixed-policy scenario. Finally, this article study possible ‘burden’ and ‘free-rider’ scenarios in order to explore the effect of different levels of joint actions between China and the rest of the world (ROW) on a performance evaluation of policies to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores objectives of Task Force on Environmental Aspects of the New York State Constitution as convened by the Executive Committee of New York State Bar Association. It reports how the task force supported the amendment in constitutional laws concerning environment through the Constitutional Convention.

The article highlights laws in New York to amend Constitutional Environmental Rights through constitutional convention. Topics discussed include opportunities and challenges in enforcing existing subnational environmental provisions; constitutional convention for the State of New York; and ways in which Environmental protection (land, water, air, plants and animals) is a responsibility of all and if anyone causes damage to them.

The article highlights laws aimed to govern subnational environmental constitutionalism in New York. Topics discussed include opportunities and challenges in enforcing existing subnational environmental provisions; constitutional convention for the State of New York; and ways in which Environmental protection (land, water, air, plants and animals) is a responsibility of all and if anyone causes damage to them.

Within the agenda of some national governments, emphasis has been placed on the importance of combating climate change and protecting natural resources, which is why they have developed state policies that allow greater control over these resources and ensure their preservation and watch out. These policies have considered it viable that such protection can be encouraged through the economic investment of private actors (banks, NGO, environmental entities, among others). However, by inserting the conservation of natural resources in cost-benefit logic, it generates that dynamics of hoarding are developed where the people with greater purchasing power decide how and in what form these resources are used. By thinking of the local population as a predator that only draws resources from its surroundings, the historical relationship of this with nature, where sensory and material ele-ments have been created and strengthened, is unknown. The municipality of Guasca is not alien to these policies of environmental conservation and although they may be designed to protect nature, tend to ignore the people who for many years have lived with this (peasants and local people). It is also contradictory that those who develop these policies often pretend to give simultaneous uses to nature so they are opposed. In this way we can observe places in Guasca that are projected (by territorial entities, environmental corporations and private entities) for the conservation of water sources, fauna and flora simultaneously with mining- energy extractive projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this literature review based paper we explored the concept of exclusion of local communities from accessing resources in forest protected areas (FPAs) in Zimbabwe. We discussed the colonial and post-colonial forms, causes and mechanisms of exclusion and their social, economic and ecological outcomes. We examined the range of powers embodied in and exercised through various mechanisms, processes and social relations and their impact on local communities' access to FPA resources and associated benefits along the historical trajectory of forest governance in Zimbabwe. Results showed that the forms and extent of exclusion changed over time in tandem with the shifting political and economic landscape. During the colonial period, it was total exclusion whereby people were evicted from forest land as well as being denied access to basic resources for their livelihoods. Local communities' access to low value FPA resources improved during the post-colonial period but access to high value resources like commercial timber as well as sharing income benefits derived from FPA commercial activities remained a pipe dream. Regulation, legitimation, force and markets constituted the mixture of the power elements that FPA governing authorities used to exclude local communities. These powers remained intact despite attempts at collaborative governance in the 1990s. However, from the year 2000, local communities expressed their dissatisfaction with the centralised exclusionary governance system by invading the FPAs rendering them ungovernable. There is therefore a need for policy reform within the FPA sector to improve the current dire situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]