International interaction and global peace in light of international convergence: a strategy to achieve environmental diplomacy

Nowadays, two fundamental pillars of human existence are environmental protection and sustainable development. Governments and international organizations play an important role in this process. Without serious regional interactions and international cooperation, sustainability in development and environmental protection will not happen. Except for international interactions and global peace, sustainable development and development sustainability are not on their accurate paths. An effective method for natural resources and ecosystems conservation is environmental diplomacy. Therefore, environmental discussions are extremely important reasons for international convergence. Through convergence attitude, the international community can reach the global environmental conservation strategies. In this study, it is attempted to determine the international environmental law evolution and the governments’ roles in environmental challenges underlying the international convergence and legal fundamentals. It is concluded that, environmental threats and hazards resulted from illogical human act can be solved by international convergence, environmental conservation and global peace.     

An Review of International Climate Change Conference and Analysis on Recent Hot Issues

The international climate change negotiation has been carried out over 20 years. The issue of climate change has shifted from a scientific question into a complex political matter which is related to the sustainable development of mankind. Based on the overview of major processes and stages of international climate conferences, this paper analyzed the key measures that major countries have taken to address climate change, as well as the primary tasks of Paris climate conference and recent international actions. The recent international climate policy issues were also analyzed in order to provide suggestions for China’s activel participation in the development of a new round of international climate change system.     

The myth of community and sustainable grassland management in China

Within national and international domestic academic circles, there are increasing calls for enhanced involvement of communities in formulating and implementing grassland management arrangements. In contrast to the current national policy of contracting grasslands to households, many scholars call for support for collective grassland use arrangements. Several reasons are given for increased recognition and support for community-based management of grasslands, including lower costs of exclusion and dispute resolution, economies of scale in herding and marketing, mitigation of environmental risk, and ensuring equitable access to grassland resources. One conclusion from this literature is that devolving authority for designing and implementing grassland management systems to communities would lead to more sustainable grassland use, a position that I term as the ‘myth of community.’ This paper presents the results of a study of grazing systems in two communities in Hongyuan County, Sichuan Province. Each community uses its grasslands collectively. However, the study found evidence of severe overgrazing, especially in winter pastures, suggesting that community-based management of grasslands is not necessarily sustainable. The paper discusses three potential policy innovations required to support sustainable grazing systems in China’s grassland areas: overcoming constraints in labor and land markets, and payments for environmental services that reward sustainable stocking levels.     

Actors, options and the challenges of forest management in anglophone Cameroon

Natural resources, especially the forest provide a means of livelihood to rural communities in most developing countries. Unfortunately these resources are under the threat of disappearing because of high population growth rates and poverty that characterise these communities. Any attempt by development agencies at conserving these resources is tantamount to depriving these rural areas of their survival base. Yet due to its strategic socio-economic and cultural importance, the forest ecosystem needs to be sustained for future generations. This paper examines the various challenges faced by the State and other conservation agencies in natural resource management and the possible options which can be employed in an effort to ensure a sustainable exploitation of the forest in Anglophone Cameroon. It discusses the efforts of these actors, within the framework of the emerging concept of community forestry, local community strengthening and integrated rural development. While highlighting some of the achievements of international NGOs like Bird Life International and World Wide Fund for Nature in the region, the study concludes that the future of sustainable management of forest resources relies on a holistic poverty alleviation approach that takes into consideration the empowerment of these communities. This will ensure that they participate and benefit from the exploitation of the resources in the form of local development. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Getting international labour rights right at a foreign controlled company in Malaysia: A Global Labour Network perspective

The article addresses international campaigning for labour rights and global labour networking against illegitimate labour practices of global corporations. Theoretically, the article offers an analytical framework to explain and strategise labour empowerment and disempowerment in Global Production Networks. The problem is approached by reviewing how the issue of labour agency is addressed in literature about Global Value Chains, Global Production Networks and Labour Geography. Given the limited progress in theorising cross-border labour agency, two new approaches within the industrial relations research tradition – Strategic Union Corporate Analysis and Strategic Choice Framework – are linked to economic geography perspectives, with a view to offering a more integrated Global Labour Network (GLN) approach. The framework is then applied to analyse and explain the outcome and impact of a Danish–Malaysian campaign in support of a worker collective in a Danish controlled joint venture in Malaysia struggling for union recognition and collective bargaining agreement. The article concludes that the GLN approach integrates the achievements of the labour agency literatures by focusing on explaining changes in strategic labour power from the dynamic interface of strategic opportunities and labour capacity. Moreover, it is argued that semi-comprehensive international campaigns of labour NGOs may add critical but insufficient support to labour agency in developing countries with highly legalistic and politically infused industrial relations systems. Finally, international labour NGO networks will not be sustainable if they are not integrated with and supported by national and global union networks that match the power of global corporate networks.     

Why are there cattle in the conservation area? Social barriers to biofuel governance in Brazil

Amid a rapid expansion of global investments in biofuels there has been an equally rapid proliferation of concerns about the inadequacies of current governance schemes to mitigate the environmental impacts of growing agroenergy production. Managing the land use practices of small producers in a way that ensures their activities are financially and environmentally sustainable is a particularly pressing issue that has been overlooked in research on biofuel governance. I illuminate these challenges through an ethnographic study on the multiple breakdowns of environmental governance in the Southern Goiás region of Brazil, a major expansion region for sugarcane ethanol production. I focus on one of the most pressing compliance issues among small and medium size sugarcane farmers; their persistent use of federally mandated conservation areas for cattle production. I find that while these transgressions are often perceived by administrators and officials as being the result of a lack of “environmental awareness” among rural farmers, they are better understood as a safety net to protect landowners against perceived risks of sugarcane production. These violations are further enabled by continuing ambiguity in the enforcement structure for conservation legislation in the region. Recalibrating regulatory systems to better address these issues of accountability and risk is a critical step toward improving environmental governance of global biofuel commodity chains.     

Market instruments and the neoliberalisation of land management in rural Australia

Increasing penetration by the market into the governing of agri-environments, and the use of market-oriented approaches in an attempt to produce more sustainable outcomes, is a characteristic feature of what scholars have called the ‘neoliberalisation of nature’. While accepting that neoliberal forms of governing tend to extend market relations into new domains, a number of scholars have argued that they may at the same time create spaces of resistance, open up progressive political possibilities, or incorporate alternative rationalities of governing. This literature has so far focused primarily on the policy and/or programme level with limited connection made to the growing body of research that explores landholder responses to specific market instruments. We address this gap by focusing on a market instrument – Wimmera Habitat Tender – in the State of Victoria, Australia, which aims to provide incentives for farmers in managing native vegetation. This case study explores how a specific tender-based market instrument seeks to construct natural resource managers as neoliberal subjects, as well as the complex ways in which farmers contest or resist the neoliberal governing of their agri-environmental practices. Through our analysis we contend that closer scrutiny of how the techniques underpinning market-based environmental instruments are taken up or resisted contributes to a more robust understanding of the environmental possibilities created by market instruments, as well as the challenges involved in attempts to neoliberalise nature.     

Analyzing the individual and social rights condition of climate refugees from the international environmental law perspective

In evaluating international treaties, in particular, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention, this paper shows that necessary preparations have not been made to protect the rights of individuals who are refugees or have been forced to migrate from their homeland. Immigrants are deprived of the most essential human rights, such as language, culture, and having a right to a healthy living environment. The current legal administration has not made the necessary contingencies for responding to the environmental consequences of immigration and is extremely inefficient in expanding this phenomenon. This paper seeks to address the question of to what extent existing forms of legal and operational protection can apply in climate change-related displacement in general and cross-border displacement in particular. In this work some strategies have been proposed for dealing with these existing gaps. It is expected that analyzing these gaps and determining the international community??s duties and commitments (governments and international organizations) can result in efficient management of this crisis and prevent the outbreak of chaos across the globe.     

The changing atmosphere: A review

Concern over the effects of human activities on this planet and on it's ecosystems is widespread. Changes wrought within the atmosphere are of particular concern because they have pervasive social, environmental, and economic effects; some potentially serious and very long-term. The problems they pose and the need for remedial measures creates both scientific and policy challenges. This paper bridges the two domains, outlining how the atmosphere is being changed, some of the possible consequences thereof, and actions being taken to address the issue.Emissions to the atmosphere are attacking the stratospheric ozone shield, causing acidification, spreading toxic substances and increasing the greenhouse effect. Of these concerns, the global issue of greenhouse warming will have the greatest overall impact and it the most difficult to address. While some countries have taken important preventative and mitigating measures, action on the greenhouse threat generally has been restrained because of related uncertainties, possible economic upsets and the enormity of the problem. The paper ends by noting recent international initiatives toward development of needed public policies and the roles of the scientist in addressing the issue.     

水文科技发展回顾及思考

水文科技是水文工作和水利科技一个重要组成部分,长期以来水文科学技术对我国水文与水利事业的发展和国民经济建设起到了巨大的推动作用,我国水文科学技术发展随着水文、水利与国民经济的发展和科学技术的进步取得了巨大成就,有些技术达到获接近国际先进水平。本文对我国水文科技取得的主要成就进行了总结,对目前水文科技存在主要问题进行了分析;结合水资源可持续利用支持社会经济可持续发展的需求,对水文科技发展的重点和策略进行了分析和探讨。     

中国环境地质研究主要进展与展望

环境地质研究是以人-地相互关系为核心、促进人类与地质环境协调共处的重大课题,受到国内外地质学界普遍关注。本文在简要回顾环境地质学科发展历程的基础上,较系统地总结了国内外环境地质研究的主要进展及存在的问题。结合我国当前生态文明建设和未来发展需求,提出环境地质研究是新时期地质工作的重要使命,未来发展方向和重点领域应涵盖城市地质研究、水资源可持续利用和管理、地质灾害监测与综合防治、生态环境系统保护、地球关键带相关问题研究等,强调学科交叉及新技术新方法的系统性研究,在合理开发利用资源和保护地质环境中发挥重要作用。     

国际上水资源综合管理进展

中国近年实施最严格水资源管理制度、全面推行河长制等一系列政策,不断探索完善水资源综合管理的体制和机制。为加强对水资源综合管理的认识,推动中国水资源综合管理的实施,结合国际社会对水资源综合管理认识和实践新成果,主要梳理总结水资源综合管理理念的形成过程、主要组成、实施状况、存在问题和发展趋势。结果显示:(1)随着对传统水资源管理存在分散化等问题的认识,水资源综合管理的理念逐渐形成,并已被国际社会所接受;(2)水资源综合管理实施"综合"途径管理水资源,强调通过完善实施的环境条件、机构框架、具体管理手段和稳健的水基础设施投资机制,实现用水效率、社会公平、环境可持续的均衡;(3)许多国家已把综合管理的理念和措施纳入到其水资源管理政策和体制框架设计中,并在水管理的实践过程中取得新进展;(4)国际上水资源综合管理理念和经验为进一步完善中国水资源管理提供了启示和借鉴;(5)未来水资源综合管理将进一步得到推广实施,从理念到解决具体水问题的实践过程将进一步加强,并呈现多样性和动态性特征。尽管面临由于气候变化影响和水与社会经济交互作用导致的不确定性、复杂性等问题的挑战,随着水资源综合管理的实践和水科学研究进步,水资源管理将进一步采用整体、多学科和可持续的途径,助力可持续发展目标的实现。     

山东温泉旅游资源分析及科学发展思考

山东省温泉资源分布广泛、储量大,利用历史十分悠久,在温泉资源开发应用过程中,应根据其分布、类型、开发利用现状,并结合国内外的科技成果而进行科学开发与综合利用,建设既有地方民俗文化特色又与国际接轨的可持续发展模式。     

矿床学的百年回顾与发展趋势

文章简要回顾了百年来矿床学取得的重要进取，包括：①矿床成因分类的建立；②层控矿床研究；③板块构造与区域成矿；④矿床模型研究；⑤区域成矿学研究；⑥超大型矿床研究；⑦海洋现代热液成矿作用的发现；⑧恩矿年代研究等。针对21世纪人类社会可持续发展的需要，矿床学研究出现了两个新趋势：①全球化；②矿业开发与环境保护一体化。面临着三个主要研究领域；①成矿理论的推陈出新；②研究开发新型矿产资源，建立广义的矿产资源地质学；③为加强矿山环保所做的矿床学基础研究。最后作者还提出发展成矿学研究的若干建议。     

Community forests and regeneration in post-industrial landscapes

Through a critique of existing regeneration literatures the paper points to the close relationship between regeneration and sustainable development. It suggests that the economic aspects of sustainable development have tended to dominate: leading to the neglect of nature in both regeneration and sustainable development, with regeneration having a principal focus on socio-economic issues in urban settings. To address these lacunae we suggest the need for a more environmentally sensitive regeneration theory. Using this approach the paper draws on recent in-depth research in three post-industrial coalfield areas where regeneration processes operate in the form of community forest projects. It provides a critical perspective on these regeneration processes, integrating theory with empirical data and highlighting how nature is drawn into broader economic and social processes of regeneration. In conclusion, using forestry initiatives as examples, we reflect on the conceptual dissonance apparent in regeneration theory and practice, and point to theoretical insights that could enable a more critical regeneration theory; more beneficial outcomes to regeneration processes; and an improved understanding of the relations between nature, capital and community in regeneration processes and sustainable development.     

Conservation and community in the new South Africa: A case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve

The idealization of natural landscapes and peoples during colonialism, coupled with the popularity of sustainable development in the postcolonial era, has contributed to the expansion of conservation planning throughout the African continent. Concerns surrounding the promotion of national and international conservation agendas at the expense of local livelihood needs have generated interest in community conservation projects that attempt to include local participation and knowledge in natural resource management. The early excitement associated with community conservation has waned in light of recent assessments that it has been unsuccessful in meeting its ecological and social goals. This parallels other research that suggests communities are understood in generic or homogenous ways that influence how these initiatives are understood. Using a case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve, this paper evaluates how rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods, and how these access patterns impact their views of the project. It is argued that there are significant livelihood variations within the community that shape the ways households engage with, and benefit from, conservation planning. Rather than strictly viewing Mahushe Shongwe as a constraint to environmental resource access or site for limited employment, community members identify a number of benefits from its existence including education and development opportunities. Additionally, transformations in governance systems in the region impact community views of the project since younger residents are less likely to engage with the Matsamo Tribal Authority, which participates in managing the reserve. The consequence is that conservation has various impacts and meanings within a specific community that remain tied to the livelihood and governance systems being renegotiated in the post-apartheid era.     

论化学矿产资源开发中存在的矛盾与待解决的问题

人口、资源、环境是国际社会所面临的重要问题。资源的合理配置是２１世纪可持续发展的一个关键问题。化学矿产与其它矿产资源一样,形势严峻。在开发利用过程中存在着资源短缺与资源浪费、国家和地区、当前和长远、开采与保护、开发与环境污染等５个矛盾。要实施可持续发展战略,必须正确处理这些矛盾。急待解决的主要问题有：提高国民素质和全社会节约意识、确实贯彻矿产保护法、加强矿产基地建设、提高机械化程度、适应市场化经济、稳定地质科研队伍等。     

人类活动引起的营养物质输入对海湾生态环境的影响机理与调控原理

近几十年来,高强度人类活动导致海湾生态环境恶化、生态系统失衡,已严重威胁到海岸带地区经济和社会的可持续发展。营养物质输入是人类活动影响海湾生态环境的关键因素。海湾营养物质来源多样,形态转化多变,生态过程及其效应复杂,营养物质在海湾的迁移转化规律及其对海湾生态环境的影响过程与机理,是国际海洋生态环境研究的前沿。目前,国际海湾生态环境研究主要呈现出如下发展趋势:1从环境质量、生物群落结构等现象研究转向环境变化机理、生态系统结构与功能的响应机制研究;2从对海湾生态环境某个环节的研究转向对海湾生态系统的全过程、系统性研究;3从单纯研究海湾水体转向陆海相互作用的完整性研究,并从管理上提出海陆统筹的要求;4从对海湾生态环境某个时段变化的研究转向生态系统长期连续变化规律的研究。未来应重点开展的研究包括:营养物质在半封闭性海湾长期滞留聚集条件下的迁移转化规律;营养物质变化对海湾生态系统结构与功能的影响过程与机制;基于生态系统水平的海湾综合管理理论体系。     

当前国际环境地质工程(环境岩土工程)研究的热点领域及其相关技术

当前环境地质工程(或称环境岩土工程)(EnvironmentalGeotechnology)国际学术讨论会的频繁召开, 反映了世界各国对解决环境问题的迫切愿望, 预示着一个世纪性的环境地质工程研究热潮已经到来。结合我国的国情分析这些会议所研讨的内容, 将有助于提高对当前环境地质工程热点研究领域的认识, 从而在解决国家所面临的环境问题及经济社会可持续发展中发挥应有的作用。本文是作者对当前国际环境地质工程(环境岩土工程)研究热点领域及其相关技术的集成。由于环境问题的广泛性, 对于国内的传统环境工程地质和地质灾害内容不加重复, 但它们同样重要。     

Integrating sustainable development and economic restructuring: a role for regulation theory?

Despite the growing importance of environmental issues within international and national economic policies, little attention has been paid to these issues in work on economic restructuring. However, the increasing adoption of the concept of sustainable development as a means to resolve conflict between the economy and the environment has major implications for the form and direction of economic restructuring. In this paper it is therefore argued that the growing adoption of sustainable development as a central guiding principle for economic development necessitates the incorporation of environmental issues into work on economic restructuring. The limited amount of existing work linking the environment with economic restructuring is criticized and it is suggested that there is considerable potential to use regulation theory to combine debates on economic restructuring and sustainable development.