Beyond the knowledge-action gap: Challenges of implementing humanitarian policies in Ghana and Uganda

The article deals with challenges of implementing humanitarian policies in Ghana and Uganda by unravelling the roles of various actors and their narratives. In Northern Uganda the discrepancy between articulations and implementations of a humanitarian policy on needs is explored. In Ghana the disconnection between enunciations and policy practices around the ‘right to return’ is studied. Although different, these cases provide complementary insights into policy implementation. Serious differences between agencies’ aims and their implementation outcomes are revealed. Both cases demonstrate that the voices of affected people are muted or ignored in the implementation of humanitarian policies. They highlight the importance of consultations and consensus-making processes, and the need for re-mapping the policies and practices of humanitarian aid.     

水资源经济政策CGE模型及在北京市的应用

水资源经济政策的研究对于解决突出的水问题具有重要意义,本文采用2002 年北京市投入产出表和有关 的水资源公报等数据,通过单列水行业和废污水行业建立了基于一般均衡理论的水资源经济CGE(Computable General Equilibrium)模型和相应的42×53 多部门水资源投入产出表,利用GEMPACK 软件包,对北京市水资源经济 政策进行了模拟和分析。模拟显示,当水价增加10%时,行业产出和销售量变化呈现不同的特点和变动趋势;当水 量增加10%时,造成行业产出的变化和销售量的变动也值得深虑。该成果可为制定和实施水资源政策提供决策参 考及模拟平台。     

青藏高原生态系统服务权衡与协同关系

青藏高原被称为世界的"第三极",随着全球变化和频繁的人类活动,生态系统服务之间彼此消长,分析生态系统服务的时空变化及权衡协同关系对青藏高原地区的生态环境和经济的协调发展具有重要意义.本文结合遥感、气象、土地利用等多源数据,并基于逐像元相关分析法,对研究区长时间序列下产水价值量、固碳价值量和气候调节价值量间的权衡与协同关...     

Adaptive capacity in light of Hurricane Sandy: The need for policy engagement

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy brings to light the tenuous U.S. model of natural disaster management. Climatic extremes, like Sandy, are projected to increase in magnitude and frequency, calling upon societies to adapt appropriately to imminent threats. In this paper, we describe the knowledge and policy disconnect exposed by Sandy between what we submit are four key elements of adaptive capacity: resources, institutions, knowledge and innovation of technology. Our synthesis of multi-disciplinary expert knowledge and admonition from civil engineers, climatologists, and urban planners demonstrates the significance of mobilizing knowledge to design robust socio-ecological systems. We contrast the U.S. model to the Dutch system of climate adaptation to emphasize the feasibility, value, and effectiveness of adopting robust adaptive capacities, rather than policies steeped in reactionary responses. Such strategies that integrate coordination and imagination from members across society are imperative in translating scientific foresight into institutional action. The solution we offer is not only material for a more action-based discussion, but also provides an illustration of crafting policy that enhances adaptive capacities of socio-ecological systems.     

Older People and Transitions from Employment to Nonemployment: International Perspectives and Policy Issues

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has identified population aging as one of the most important challenges facing OECD countries and has highlighted the need for people to work longer and for job prospects for older workers to be enhanced. This article provides a summary review of a recent OECD report, Ageing and Employment Policies—Live Longer, Work Longer, as a platform to highlight differences between countries in demographic profiles and projections and in patterns of formal labor market participation among older workers. Drawing on selected information from a broader evidence base, it unveils important differences between countries in the scale of demographic and associated labor market challenges. It also explores factors affecting labor market transitions among older workers and age-related and other barriers to paid work among older people, emphasizing the diversity of experience between individuals. Finally, it highlights some strategic challenges for policy.     

Resource Peripheries and Neoliberalism: the Pilbara and the remaking of industrial relations in Australia

How mining companies overcome the problems faced by the fixity of resources and how they might come to exercise influence in societies which appear to be mostly post-industrial are complex questions of political geography. This is not least the case for a region such as the Pilbara—an iron ore site isolated from metropolitan centres—in Australia—a country isolated from many global centres and markets. At the same time, local struggles in this resources site have been profoundly influential in the making of a national neoliberal industrial relations agenda. Building on other scholarship on the Pilbara, but here re-emphasising the local scale and the details of work and regulation, provides a way to assess the place's wider importance. The Pilbara is a site of thoroughly transformed industrial relations, from a union space when export mining began in the 1960s to an employer stronghold today. Policy makers delivered changes to facilitate the remaking of employer power in workplaces in and beyond mining. This resource periphery has therefore been central to the remaking of national policy regimes.     

中国生产控制型产业减排的居民福利和区域影响

基于SAM均衡建模方法,建立面向居民福利研究的中国动态多区域社会公平CGE政策模拟模型,对比分析自然情景、生产控制型减排政策情景和最优增长情景下的区域和居民福利变化。研究发现减排政策存在明显的增长率区域分异,这将破坏在自然增长下存在的区域收敛力,导致中国区域之间的差距再度被拉大。面向减排的投资控制政策短期对于居民收入的不利影响较小,但长期影响不容忽视,需要进行居民收入保护。由于城镇退休居民和农村劳动居民已经具备针对性的养老保障政策和“三农政策”保护收入增长,其总体福利受减排政策的冲击较小,因此缺乏相应政策支持的城镇劳动居民应该是收入保护的优先考虑群体。模拟显示减排政策更有利于代际和城乡人均收入差距的缩小,但考虑到减排带来的绝对收入水平下降,不能过于乐观估计这种差距缩小效应。     

Energy Policy in Australia: A comparison of environmental considerations in New South Wales and Victoria

World-wide, people and governments are gradually becoming more aware of the potential environmental, economic and health effects of climate change and the need for governments to take action to mitigate such impacts. This was emphasised by the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. There has been much discussion on the greenhouse policy response of the commonwealth government of Australia, especially its stance taken at Kyoto in December 1997. Despite the recent nationalisation of Australia's state energy markets, due to Australia's federal political structure, much of the policy responsibility for energy and environmental issues rests with the states. Given these circumstances it is surprising that there has been relatively little academic focus on the energy policies of the states. This paper attempts to partially fill the policy analysis 'gap' by investigating the present environmental aspects of the energy policies of NSW and Victoria, implemented since the signing of the UNFCCC in 1992. NSW and Victoria are Australia's most populous states and are responsible for the bulk of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions with two very distinct policies.     

Hot Air: University Climate Action Plans and Disarticulated Federalism

Individual states and academic institutions have taken leadership on climate change policy in the United States. Without unified national policy, a patchwork of state policies fosters geographic variation among climate action plans (CAPs) for American College and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment signatories. Correlation among indexes rating state climate policy and signatory CAPs and spatial analysis indicate that states with aggressive climate policy foster aggressive policy within their academies. Reflection on the national scale suggests that although state policies help combat climate change, they could be more significant if articulated within a more comprehensive national policy.     

国家屏障区生态系统服务权衡与协同

对不同服务间存在的此消彼长的权衡关系和相互增益的协同关系的正确认知,是开展多种生态系统服务可持续管理决策的前提。2018年国家重点专项“典型脆弱生态修复与保护研究”中明确指出要优化“两屏三带”生态系统服务格局,而服务的优化离不开对权衡与协同关系的准确认知。因此,在国家尺度上开展国家屏障区生态系统服务权衡与协同研究具有重要性和迫切性。本文采用RUSLE模型、CASA模型和InVEST产水模型分别评估国家屏障区2000—2015年土壤保持、固碳和产水服务的空间分布格局,并分析三种服务的变化趋势,采用相关分析法和均方根偏差法量化不同服务在各子屏障带整体和空间上的权衡与协同关系。结论如下：① 国家屏障区的三项服务在空间上均呈现由东南向西北减少的格局, 而在时间上,土壤保持与产水显著增加(p<0.05),增加量分别为 20.64 t/(km ²·a)和4.13mm/a,而固碳呈现微弱的上升趋势(p=0.96),服务的提升有利于保障国家生态安全。② 在各子屏障带整体上,土壤保持、固碳及产水间相关系数基本大于0（p<0.05）,表明三者以协同为主;而在空间上,两两服务间的权衡与协同关系存在着极强的空间异质性,如东北森林带固碳与产水、固碳与土壤保持的权衡关系像元比例分别达49%和27%,且均集中在北部。因此,在进行生态环境建设时,需要同时考虑到整体与局部空间的服务权衡与协同关系的不同,以制定更为合理的生态保护政策。     

中国碳排放关键驱动因子的分析和政策反思——基于LMDI：1995—2010

影响中国能源消费和碳排放的两大主因是经济政策和能源政策,显然,经济因素是外因,能源供应结构和能源效率才是影响的内在因子。本文基于碳排放的完全分解分析模型——对数平均Divisia指数（LMDI）系统分析了影响1995～2010年中国碳排放变化的关键因子和贡献率,分解因子包括四种,即经济规模效应、结构效应、能源强度效应、碳强度效应。指数分解模型结果表明,不同时期这四种效应对碳排放变化的贡献率是不同的,1995—2010年对碳排放增加影响最大的因子是经济发展（贡献率155％）和产业结构改变（贡献率10．6％）,而碳排放量的减少主要是由能源强度下降贡献的（贡献率-63．7％）,碳强度效应影响很小。但最近几年碳排放量的增加除了经济规模这个主要因子,碳强度的改变（贡献率4％）、产业结构调整（贡献率1．3％）都促进了碳排放量的增加,只有能源强度的下降起到了抑制碳排放量增加的作用（贡献率-73．5％）。模型的这种分解结果提示我们需要对这一时期内的产业政策、能源发展措施等方面进行反思,未来还要加强“节能减排”政策的落实、加强低碳能源技术的投资力度和政策扶持。     

Community resilience,natural hazards,and climate change: Is the present a prologue to the future?

ABSTRACT

The nexus of natural hazards, climate change, and community resilience poses both conceptual and methodological challenges. One key consideration is the underlying notion of dynamic change or transformation in the systems that affect community resilience—social systems, natural systems, technological systems—and the degree to which the interdependencies influence who is resilient, to what, where, and to whom. The article examines community resilience from the broad perspective of affluent societies and illustrates the considerable variability in both the temporal and spatial nature of community resilience to natural hazards in the short term, and climate changes in the longer term, especially in more affluent societies. The author finds that, given the rapidity of environmental, social, economic, political, technological, and cultural changes, present circumstances and remedies may not be adequate predictors or precursors of future conditions. She concludes that the challenges associated with community resilience, natural hazards, and climate change require transformational thinking and action if achievements are to be made in terms of significant disaster risk reduction and any semblance of a sustainable future when extreme weather events will be the norm, not the exception.     

甘肃白龙江流域生态系统服务变化及权衡与协同关系

甘肃白龙江流域是长江上游主要的水源涵养区和环境脆弱区,近几十年来高强度的人类活动加剧了生态环境压力,因此开展白龙江流域生态系统服务变化及权衡协同关系研究对该区域的可持续发展具有重要意义。本文通过生态系统服务变化指数（ESCI）、空间自相关、相关系数法,定量分析了1990-2014年甘肃白龙江流域生态系统服务时空变化过程、空间集聚特征及生态系统服务间的权衡与协同关系。结果表明：① 1990-2014年间产水量、碳储量、土壤保持和农作物生产4种典型生态系统服务的ESCI值变化迥异,空间分布各具特色,具体表现为：产水量ESCI极值变化超过1倍且前后两时段（1990-2002年,2002-2014年）分布格局有较大出入,而两时段内的碳储量ESCI值变化相同,分布格局也相似,土壤保持ESCI值两极化趋势较农产品生产不明显,但这两者后一时段均与前一时段的ESCI分布相反;② 4种典型生态系统服务存在空间自相关,局部上正相关类型“组团”出现,集聚性较强,负相关类型散布,集聚性低,空间异质性显著;③ 两种供给服务（产水量与农作物生产）呈负相关的权衡关系,两种调节服务（碳储量与土壤保持）呈正相关的协同关系,不同的供给和调节服务之间关系既有权衡也有协同关系;④ 数值关系上,不同生态系统服务之间的权衡/协同关系在Moran's I和相关系数上表现不一;空间格局上,生态系统服务间的权衡/协同关系异质性显著。     

Policy Boosterism,Policy Mobilities,and the Extrospective City

Abstract

This study develops the notion of “policy boosterism,” a subset of traditional branding and marketing activities that involves the active promotion of locally developed and/or locally successful policies, programs, or practices across wider geographical fields as well as to broader communities of interested peers. It is argued that policy boosterism is (1) an important element of how urban policy actors engage with global communities of professional peers and with local residents, and (2) a useful concept with which to interrogate and understand how policies and policy knowledge are mobilized among cities. A conceptualization of policy boosterism and its role in global-urban policymaking is developed by combining insights from the burgeoning “policy mobilities” literature with those of the longstanding literature on entrepreneurial city marketing. It is supported by illustrative examples of policy boosterism in Vancouver: the city's Greenest City and Green Capital initiatives, the use of the term “Vancouverism” among the city's urban design community, and demonstrations of new urban technologies during the 2010 Winter Olympics that were used to market a particular vision of the city's governance to people from elsewhere, but also—crucially—to local audiences. The article concludes by highlighting four foci that might frame future work at the intersections of policy boosterism and policy mobilities.     

The Nature of Decision Making in the Practice of Dwelling: A Practice Theoretical Approach to Understanding Maintenance and Retrofitting of Homes in the Context of Climate Change

In order to make existing private housing more energy efficient, various policies aim at influencing decisions made by homeowners regarding renovation and retrofitting in Scandinavia. Presenting two case studies from Denmark and Norway, we take one step back and observe the whole process of keeping a home habitable. Inspired by theories of Tim Ingold and Elizabeth Shove, we suggest calling this process “the practice of dwelling.” Rather than focusing on decisions and acts pertaining to retrofitting alone, we observe how maintenance and retrofitting are parts of an ongoing practice of dwelling. The cases demonstrate how decisions can be understood as embedded in the practice of dwelling, and how a readiness for decisions regarding retrofitting is created, or not, in this practice. We suggest shifting focus from the outcome of decisions, to attention toward the process that leads to readiness for making the decision in the first place.     

Priorities, policies and (time)scales: the delivery of emissions reductions in the UK transport sector

The transport sector is consistently responsible for around 30 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries and is one of few sectors where emissions continue to increase as a result of apparently insatiable demand for road and air travel. This paper examines how the formulation of transport policy fits into the exposition of UK climate policy, focusing on three principal areas of tension: policy priority (congestion and carbon reduction); strategies to reduce emissions (technological and behavioural solutions) and timescale (short- and long-term vision). We suggest that in overcoming such tensions government ministers will need to devolve significant policy formulation and implementation powers to an appropriate scale of governance – in this case the city-region – to fashion a 'convergence space' capable of promoting meaningful action with regard to transport's climate impact.     

Perceptions of climate change in China: The research and policy connection

Global climate change has evolved from a scientific problem into an economic and political problem oI worlOwloe rater- est. National perspectives play a crucial role in addressing climate change. Mutual understanding of perspectives is nec- essary to result in rational policies and a consensus among stakeholders with divergent interests. Conceptual frameworks for understanding the problem of climate change in China, the largest developing country and the largest greenhouse gas emitter, are of great significance to national and international efforts to address the problems of climate change. Chinese perceptions of climate change as a sustainable development problem have recently been in tension with an emerging Western perspective that frames climate change as a security issue. This paper explores Chinese perceptions of climate change as expressed in recent governmental policy statements, public opinion surveys, and academic scholarship with a focus on publications in Chinese-language journals, often unfamiliar in the West. It looks at the relationship between Chinese research and policy and finds that the Chinese policy frame of climate change as a sustainable development problem draws from the body of domestic research and is reflective of the perspectives and multidisciplinary approach of Chinese researchers in areas of climate change.     

Black gold to green gold: regional energy policy and the rehabilitation of coal in response to climate change

Energy production has come under increasing scrutiny as concerns about energy security and climate change have risen. In the UK changes in government structure and privatisation of the electricity industry have led to the emergence of multi-level governance. This means that decisions on how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity-generating sector should no longer be solely a national policy decision. Previous studies have sought to explore how renewable energy may develop under multi-level governance, but this paper pays attention to a traditional fossil fuel source, coal, which is still an important means of electricity generation. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel and advocates argue that carbon capture and storage techniques could make coal 'clean', paving the way for a long-term, secure and low emission way to produce energy. This study focuses on the Yorkshire and Humber Region, which has had a long association with coal mining and looks at the implications of this as the region seeks to develop a climate change action plan and an energy strategy within the new regional governance structures. The paper argues that the regional networks developed to address climate change are influenced by existing social power structures and alliances. The region as a territorial structure becomes a useful device in promoting national priorities.     

Revealing ecosystem services relationships and their driving factors for five basins of Beijing

A clear understanding of the relationships among multiple ecosystem services(ESs) is the foundation for sustainable urban ecosystem management. Quantitatively identifying the factors that influence ES trade-offs and synergies can contribute to deepening ES research, from knowledge building to decision making. This study simulated soil conservation, water yield and carbon sequestration in Beijing, China, from 2015–2018. The spatial trade-offs and synergies of these three ESs within the five major river basins in Beijing were explored using geographically weighted regression. Furthermore, geographical detector was applied to quantitatively identify the driving mechanism of the environmental factors for the ES trade-offs and synergies. The results show the following:(1) the spatial relationships between soil conservation and water yield, as well as between water yield and carbon sequestration, were mainly trade-offs. There was a spatial synergy between soil conservation and carbon sequestration.(2) Regarding the spatial trade-off/synergy between soil conservation and water yield in Beijing, the dominant influencing factor was temperature/elevation, and the dominant interactions of the spatial trade-off and synergy between these two ESs in Beijing and the Chaobai River Basin are all manifested in the superposition of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, temperature, and elevation.(3) Topographic factors were the dominant factors influencing the spatial relationship between soil conservation and carbon sequestration in Beijing and its five major river basins. As a result of the distribution of water systems and hydrological characteristics of the basins, differences were observed in the effects of different combinations of interaction factors on the spatial relationship between these two ESs in different basins.(4) Temperature had the strongest explanatory power in terms of the spatial trade-offs and synergies between water yield and carbon sequestration. The interactions between precipitation and temperature and between precipitation and elevation were the dominant interactions affecting the spatial relationship between water yield and carbon sequestration in Beijing. Overall, the explanatory power of influencing factors on the trade-offs and synergies and the degree of interaction between factors coexist in different basins with consistency and differences. Therefore, understanding the quantitative characteristics of basin-scale spatial trade-offs and synergies between ESs is important for ecosystem management and the promotion of synergy in different basins.     

Natural and imposed injustices: the challenges in implementing 'fair' flood risk management policy in England

This paper examines the challenges facing English flood risk management (FRM) policy and practice when considering fair decision-making processes and outcomes at a range of spatial scales. It is recognised that flooding is not fair per se : the inherent natural spatial inequality of flood frequency and extent, plus the legacy of differential system interventions, being the cause. But, drawing on the three social justice models – procedural equality, Rawls' maximin rule and maximum utility – the authors examine the fairness principles currently employed in FRM decision-making. This is achieved, firstly, in relation to the distribution of taxpayer's money for FRM at the national, regional and local levels and, secondly, for non-structural strategies – most notably those of insurance, flood warnings and awareness raising, land use control, home owner adaptation and emergency management. A case study of the Lower Thames catchment illustrates the challenges facing decision-makers in 'real life': how those strategies which appear to be most technically and economically effective fall far short of being fair from either a vulnerability or equality perspective. The paper concludes that if we are to manage flood risk somewhat more fairly then a move in the direction of government funding of nationally consistent non-structural strategies, in conjunction with lower investment decision thresholds for other local-level FRM options, appears to offer a greater contribution to equality and vulnerability-based social justice principles than the status quo.