Organizational responsiveness: The case of unfolding crises and problem detection within HELCOM

How and to what extent do international organizations detect, process and react to different types of change within their policy domains? This study addresses this question by combining a unique data set consisting of policy documents from the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) with data measuring ecosystem change in the Baltic Sea during the period 1980–2013. Here HELCOM's responses to two types of ecosystem changes are investigated: fast and visible (summer algae blooms) and slow and opaque (anoxic areas). Finally, this study assesses if the organizational reform of 2007, which introduced the ecosystem approach, has had any effects on HELCOM responsiveness. It is found that HELCOM, contrary to expectations, is only responding systematically to slow-moving and opaque processes but that this response confirms the anticipated organizational bottom-up pattern. The ecosystem approach reform seems to have had a negative effect on the responsiveness of HELCOM; however, a general trend is that HELCOM over time has become more responsive in the lower levels of the organization. The lack of an immediate effect regarding the ecosystem approach reform can serve as a reminder of the absence of panaceas in policy making in general, and in environmental governance in particular.     

Normalization of the International Whaling Commission

In 2006, the pro-whaling group within the International Whaling Commission introduced a programme of “Normalization” in an attempt to address its long held accusation that the Commission is dysfunctional. This paper traces the twin issues of dysfunctionality and normalization; it looks at the progress of the Normalization initiative so far, and assesses its likelihood of success. The paper also briefly examines “Modernization”, as an alternative for anti-whaling proponents to Normalization.     

亚洲地震委员会第三届会议暨地震学、地震灾害评估和地球内部结构相关论题讨论会概述

亚洲地震委员会第三届会议暨地震学、地球灾害评估和地球内部结构相关论题讨论会于2000年10月10－12日在伊郎德黑兰大学地球物理研究所召开。文章介绍了这次学术大会的概况及近年来来亚太地区各国在地震前兆、地震预测、震源物理、地球内部结构、地震台网和数据处理，以及地震灾害评估和诱发地震等方面的研究和进展情况。     

Tuna dreams and tuna realities: Defining the term “maximising economic returns from the tuna fisheries” in six Pacific Island states

Previous work on identifying opportunities for Pacific Island countries to improve the economic returns from their tuna resources in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has not generally included articulation of aspirations from Islanders themselves. However, generating such an understanding is increasingly important as these countries assert their positions in regional fisheries policy making. This study analyses the self-identified aspirations of industry and government representatives from six Pacific Island countries and finds a wider diversity of attitudes, strategies and success than is generally recognised. Implications for negotiations in the WCPFC are then discussed.     

A simulation study of the errors of omission and commission for GRACE RL01 gravity fields

This paper examines the influence that certain omission and commission errors can have on the gravity field models estimated from the initial release of data (RL01) from the Gravity Recovery And Recovery Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission. The effects of omission errors were analyzed by limiting the degree and order to which the GPS and K-band range-rate (KBR) measurement partials were extended in the solution process. The commission error studies focused on the impact of an imperfect mean reference gravity field model on the solution. Combinations of both of these error sources were also explored. The nature of these errors makes them difficult to distinguish from the true gravity signal, so the exploration of these error sources was performed using simulations; however, comparisons to real-data solutions are provided. The results show how each of the specific error sources investigated influences the gravity field solution. The simulations also show how all of the errors examined can be sufficiently mitigated through the appropriate choice of processing parameters.     

Whale watching, the Buenos Aires Group and the politics of the International Whaling Commission

Whale watching is now reputed to be a $2 billion a year industry. This industry has the potential to impact the politics of whaling, specifically the moratorium on all commercial whaling in three ways: by creating political and economic counterweights to whalers, by countering claims about who may legitimately manage whales and to what end and by transforming views about whales and whaling both within whaling states and beyond. This article examines whale watching in Latin America and the Caribbean and the alliance of Latin American and Caribbean members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) known as the Buenos Aires Group (BAG). The BAG group has emerged as coherent group opposing the ending of the moratorium and championing the views of whale watchers. The article finds that whale watching creates a politically important interest group in an area lacking whaling operations; it argues that these regional opponents of whaling provide a counter weight to charges that opposition to whaling is exclusively the providence of rich, urban citizens of developed countries and draw upon politically powerful frames in justifying their opposition to the lifting of the moratorium. Finally, it finds limited evidence that whale-watching is associated with a rise in general concern for marine mammals in the region. There remains the question, however, of what the future of whale watching in the region will be over the longer term.     

对地震预测研究发展方向的思考

基于国际地球科学研究的发展趋势,结合我国地震预测研究的现状,作者对未来我国地震预测研究的发展方向,提出以下几点看法和建议：①强调要从地球系统科学的角度,研究地球现象的发生和发展;②建议在选定的地震危险重点监视区,开展密集和综合的地震和地球物理观测,以及资料的深入分析;③加强对板内地震发生物理全过程的基础研究,培养一批高素质的理论研究人才;④充分重视和利用亚洲地震委员会的平台,推动亚太地区地震和防震、减灾的合作研究。     

第23届欧洲地震委员会全会综述

第23届欧洲地震委员会全会于1992年9月7—12日在捷克和斯洛伐克首都市拉格召开。出席这次大会的代表共345人。会上宣读论文278篇,张贴论文70篇。本文在概述了这次会议情况的同时,详细介绍了其学术交流情况及笔者对会议的印象与体会。     

大陆架界限委员会审议划界案的原则和方法——委员会建议摘要案例分析

由于全球大陆边缘地貌和地质特征的复杂性,且《联合国海洋法公约》(以下简称《公约》)第76条对200海里以外大陆架外部界限划定的规则存在一定的模糊性,导致大陆架外部界限的划定极其复杂。根据《公约》设立的大陆架界限委员会(以下简称委员会)负责审议沿海国提交的划界案并给出建议,委员会在外大陆架划界方面发挥重要作用。截止2012年12月底,委员会一共收到沿海国65份划界案,目前已完成其中18份划界案的审议工作并给出了建议。本文系统分析了各委员会建议摘要,对委员会在审议划界案时采用的划界原则、审议的关键技术问题等做了综合分析总结,以便为我国今后外大陆架划界和积极应对侵害我国海洋权益的他国划界主张提供参考和借鉴。