Could baseline establishment be counterproductive for emissions reduction? Insights from Vietnam’s building sector

This article provides insights into the role of institutions involved in climate governance working towards a future low-carbon society at the national level, within the global climate change governance architecture. Specifically, it contributes to understanding the fragmented governance of energy efficiency policy in developing countries by focussing on Vietnam’s building sector, identifying key institutions related to underlying discourses, national and international power relations, resource distribution and coalitions. It uses the case of baseline setting in developing Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to illustrate institutional dynamics, nationally and transnationally, as well as to question whether demands for baseline setting achieve the ideal trade-off between actual GHG emissions reduction and institutionalized demands for accountability. The analysis reveals that, in addition to domestic efforts and challenges, the international agenda greatly influences the energy efficiency policy arena. The article presents lessons to be learnt about policy processes from the specific Vietnamese case, reflecting on the role of international actors and discourses in it. Finally, it argues for the abolition of baselines in favour of adequate monitoring and evaluation, from the perspective that requirement for deviation from fictitious baselines is unproductive and only serves an international techno-managerial discourse.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Baseline establishment is commonly considered an initial step in developing NAMAs, in order to facilitate the demonstration of a deviation from such baselines. The requirement to produce baselines is traditionally not questioned by policy practitioners. Thus, significant development resources are allocated to the establishment of baselines and the bridging of data gaps, often without consideration as to whether baselines are a necessary instrument for NAMA implementation. We suggest omitting the lengthy and resource-consuming practice of establishing baselines and recommend proceeding forthwith to the planning and implementation of mitigation and energy efficiency policies. As conditions vary significantly in different contexts, it would be more appropriate to measure the initial situation, establishing the ‘base point’, and monitor development from that point. The present article might serve as motivation for policymakers to question traditional approaches to policy development and consider alternatives to maximize the cost efficacy of NAMA programmes and facilitate their implementation.     

Implementing adaptation in developed countries: an analysis of progress and trends

Little attention has been paid thus far to the experiences of developed countries in adapting to climate change. This article addresses this research gap by providing an assessment of broad trends in progress on planning and implementing adaptation in developed countries. Primary inputs are the National Communications (NCs) by these countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), although the article also discusses illustrative examples of recent adaptation activities that have not been covered in the NCs. NCs reflect ‘whole government’ perspectives and follow a standardized reporting format, which facilitates cross-national comparisons. The analysis shows that impacts and adaptation receive limited attention within NCs. The discussion on impacts and adaptation has typically been dominated by climate scenarios and impacts analysis, while the discussion on adaptation is often limited to the identification of generic options. There are signs of recent progress, however, in the Third and especially the Fourth NCs, in which a growing number of developed countries report on establishing frameworks for adaptation and on efforts to implement adaptation measures that take future climate into account. Although an encouraging sign, it is still too early to assess the eventual impact of such measures.     

地理空间数据共享机制研究

地理空间数据是地理信息系统的重要组成部分，是国家空间数据基础设施建设的主体，但地理空间数据的多样性导致了数据共享的困难。文中探讨了产生地理空间数据多样性的原因，分析总结了现有的地理空间数据共享的解决方案，并对地理空间数据共享的发展方向进行了展望。     

Toxic cyanobacteria at Nakuru sewage oxidation ponds - A potential threat to wildlife

Phytoplankton composition and biomass, and microcystin content were determined on diverse dates between November 2001 and June 2006 in the final oxidation pond of the Nakuru town sewage treatment plant. The oxidation ponds as well as the rivulet that drains the same are important water sources for some wildlife in the park. The phytoplankton composition of the pond studied mostly comprised coccoid green alga species. However, occasionally cyanobacteria or euglenoids were dominant. Among the cyanobacteria, Microcystis sp. made periodic appearance in the phytoplankton, and was the dominant species on some occasions. Total phytoplankton biomass varied widely from 48 to 135 mg L⁻¹ (wet weight) while cyanobacteria biomass ranged from undetectable levels to 130 mg L⁻¹. Most phytoplankton biomass was due to one or a few species. Detectable cyanotoxin concentrations (sum of microcystins) of up to 551.08 μg mg⁻¹ dry weight (DW) of cyanobacteria biomass or 0.28 μg mg⁻¹ DW of total phytoplankton biomass were recorded in samples collected on different dates. Microcystin content did not appear to correspond to the biomass of cyanobacteria suggesting that toxin production is possibly triggered by environmental changes or changes in the proportion of toxic strains. An occasional presence of microcystins in the pond water suggests that the wildlife species, which regularly use the ponds as drinking water sources are potentially exposed to intoxication. A close monitoring of pond water phytoplankton composition is necessary to accurately quantify the potential impact of cyanotoxins on these wildlife species.     

2017年8月8日九寨沟MS7.0地震序列分析

2017年8月8日四川九寨沟发生M_S7.0地震,该地震发生在巴颜喀喇块体的东北边界,震中区域构造条件复杂,是巴颜喀喇块体北侧左旋走滑环境向东侧逆冲挤压环境过渡的位置,附近地区历史强震较多。九寨沟地震是一次主-余型地震,余震活动水平较弱,主震发生后短时间内M_L≥4.0余震的“等待时间”存在异常,震后较长时间余震活动恢复到正常状态,序列h值、余震视应力等符合主-余型序列特征。序列b值为0.84,G-R关系推测序列最大余震的震级约为M_L5.4（M_S5.0）,8月9日发生的M_S4.8地震是目前该序列的最强余震。通过与1970年以来附近地区7级左右地震序列的对比认为,九寨沟地震与1976年松潘-平武2次7.2级地震序列在余震空间位置、发震构造和震源机制等方面存在较大差异,因此,不具备发育为震群型序列的条件。九寨沟地震主震视应力为0.36～0.38MPa,属于应力下调模型,序列余震的平均视应力水平接近龙门山断裂带附近中小地震的平均背景水平。     

农户参与湿地旅游意愿的影响因素分析——以黑龙江省三江国家级自然保护区为例

依据黑龙江省三江国家级自然保护区内11个村屯310户的问卷调查数据,采用Logistic模型对影响农户参与湿地旅游意愿的影响因子进行定量分析。结果表明,农户参与湿地旅游的意愿受内、外部综合因素影响,户主年龄、对旅游的认知程度、拥有投资资金的量、增加就业机会、提高当地收入、农户参与的可行性、旅游资源情况和当地政府态度是主要的影响因素。针对农户最关心的问题和主要影响因子,提出了考虑农户的经济利益、建立完善的社区参与管理模式、科学规划等促进农户参与湿地旅游措施。     

中国资源型景区旅游空间结构研究

选取国家旅游局评定的4A级景区中的509处资源型景区为样本景区,利用地理数学方法的空间分析手段和GIS空间分析工具,从定量和定性两方面分析资源型景区的旅游空间结构。结果表明,资源型景区的空间分布类型属于凝聚型,区域分布均衡性很低,省际差异较大;高密度区域为长三角地区、北京及其周边地区、以西安为中心的关中地区和以洛阳为中心的中原古都区。     

安徽升金湖国家级自然保护区水鸟生境适宜性变化

水鸟是湿地生态系统健康的指示生物,人类活动对其影响日益严重.研究自然保护区内的水鸟生境适宜性变化可以为湿地恢复提供帮助.通过层次分析法确定水鸟生境影响因子的权重,建立生境适宜性指数模型,根据TM遥感影像图和相关数据计算出安徽省升金湖国家级自然保护区1986-2011年5个年份的水鸟生境适宜指数,并结合GIS空间分析生成的水鸟生境适宜性分级图,分析升金湖建立保护区后水鸟生境适宜性变化.结果表明:升金湖地区在1986年建保护区后的几年间水鸟生境适宜性相对平稳,但是仍然有较为明显的下降;1990s后期,该地区水鸟生境适宜性开始显著恶化,一直持续到2000年之后才有小幅度的回升.水鸟生境适宜性最好的区域由片状分散逐渐转变成小范围聚集,适宜区域也在由实验区和缓冲区向核心区迁移的过程中显著缩减.本文还讨论了在研究中存在的不足,并提出一些恢复水鸟生境的建议.     

Use of GIS in Optimizing Timber Thinning Strategies in the Eastern Sierra Nevada*

This paper demonstrates the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to develop timber thinning strategies on the Kyburz Planning Area of the Tahoe National Forest in northeastern California. The primary criteria used in an assessment of selective thinning potential were forest health and fire hazard ratings. By eliminating environmentally sensitive, economically unfeasible, or low fire hazard areas from consideration, the use of GIS reduced the area that was considered appropriate for thinning by approximately 58%. GIS offers considerable potential for improving resource management strategies.     

King Canute muses in the South Seas: Why aren’t Pacific Islands transitioning to low carbon sea transport futures?

Transition to low carbon sea transport is a logical response to the extreme dependency of the Pacific Islands region on imported fossil fuel, its significant vulnerability to the effects of climate change and the critical shipping needs of Pacific Island countries (PICs). Building on previous work in low carbon sea transport in the Pacific, this paper further considers the barriers to achieving such transition by assessing, through a ‘post-Paris Agreement’ lens, the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by PICs and contrasting these to the near total lack of investment and planning for low carbon transition in the transport sector with the parallel occurrence in the electricity sector where ~USD 2 billion of donor investment is deployed or queued despite electricity using only ~20% of fossil fuel across the region. Consistent with recent international studies, inadequate and inappropriate financing and policy have been identified as dominant transition barriers for low carbon sea transport development in PICs. This paper further examines the regional level barriers to policy development, and finds them inhibited by the silo nature of the major regional actors. The implications that the Paris Agreement has for climate financing to support the essential research and capacity development needed to underpin a successful low carbon sea transport transition strategy at any useful scale and speed are also considered in this paper.