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A dynamic analysis of the global warming potential associated with air conditioning at a city scale: an empirical study in Shenzhen, China
Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. (IF 3.749) Pub Date : 2020-01-13
Ning Zhang; Huiyue Wang; John Gallagher; Qingbin Song; Vivian W.Y. Tam; Huabo Duan
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are a major source of energy consumption in buildings, directly and indirectly contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the urban environment, and depending on local climatic conditions, air conditioning units attribute to these high energy demands. This study analyzes the use of residential air conditioning units and their associated global warming potential (GWP) between 2005 and 2030 for the city of Shenzhen, a fast-growing megacity located in Southern China. A life cycle assessment approach was adopted to quantify the GWP impacts which arise from both direct (refrigerant release) and indirect (energy consumption) sources, in combination with a materials flow analysis approach. The results show that the total GWP (expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents, CO2 eq.) from residential air conditioning systems increased from 2.2 ± 0.2 to 5.1 ± 0.4 million tonnes (Mt) CO2 eq. between 2005 and 2017, with energy consumption and refrigerant release contributing to 72.5% and 27.5% of the total demands, respectively. Immediate measures are required to restrict refrigerant release and reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning units, to help mitigate the predicted additional total emissions of 36.4 Mt. CO2 eq. potentially released between 2018 and 2030. This amount equals to approximately New Zealand's national CO2 emissions in 2017. The findings proposed in this study targets air conditioning units to reduce the GWP emissions in cities, and provide useful data references and insights for local authorities to incentivise measures for improving building energy efficiency management and performance.
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A transdisciplinary framework for environmental impact assessment: Opportunities and resistances among practitioners in Spain
Guadalupe Ortiz; Emilio Climent-Gil
Environmental issues, bringing together the natural and the social spheres, are probably one of the most appropriate fields of development for transdisciplinary research. Transdisciplinarity, in addition to other contemporary epistemological paradigms, stresses the need to approach complex problems by blending new forms of non-expert knowledge with combined epistemologies. However, practical application of the transdisciplinary approach is still almost non-existent in everyday socio-environmental management. This paper has a two-fold aim: firstly, to establish the suitability of the transdisciplinary approach in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a means of rectifying a common incapacity to address the social dimension in the assessment process; and secondly, to evaluate this idea from the perspective of technicians and professionals in the EIA sector in Spain. To this end, a qualitative methodology was used, based on semi-structured interviews, which enabled in-depth investigation of the willingness of specialists to effectively integrate new forms of knowledge into the EIA procedure. Further, interviewees evaluated the real possibilities of widening public participation in the process of identifying and assessing impacts and discussed the difficulties facing the treatment and analysis of the social dimension within the EIA process.
Regulators' perceptions of environmental impact assessment (EIA) benefits in a sustainable development context
C. Roos; D.P. Cilliers; F.P. Retief; R.C. Alberts; A.J. Bond
The costs of conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) are well known. Yet the benefits of EIA are much more intangible, leading to a situation where some question its value as the tool of choice for informing decision makers of the sustainability consequences of their actions. Exponents of EIA have thus called for more research on the benefits of EIA in order to provide better evidence on its costs versus benefits, and therefore its value as a decision-making tool. This paper contributes to this evidence by exploring the perceived potential benefits and perceived realised benefits of EIA from a regulators' perspective in the context of sustainable development. Using South Africa as a case study, one third of all the officials responsible for EIA review and decision-making (referred to in this paper as the "regulator") were surveyed to identify their perceptions of the benefits of EIA, and their ideas on how to bridge the gap between potential benefits and realised benefits. The paper contributes suggestions for the analysis of benefits in a sustainable development context, and identifies some additional benefits currently missing from the literature. In a South African context, the key potential and realised benefits as perceived by regulators are the protection of biodiversity, public participation, access to information, mitigation of environmental impacts, and legal compliance and enforcement.
Assessment of flood adaptive capacity of urban areas in Thailand
Nawhath Thanvisitthpon; Sangam Shrestha; Indrajit Pal; Sarawut Ninsawat; Winai Chaowiwat
Urban floods have a significant impact on the economy, livelihoods, and daily activities. Despite extensive research on flood adaptation, there is a lack of consensus on ways to assess flood adaptive capacity. This research thus proposes an assessment framework of flood adaptive capacity of urban residents in flood-prone areas. The indicators are based on six components: economic resources, social capital, awareness and training, technology, infrastructure, and institutions and policies. The relevancy of the indicators was evaluated by experts in related fields, and a questionnaire was developed to collect data from a random sample of 230 households in 10 flood-prone municipalities in Thailand. Statistical analysis and structural equation modeling were subsequently performed to validate the components and indicators, and a flood-adaptability questionnaire was constructed. As a trial implementation, the questionnaire was applied to a target flood-prone municipality, Phetchaburi, to assess its adaptive capacity to flooding, expressed as flood adaptive capacity index. The adaptive capacity of Phetchaburi municipality to flooding was found to be high indicating the improvement in economic resources and infrastructure components. These findings reveal that the proposed framework is suitable for assessing the flood adaptive capacity of urban residents and useful for integrated flood risk assessment and management.
Decomposition of energy consumption and its decoupling with economic growth in the global agricultural industry
Xi Chen; Chenyang Shuai; Yu Zhang; Ya Wu
The development of mechanization and technology has triggered the growing energy consumption in the agricultural industry. Energy saving in the agriculture industry becomes equally essential with that in the manufacturing, building, and transportation industries. The implementation of reducing energy consumption should be without costing the agricultural production, which is closely related to the food security of human beings. Strong decoupling between energy consumption and economic growth indicates the former decreases while the latter grows, which should be pursued by nations. Therefore, as the first research objective, this study analyzed the decoupling statuses between energy consumption and economic growth in the agricultural industry of 89 countries whose data exist across the period of 2000 to 2016. As a result, only 18 countries have reached strong decoupling. Secondly, this study decomposed agricultural energy consumption in the 89 countries to the effects of a driving factor (i.e., agricultural economic output) and three inhibiting factors (i.e., agricultural land, labor intensity, and energy intensity in descending order). With the identified decoupling statuses, this study provides a substantial understanding of the relationship between agricultural energy consumption and production from a global perspective. Meanwhile, the decomposed factors and corresponding policy implications provide evidence for decision makers of each nation to tailor energy-saving strategies in its agricultural industry.
Performance of EIA authority and effectiveness of EIA system in Pakistan
Mehreen Khan; Muhammad Nawaz Chaudhry; Sajid Rashid Ahmad; Samia Saif; Asim Mehmood
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) agencies worldwide face multiple challenges that compromise their performance and in turn EIA procedural effectiveness. The current study aimed to evaluate the performance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Punjab, Pakistan and the problems it faces whilst implementing EIA and ensuring EIA effectiveness. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data for the study. EPA performance and procedural effectiveness were evaluated using the formal and informal roles of EPA and EIA good practices respectively. They were also linked to regulatory framework, capacities of actors and contextual factors. Study found that EPA and EIA system performance is weak. Consequently, procedural effectiveness is compromised. The main causes include limited capacities of EPA, consultants and proponents; lack of political will; political interference and outdated regulations. A strong political will of the government is required to enhance the capacity of EPA and other actors in terms of motivation or "the will to" and means or "the ability to". Measures taken by international EIA agencies to improve performance and effectiveness have also been discussed. Based on this study, lessons can be learnt by not only EPA Punjab but also other agencies in Pakistan and international agencies facing similar challenges.
A hybrid model of external environmental benefits compensation to practitioners for the application of prefabricated construction
Jingyang Zhou; Dandan Ren
As the creators of the external benefits of prefabricated construction implementation, the government, real estate developers, and homebuyers have the right to allocate the external benefits. However, there is no effective quantitative method for achieving this goal. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quantitative analysis model for the reasonable allocation of the external benefits among the creators. The externality theory and bargaining theory were introduced to this study as the research foundation. Through literature review, the environmental benefit quantification index was defined. A bargaining model including Game 1 and Game 2 was designed for determining the external benefits allocation ratios for each player. In Game 1, the government was considered as the agent of homebuyers to conduct the bargaining game with real estate developers. Game 2 reflected the bargaining game process between the government and homebuyers for sharing the ratio of external benefits achieved from Game 1. The powerful position in bargaining game and discount factors of each player were considered as the critical factors influencing the distribution ratio because the value will change with the development of prefabricated construction. A prefabricated construction building was selected as a case to illustrate the applicability of this proposed model. The distribution result is that the government, the real estate developers, and homebuyers should share the external benefits of prefabrication implementation by 38%, 35%, and 27% respectively. This study contributes to aiding the creators to achieve optimal benefits allocation and thus motivates the enthusiasm of practitioners in prefabricated construction implementation.
Public participation in China's EIA process and the regulation of environmental disputes
This article reconsiders the role that public participation in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process plays in China. Whilst some commentators have found that public participation has largely failed to make an impact in China, this article argues that it has been an important focal point during environmental disputes over siting decisions. The principles of transparency and public participation embodied in EIA legislation have been prominent frames used to legitimize public action against locally-unwanted-land-uses when decisions are taken unilaterally without sufficient public input or notification. In this sense, the EIA becomes a lightning rod for citizen claims-making in relation to siting disputes. At the same time, these principles help depoliticize contention by channeling it within state-approved discourses, enabling officials to buy time and defuse tension. Here, EIA serves as a shock absorber, helping contribute to social stability when disputes break out. By showing how public participation regulations are closely intertwined with contentious politics, this article highlights the paradoxical and contradictory nature of public participation in China.
Evaluating environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the countries along the belt and road initiatives: System effectiveness and the compatibility with the Chinese EIA
Thiri Shwesin Aung; Thomas B. Fischer; Luan Shengji
BRI has a great potential to improve necessary infrastructure, regional development, connectivity, and industrialization, and promote the sustainable transformation of the countries along the routes. Despite the remarkable aims, economic growth ambition of BRI may clash with the sustainability of the ecosystem given the scales of operations in environmentally sensitive regions, and the amount of material and energy needed. Therefore, the sustainable potential and environmental stewardship of the BRI will largely depend on the standard of strategic environmental and social management, and integration between China and partner countries of respective priorities, policies, and regulations. The effectiveness and compatibility of environmental impact assessment systems (EIA) remain largely unknown, especially across the diverse ecological, social, economic and political contexts represented in countries along the BRI. We review and compare EIA systems on the contextual factors that moderate the effectiveness and compatibility with China's policy. This work helps to identify strategies to more efficiently and effectively implement BRI towards sustainable development.
Drivers of decoupling economic growth from carbon emission – an empirical analysis of 192 countries using decoupling model and decomposition method
Qiang Wang; Min Su
All countries are committed to tackle global warming whatever the economic development level. However, governments are hesitant to take aggressive actions to cut carbon emissions without breakthroughs in decoupling economic growth from carbon emissions if they have to pay the economic loss price. Thus developing and implementing more aggressive and efficient Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of the Paris Agreement requires a better understanding of the possibility to decouple carbon emissions from economic growth. This study explores global and regional decoupling trends and further investigates the decoupling effects using the upgraded data. The results demonstrate that decoupling states of developed countries mostly converged on stable weak decoupling and switching to the strong decoupling status. Most developing countries did not show a clear decoupling state. Affluence level was the key offsetting effect of decoupling process, while energy intensity was the most significant effect to promote the decoupling process. Also, declines of energy intensity drove developed countries to strong decoupling state. Nonetheless, economic growth level dominated the decoupling process in developing countries, by contrast, there was no significant decreasing trend of energy intensity in these countries. These findings have feasible policy implications for implementing the INDCs.
Relationship between green public procurement criteria and sustainability assessment tools applied to office buildings
Marta Braulio-Gonzalo; María D. Bovea
Green Public Procurement (GPP) plays an important role in facing the challenge of reducing the environmental impacts from construction sector-related products, services and works, and creating environmental and innovative value for society in favour of a greener and more sustainable economy. The European Commission recently developed GPP criteria for the "office buildings" category. In parallel, Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) tools help estimate a building's impact on the environment based on a life cycle approach. Many of the aspects and measurable indicators included in BSA tools are clearly related to the criteria covered by GPP. However, other important ones are missing and should be integrated to ensure green procurement initiatives. This study critically reviews the GPP criteria proposed for office buildings and crosschecks them with the sustainability indicators included in three BSA tools to reinforce the GPP framework for the office buildings sector. It provides, on the one hand, an evaluation of the rate of improvement achieved in the tools when applying GPP criteria and, on the other, a proposal for a weighting system for awarding points to the offers in tenders. The results will help contracting authorities to introduce more objectivity into the tendering process and to make informed decisions while evaluating bidders' proposals.
Testing an ex-ante framework for the evaluation of impact assessment laws: Lessons from Canada and Brazil
Alberto Fonseca; Robert B. Gibson
Scholars have been increasingly investigating legislative changes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). However, most of the existing evaluation frameworks have been applied to ex-post scenarios, after EIA laws and respective policies and regulations had been implemented for some time. This article has a twofold objective: first, to propose an ex-ante framework for the evaluation of proposed EIA laws and, second, to test the application of the framework to bills C-69 and PL-3729, which target federal-level EIA reform in Canada and Brazil, respectively. The proposed framework is meant to indicate the extent to which proposed legislative changes meet 50 good practice criteria, thus providing a more balanced and transparent account of the issues that should be addressed effectively in the legislative process and in future regulations and guidelines. Results indicate very contrasting scope and potential effects of proposed legislative changes in the two countries. Brazil's bill is essentially intended to integrate existing regulations into a law that would make EIA faster, simpler and less frequent. Canada's bill, recently approved by Parliament, includes a new Impact Assessment Act that is expected to deliver more comprehensive and credible assessments. The ex-ante framework, by exposing how close or distant proposed EIA regimes are from good practices, can be particularly helpful in lawmaking and regulatory design. The article finally discusses limitations and highlights future avenues of research.
Effects of roads on terrestrial vertebrate species in Latin America
Fernando A.S. Pinto, Anthony P. Clevenger, Clara Grilo
Biodiversity in Latin America is at risk today due to habitat loss, land conversion to agriculture and urbanization. To grow their economies the developing countries of Latin America have begun to invest heavily in new road construction. An assessment of research on the impacts of roads on wildlife in Latin America will help define science-based conservation strategies aimed at mitigating road expansion. The aim of this review was to qualitatively and quantitatively assess scientific research papers addressing road impacts on vertebrate species in Latin America. We searched for scientific papers published as early as 1990 to 2017. We reviewed a total of 197 papers. Published research showed an increasing trend in the last decade with a strong geographic bias with a majority of papers from Brazil. Mammals were the most studied taxa followed by birds, reptiles and amphibians. The majority of studies focused on road mortality and at the individual species level. Studies documented an increase in deforestation rates, in land conversion to agriculture, illegal activities (hunting, logging) and the establishment of human settlements. The effects of roads on species richness and populations abundance varied among taxa with no apparent pattern within taxa. Forest-dependent species tended to avoid crossing roads. Amphibians had the highest median road-kill rate, followed by reptiles, mammals and birds. Our results suggest that there is an urgent need for more research, particularly in Central America and to employ predictive tools for difficult-to-sample or understudied species and critical conservation areas. We recommend a two-speed approach to guide future research: one focusing on quantifying individual species responses towards roads and their implications on population viability; a second consisting of regional or continental-scale analyses and modelling of road risks to species and populations to inform road planning immediately.
The impact of terrorism and FDI on environmental pollution: Evidence from Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Somalia, Thailand and Yemen
Melike Bildirici, Seyit M. Gokmenoglu
In this study, the relationships among environmental pollution, terrorism, foreign direct investments (FDI), energy consumption and economic growth is investigated for Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria, Somalia, Thailand and Yemen covering the 1975–2017 period utilizing Panel cointegration tests, ANOVA tests, long-run estimators and panel trivariate Causality tests. ANOVA results are in favor of evidence of homogeneity between the selected countries. Long-run estimators reveal that terrorism, FDI, energy consumption and economic growth have statistically significant effects on environmental pollution. Panel trivariate Causality test determines the causal relationship between the variables. Accordingly, one-way causal nexus from terrorism to Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and from FDI inflows to CO2 emissions are found in the short-run. In the long-run, with strong causality results, the evidence of bi-directional causality between CO2 emissions and other variables, namely, terrorism, FDI inflow energy consumption and economic growth are detected.
The extended Value-Belief-Norm theory predicts committed action for nature and biodiversity in Europe
Ferdinando Fornara, Erica Molinario, Massimiliano Scopelliti, Mirilia Bonnes, Flavia Bonaiuto, Lavinia Cicero, Jeroen Admiraal, Almut Beringer, Tom Dedeurwaerdere, Wouter de Groot, Juha Hiedanpää, Paul Knights, Luuk Knippenberg, Chris Ovenden, Katarina Polajnar Horvat, Florin Popa, Carmen Porras-Gomez, Aleš Smrekar, Marino Bonaiuto
Biodiversity and nature conservation have become prominent issues in the political agenda, at both local and global level, and in this regard the importance of considering people lifestyles, habits and behaviours has received increasing attention. The present study verified an extended version of the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory (Stern et al., 1999) in the prediction of action for biodiversity and nature conservation. Here we found that the VBN sequential path (including biospheric values, general pro-environmental beliefs, awareness of consequences of action, ascription of responsibility for action, and moral norm), integrated by perceived behavioural control and social norms, predict action for nature and biodiversity. Participants (N = 183), recruited in seven European countries, had performed outstanding actions either in nature-related issues or in other areas (or were just involved in some biodiversity/nature relevant actions). They filled in an online questionnaire measuring the examined constructs. Results confirmed the paths predicted by the VBN. In particular, moral norm and biospheric values, as well as perceived behavioural control, showed a direct impact on action for nature/biodiversity. On the other hand, social norms (notably, injunctive norm) showed only an indirect influence on action, via other dimensions. These outcomes suggest that communication and educational agencies should promote the dissemination of biospheric values in the community, in order to trigger the moral obligation of doing something relevant for nature and biodiversity conservation. A major implication is that by increasing the proportion of people acting in a committed way for biodiversity conservation should then provide a social cue for the ones not yet acting.
Characterizing the generation and spatial patterns of carbon emissions from urban express delivery service in China
Peng Kang, Guanghan Song, Dongjie Chen, Huabo Duan, Ruoyu Zhong
Methodology for environmental assessment of proposed activity using risk analysis
Martina Zeleňáková, Slavomír Labant, Lenka Zvijáková, Erik Weiss, Hana Čepelová, Roland Weiss, Jitka Fialová, Jozef Minďaš
This study applies a process of detailed assessment to summarize the potential impact of a proposed construction or other activity on the environment before implementation of an investment plan. The aim of the study was to develop a general methodology for analysis and evaluation of environmental issues connected with planned activities and proposed projects (especially buildings and engineering constructions, required implementation of environmental impact assessment process) using a risk analysis method, thus enabling the best option among the proposed activities to be chosen. The methodology was developed for conditions in Slovakia but could be arranged for any other country considering national conditions, requirements, standards and legislative. Application of the developed methodology in environmental impact assessment could create preconditions for more effective implementation of the EIA process. This paper provides a framework for the risk analysis component of the scoping phase within the EIA process. The process outlined in this paper will assist with determination of an estimation of risks to environmental and health of proposed activities.
The evolution of city-scale GHG emissions inventory methods: A systematic review
Magdala Satt Arioli, Márcio de Almeida D'Agosto, Fernando Gonçalves Amaral, Helena Beatriz Bettella Cybis
The capacity of cities to act on climate change mitigation is essential to fulfil the Paris Agreement target. In order to do so, cities should establish an effective climate policy which requires, as a first step, a complete greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory. The accurate city-scale GHG inventory enables cities to develop, implement and track climate solution measures, mainly those related to transportation. The compilation of a city-scale GHG inventory requires a standardized method and up-to-date activity data. This systematic review critically examines 40 articles over the past 20 years to (1) identify city-scale GHG inventory methods being applied worldwide, (2) evaluate how these methods are evolving, (3) elaborate how emissions from transport sector are being estimated, and (4) determine what data types and sources of transport-related data are being used. The review was limited to articles that addressed the process of compilation of a GHG inventory. The results demonstrate that city-scale GHG inventory methods evolved from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines to a variety of GHG accounting methods that offer levels of complexity to estimate city-scale emissions. Although GHG inventory methods for city-scale have advanced over the years, almost one third of the articles reviewed were focused on the proposal of a GHG inventory framework, adjusting current methods to each city's reality or proposing new ones. The majority of the cities analysed lack local transport-related data to measure GHG emissions based on the bottom-up approach. Yet, more than 40% of the articles managed to deliver the bottom-up inventory using a diversity of data types and sources. This review shows that there is still a path to achieve a globally compatible method. This would require a joint effort between researchers and city authorities to make international protocols more compliant to each city's data availability along with the improvement of cities data collection.
Life cycle assessment of traditional and alternative bricks: A review
Diego Alexis Ramos Huarachi, Giovanna Gonçalves, Antonio Carlos de Francisco, Maria Helene Giovanetti Canteri, Cassiano Moro Piekarski
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a solid tool to assess the potential environmental impacts in construction industry, an important material in this industry is the brick, along time several traditional and alternative bricks were developed and assessed environmentally by LCA. The purpose of this article is to review the literature related to LCA of bricks, responding important topics to characterize and guide future studies. Out of Traditional Bricks (TB), there are Alternative Bricks with Organic (ABO) and Inorganic (ABI) additives, that use wastes from several industries and differ of TB in the omission of firing for a stabilization process, however, to omit firing is hard and stabilization still needs further improvements. The principal system boundaries and tools for LCA were also reviewed. Regarding the most present impact categories, they were: Climate change (CC), Human Toxicity (HT) and Freshwater Ecotoxicity (FE), in every category, production is the stage of highest impact, and in the productive process, drying and burning processes have the highest potential impacts. Future searches could continue to study on new materials (wastes) for development of new ABO and ABI, to quantify the benefits of reusing wastes, and to study, either the replacement of firing with stabilizing processes, or the use of biomass as fuel source in firing, and to develop studies in different countries to create national datasets that will make future studies more representative.
Ex - post evaluation of a program to reduce critical episodes due to air pollution in southern Chile
Cristian Mardones, Natalia Cornejo
There is enough scientific evidence that associates air pollution by particulate matter (PM) with negative impacts on health. However, one-third of the world's population uses highly polluting fuels for cooking, heating, or lighting, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Due to the above, the environmental authorities of most of the countries have established different short-, medium-, and long-term regulations to reduce this pollution. It should be noted that it is challenging to identify the real effectiveness of this type of regulation since it is necessary to determine whether the pollution was reduced exclusively by the implementation of that regulation or due to other confusing factors. To address this issue, the present study performs an ex - post evaluation of the Critical Episodes Management program that imposes restrictions on the use of firewood heaters during pre-emergency and emergency episodes to reduce air pollution in the short-term in the city of Temuco, Chile (one of the most polluted cities in Latin America). Specifically, a fixed-effects panel data regression is applied to hourly concentrations of particulate matter data, controlling by meteorological and seasonal factors. The results show that restrictions on the use of firewood heaters generate a significant reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations during pre-emergency episodes (9.2% and 17.5%) and emergency episodes (5.9% and 16.3%). Thus, it can be concluded that this program is useful, but it must be complemented by others medium- and long-term environmental programs.
Methodological pluralism in environmental impact prediction and significance evaluation: A case for standardization?
Alberto Fonseca, Ludmila Ladeira Alves de Brito, Robert B. Gibson
At the core of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process is the identification, prediction and evaluation of impacts, activities that are profoundly marked by case-specific differences and methodological pluralism. Despite difficulties, policy-makers are occasionally attracted to the idea of standardizing EIA methods. The objective of this study was to understand the merits of standardizing methods for impact prediction and significance evaluations, using Brazil as the empirical context. Based on a content analysis of 49 EIA reports, a survey with 126 practitioners, and a critical evaluation of two standardization initiatives, the study shows that, while generally perceived as beneficial, the standardization of EIA methods is likely to remain a rather challenging task in the foreseeable future. The high degrees of discretion taking place in the selection and implementation of impact prediction and significance evaluations are to a large extent a consequence of the difficulty of finding terminology, metrics, criteria, thresholds, boundaries, and values across different settings. Current standardization initiatives in Brazil are targeting some of the easiest methodological issues related to terminology and process. While relevant to administrative efficiency and process predictability, such issues represent a small piece of the complex puzzle of EIA effectiveness. Findings signal the need for clearer policy priorities, capacity building, and more applied research about the actual, long-term effects of standardization initiatives.
Phase-based externality analysis for large hydropower projects
Bingqing Xia, Maoshan Qiang, Hanchen Jiang, Qi Wen, Nan An, Dongcheng Zhang
The global pressure of reducing greenhouse gas emission with an increasing energy demand has promoted the development of hydropower projects. However, these projects are always involved with controversial issues even when providing great positive externalities. This calls for more comprehensively quantitative analysis of hydropower project externalities. This paper establishes an analysis framework for hydropower project externalities based on the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and the economic valuation of hydropower externalities, and then applies the framework to the assessment of the Three Gorges Project and the Xiluodu Project as cases. The results indicate that: (1) hydropower project externalities are multi-component and dynamic in different phases of project life cycle; (2) the construction of large hydropower projects is beneficial for social welfare promotion, but the enhancement doesn't appear immediately at the startup but with a lag; and (3) along the life cycle of a hydropower project, negative externalities are prominent in the early phases while positive ones account for a major proportion in the late phases, calling for special attention to risk management during the construction and benefit allocation management during project operation. The results and recommendations of this paper can also be applied to other types of public or private projects for better social performance.
The impact of population growth on environment: the debate heats up.
R P Shaw
A proposed framework, which was introduced at the 1989 meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, included political constraints as well as population growth as a proximate cause with potentially important impacts on the environment in Paul and Ann Ehrlich's well-known PAT equation. PAT limitations are identified as the 1.2 billion people caught in the debt-poverty trap, less developed countries' balance of payments deficits, and "distortionary factors" that undermined economic incentives and contributed to mismanagement of resources. Such factors could be keeping farm prices low and have an impact on deterring use of environmentally sound traditional agricultural practices. Mismanagement of public lands occurs when large commercial enterprises or large scale mechanization displace population onto marginal or less productive lands. Intergroup warfare is a new form impacting on the environment. In Burma loggers are authorized to clear cut large tracts of teak forests in order to ferret out Karen guerrillas. Over 15 million refugees were thus displaced and forced to live in encampments that require trees for shelter, firewood for survival, and overgrazing of livestock. Social and economic environments are also undermined by "dependency" factors such as trade protectionism, brain drain, and limited foreign aid. The Group of 77 Non-Aligned Developing Countries proposed that discussions of the links between population and the environment be omitted from the agenda of the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development. Basic clarifications are needed to distinguish ultimate versus proximate factors and current versus future concerns. The debate ignores distribution patterns, migration, or changing age structures. The debate blames unjustifiably rapid population growth as the ultimate cause of global environmental degradation and links population growth to a host of other social problems such as famine and refugees, while ignoring civil unrest. The evidence suggests that population limitation will probably prevent environmental degradation in poor, resource constrained countries from getting worse. Resource conservation will remain unaffected. The World Bank proposes National Environmental Action Plans or the Cleaver Schreiber proposal for a "nexus strategy" for balancing food supply and population in Africa.
Empowerment through emotional connection and capacity building: Public participation through environmental non-governmental organizations
Yuanni Wang, Hailin Cao, Yingchun Yuan, Ruilian Zhang
Environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) plays an important role in promoting public participation in environmental governance. By semi-structural interviews and participant observations, this paper examines a local ENGO in China to explore how the organization can mobilize and organize the local public to participate in environmental governance. The research finds that mobilizing public participation in local environmental governance is a continuous process in which ENGO needs to continuously enable, empower and emotionally invest in the public. Through emotion construction and capacity building, environmental organizations have been empowering the public to participate and play a major role in local environmental governance. Mobilizing public participation in environmental governance can promote the improvement of local environmental problems, but mobilizing and organizing public participation requires sufficient political opportunity space, sufficient funds, and a culture of public participation.
Shading in the outdoor environments of climate-friendly hot and dry historical streets: The passageways of Sanliurfa, Turkey
Mücahit Yıldırım
This paper examines shading in the climate-friendly, outdoor spaces of a historical environment with a hot and dry climate using the example of the traditional streets of Sanliurfa, Turkey. The study aims to investigate the effects of traditional design forms in the outdoor environmental conditions of passageways. The analysis was carried out to examine the factors of air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed and relative humidity, all of which affect thermal comfort. The goal of this research is to investigate the design principles for achieving thermal comfort in the historical environment of Sanliurfa by means of shading. The study used 10 measurement points to analyse the effects of shading on thermal comfort conditions. The research reveals that the design of the traditional, outdoor shaded spaces of Sanliurfa provides a microclimate in the hot and dry summers of the region, and offers a social space enhanced by comfortable conditions. The microclimatic effects of the passageways on the formation of climate-friendly spaces in Sanliurfa were researched to identify the construction techniques and materials and to see how they contribute to thermal comfort conditions. The results are an approach to the design criteria for creating shaded outdoor spaces in hot and dry climates.
Four years of sustainability impact assessments accompanying the implementation of improved cooking stoves in Tanzania
Johannes Michael Hafner, Elena Magenau, Götz Uckert, Stefan Sieber, Frieder Graef, Hannes Jochen König
Development projects and innovations are often implemented based on scientific recommendations and do not incorporate local knowledge and demand for interventions. In this paper, we demonstrate the successful engagement of local stakeholders in the implementation and evaluation process of improved cooking stoves; a technology that improves food security in two climatically contrasting regions in Tanzania. The Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment tool was used to conduct impact assessments on firewood-based improved cooking stoves to evaluate their contribution to food security at local stakeholder level. Between 2014 and 2017, four annual impact assessments were conducted with local stakeholders in four villages in the semi-arid Dodoma and the sub-humid Morogoro regions to assess the impact of improved cooking stoves on locally defined nine food security criteria. The Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment was used to (i) ex-ante identify the expected impact, and (ii) to ex-post assess the experienced impact of improved cooking stoves on the nine food security criteria. The impact assessments showed that the perceived contribution of improved cooking stoves towards the food security criteria was positive throughout all assessments. In particular, improved cooking stoves addressed relevant food security criteria such as social relations, food availability, and market participation. The Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment tool supported continuous knowledge exchange between scientists and local stakeholders, thus improving communication and co-learning; while identifying merits and demerits of the improved cooking stoves that could be addressed during the project lifetime.
Emissions from gas processing platforms to the atmosphere-case studies versus benchmarks
David Broday, Uri Dayan, Einat Aharonov, Dror Laufer, Mike Adel
This study compares oil and gas industry benchmark non-methane volatile organic compounds emission data with predicted and reported emissions from a number of recent case studies. Specifically, we contrast predicted emissions from the Tamar and Leviathan processing platforms in the Eastern Mediterranean with actual emissions where available, and with a compilation of industry benchmarks. This work reveals a series of flaws in the adopted EIA practices in the case studies discussed, starting from the emissions model that grossly underestimates intermittent NMVOC and benzene emissions relative to available data from other sites, and the unrealistic assumption of a constant and uniform emission profile in contrast to real world emission scenarios that are characterized by discrete large emission events. Furthermore, the dispersion model used in the EIAs as part of the request for a business (emissions) permit has a number of significant failings, including the use of an unsuitable model, use of over-simplistic meteorological inputs, and lack of consideration of critical dispersion phenomena. This study highlights the need to rethink the currently used environmental impact assessment and atmospheric permit request methodologies in the oil and gas industry, which rely on unrealistic uniform emission models.
Assessing the impact of FDI on PM2.5 concentrations: A nonlinear panel data analysis for emerging economies
Qichang Xie, Qiankun Sun
The theoretical frameworks behind integrated environmental, ecosystem, and economic accounting systems and their classifications
Alessandra La Notte, Charles Rhodes
The integration of ecosystem services and accounting systems can help different stakeholders understand the economic implications of environmental impacts. Any such integration requires clear understanding of how ecosystem services may match and integrate with traditional accounts. The Experimental Ecosystem Accounts (EEA) of the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA) is developing quickly with applications at different administrative levels. One emerging feature is lack of agreement on conceptual notions and definitions that could reconcile different approaches. Some basic issues can be developed and solved only once a theoretical basis has been established. Since the first step of any application is to identify which ecosystem services to account for, this paper explores whether and to what extent the theoretical frameworks behind ecosystem services classification systems match the theoretical framework behind the SEEA EEA. This attempt first tackles the conceptual framework on the accounting side, then the conceptual framework on the ecosystem services classification side. Combining the two sides, it is possible to visualize matches or mismatches and to infer a few consequences and implications. Ecosystem services classification systems can guide separation of intra-ecosystem processes from final ecosystem services, and help disentangle ecosystem services from benefits, key requirements for integrating accounts.
Environmental best practice and performance benchmarks among EMAS-certified organizations: An empirical study
Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria, Olivier Boiral, María García, Erlantz Allur
Voluntary certifiable environmental management standards such as ISO 14001 and EMAS have been extensively adopted and disseminated worldwide, but the rigorous assessment of the real effectiveness of these tools is challenging. There is a need for more research focused on the concrete operational implications for certified organizations. The analysis of the best in class practices of certified organization has been overlooked. In order to fill this gap, this article assesses the use of environmental best practices and performance benchmarks among EMAS-registered organizations. For that purpose, 178 environmental statements assessed by independent third-party verifiers from the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian hotel industry are analyzed. The findings show poor use of best practices and performance benchmarks among certified organizations. The idea that EMAS signals environmentally best in class or frontrunner behavior is open to question. Implications for policy makers, managers, and other stakeholders are discussed.
An empirical study of EIA litigation involving energy facilities in Chile and Colombia
Javiera Barandiaran, Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis
In Latin America, as elsewhere, environmental and participatory rights have been expanding, and EIAs have been central to those efforts. In response, litigation against EIAs has increased as communities turn to the courts to exercise these rights, raising fears among developers that costs associated with EIAs and resulting litigation are excessive and a deterrent on economic growth. In many jurisdictions, including Chile and Colombia, these fears have prompted reforms to streamline EIA procedures. This study empirically examines the frequency and results of litigation against EIAs in Chile and Colombia for developers, communities, and state agencies. We compiled two databases of litigation against energy facilities that received EIA licenses between the 1990s/2000 (when EIAs were first required) and 2016. Because some, but not all, energy facilities are contested, this sector is ideal for examining litigation trends. Using descriptive and cross-tabular statistics, our analysis echoes recent research that finds that few EIAs are litigated in court. Litigation is a fundamental tool for civil society organizations seeking to safeguard environmental and participatory rights, although the number of cases invoking these rights remains smaller than for other reasons. Practices across Chile and Colombia differ regarding what kinds of cases individuals bring and the rate at which courts accept cases brought by civil society organizations or corporations. Past litigation trends also suggest that a shift towards renewable energy sources could lead to a decrease in litigation.
Estimating the environmental and economic impacts of widespread adoption of potential technology solutions to reduce water use and pollution: Application to China's textile industry
Lizhu Chen, Felipe Caro, Charles J. Corbett, Xuemei Ding
Numerous technologies are emerging to reduce water use and pollution in China's textile industry, including several that are promoted by the China National Textile and Apparel Council as cleaner technologies in their five-year development guideline published in 2016. Though these technologies appear promising, the complexity of the industry makes it difficult to predict and compare the environmental and economic impacts of widespread adoption of these technologies. We draw on existing studies to estimate the potential scale of applicability of these technologies, and then estimate the potential economic and environmental benefits of encouraging their widespread adoption. Several of them, if implemented on a large scale, could drastically reduce water use and pollution with a payback of less than a year. Our approach to estimating the environmental and economic impacts of widespread adoption of promising technologies is also relevant for impact assessment in other complex industries with a wide range of products and processes.
Coping with climate change related conflicts – The first framework to identify and tackle these emerging topics
Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer, Thomas Wachter
Climate change is supposed to exacerbate conflicts arising from resource scarcity and contrasting objectives. Some European authors highlighted already the need to look at conflicting interests when elaborating and applying adaptation and mitigation strategies. This study analysed the level of consideration of these emerging topics arising through increased competition of resources, contrasting interests, climate change adaptation as well as mitigation measures for Austria and Southern Germany in detail. Furthermore, it surveyed the application of possible approaches for conflict prevention and mitigation in an international perspective and additionally examined the particular role of SEA as one of the instruments to cope with conflicts related to climate change. The results express the strong need to look at emerging conflicts in cross-sectoral and sectoral adaptation early enough and a strategic perspective. Based on the content analysis of the Austrian and German adaptation and mitigation documents, expert interviews as well as the international literature review, a rather low consideration of these emerging topics as well as approaches to cope with them became evident. In response to these deficiencies, the paper introduces a first framework to identify and tackle emerging and exacerbated conflicts related to climate change. This novel framework is internationally applicable. In the final step of the framework approaches to prevent and minimize conflicts are the key topic. Among these approaches, SEA could take a leading role in case mandatory planning instruments cover the topics related to potential or existing exacerbated fields of conflicts. Overall a mix of formal and informal instruments and a more cross-sectoral perspective seems necessary. To this aim, the paper introduces four main guiding principles to consider and minimize up-coming conflicting topics.
How does stakeholder involvement affect environmental impact assessment?
Nicola Ulibarri, Tyler A. Scott, Omar Perez-Figueroa
An alternative model for evaluating the balance of carrying capacity between functional urban infrastructures
Jinhuan Wang, Liyin Shen, Yitian Ren, Xiaoxuan Wei, Yongtao Tan, Tianheng Shu
Urban infrastructures commonly include four types of functional infrastructures: traditional infrastructures, greenspace infrastructures, water infrastructures, and connective infrastructures. They work as an integrated system for supporting sustainable urban development. It is therefore important for having a proper method to help understand whether there is a balance between functional urban infrastructures' carrying capacities (FUICC). This paper introduces an alternative model named FUICC Catastrophe Model (FCM) to evaluate the balance of carrying capacity between various urban infrastructures. The development of the model FCM adopts Mean-Variance Analysis (MVA) technique and Catastrophe Progression Method (CPM) collectively. The application of FCM is demonstrated by using the empirical data collected from 35 cities in China. The research findings suggest that: 1) the difference in carrying capacity of each functional infrastructure between the sample cities is significant; 2) the difference in the degree of balance between FUICC is also significant between the sample cities; 3) the sample cities are classified into four categories, namely, acceptably balanced, less balanced, poorly balanced, and unbalanced. 4) the balance performance between FUICC among Chinese cities is characterized with polarization; 5) the balance performance of carrying capacity between functional urban infrastructures is generally poor in China, 40% of the sample cities achieving acceptable performance.
Environmental sustainability assessment in supply chain: An emerging economy context
Saima Ahmed Suhi, Rafid Enayet, Tasmiah Haque, Syed Mithun Ali, Md. Abdul Moktadir, Sanjoy Kumar Paul
Environmental sustainability is not being practiced in the supply chains of many industries. Previous studies on environmental sustainability have not outlined clear strategies to achieve sustainability across supply chains, particularly in the context of emerging economies, and have been of limited relevance in settings beyond the geographical region of their focus. To address these gaps, we have proposed a best worst method (BWM) as a framework to assess the environmental criteria for sustainability in select industries in Bangladesh. Different industrial activities or criteria affecting the environment in various ways were assessed and weighted using the BWM. To ensure the efficiency and accuracy of this framework, we sought the opinions of 34 experts to specify the most suitable indicators from our initial literature review. Findings from this study revealed that "waste management" was the most important indicator for establishing environmental sustainability in industries in Bangladesh, which was substantiated by a sensitivity analysis. This research will assist industry managers and entrepreneurs to work toward environmental sustainability across supply chains.
The environmental Kuznets curve of CO2 emissions in the manufacturing and construction industries: A global empirical analysis
Yu Zhang, Xi Chen, Ya Wu, Chenyang Shuai, Liyin Shen
The manufacturing and construction industries have significantly contributed to the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is widely leveraged to analyze the peak of CO2 emissions, which is considered as a pivotal step for the effective CO2 emission reduction in previous studies. This study tests the EKC hypothesis using the data of CO2 emissions of manufacturing and construction industries from 121 countries throughout 1960–2014, and turning points (TPs) are calculated for the countries where EKC hypothesis is validated. The results show that the EKC hypothesis was validated by 95 out of 121 countries, among which, 13 countries have not reached any of the three TPs, 11 countries have reached the first-step TP (TPCI), 21 countries have reached the second-step TP (TPPC), and 50 countries have reached the third-step TP (TPTC). Moreover, the result of examination of the EKC existence at four income levels indicates the higher-income nations own a higher proportion of countries validates the EKC hypothesis and reach the TP. These findings help policy-makers analyze the TP status quo and generate step-wise strategies for national CO2 emission reduction of manufacturing and construction industries.
SHARE IT: Co-designing a sustainability impact assessment framework for urban food sharing initiatives
Stephen G. Mackenzie, Anna R. Davies
Urban food systems must undergo a significant transformation if they are to avoid impeding the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals. One reconfiguration with claimed sustainability benefits is ICT-mediated food sharing – an umbrella term used to refer to technologically-augmented collective or collaborative practices around growing, cooking, eating and redistributing food – which some argue improves environmental efficiencies by reducing waste, providing opportunities to make or save money, building social networks and generally enhancing well-being. However, most sustainability claims for food sharing have not been evidenced by systematically collected and presented data. In this paper we document our response to this mismatch between claims and evidence through the development of the SHARECITY sustainability Impact assessment Toolkit (SHARE IT); a novel Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) framework which has been co-designed with food sharing initiatives to better indicate the impact of food-sharing initiatives in urban food systems. We demonstrate that while several SIA frameworks have been developed to evaluate food systems at the urban scale, they contain few measures that specifically account for impacts of the sharing that initiatives undertake. The main body of the paper focuses on the co-design process undertaken with food sharing initiatives based in Dublin and London. Attention is paid to how two core goals were achieved: 1) the identification of a coherent SIA framework containing appropriate indicators for the activities of food sharing initiatives; and 2) the development of an open access online toolkit for in order to make SIA reporting accessible for food sharing initiatives. In conclusion, the co-design process revealed a number of technical and conceptual challenges, but it also stimulated creative responses to these challenges.
Hierarchy of factors affecting the social perception of dam reservoirs
Danuta Piróg, Joanna Fidelus-Orzechowska, Łukasz Wiejaczka, Adam Łajczak
This study presents an assessment of factors that influence how people who live in the vicinity of dams view such projects. The usefulness of the principal component analysis (PCA) method for identifying variables that determine individuals' opinion about large dam projects was reviewed. The study focuses on people affected by the construction of the Mucharski Reservoir in the Polish Carpathians. The construction took over 30 years and took place at a time when Poland transitioned from a planned economy to a free market one. We used in-depth interviews (N = 96) and a set of 18 factors classified as personal, emotional and economic. Our results indicate that the variables that significantly affect social perception of dam projects by the local population include their opinion regarding the viability of the project, sense of security, personal benefits, the extent to which they have accepted the structure, respecting the local community's interests when drafting the development plans and new opportunities. The results allow for the future optimization of research tools used to comprehensively examine social perception of hydraulic structures. Using PCA allowed us to take semi-structured data from interviews and extract meaningful relationships between the various inputs, show correlations between seemingly unrelated data, as well as explain the variances within the studied population. It also shows that PCA can be a useful tool for analyzing data that is not formally structured.
Regulating human interventions in Colombian coastal areas: Implications for the environmental licensing procedure in middle-income countries
Cristina I. Pereira, Andres F. Carvajal, Celene Milanés Batista, Camilo M. Botero
Health impact assessment and health equity in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review
Andrea Leuenberger, Andrea Farnham, Sophie Azevedo, Herminio Cossa, Dominik Dietler, Belinda Nimako, Philip B. Adongo, Sonja Merten, Jürg Utzinger, Mirko S. Winkler
Background Natural resource extraction projects can have positive but also negative effects on the health of affected communities, governed by demographic, economic, environmental, physical and social changes. Negative effects often prevail and these might widen existing health inequities. Health impact assessment (HIA) is a decision-support tool that aims at maximizing benefits and minimizing negative impacts on people's health. A core value of HIA is equity; yet, little is known about health equity in the frame of HIA, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Methodology We conducted a scoping review to determine whether and to what extent HIA in sub-Saharan Africa addresses health equity. We included peer-reviewed publications and guidelines pertaining to HIA, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA). Health equity was investigated by identifying (i) how health considerations were addressed and (ii) whether health was stratified by subgroups of the community. Results Out of 1′640 raw hits, we identified 62 articles (16 HIA, 36 EIA, one SIA and nine integrated assessments), 32 of which specifically addressed health. While 20 articles focused on a specific health topic, 12 articles used a more comprehensive approach to address health. In 15 articles there were specific subgroup analyses (e.g. mothers, children or marginalized groups) as a measure of health equity. Another 12 papers referred to the community in a more general way (e.g. affected). Without exception, health was an integral part of the nine included guidelines. HIA guidelines addressed health systematically through environmental health areas, risk assessment matrix or key performance indicators. Conclusions We found evidence that previously conducted HIA in sub-Saharan Africa and current guidelines address health equity. However, there is a need to stratify community subgroups more systematically in order to determine health differentials better. Future HIA should consider community heterogeneity in an effort to reduce health inequities by "leaving no one behind", as suggested by the Sustainable Development Goals.
Assessing the oppressive impact of the form of tall buildings on citizens: Height, width, and height-to-width ratio
Esmaeil Zarghami, Mehrdad Karimimoshaver, Abdulhamid Ghanbaran, Pooria SaadatiVaghar
The tremendous growth in the development of tall buildings has necessitated assessment of their oppressive impact on citizens. Accordingly, this study seeks to assess the oppression caused by changes in the form of tall buildings (i.e. height, width, and height-to-width ratio) on observers at different distances. For this purpose, an assessment framework was developed based on the literature and examined through a case study with the results being compared with the criterion of permissible oppression (a visual weight of 8%) that can be endured by citizens. Finally, the accuracy of the results was evaluated by a survey of people's opinions. The findings indicated a relative correlation between the results of the framework and the participants' opinions, through there were some differences. Based on our survey, the effect of the building's height on oppression was generally more significant than that of the width. In scenarios where the height of the building was fixed, the width of 20 m was a critical point in oppression. If the building's width exceeded 20 m, the oppressive effect on citizens would significantly increase. Given a constant height, changing the height-to-width ratio from 2 to 3 was more effective in reducing oppression than altering it from 3 to 4. In conclusion, tall buildings with a height of 60 m or higher and a width of 15 m or higher on streets which are 30 m wide or narrower impose the highest oppression on the observer which can be mitigated with sufficient vegetation in front of the building.
The new IAA in Canada: From revolutionary thoughts to reality
Meinhard Doelle, A. John Sinclair
Federally, Canada entered a new chapter of review and revision of its impact assessment law in 2015. On the path to reform, the Federal government undertook a number of activities that spanned almost two years before introducing legislation. Efforts included striking an 'expert panel' to consult Canadian's and establishing a multi-stakeholder Ministerial advisory committee. A new impact assessment Bill was eventually introduced to the House of Commons in early 2018. Key provisions of the Bill include a sustainability orientation, an early planning stage, a climate test, and a gender-based assessment requirement. Despite these positive changes, the IAA draws heavily on the flawed existing federal process (CEAA 2012) for its basic structure and approach and falls well short of what Canadian's told the Expert Panel should be reflected in a new bill (and want the Panel itself recommended). The new Act falls even further short of what the literature suggests are the key elements of IA legislation.
Integrating ecosystem services in spatial planning and strategic environmental assessment: The role of the cascade model
Daniel Rozas-Vásquez, Christine Fürst, Davide Geneletti
Over the last decade, the ecosystem service (ES) approach has gained increasing attention because it offers important advantages for enhancing decision-making. However, a key and remaining challenge is how to implement this approach in real-world decision problems. This challenge is particularly relevant for governance and policy instruments, such as spatial planning and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), where including the ES approach is recognized as a great opportunity for achieving sustainable development goals. Consequently, this opinion paper proposes the use of the ES cascade model, as the basis to develop a framework that makes explicit the links among development objectives, sustainability goals, and the overall dependency on the ES supply. The main reflections address the need for a collaborative work between policy and science as a cross-cutting aspect for an interactive, participative and transparent research process that allows 1) the development of spatial indicators of ecosystem structures, 2) valuation and spatial modeling of ES, 3) identification of benefits and networks of actors, 4) the definition of values and, 5) generation of scenarios for a trade-off assessment of development alternatives. Finally, in addition to the information and knowledge generation regarding multi-scale relationships of the different components of the ES cascade, real-world evidence is urgently needed.
Evolution of online public opinions on social impact induced by NIMBY facility
Yang Wang, Huiting Li, Jian Zuo, Zhen Wang
Public opinions play a pivotal role in public participation and decision-making in mega construction projects. The rise of technology and social media has facilitated the online public debate on social impacts derived from mega construction projects. This study presents a novel approach to analyze the evolution of public opinions through social media. This analysis framework covers: the temporal patterns of online messages, evolution of frames, and evolution of users. Such novel approach is employed to analyze the evolution of online public opinions on a mega construction project. Content analysis and a number of curve fitting methods were innovatively combined. Results show that social event had dual diffusion cycles while the formation mechanism of each cycle was completely different. The key parameters of Bimodal Gaussian model can depict the characteristics of online diffusion of public opinions. Elites and media organizations form the crucial nodes in the online diffusion process. The sequence of each frame and their share in the total number of frames are determined by preference of elites and media organizations. These findings are useful to develop effective strategy for public engagement, and to prevent and intervene the social conflicts.
China's water risk assessment and industrial source analysis based on the localization of WWF water risk assessment tools
Zhouyan Xiao, Jing Gao, Yang Su
The WWF water risk assessment tool is a universal methodology, as the establishment of its indicators fully consider various types of natural and social environments. When this tool is applied to China, a large country with a complex water situation in a period of rapid development, appropriate localization adjustment is necessary to ensure that indicators are generally stable and assessment results are internationally comparable. Based on the localization of WWF water risk assessment tools, this is the first application assessing water risk in China in terms of physical risks, regulatory risks and reputation risks. It explores the sources of China's water risk from industrial sectors and constructs a classification index system according to the degree of water dependence and the level of water pollution. Using the classification index system and relevant data, we find the key industrial sectors, enterprises and production processes to reduce water risk in China's ten major water valleys and offer some effective and practical management suggestions. Due to the large regional differences of water risk-bearing capacity in China, the assessment results should be interpreted in combination with specific national conditions of China and emphasis should be laid on key areas and industries.
Modeling the environmental sustainability of timber structures: A case study
Mikel Zubizarreta, Jesús Cuadrado, Aimar Orbe, Harkaitz García
A revival in timber buildings and the appreciation of their positive physical and mechanical properties can be explained by the unique environmental credentials of timber products and their versatility. Heightened public awareness of sustainability in the construction sector places timber among the most preferential sustainable materials. There is plenty of previous research on sustainability assessments for complete buildings, although far less on the sustainability assessment of specific parts of the buildings, such as the case of timber structures. The objective of this study is to present an evaluation model, based on MIVES methodology, specifically designed for timber structures, which can be used to enhance the environmental sustainability and to reduce the impacts that are generated, in those areas where it has been awarded a lower score. The application of the model to the largest multi-storey residential timber building in south-western Europe clearly shows that changes to the material, such as its background and environmental certification, generate significant changes to the overall results of the assessment. A sensitivity analysis is then used to verify the analysis of the results and both the validity and the stability of the proposed model.
Empowering impact assessments knowledge and international research collaboration - A bibliometric analysis of Environmental Impact Assessment Review journal
Andreea Nita
Innovation, knowledge exchange and collaboration are fundamental in environmental studies. Impact assessments represent a key tool in identifying and predicting the environmental consequences of a project. The journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review started promoting research discussing different issues or methods in the field of impact assessments and environmental management since 1980. By analyzing 1664 articles published within the journal between 1980 and 2018 by 2935 authors, affiliated to institutions from 75 countries, this study aims to provide a better understanding of the environmental assessment research trends. Bibliometric indicators such as keywords or country of affiliation were analyzed through a network methodological approach, including co-occurrence analysis, centrality metrics and multiple correspondence analysis. The international collaboration and productivity maps bring a novel overview to this type of analysis and reveal new perspectives for thrived cooperation on environmental assessments research. The results illustrate the most common research topics through a conceptual structure map and a keywords co-occurrence graph with a temporal overlay, which allows observing their evolution over the years. Furthermore, this work tries to explain the political, economic, social and technological factors that influence the tendencies in environmental assessments research and scientific cooperation, providing future insights for environmental scientific priorities.
Life cycle assessment of two sustainable and old neighbourhoods affected by climate change in one city in Belgium: A review
Modeste Kameni Nematchoua, José A. Orosa, Sigrid Reiter
Aware of the strong population growth expected in the coming years in cities, it is imperative to evaluate the impact of this new concentration on the environment, health and power consumption. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most appropriate method to quantify these different impacts. The aim of this study is to carry out the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) in two sustainable and old neighbourhoods located in Belgium, while comparing different environmental impacts; but also, to determine the most important source of environmental change at the neighbourhood scale. This study begins with a strong review on LCA in residence buildings and neighbourhoods since 1996 up to 2018.Then followed by the assessment and comparison of the climate variation in six different periods (past, current, 2020,2050,2080 and 2100).In the same line, three scenarios (A2, B1 and A1B)were associated to several models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We have combined three simulation tools, such as ALCYONE, COMFIE-PLEIADES and nova-EQUER. The main results showed the twelve environmental impacts studied in this research that does not always evolve in the same way. Indeed, it was noticed that the CO2 emissions were up to 36.6% higher in an old neighbourhood than in a sustainable one; while the energy demand was estimated at 62.6% and 37.4% in an old and a sustainable one, respectively. Good planning of the public space will play an important role to reduce in average up to 15% the eutrophication in both neighbourhoods. Globally, the renovation of residential buildings is very important, indeed, it allows mitigate in average up to 30% of environment impacts in both neighbourhoods.
Partial information and complex development decisions: Illustrations from infrastructure projects
Shanaka Kariyawasam, Mark McGovern, Clevo Wilson
This study assesses the theoretical and practical limitations of evaluations of infrastructure projects. Existing tools used in such evaluations typically exhibit two main limitations. Firstly, they tend to accommodate only two dimensions at once and rely on extensive use of averages for additional dimensions. Secondly, they mostly produce a narrow (project exclusive) or information that is too general, thereby precluding both broader and more detailed interpretations at once. Development decisions so informed are consequently based on partial information. Too often this has produced unsatisfactory outcomes for some stakeholders along with increased risks and heightened uncertainties. This is particularly the case for infrastructure projects. This paper proposes an alternative approach to development decision-making called 'complex stakeholder perception mapping' (CSPM). CSPM's evaluations inclusively involve a spectrum of insights and perception maps which offer flexibility, combined with complex perceptions of multiple stakeholders on multiple aspects of development. Applicability of CSPM is demonstrated using four perceptual dimensions in infrastructure development evaluation. Different perception combinations and individual group perceptions generate patterns which indicate aspects and groups that need attention. This approach generates rigorous interpretations of information at both the micro and macro level of the project environment, thereby supporting well-informed strategic decision making to advance project outcomes.
The art of underperforming SEA – Symptomatic narratives from Germany
Anke Rehhausen
SEA spread around the world as has SEA effectiveness research. International SEA evaluations show mixed findings on SEA effectiveness. In this article, the quality and procedural effectiveness of SEA in Germany is analysed pursuing the hypothesis that SEA is influenced by planning and administrative traditions that tend to counteract to more ambitious SEA approaches. Three SEA case studies were analysed according to a set of criteria and indicators based on international research outcomes involving SEA integration into decision-making, scoping, selection and assessment of alternatives, cumulative effects assessment, tiering, public participation, and monitoring. The analysis draws on documents analysis and interviews with representatives from responsible agencies and involved SEA consultancies. The analysis shows that SEA is facilitating informed decision-making as the responsible agencies used the SEA, the interaction with consultancies, and the participation processes as a source of information. However, the case studies show various degrees of SEA quality in Germany based on the evaluated criteria and indicators. Results demonstrate that procedural effectiveness is limited. Unclear legal regulations, an expert-based planning approach instead of a collaborative approach, and organisational constraints limit the SEA quality. Furthermore, SEA performance is highly influenced by administrations' legalistic tradition, the expert-based planning culture, the home-grown planning system, and the bounded importance of SEA consultancies in the era of staff cuts and under-resourced agencies. Thus, the recommendations aim to strengthen a more collaborative planning approach, to build SEA capacity within SEA responsible agencies, and to clarify SEA regulations. The overall question for SEA evaluation research and practice may be how more collaborative planning approaches can effectively be implemented in planning and SEA practice through institutional learning.
An economic efficiency indicator for assessing income opportunities in sustainable waste management
Francesca Bartolacci, Roy Cerqueti, Antonella Paolini, Michela Soverchia
This article proposes a new economic efficiency indicator for measuring and analyzing the income opportunities for companies operating in the collection, transport and treatment of municipal solid waste, while also taking into account the environmental perspective. Specifically, the followed approach is based on a mixed economic and environmental perspective, with a focus on the income advantage stemming from the exploitation of secondary raw materials obtained from differentiated waste. To pursue this scope, an indicator at the company level is preliminarily identified; then, a systemic indicator is introduced by implementing an aggregation of the individual ones. The adopted methodological tool is of the rank-size type, which is particularly appropriate for inferring insights at the system level from empirical data at single company level. To validate the indicator and apply it to real data in the sector of interest, an empirical analysis is conducted on a group of Italian waste management companies. It is shown that the indicator can be a useful tool for generating valuable information for waste management companies and policy-makers, who are responsible for defining policies and programs that make the overall waste management system more sustainable, thus materializing environmental and social benefits.
Climate impact of surface albedo change in Life Cycle Assessment: Implications of site and time dependence
Petra Sieber, Niclas Ericsson, Per-Anders Hansson
Land use affects the global climate through greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions, as well as through changes in biophysical properties of the surface. Anthropogenic land use change over time has caused substantial climate forcing related to albedo, i.e. the share of solar radiation reflected back off the ground. There is growing concern that albedo change may offset climate benefits provided by afforestation, bioenergy or other emission reduction measures that affect land cover. Conversely, land could be managed actively to increase albedo as a strategy to combat global warming. Albedo change can be directly linked to radiative forcing, which allows its climate impact to be compared with that of greenhouse gases in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, the most common LCA methods are static and linear and thus fail to account for the spatial and temporal dependence of albedo change and its strength as a climate forcer. This study sought to develop analytical methods that better estimate radiative forcing from albedo change by accounting for spatial and temporal variations in albedo, solar irradiance and transmission through the atmosphere. Simplifications concerning the temporal resolution and aggregation procedures of input data were evaluated. The results highlight the importance of spatial and temporal variations in determining the climate impact of albedo change in LCA. Irradiance and atmospheric transmittance depend on season, latitude and climate zone, and they co-vary with instantaneous albedo. Ignoring these dependencies led to case-specific errors in radiative forcing. Extreme errors doubled the climate cooling of albedo change or resulted in warming rather than cooling in two Swedish cases considered. Further research is needed to understand how different land use strategies affect the climate due to albedo, and how this compares to the effect of greenhouse gases. Given that albedo change and greenhouse gases act on different time scales, LCAs can provide better information in relation to climate targets if the timing of flows is considered in life cycle inventory analysis and impact assessment.
Evaluating impacts of marine governance on human communities: Testing aspects of a human impact assessment model
Richard B. Pollnac, Courtney Carothers, Tarsila Seara, John J. Poggie
A human impact assessment (HIA) model was developed to guide research to understand how changes in a fishery can impact fishermen and fishing communities. Path analysis demonstrates that job satisfaction is an important variable intervening between marine governance and well-being. Individual-level variables in the demographic latent variable influence aspects of job satisfaction as well as well-being. It is variance in management that influences satisfaction with fishing which has a direct effect on well-being. In the HIA model, the three components of job satisfaction (self-actualization, income, and psycho-social) have the greatest total impact on well-being. The model also indicates complex relationships between management, fishing activity attributes, job satisfaction, and individual and social attributes. Relationships between community context and differences in job satisfaction in the Northeast and Alaska regions confirmed that these factors, also included in the HIA model, are important aspects of impact assessment. Results help to show that changes in ocean governance have impacts on the human communities who use these important resources. To anticipate and ameliorate potential impacts on human well-being as indicated by tools such as the HIA model, research needs to be accomplished to appropriately design and account for these impacts.
Logistic sequencing for improving environmental performance using ant colony optimization
C.Y. Ng, S.S. Lam, Choi P.M. Samuel
A significant portion of air pollutions in a city comes from road transport. Shorter travelling distance and less fuel consumption would logically lead to lower emissions of greenhouse gases or particulate matters, thus relieve environmental burdens. In this regard, an appropriate selection of the logistic sequence may contribute significantly to the environment. The logistic sequence for pickup and delivery services are often determined based on decision makers' experience and intuitive judgements. While life cycle assessment (LCA), a well-versed approach, can be used for quantifying the environmental loads, it is often regarded as not suitable for making routine decisions because it takes significant time and resources for data collection as well as expert knowledge for result interpretation. Additionally, the results of LCA studies focus mainly on the environmental perspective and that other decision criteria cannot be taken into account in a single evaluation process. This paper attempts to develop a practical and objective tool, by combining a simplified LCA with the ant colony optimization algorithm, that supports evaluating several decision criteria simultaneously and determining the optimal or near optimal sequence for vehicle routing on pickup and delivery activities. This fit-for-purpose approach enables decision makers to pay attention to environmental impacts during the determination of the travelling sequences. The proposed approach has been successfully performed to identify the optimal solution through benchmarking against other possible sequences, with the aim to reducing environmental impact while balancing other decision criteria.
Dietary Equivalent Assessments: Quantifying the loss of food resource to marine predators from the entrapment of fish in power station cooling water systems
Hannah Young, Anastasia Charalampopoulou
One of the biggest ecological concerns associated within the operation of coastal power stations is the mortality of fish due to entrapment within cooling water systems. As part of the Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment process, developers are required to assess the indirect effects of fish entrapment however, presently there is little guidance to support quantitative assessments of food resource losses to higher trophic levels. To address this gap, a detailed and quantitative assessment approach termed Dietary Equivalence Assessments is presented in this paper. This assessment tool combines bioenergetic modelling with dietary and demographic information to express entrapment predictions in terms of the number of marine predators, or the proportion of a population, that would be sustained by the biomass of fish prey had it not been entrapped. It has been shown that this tool can be used to develop robust project- and regional-specific quantitative assessments for a number of marine predators including seabirds, marine mammals and predatory fish. Dietary Equivalent Assessments are considered to provide competent authorities with a new and more realistic perspective from which the magnitude of predicted fish entrapment effects can be viewed and assessed.
Effect of national-level spatial distribution of cities on national transport CO2 emissions
Jaebin Lim, Myounggu Kang, Changmu Jung
Most research regarding the relationship between cities and transportation carbon emission is focused on intra-city travel, and it has been found that compact patterns tend to emit less carbon. Yet, little is known about the impact of national-level spatial distribution of cities and inter-city transportation on transportation CO2 emissions. Further, most studies regarding the impact of urbanization on CO2 emission directly examine the relationship between urbanization rate and CO2 emission with little consideration of the national spatial pattern of urbanization. This study hypothesizes that the national-level spatial distribution of cities – in a dispersed or polarized pattern – affects national transport CO2 emissions due to the varying intensity of inter-city transportation. This study uses the Gridded Population of the World v3 and v4 from Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) of NASA to examine the national-level spatial distribution of urban agglomerations. It applies the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model. The analysis shows that, among 60–90% of urbanized countries, spatially dispersed urbanized countries (e.g., countries with many medium-sized cities scattered over the territory) show a lower national transportation CO2 emission than spatially polarized urbanized countries (e.g., there are only a few large cities). The urban system elasticity of transportation CO2 emissions is 0.4 or 0.6. That is, if the degree of polarization decreases by 1%, national transportation CO2 emissions decrease by approximately 0.4–0.6%. This effect is similar to the effect of GDP per capita of around 0.5%. Because it is particularly difficult to disperse people and economic activities across a country once spatial polarization is set, this study's findings have the most significant implications for urbanizing countries. If urbanizing countries adopt national urban policy and territorial plans to form dispersed cities, it could reduce transportation carbon emissions and promote sustainable development. For already urbanized countries, national urban policy development is recommended to promote spatially dispersed rather than polarized national urban systems.
Mainstreaming environmental issues into housing plans: the approach of Strategic Environmental Assessment
Juliana Siqueira-Gay, Luis Enrique Sánchez
Ecological footprint accounting: A multi-scale approach based on net primary productivity
Anass Barrahmoune, Youness Lahboub, Abderrahmene El Ghmari
The Ecological footprint accounting is a resource accounting tool that is used to track the sustainability of human systems. In this paper, we present a new approach to calculate the Ecological Footprint metrics at different geographic scales using Net Primary Productivity data. Our study focuses on the town of Afourar, Morocco, as a case study examined at three different scales; national, regional, and provincial scale. In contrast with other studies, our footprint accounting results are expressed in what we have called territorial hectares. The accounting results show that geographic scale has a significant influence on the footprint model, where three cases of sustainability were found. This implies that the efforts to maintain the sustainability of territories are more important at some scales than others. We argue that the relationship between sustainability and geographic scale is both strong and complex and that sustainability is a spatially relative concept. Therefore, we conclude that multi-scale analysis is crucial for making sustainable decisions and management policies.
SWOT analysis for the development of photovoltaic solar power in Africa in comparison with China
Yu Lei, Xi Lu, Mai Shi, Lei Wang, Hongyan Lv, Sirui Chen, Chengyu Hu, Qinghua Yu, Serafim Dias Henriques da Silveira
Development of solar power becomes a necessary measure to combat global climate change and local environmental pollution in the world. In Africa, solar power resource is abundant, and deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) offers a new opportunity for both economic growth and low-carbon development. Using an approach of SWOT analysis, we investigate the internal strengths and weaknesses, and the external opportunities and threats for PV solar power development in Africa. Particularly, factors are examined and discussed for African countries in terms of their internal strengths of rich solar resource, vast land, suitable application for distributed PV power systems; their weaknesses of small scale of renewable energy investment, shortness of foundation for the PV industrial chain, insufficient awareness of social and environmental benefits of solar PV; their external opportunities of increasing gap between energy supply and demand, raising global awareness of Climate Change, rapid decrease of PV price, as well as their external threats of dominant position of the fossil fuels, potential environmental impacts related to the solar PV development, and discontinuity of energy policies. The analysis particularly emphasizes on a new opportunity for African countries to develop their solar power resource through mutually beneficial cooperation between Africa and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
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