Maximizing financial support for biodiversity in the emerging Kyoto protocol markets

The market mechanisms intended to facilitate lower-cost realization of the Kyoto Protocol’s goals of lowering net emission of greenhouse gases can also help advance the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity. By acknowledging the ability of carbon sinks, such as forests and soils, to capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide, and by including these activities in the international emissions trading system, the Kyoto Protocol provides a new source of financial support for enhancement and protection of biological habitat. The magnitude of the global benefits for biodiversity from this mechanism will be significantly enhanced if the credit trading system includes forest regeneration and protection in developing countries and the carbon benefits of management practices that lead to increased storage of carbon in agricultural soils. While the impediments to including these two groups of activities, such as measurement difficulties, need further work to be resolved, they are not qualitatively different from the challenges present in all aspects of monitoring environmental protection programs.     

国际河流中下游沿岸国对上游沿岸国的影响

人们普遍认为只有河流上游沿岸国通过水量控制或水质污染给下游沿岸国带来损害,而没有认识到下游沿岸国凭借对水资源已有使用权和水权的要求,将剥夺上游国家未来对水资源的使用权。法院判决、信函交流、学术讨论和国际河流开发利用的实践等表明,人们已认识到剥夺未来使用权的概念并对之理解越来越清晰。讨论了赫尔辛基规则和国际水道条约中上下游沿岸国之间的关系,认为公平合理利用原则已成为水道公约和国际水法的基础性导则,河流各沿岸国应相互尊重,一国的河流开发举措不应对其他国家造成利益损害。结合Baardhere工程、盖巴斯科夫-拉基玛洛工程两个典型的国际水事纠纷事件,分析了剥夺未来使用权的概念和公平合理利用原则在实践中遇到的挑战。     

多义空间演绎会展经济哈尔滨国际会展体育中心设计

文章对哈尔滨国际会展体育中心项目作了深入分析,以会展经济为切入点,从设计策略、空间建构、技术方案几个方面详细论述设计过程及创作体验,并引发了关于会展建筑必须适应会展经济、遵循市场法则的思考。     

浅谈《2006美国军事审判委员会法令》对国际战争法的违反

白从美国总统布什签署《2006美国军事审判委员会法令》以来,同绕该法令的批评不绝于耳。该法令与国际战争法多有相违背之处。包括其允许使用强制得来的证据、重新定义国际上已经公认的战争罪内涵、增添了新的独立的战争罪罪名、拒绝承认国际法渊源以及合并了国际性和非国际性两种武装冲突的规制条文。     

国家会展中心(天津)项目BIM实施管理研究

本文从明确BIM实施目标、选择实施模式以及建立实施框架三方面出发,阐述了国家会展中心(天津)项目的BIM实施管理方式,浅析了BIM在设计阶段取得的效益,总结了当前遇到的问题。     

国家会议中心大跨度钢桁架制作技术

国家会议中心采用舣向正交H型钢桁架结构.H型钢桁架具有跨度大、截面高度高、板较厚、连接节点形式复杂等特点.针对工程施工难点,介绍大跨度H型钢桁架的工厂制作技术、预拼装、预起拱原则、施工工艺流程以及桁架制作中的焊接质量管理.并对复杂节点组装顺序、焊接顺序、精度控制技术和桁架起拱进行了研究.工程实践证明,工程质量符合国家规范要求,保证了施工安全性.     

Meeting Minamata: Cost-effective compliance options for atmospheric mercury control in Chinese coal-fired power plants

A new international treaty, Minamata Convention, identifies mercury (Hg) as a global threat to human health and seeks to control its releases and emissions. Coal-fired power plants are a major source of mercury pollution worldwide and are expected to be the first key sector to be addressed in China under Minamata Convention. A best available technique (BAT) adoption model was developed in the form of a decision tree and cost-effectiveness for each technological option. Co-benefit control technologies and their enhancement with coal blending/switching and halogen injection (HI) can provide early measures to help China meet the Minamata Convention obligations. We project future energy and policy scenarios to simulate potential national mercury reduction goals for China and estimate costs of the control measures for each scenario. The “Minamata Medium” scenario, equivalent to the goal of the US Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, requires the application of activated carbon injection (ACI) and HI on 30% and 20% of power plants, respectively. The corresponding total costs would be $2.5 billion, approximately one-fourth the costs in the US. An emission limit of 3 µg/m³ in 2030 was identified as a feasible policy option for China to comply with Minamata Convention.     

A City for Education

Ameena Ahmadi is Architecture Manager at the Qatar Foundation, overseeing the development of the masterplan and facilities of Education City in Doha, a multi-institution educational campus, incorporating schools and universities. Ahmadi describes how education is a significant cornerstone for Qatar's national transition ‘to a knowledge-based’ economy from a ‘hydrocarbon-based’ one. This is symbolised by substantial investment in the flagship Education City with its Arata Isozaki masterplan and its individual schools and universities designed by premier international architects.     

Feasibility study of capturing carbon credit benefits in an academic institution: A case study

The CDM potential in an academic institution hosting 2500 students is analyzed through the introduction of renewable energy technologies (Solar Water Heater, Solar Steam Cooking) and adoption of energy efficient technologies (Compact Fluorescent Lighting, Energy Efficient Air Conditioners). The baseline emission has been calculated for each technology. A detail investment analysis has been carried out for each of these measures. The impact of revenue generated by selling carbon credits through the clean development mechanism (CDM), on the economic viability of the project activity is analyzed along with sensitivity analysis.Out of the four cases analyzed, energy efficient lighting and energy efficient air conditioners do not require CDM benefits for their viability hence they fail to prove the additionality. Solar steam cooking having negative value of IRR does not pass the additionality criterion for CDM. The solar water heater generating 48.13 tCO₂/year is identified as the candidate CDM project. The total amount of CO₂ that can be saved from emitting to the atmosphere by employing the renewable and energy efficient technologies is 311.34 tCO₂/year. The CERs generated by this project are insufficient to cover the validation/ verification and registration expenses. For converting the CDM potential into reality, bundling of the similar activities with nearby academic institutes can be considered.     

Perceptions and social valuations of landscape. Objectives and methodology for citizen participation in landscape policies

Since the approval of the European Landscape Convention, social perception has been accepted as one of landscape’s defining components and, therefore, any strategy for its planning, protection or management has to be in possession of knowledge produced by citizen participation procedures. The Convention did not formally state what these procedures are and no methodology has been agreed upon for guaranteeing their inclusion in landscape analysis and praxis. This article puts forward a methodological proposal to this end that has been designed, tested and put into practice in the compiling of the Landscape Catalogue of the Province of Seville (Andalusia, Spain). Arguments put forward to support the methodological choices made are evaluated with the aim that this proposal might be of use for other initiatives to create a theoretical and practical corpus for social participation in landscape policies.