The Swiss Case. Main Results of the Sustainability Assessment of Swiss Forest Policy and its Merits in an International Context

2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (12) ◽  
pp. 480-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Patosaari
Keyword(s):  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Expert Panel ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
International Context ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Areas Of Concern

Mandated by the Swiss Forestry Agency, a group of internationally recognised experts drew up a sustainability assessment of Swiss forest policy. In this paper, the author, himself a member of the expert panel, presents the main results of this study. The strong protection regime of forests, for instance, is seen as one of the strengths of Swiss forest policy, whereas the lack of economic efficiency as well as the lack of clear policy goals with corresponding evaluation criteria have been identified as areas of concern.

Wie nachhaltig ist die Schweizer Forstpolitik? Das Nachhaltigkeits-Assessment der Schweizer Forstpolitik: Vorgehen und wichtigste Resultate | How Sustainable Is Swiss Forest Policy? The Sustainability Assessment of Swiss Forest Policy: Approach and Main Results

2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (12) ◽  
pp. 472-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Kissling-Näf
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Sustainability Indicators ◽  
International Level ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
International Experts

A group of international experts evaluated whether the aims and instruments of Swiss forest policy are suitable for the promotion of sustainable forest management based on the pan-European criteria. Approach and main results are presented as well as the method developed for the definition of sustainability indicators as an instrument for the evaluation of sectoral policies and the possibility of a transfer of methods and indicators on an international level.

scholarly journals India’s Commitments to Increase Tree and Forest Cover: Consequences for Water Supply and Agriculture Production within the Central Indian Highlands

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 959
Author(s):  
Benjamin Clark ◽  
Ruth DeFries ◽  
Jagdish Krishnaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Central India ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Impact

As part of its nationally determined contributions as well as national forest policy goals, India plans to boost tree cover to 33% of its land area. Land currently under other uses will require tree-plantations or reforestation to achieve this goal. This paper examines the effects of converting cropland to tree or forest cover in the Central India Highlands (CIH). The paper examines the impact of increased forest cover on groundwater infiltration and recharge, which are essential for sustainable Rabi (winter, non-monsoon) season irrigation and agricultural production. Field measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) linked to hydrological modeling estimate increased forest cover impact on the CIH hydrology. Kfs tests in 118 sites demonstrate a significant land cover effect, with forest cover having a higher Kfs of 20.2 mm hr−1 than croplands (6.7mm hr−1). The spatial processes in hydrology (SPHY) model simulated forest cover from 2% to 75% and showed that each basin reacts differently, depending on the amount of agriculture under paddy. Paddy agriculture can compensate for low infiltration through increased depression storage, allowing for continuous infiltration and groundwater recharge. Expanding forest cover to 33% in the CIH would reduce groundwater recharge by 7.94 mm (−1%) when converting the average cropland and increase it by 15.38 mm (3%) if reforestation is conducted on non-paddy agriculture. Intermediate forest cover shows however shows potential for increase in net benefits.

Assessing Product Lifecycle Sustainability Using Uncertain Design Information at Conceptual Stage

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Z. Yang ◽  
B. Song
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Fuzzy Evaluation ◽  
Product Lifecycle ◽  
Selection Of

This paper presents a hierarchical fuzzy evaluation approach to product lifecycle sustainability assessment at conceptual design stages. The purpose is to advocate the emerging use of lifecycle engineering methods in support of evaluation and selection of design alternatives for sustainable product development. A fuzzy evaluation model is developed with a hierarchical criteria structure to represent different sustainability considerations in the technical, economic and environmental dimensions. Using the imprecise and uncertain early-stage product information, each design option is assessed by the model with respect to the hierarchical evaluation criteria. Lifecycle engineering methods, such as lifecycle assessment and lifecycle costing analysis, are applied to the generation of the evaluation criteria. This would provide designers with a more complete lifecycle view about the product’s sustainability potentials to support decision-making in evaluation and selection of conceptual designs. The proposed approach has been implemented in a sustainable design decision-support software prototype. Illustrative examples are discussed in the paper to demonstrate the use of the approach and the prototype in conceptual design selection of a consumer product.

Nation-States, Labor Immigration, and Migrant Rights

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Ruhs
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
High Income ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Basic Approach ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Core Set ◽  
Over Time

This chapter examines the potential interrelationships between migrant rights and national policies for admitting migrant workers. It explains how we can expect high-income countries to regulate the rights of migrant workers as part of their labor immigration policies. It develops a basic approach that conceptualizes the design of labor immigration policy in high-income countries as a process that involves “choice under constraints.” It shows that nation-states decide on how to regulate the number, selection, and rights of migrant workers admitted in order to achieve a core set of four interrelated and sometimes competing policy goals: economic efficiency, distribution, national identity and social cohesion, and national security and public order. Although their importance and specific interpretations vary across countries, and over time, the chapter argues that each of these objectives constitutes a fundamental policy consideration that policymakers can and do purposefully pursue in all countries.

The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion: Chinese Dual-Pension Regimes in the Era of Labor Migration and Labor Informalization

2020 ◽  
pp. 003232922092455
Author(s):  
Yujeong Yang
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
National Level ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Local Officials

Why do some Chinese local governments include informal workers in their welfare systems while others exclude them? This article argues that local officials attempt to balance multiple, conflicting, top-down career-evaluation criteria by developing different inclusion mechanisms. The central mandate to build an inclusive welfare regime incentivizes local officials to embrace welfare “outsiders” (informal workers and nonlocal workers). However, other top-down policy goals and the locally defined citizenship ( hukou) system disincentivize the full integration of outsiders. Faced with this political dilemma, local officials have strategically incorporated different types of outsiders into their welfare regimes. Their strategies depend on local labor market structures—specifically, the extent to which informal workers overlap with nonlocal workers. This hypothesis is tested using an original data set derived from thirty-one Chinese provinces, covering the period between 2005 and 2015, as well as two rounds of national-level survey data. Findings suggest that recent Chinese welfare expansion has ironically consolidated, even exacerbated, regional inequality.

scholarly journals Discourses on sustainable forest management and their integration into climate policies in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-181
Author(s):  
C. Ofoegbu ◽  
C. Ifejika Speranza
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Four Discourses ◽  
Change Mitigation

In South Africa, forests can play an important role in achieving the broader goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, national policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation seem to narrow the potential contributions of the forest sector to climate protection targets. This is largely because of the divergence between the management goals of forests for climate protection, and products for both industries and livelihoods. This article uses discourse analysis as a methodological tool to analyze South Africa's climate and forest policies to identify the discourses shaping forest policy goals and mandates, and their integration into climate policy targets for forest-based climate change interventions. Four discourses, namely, preservation of forest integrity, social inclusiveness, equitable benefit sharing, and inclusive development of forests and forest-based communities, were identified as the dominant discourses influencing forest policy goals in South Africa. Their influence on forest management programmes has a mix of costs and benefits outcomes. For example, policy responses to the discourse on the preservation of forest integrity have resulted in ecologically sustainable forests in some cases and in other cases restricted the participation of local people in forest enterprise development. Additionally, climate policies recognized six possible interventions with respect to forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation in South Africa but were silent about the four discourses shaping forest policy goals. Consequently, existing climate policies do not contain regulations to guide forest management for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We therefore recommend that forest-related goals in climate policy be grounded in the past experiences and lessons of forest policy implementations in order to take advantage of the synergies and reduce the trade-offs with respect to multipurpose management of forests for livelihoods, enterprise development, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

scholarly journals Development of a Green Building Materials Integrated Platform Based on Materials and Resources in G-SEED in South Korea

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Tae ◽  
Kim
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Resource Selection ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Green Building Materials ◽  
Integrated Platform

Various eco-friendly materials are used in the construction industry. South Korea employs the Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED), a green building certification system, in which materials account for 11% of the evaluation criteria. However, data for each eco-friendly material are managed individually by different institutions, causing inefficiency, increased costs, and potentially greater environmental impacts associated with material and resource selection. Hence, this study develops a green building materials integrated platform (GIP) that collates information on eco-friendly materials across different industries in South Korea, to support the G-SEED evaluations. Guidelines and standards related to each evaluation item were analyzed and used to compile a green building materials database. The database includes 12,636 data points representing product prices and environmental impact data. This database was used to develop the four-level Excel-based GIP. Case studies were conducted on actual G-SEED buildings to analyze the economic efficiency and environmental performance achieved by using alternative materials to those recommended by the GIP. Case 1 exhibits improvements in economic efficiency and environmental performance of 17% and 10%, respectively, whereas Case 2 exhibits improvements of 8% and 21%, respectively. Thus, both case studies boast superior combinations of green building materials compared to existing alternatives.

scholarly journals Sustainability of Small-Scale Forestry and Its Influencing Factors in Lithuania

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 619
Author(s):  
Stasys Mizaras ◽  
Asta Doftartė ◽  
Diana Lukminė ◽  
Rita Šilingienė
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Private Forestry ◽  
Forest Sustainability ◽  
Common Activity ◽  
Total Forest Area ◽  
Small Forest

Small-scale private forestry is widespread in many countries and occupies 40.3% of the total forest area in Lithuania. The pursuit of sustainability has become one of the main goals of forest policy. In order for small-scale private forestry to be based upon sustainability principles, its sustainability must first be assessed and analyzed. This study assesses the sustainability of 385 small forest holdings of Lithuania using established forest sustainability assessment methods and performs an analysis of the factors influencing the sustainability of small forest holdings using correlation analysis. The Lithuanian small-scale forest holdings were categorized in terms of their level of sustainability as being very high and high (assessed on a five-point scale as 3.5–5 points)—13.6%, middle (2.5–3.5 points)—28.8%, or low and very low (1.0–2.5 points)—57.6%, with the corresponding proportion of holdings indicated as a percentage. A total of 40 independent variables were hypothesized, and their correlation with the sustainability assessments of the holdings was verified. The correlation analysis found mostly weak but reliable (p < 0.05) relationships with 23 independent variables: very weak—12 variables, weak—7 variables, middle—2 variables, and strong—2 variables. Moderate and strong correlations were found for the following variables: the owner’s view of the forest’s economic importance (correlation coefficient: 0.862), income per hectare (0.840), the importance of forestry in the common activity of the owners (0.525), the percentage of mature stands (0.476), the diversity of activities in forest holdings (0.361), and how the wood is used (0.328).

scholarly journals Key Issues in Taxing Profit

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-84
Author(s):  
Michael P. Devereux ◽  
Alan J. Auerbach ◽  
Michael Keen ◽  
Paul Oosterhuis ◽  
Wolfgang Schön ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Incentive Compatibility ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Double Taxation ◽  
International Context ◽  
International Setting ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Business Profit ◽  
National Governments

This chapter sets out the key conceptual issues that arise in designing a business-level tax on profit in an international setting. It is in four parts—each addressing a basic question. First, what is meant by a tax on profit? We identify different approaches to taxing profit and show that there are a number of equivalences between taxes. Second, what criteria should be used for evaluating a business-level tax on profit in an international setting? We set out five criteria in some detail: economic efficiency, fairness, robustness to avoidance, ease of administration, and incentive compatibility. Third, given these criteria, is a business-level tax on profit a useful addition to the set of taxes that can be employed by national governments? We consider different possible underlying rationales for taxing business profit, especially in an international context. Fourth, is taxation at both the business and the owner-level problematic? We consider whether there is need for relief from this form of double taxation.

scholarly journals Who is benefiting more from common property forest resources: poor or less poor?

1970 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-47
Author(s):  
AR Bhandari ◽  
H Uibrig
Keyword(s):  
Common Property ◽  
Community Forestry ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Study Results ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Chitwan National Park

This paper intends to assess the distribution of community forestry benefits among economic groups of the users comparing protected area buffer zone with the Department of Forests regime in Nepal. Following the case study approach two forest user groups of Nawalparasi district, each from buffer zone of Chitwan National Park and Department of Forests regime were selected for the study. The study results suggest that the users in the buffer zone receive less benefit from community forestry than the users in the Department of Forests regime. Analysis of inputs and outputs reveals that poor households receive less benefit than the better off households in both of the regimes. Insofar the results counteract the principles of equity as expected from national forest policy goals and approaches. Key words: benefits, buffer zone, community forestry, equity, heterogeneity, Nepal. doi: 10.3126/banko.v18i1.2165 Banko Janakari, Vol. 18, No. 1, 42-47

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