The environment becomes a political issue. Highlights of the Brundtland Commission Report

The Report of the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development) has been released by the UN. The Report points out that environmental survival requires development and development is only possible if the resources of the global environment are conserved. Although the UN and the World Bank must make commitments to development, each nation must devise its own strategy because development is inextricably linked to political, economic, and social factors such as poverty, overpopulation and the status of women. The Report makes 3 specific recommendations: 1) An independent body should be set up to assess global risks; 2) A universal declaration on environment and development should be made and followed by a convention; and 3) The UN General Assembly should set up a UN Program on Sustainable Development. The highest priority should be given to finding alternatives to nuclear energy as well as making the use of nuclear energy safer. Other major environmental problems include desertification, acid rain, the "greenhouse effect" and its impact on global climate and sea levels, and the destruction of the ozone layer with concomitant increase in cancer.     

To help our planet survive

The "Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond," a document which resulted from 4 years' work of the Intergovernmental Inter-Sessional Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), was approved by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 11, 1987. The purpose of the "Environmental Perspective" is to guide governments in achieving environmentally sound development. Major input into the document was the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by Norwegian Prime Minister, Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland. The "Environmental Perspective" sets out 14 "shared perceptions" on the nature of environmental issues and recommended actions in 6 major areas -- population, food and agriculture, energy, industry, health and human settlements, and international relations. It addresses questions of pollution, peaceful uses of outer space, endangered species, and the relation of security and environment. Finally, the "Environmental Perspective" calls for the collection of information upon which unified environmental policies may be based. In other environmental actions the General Assembly proclaimed the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, reviewed the progress of the 1977 Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, and urged member states to become parties to the 1985 Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol restricting the use of substances that damage the ozone layer.     

Urban Planning and Sustainable Development

Following the discourse about sustainable development based on the Brundtland Commission's report and the processes in the UN Committee on Environment and Development, a sustainable urban development would require considerably more ambitious policies than today in order to limit energy consumption, reduce pollution and protect natural areas and arable land. Re-use of urban areas and more effective utilization of building sites is a possible strategy to this end. However, continuous growth in the building stock will make it increasingly difficult to bring urban development in wealthy countries within the frames of what is ecologically sustainable and equitable in a global perspective. Planning for a sustainable urban development must be oriented towards long-term goals and utilize knowledge about the environmental consequences of different solutions, but should not be based solely on means-ends rationality. Rather than aiming at consensus including all stakeholder groups, planning for sustainability should facilitate alliance-building among those population groups who can support the basic equity and environmental values of a sustainable development.     

"To change the world." Cairo conference reaches consensus on plan to stabilize world growth by 2015

After 6 days of debate and 200 speakers during September 5-13, 1994, participants from 180 countries at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agreed on a strategy for curbing global population growth over the next 20 years. The objective was sustained economic growth and sustainable development. In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that the objective was to balance humanity and the environment with the means to sustain life, and that the efficacy of the world economic order depended to some extent on the ICPD. Participants were urged to use rigor, tolerance, and conscience in conference deliberations. Men and women should have the right and the means to choose their families' futures. The preamble stated that the ICPD would probably be the last opportunity in the twentieth century to address globally the issues relating to population and development. UN Population Fund Executive Director Nafis Sadik remarked that the ICPD had the potential to change the world. Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak was elected president of the ICPD. Mubarak stated that solutions to population problems must go beyond demographic accounting and incorporate change in social, economic, and cultural conditions. Norway's Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland stated that development in many countries never reached many women. She called it a hypocritical morality that allowed women to suffer and die from unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortions, and miserable living conditions. US Vice President Albert Gore called for comprehensive and holistic solutions. The essential features of social change would involve democracy, economic reform, low rates of inflation, low levels of corruption, sound environmental management, free and open markets, and access to developed country markets. Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir urged the empowerment of women. Many expressed the concern about unsustainable consumption in industrialized countries. Prior world population conferences had been held in Rome (1954), Belgrade (1965), Bucharest (1974), and Mexico City (1984). The first World Plan of Action was adopted in 1974 and changed at the 1984 conference.     

旅游活动"六要素"新论——以德国与四川比较为案例

本文对旅游六要素重新进行了定义与分析,认为旅游业现阶段的"新六要素"应该为:旅游资源、生态环境、经济基础、文化底蕴、文明状况、员工素质,针对德国与四川现阶段的旅游活动"新六要素"进行比较和研究,发现四川作为我国的旅游资源大省与世界旅游强国之间存在相当大的差异,通过比较对四川旅游业的发展提出了一些建议。     

What's wrong,what's ahead,how do we make it right?

The "Environmental Perspective" of the UN outlines 6 major problem areas and suggests what should be done about them. 1) Overpopulation exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment. Specific attention should be given to the problems of cities and public works projects should be designed to provide employment and improve the environment. 2) Food shortages must be dealt with to ensure security and restore the environment. Governments must adopt policies and institute regulatory measures for land and water use. 3) The available energy resources are being consumed at vastly different rates throughout the world. Policies should be devised to more equitably meet energy demands without further increasing the costs to the environment. 4) Industrial development is damaging the environment, and government policies, especially in developing countries, must be geared to minimizing waste of resources and increasing pollution. 5) Inadequate housing and public health services are causing high morbidity and mortality in many areas. Programs must be developed to deal with tropical diseases and unsanitary conditions. 6) International economic relations often adversely affect development. Aid to developing countries must be increased and trade patterns developed to mutual advantage and to safeguard the environment.     

‘The Constructive Use of Abundance’: the UN World Food Programme and the Evolution of the International Food-Aid System during the Post-War Decades

This article studies the expansion of multilateral economic development aid in the early 1960s by exploring the history of the United Nations (UN) World Food Program. It analyses the pivotal role played by key development economists within the UN Secretariat, such as Hans Singer, alongside US policy-makers in the Kennedy administration in framing and directing the debate on multilateral food aid. It specifically argues that this period marked a shift in how food aid was perceived and utilised by donor and recipient countries - as well as international organisations like the UN and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Ultimately, what began in the 1950s as a bilateral method to feed the hungry through the disposal of surplus agricultural commodities evolved into an international food-aid system by the 1960s centred on the utilisation of surplus agriculture for economic development. This change showcased both the common goals and competing interests of US and UN policy-makers as food aid now joined the wider debate on various doctrines of development.     

The Evolution of the Sustainable DeveIopment Concept: A Perspective from Australia

It is argued that in the 1970s the radical idea of ecodevelopment failed to gain support as a way of reconciling economic development with ecological conservation but it sowed the seeds of the sustainable development concept. By 1980 the World Conservation Strategy received support from many countries including Australia. The National Conservation Strategy for Australia received a mixed response at the state/territory level but it in turn paved the way for an Australian response to the Brundtland Report. This latter report put the concept of sustainable development on the political agenda and it has been taken up positively by the Australian federal government and non-government organisations. It is noted that there is still a need to develop methods to transform the concept into a useful tool for national and regional planning in Australia.     

政治民主是东西方学者的共同话题--南京"各国议会制度研究国际学术讨论会"综述

“各国议会制度研究国际学术讨论会”有三个论题。第一个论题为当代西方国家的议会民主制．来自西方的学和中国学提交了一批报告,论及19世纪以来欧洲国家议会制度的发展以及当代西方议会民主制的某些局限性,第二个论题是当代中国的乡村村民自治改革．中国学提交了一批论,讨论了中国宪法中关于村民自治的条款以及村民自治个案研究的结果,第三个论题是西方民主制的起源问题。中国学提交了一批报告,涉及西方城市自治传统、中世纪议会制对近代民主制的作用等。与会中外代表一致认为,民主是中西方学共同努力的目标和中西方学、政治家共同关心的课题。     

日本环境问题的可持续发展战略及对我国的启示

可持续发展是世界各国的共同选择,是人类生存和发展的条件。20世纪日本在经济发展中遇到了环境被严重污染和破坏的问题,并及时实施了一系列环境保护的政策和措施,全面推进可持续发展战略,对于扭转经济发展过程中的生态环境恶化得了较好的效果。日本的经验、教训及治理对策,对于我国实施可持续发展战略具有重要的借鉴和启示价值。     

民族地区负责任旅游扶贫开发模式与实现路径

国外关注贫困问题的负责任旅游研究和实践为我国民族地区旅游扶贫开发提供了新的视角。我国民族地区与贫困地区、旅游资源丰富地区具有高度的重叠性,进而衍生出了多样化的旅游扶贫开发模式。这些旅游扶贫开发模式对民族地区旅游业发展和贫困人口致富起到了促进作用的同时,也因缺乏对文化景观脆弱性和自然生态敏感性的系统考虑而产生了诸多负面影响。基于此,本文重点讨论了负责任旅游视角下民族地区扶贫开发的模式重构问题,明晰了民族地区负责任旅游扶贫开发的战略取向和运行机制,构建了民族地区负责任旅游扶贫开发的旅游者驱动和社会型旅游企业带动两种模式,进而提出了与之相适应的实施对策与建议。     

向海自然保护区生态旅游地可持续发展

随着旅游形式的改变,生态旅游地逐渐成为旅游活动主体的聚集点。吉林省向海国家级自然保护区是我国东北地区重要生态旅游地,自然地理环境独特,旅游资源丰富多样,旅游业已初具规模。由于其可持续发展对当地经济发展和生态环境保护具有双重战略意义,因此本文在简要分析旅游业发展潜力及开发中存在的问题的基础上,重点探讨了如何在区域系统理论的指导下,以协调人地关系为主旨的区域可持续发展的对策,提出了解决湿地水源、加强区域文化建设与生态敏感区管理、拓展旅游客源市场、科技兴旅、积极发展旅游服务业等建设性方案。     

国外土地利用规划发展与借鉴

世界各国在社会制度、土地资源禀赋、经济水平和发展历史等方面都存在着差异,土地利用规划并没有统一的模式。所以学习国外经验,了解国外模式是非常重要的。通过大量文献综述,阐述了联合国粮农组织(FAO)、俄罗斯、美国、德国、英国、日本等国家土地利用规划体系、内容概况,对这些国家土地利用规划编制和实施的新理念、技术、方法的共同特点及发展趋势进行了分析比较和归纳总结。在此基础上,指出国外土地利用规划经验对我国规划借鉴的七个方面,以期为我国新一轮土地利用规划的修编提供积极的借鉴。     

长江三峡库区旅游资源可持续利用研究

现代旅游业的发展建立在资源的可持续利用和环境的有效保护基础上,文章从长江三峡库区旅游业的发展现状、存在的问题、旅游资源的特征以及三峡工程兴建给长江三峡库区旅游业发展带来的深远影响分析入手,探讨了长江三峡旅游资源的开发模式与可持续利用问题。提出了三峡库区旅游资源的开发应在遵循非均衡空间开发格局的同时实施"点-轴-网"战略开发模式,并指出"一线二区三精品"的战略开发重点和可持续利用的途径。     

Seoul,Korea: its concept of culture and nature in heritage planning

This paper explores the concept of heritage as part of sustainable development planning. Heritage is taken to include both the cultural and natural spheres to incorporate people, activities, landscapes, monuments, landmarks, artefacts, and nature. Heritage planning then involves the sustainable development of the cultural and natural environment to prepare for its stewardship, research, and communication for the benefit of society. This perspective leads to broader questions on approaches to heritage planning where the cultural environment is considered specifically within sustainable development planning just as the natural environment is studied separately in specialised disciplines. The paper proposes that in developing resource‐management plans the effects of cultural resources on natural resources, and vice versa, must be integrated and addressed. Seoul, Korea, an historic metropolitan city that has gone through radical political and economic changes, is examined as a case study. It identifies how the city is integrating sustainability of the contextual association of the cultural and natural environment with promotion of economic growth.     

城市化空间增长上限确定的研究综述

本文从概念、理论及因素等方面对目前在城市化空间增长约束作用的特征进行了梳理,认为目前的研究存在着区域宏观尺度的把握较少、因素集成分析较少、缺乏直接针对城市用地本身与其他因素的相关关系分析等不足。笔者认为从约束角度开展对城市化空间增长上限的研究工作,关键是如何确定区域水资源安全容量、粮食安全下的耕地最小规模、可恢复条件下生态空间的最小规模或城市生产生活所需的最小生态空间规模等阈值,并提出城市化空间增长上限确定的方法和途径。     

试论宁南山区环境、资源、人口协调发展的扶贫开发政策选择

环境资源,人口与经济社会的协调发展,是邓小平发展理论的一个重要观点,也是在西部开发中宁南山区反贫困的重要政策选择。宁南山区长期以来既是一个生态条件如植被、水系、气候、土壤等多次发生改变的地区,又是一个屡经社会战乱及人口频繁迁移的地区。对于这样一个大面积的贫困山区,不应仅仅看成是农业的失败,而更应看作是长期以来人与环境关系的错位。本文将从引导区域环境正向变迁,以人的全面发展为中心的资源与人口的协调发展,及控制人口规模,提高人口素质等方面探讨宁南山区建立在可持续发展基础上的反贫政策选择。     

A Commemorative Happy Day China holds grand commemorative activities to celebrate the millennium of the Gesar Epic

On Oct.17,2001,delegates from more than 140countries and regions unanimously agreed,at the 31thUNESCO session,that the commemorative activitiesto celebrate the millennium of the Gesar Epic wouldbe enlisted into one of the UN programs from July of2002 to july of 2003.It shows an internationally affir-mative recognition of the wisdom of the Tibetan eth-nic group of China,and it is also an internationallyaffirmative recognition of those great achievementsmade in the collection,collation and academic researchof documents of the Gesar Epic in China since thefounding of New China,especially since its reform andopening up.     

Chinese Aid in the South Pacific: Linked to Resources?

Abstract

China’s emergence as a global development actor has implications for developing countries and “traditional” donor agencies. Its current provision of foreign aid and other forms of development assistance to developing countries throughout the world presents both opportunities and challenges for all actors. At the same time, China’s growing need for natural resources and its policy of securing access through state-led “resource diplomacy” are causing concern. While most scholars and commentators are focused on the “China in Africa” dimension, China’s engagement in the South Pacific region has also been growing rapidly over the past decade and offers some interesting and unique insights. This article examines the dynamics of China’s provision of foreign aid and its quest for natural resources in the South Pacific region, with comparative references to other regions. Drawing particularly upon interviews and site visits in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, it argues that although major commercial resource contracts do appear to be supported by Chinese Government assistance, resources deals are not explicitly part of Chinese foreign aid in the region.     

福建省PRED系统评价与协调发展研究

区域PRED系统可持续发展是当今世界各国普遍关心的重大课题。本文在借鉴国内外区域PRED系统评价指标体系研究成果的基础上,依据可持续发展指标体系建立的原则,结合福建省的具体情况建立福建省PRED系统评价指标体系,通过计算,分析福建省1995-2004年PRED各子系统及总系统的发展状况和趋势,对系统之间的相关性进行研究,并进行协调性分析,提出协调福建省PRED系统的方法和措施,以达到福建省PRED系统的协调发展。