“Stop Blaming the Cows!”: How Livestock Production is Legitimized in Everyday Discourse on Facebook

In 2016, Swedish climate reporting declined in quantity and shifted focus somewhat from climate change as such to the harmful climate impacts of meat consumption. The latter prompted discussions in social media—an increasingly important forum for public debate but infrequently studied in environmental communication research. Despite strong evidence that a meat and dairy-based diet is harmful for the environment, meat consumption is increasing, and this qualitative study aims to—through the lens of social representation theory—contribute knowledge about how livestock production is legitimized in everyday discourse on Facebook. The article identifies representations that legitimize livestock production through polarization between (1) livestock production and other (environmental) issues, (2) environmentally “good” and “bad” countries, and (3) “reliable” and “unreliable” information. It concludes by discussing the influence of national ideology on the legitimization of livestock production and the potential of social media to counter the post-politicization of environmental issues.     

Land use and cover change in Japan and Tokyo’s appetite for meat

Urban consumption of ecosystems services such as food generates environmental impacts at different geographical scales. In the last few decades Tokyoites have shown an increasing appetite for meat. This study examines the environmental implications of Tokyo’s increasing meat consumption by analyzing how this trend has affected land use and cover change in areas near and far away. Historical databases (1970–2005) are employed in order to explore meat consumption patterns in Tokyo and to relate it with beef and pork production in areas within the country and abroad. It also integrates the historical analysis of production and consumption patterns with a discussion of the drivers (e.g., wealth, price, policies and seafood availability) behind these trends. We identified that meat production in Japan followed three distinct phases between 1877 and 2005. In the first period it took 50 years for production to increase by 50%, while during the next phase production showed the same growth in just half the time. Major changes in land use/cover change because of domestic meat production occurred mainly during the second phase and, thereafter, when domestic production declined and was substituted to a great extent by imports. Despite the increasing consumption of imported meat, Tokyo relies greatly on domestic meat produced in its neighboring prefectures. The paper concludes that regional planning can be used as an effective instrument to protect the environment and secure protein for the population of mega-urban areas such as Tokyo.     

No Meat,Less Meat,or Better Meat: Understanding NGO Messaging Choices Intended to Alter Meat Consumption in Light of Climate Change

This paper examines the factors shaping non-governmental organization (NGO) messaging decisions on how meat consumption should be altered in light of climate change. In particular, we sought to understand the relative absence of messages promoting meat-free diets and the decision of some NGOs to pair meat reduction messages with messages encouraging consumers to switch to meat from ruminant grass-fed animals. Interviews were conducted with 27 staff members from environmental, food-focused, and animal protection NGOs from the USA, Canada, and Sweden. While strategic considerations consistently led to the use of modest messages for meat reduction, NGO missions were also key to shaping the specifics of messaging goals. The relatively low personal comfort levels that some NGO staffers held toward meat-free diets also led to the use of more modest requests for meat reduction. Findings highlight the complex nature of the factors underlying the environmental communication messages of NGOs.     

Reducing meat consumption in developed and transition countries to counter climate change and biodiversity loss: a review of influence factors

A dietary shift towards reduced meat consumption is an efficient strategy for countering biodiversity loss and climate change in regions (developed and transition countries) where consumption is already at a very high level or is rapidly expanding (such as China). Biodiversity is being degraded and lost to a considerable extent, with 70 % of the world’s deforestation a result of stripping in order to grow animal feed. Furthermore, about 14.5 % of the world’s anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are calculated to be the result of (mainly industrial) livestock farming. The research reviewed here focuses on the feasibility of reducing meat consumption in developed and transition countries, as this would—among other positive effects—reduce the global loss of biodiversity, the need for unsustainable agricultural practices and GHG emissions. This article reviews the barriers, opportunities and steps that need to be taken in order to encourage the consumption of less meat, based on an interdisciplinary and multifactor approach. The evidence is gathered from a systematic meta-analysis of factors (including personal, sociocultural and external factors) that influence individual meat-eating behaviour. The most relevant factors that influence behaviour appear to be emotions and cognitive dissonance (between knowledge, conflicting values and actual behaviour) and sociocultural factors (e.g. social norms or social identity). For different factors and groups of people, different strategies are appropriate. For example, for men and older people deploying the health argument or arguing for flexitarianism (reduced meat consumption) may prove the most promising approaches, while providing emotional messages or promoting new social norms is recommended in order to address barriers such as cognitive dissonance.

     

Environmental comparison of draught animal and tractor power

The environmental impacts of moving to different traction power sources have not been well studied in either developing countries or modern agriculture. This study assesses the environmental impact of the transition from animal to tractor power and vice versa. Three different scenarios are analyzed: a developing country context where draught animal power (DAP) is actually in use; a similar context where DAP is replaced by mechanical traction; and a developed country scenario where mechanical traction is replaced by DAP. The impact assessment focuses on global warming (GW) and primary energy consumption (PEC). The DAP system refers to an Indonesian case study where Peranakan Ongole cattle are used for work, together with the production of milk and meat, and fed with two forage-supplying alternatives. The mechanical traction system considers the cases of a two-wheel tractor (2WT) and a rear-wheel-drive tractor (4WT). In the first scenario, assessing DAP impacts for plowing through process subdivision and indirect impacts allocation to co-products, DAP has a consistent advantage regarding energy consumption, while for CO₂eq emissions, performance is better only in the case of 2WT. In the second scenario, considering product equivalent systems, substituting DAP with tractor power and maintaining the same DAP livestock farming more than doubles the impact; only with the introduction of modern, specialized livestock farming is a reduction achieved. In the third scenario, replacing mechanical traction with DAP results in a greater than three-fold increase in impact for PEC and more than 17 times increase for GW. Further work on the influence of system definition and the socio-economic background would improve the estimates produced in this study.     

Transforming systems of consumption and production for achieving the sustainable development goals: moving beyond efficiency

The United Nations formulated the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 as a comprehensive global policy framework for addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges currently facing humanity. In this paper, we analyse SDG 12, which aims to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” Despite long-standing political recognition of this objective, and ample scientific evidence both on its importance and on the efficacy of various ways of promoting it, the SDGs do not provide clear goals or effective guidance on how to accomplish this urgently needed transformation. Drawing from the growing body of research on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), the paper identifies two dominant vantage points—one focused on promoting more efficient production methods and products (mainly through technological improvement and informed consumer choice) and the other stressing the need to consider also overall volumes of consumption, distributional issues, and related social and institutional changes. We label these two approaches efficiency and systemic. Research shows that while the efficiency approach contains essential elements of a transition to sustainability, it is by itself highly unlikely to bring about sustainable outcomes. Concomitantly, research also finds that volumes of consumption and production are closely associated with environmental impacts, indicating a need to curtail these volumes in ways that safeguard social sustainability, which is unlikely to be possible without a restructuring of existing socioeconomic arrangements. Analysing how these two perspectives are reflected in the SDGs framework, we find that in its current conception, it mainly relies on the efficiency approach. On the basis of this assessment, we conclude that the SDGs represent a partial and inadequate conceptualisation of SCP which will hamper implementation. Based on this determination, this paper provides some suggestions on how governments and other actors involved in SDGs operationalisation could more effectively pursue SCP from a systemic standpoint and use the transformation of systems of consumption and production as a lever for achieving multiple sustainability objectives.     

环境治理的社会规范路径

环境问题的根源在于人类的行为,引导个体实施环境友好行为是环境治理的基本思路。环境社会规范会对环境行为产生重要的影响,是环境治理的重要路径。本研究在阐述社会规范的种类及其作用机制的基础上,借鉴环境社会规范激活的相关理论,阐明环境社会规范激活的影响因素及环境社会规范作用于环境行为的基本机理,分析中国环境社会规范激活存在的障碍,提出政府通过促进环境社会规范的激活来治理环境所应当采取的措施。研究结论表明,整体环境社会规范的激活水平决定着环境社会规范对环境行为的作用力,其取决于相互影响的环境描述性规范、环境命令性规范、环境个人规范的激活水平以及外部约束条件。由于受到客观物质生活条件的制约,中国环境社会规范的激活存在一些障碍,导致环境社会规范激活处于较低的水平,这些主要的障碍包括环境消极描述性规范反向作用大、环境个人规范激活水平低和行为的成本、行为的技术障碍、行为的便利性等外部因素的制约突出。在此,提出的建议是政府相关部门可以采取积极措施,通过提高环境社会规范的激活水平来达到环境治理的目标。政府相关部门可通过描述性规范信息的传递提高环境描述性规范激活水平。环境宣传教育中通过生态价值观确立、环境污染行为不利后果的明确认知、环境不利后果避免的正确归因来提高环境个人规范的激活水平。通过降低遵守环境社会规范的难度和成本消除环境社会规范激活的外部制约因素。通过完善环境立法并强化环境法的实施可有效提高环境描述性规范、环境命令性规范、环境个人规范的激活水平,从而提高整体环境社会规范的激活水平。     

Evaluating Consumer Understanding of the Swedish Meat Guide—A Multi-layered Environmental Information Tool Communicating Trade-offs When Choosing Food

To facilitate the choice of more sustainable animal-based products in the diet, a Swedish meat guide providing complex, multi-layered environmental information to non-experts has been developed. This study evaluated reception of this guide by consumers. In five focus groups, participants (“interested consumers”) carried out a joint environmental and animal welfare ranking assignment to test understanding and use of the guide. The type and detail of indicators (e.g. carbon footprint) in the meat guide suited the audience. The guide stimulated discussion on ethical issues and quality aspects of meat, revealed perceived obstacles to reducing meat consumption and provided an understanding that any food product chosen comes with trade-offs.     

个人规范对农户亲环境行为的影响分析——基于拓展的规范激活理论框架

农户的亲环境行为可在一定程度上缓解农业环境污染,为改善农业环境,探寻农户实施亲环境行为的原因所在,将农户环境污染感知、环境关心和社会规范加入规范激活理论框架对其进行拓展,在此基础上,通过构建结构方程模型和层次回归模型,利用陕西、山西、甘肃、安徽和江苏5省的实地调查数据,对农户的亲环境行为进行分析。结果表明:农户的亲环境个人规范、环境污染感知和环境关心均可对其亲环境行为产生直接的正向影响,且个人规范对行为的影响程度最大;结果意识、责任归属、农户的环境污染感知和环境关心均可对其亲环境的个人规范产生直接的正向影响,且其影响程度从高到低依次为:结果意识、责任归属、环境污染感知和环境关心;农户的环境污染感知和环境关心可同时对其亲环境行为产生直接和间接影响作用,而结果意识和责任归属仅可对其亲环境行为产生间接影响作用;社会规范可正向调节个人规范对农户亲环境行为的影响。     

城乡居民食物碳消费变化与差异分析——以安徽省为例

经济的快速发展和居民人口的不断增长，给社会和生态环境带来了巨大压力，不可持续的居民食物碳消费是造成全球环境问题的重要原因之一。居民食物碳消费是环境碳循环研究和可持续消费的重要内容。采用政府宏观统计数据，研究了1985~2007年安徽省城乡居民食物碳消费结构和食物碳消费的变化趋势和影响因素，并对城乡差异进行了分析比较，结果表明：(1)城市居民家庭食物碳消费结构转变较农村显著，城市居民食物碳消费从以“粮食碳消费为主”的比较单一的消费模式转变为以“粮食、肉类、食用植物油碳消费为主”的多元消费模式；而农村居民食物碳消费从以“粮食碳消费为主”转变为以“粮食、食用植物油碳消费为主”的多元消费模式；(2)城市居民人均、户均食物碳消费量均呈下降趋势，但食物消费总量却呈上升趋势，加剧了食物碳消费的环境影响；农村人均和户均食物碳消费和碳消费总量呈下降趋势，但人均、户均食物碳消费仍高于城市，农村居民食物碳消费的生态压力依然较大。(3)Pearson乘积相关分析表明，影响城市居民人均食物碳消费的主要因素是恩格尔系数和人均可支配收入，而影响农村居民人均食物碳消费的主要因素是农村人均纯收入。研究结果对进一步探索可持续的居民消费模式和减轻环境影响具有重要的现实意义。
     

不同返还情景下碳税对中国经济影响及减排效果——基于动态CGE的模拟分析

本文构建了多部门递归动态可计算一般均衡模型,考虑中国经济发展和碳减排的现实情况,以征收40元/吨碳税且无税收返还为基准情景,分析了碳税对中国经济和碳强度的影响;在此基础上,本文探讨六种税收返还情景(返还清洁能源部门部分碳税、返还服务业部分碳税、返还农村和城镇居民全部碳税、减免企业所得税、减免居民所得税、减免生产税)对碳税负效应的缓解作用,同时探讨税收返还政策下碳税对中国经济增长、社会福利、农村和城镇居民收入消费、各部门产出的影响差异,并从实现2020年和2030年减排目标的角度,比较不同返还情景下碳税对碳排放量、碳强度,以及对非化石能源占一次能源消费结构变化的长期影响。研究结果表明:基准情景下,碳税对经济确实存在负效应;六种返还政策均不同程度地降低碳税负效应,同时也能够保证实现2020年的减排目标且有利于实现2030年的目标;对单一部门(清洁能源部门或服务业)部分返还碳税能够促进相应部门的产出,但力度较小,与其他政策相比影响微弱,但都能够有效地促进这两大部门的发展,因此在制定补贴政策时应当考虑行业差异性,重点扶持符合绿色发展要求的行业;对农村和城镇居民的直接返还均能增加农村和城镇居民收入,刺激了消费进而带动社会经济发展,相比部门返还政策,这一政策更为有效的提高了社会福利,但也会进一步拉大农村与城镇居民之间的收入消费差距;减免企业所得税促进企业投资和产业结构调整;减免居民所得税极大的刺激居民消费;减免生产税促进进口、拉动就业率,降低化石能源部门产出,综合来看,相对于其他返还政策,减免生产税更有效可行。     

1949年以来中国环境与发展关系的演变

从IPAT方程出发,发现了环境影响随着经济发展或时间的演变依次遵循三个"倒U型"曲线规律,即环境影响强度的倒U型曲线、人均环境影响的倒U型曲线和环境影响总量的倒U型曲线。根据此规律,可以将该演化过程划分为四个阶段即:环境影响强度高峰前阶段、环境影响强度高峰到人均环境影响量高峰阶段、人均环境影响量高峰到环境影响总量高峰阶段以及环境影响总量稳定下降阶段。在环境演变的不同阶段,主要驱动力存在着明显的差异。在环境影响强度高峰前阶段,资源消耗或污染物排放增长更多地由资源或污染密集型技术进步驱动;在资源消耗或污染物强度高峰到人均资源消耗或污染物排放高峰阶段,主要由经济增长驱动;而在人均资源消耗或污染物排放高峰到资源消耗或污染物排放总量高峰阶段以及总量高峰以后的发展阶段,则主要由节约高效技术或污染减排技术进步来驱动。实证分析表明,中国目前环境与发展关系基本上处于经济增长主要驱动的环境影响强度高峰向人均环境影响高峰过渡阶段,这同时意味着中国要在短期内实现人均环境影响和环境影响总量高峰的跨越是异常困难的。     

稻农低碳生产行为影响因素与引导策略——基于人际行为改进理论的多组比较分析

水稻种植是我国农业温室气体的主要排放源，有效引导农户进行水稻低碳化生产对减少农业温室气体排放，实现我国农业绿色可持续发展具有重要意义。基于改进的人际行为理论，建立稻农低碳生产行为影响机制理论框架，继而运用结构方程模型，实证检验了影响稻农低碳生产行为的主要因素及其影响路径。研究表明，低碳行为意愿与能力是激发稻农低碳生产行为的直接动因。行为态度、社会规范、环境情感通过影响低碳行为意愿作用于低碳生产行为。其中，行为态度的影响最大（0555），其次是社会规范（0232），环境情感作用最小（0153）。促进条件在意愿-行为、能力-行为的转化过程中具有显著的调节作用。进一步的多群组分析发现，受教育程度、家庭年收入、种植规模等变量在不同群组间的调节效应存在显著差异。由此表明，鼓励稻农适度扩大水稻种植规模，完善农业绿色生产补贴，加强水稻低碳生产教育与专业技术培训等是提高农户低碳认知与行为意愿，引导稻农从事低碳生产的有效手段     

Research on Indicator System of Regional Eco-efficiency:A Case Study of Chengyang District

Eco-efficiency is a valuable tool for managing and solving issues involving resource consumption and pollution emission in current production processes. Despite the popularity of the term “eeo-efficiency“ in business, limited attention has been paid to measuring and reporting regional eco-efficiency for local government policy makers. Based on the concept and method of eco-efficiency, an indicator system of regional eco-efficiency is established in this study. The indicator system comprises 22 indicators, which are divided in to three categories including socio-economic development, resources consumption,environmental pressure. As a promising statistical technique,principle component analysis is used to set the weight of indicators which attempts to calculate the eco-efficiency indices of Qingdao‘s Chengyang District. The results show that the eco-efficiency of Chengyang District has clearly improved 35.1% with small fluctuation from 1995 to 2003. Socio-economic development index and resources consumption index also represent obvious increasing trends. The correlation coefficient between soci-economic development index and resources consumption index is 0.979, which means the social progress and economic growth of Chengyang District depend on an extravagant consumption of resources. The environmental pressure index increased slowly before 1997 and declined gradually after 1997, due to more attention being paid to environmental protection by local government in recent years. Chengyang District still keeps the traditional economic development mode with a high consumption and high production, so the emphases of future development should put on improving the improving the efficient use of natural resources and promoting environmental management sustainability. The results show that the indicators system of regional eco-efficiency is a promising method to quantitatively evaluate resources and environmental efficiency and provide an effective decision-making support for local governments.     

Research on Indicator System of Regional Eco-efficiency: A Case Study of Chengyang District

Abstract

Eco-efficiency is a valuable tool for managing and solving issues involving resource consumption and pollution emission in current production processes. Despite the popularity of the term “eco-efficiency” in business, limited attention has been paid to measuring and reporting regional eco-efficiency for local government policy makers. Based on the concept and method of eco-efficiency, an indicator system of regional eco-efficiency is established in this study. The indicator system comprises 22 indicators, which are divided in to three categories including socio-economic development, resources consumption, environmental pressure. As a promising statistical technique, principle component analysis is used to set the weight of indicators which attempts to calculate the eco-efficiency indices of Qingdao's Chengyang District. The results show that the eco-efficiency of Chengyang District has clearly improved 35.1% with small fluctuation from 1995 to 2003. Socio-economic development index and resources consumption index also represent obvious increasing trends. The correlation coefficient between soci-economic development index and resources consumption index is 0.979, which means the social progress and economic growth of Chengyang District depend on an extravagant consumption of resources. The environmental pressure index in- creased slowly before 1997 and declined gradually after 1997, due to more attention being paid to environmental protection by local government in recent years. Chengyang District still keeps the traditional economic development mode with a high consumption and high production, so the emphases of future development should put on improving the improving the efficient use of natural resources and promoting environmental management sustainability. The results show that the indicators system of regional eco-efficiency is a promising method to quantitatively evaluate resources and environmental efficiency and provide an effective decision-making support for local governments.     

Linking Ecological Sustainability and World Food Needs

Ecological approaches to agriculture can provide useful guidelines for addressing world food needs, while avoiding adverse environmental and social impacts. Experiments in both natural and agricultural ecosystems suggest that systems with high plant diversity may be more productive, more stable and more resilient than species-poor systems. In addition, systems with high plant diversity support higher levels of biodiversity in other functional groups, which may enhance the productivity of the plant component. Given these benefits of diverse systems, various approaches for converting conventional high input agricultural systems to more sustainable systems are addressed. Andow and Hidaka's (1989) concept of production syndromes is considered in the context of conversion to sustainable agriculture.     

The environmental impact assessment of wheat and barley production by using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology

This study was conducted to assess the impact of cereals (wheat and barley) production on environment under rainfed and irrigated farming systems in northeast of Iran. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as a methodology to assess all environmental impacts of cereal grain production through accounting and appraising the resource consumption and emissions. The functional unit considered in this study was one ton grain yield production under different rates of nitrogen application. All associated impacts of different range of N fertilizer application were evaluated on the basis of the functional unit. In this study, three major impact categories considered were climate change, acidification, and eutrophication. In order to prepare final evaluation of all impacts on environment, the EcoX was determined. Results represented that, under low consumption of N fertilizer, the environmental impacts of both rainfed farming systems of wheat and barley was less than irrigated farming systems. Considering grain yield as response factor to different fertilizer application level, irrigated farming systems of wheat and barley with the range of 160–180 and?>220 (Kg?N?ha^?1) showed the maximum impact on environment. It seems LCA is an appropriate method to quantify the impact of utilized agricultural inputs and different managements on environment.     

政府环境规制下的企业治理动机与公众参与外部性研究

本文构建了多主体参与环境治理的动态一般均衡模型,进行了政府环境规制下的企业内生治理动机研究与公众参与外部性的分析,模拟结果显示,企业内生治理动机、社会福利等不同目标下对应的最优环境税率存在明显差异。随着政府环境税率的不断上升,企业环境技术研发投入会先上升后下降,当环境研发投入水平达到最大时,政府所征收的环境税完全激发了企业的内生治理动机。在环境税率提高的初期,研发引致的环境技术进步使得企业的全要素生产率得以提高,经济产出不断增加,社会福利水平得到增进。当环境税率上升到一定数值之后,环境税带来的资源配置扭曲效应高于环境负外部性的改善效应,对于经济而言,环境税成为扭曲性税收,并会降低社会福利水平。因此,应在保证经济增长和社会福利增进的同时有效激励企业内在治理动机,将环境税率设定在适当水平。本文还模拟了政府与公众参与的组合对于社会福利的影响情况,与仅考虑政府环境规制政策的情形相对比,政府征收环境税和社会组织参与的共同作用可以使得社会福利提高,充分表明了公众参与环境治理存在着正外部性。环境社会组织在一定程度上可以降低政府信息不对称等因素,改善环境治理状况。环境组织的参与还能够使得环境税所带来的环境治理改善和生产效率提高的双重红利逐渐释放。因此,在发挥政府规制与市场调节功能的同时,充分发挥环境社会组织和公众在环境治理中的作用,是改善环境质量、提高公众福利的重要方式。     

Dioxins and PCBs in game animals: Interspecies comparison and related consumer exposure

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCB) and non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCB) are ubiquitous, persistent toxic compounds that are highly bioaccumulative in nature. Wild-living animals are vulnerable to the negative impacts of human activity. Dioxins and PCBs enter the animal organisms through foraging. Due to the toxicological threat, much attention is paid to these compounds worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the dioxin contamination status of three game animal species (red deer, roe deer, and wild boar) and compare the PCDD/F and PCB congener bioaccumulation in the muscles, abdominal fat and liver. The chemical analysis was performed by the isotope dilution technique (IDMS) with high-resolution gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). Dioxins and PCBs were found in specimens collected from all studied species, suggesting the presence of the test compounds in the environment of the animals. The highest concentrations were found in the livers of all animals. The toxic equivalent (TEQ) levels in the muscles, adipose tissue and liver were in the order red deer > roe deer > wild boar. PCDD/Fs were the dominant congeners in TEQ value. For all tested species, the dominant contributors to the total WHO-TEQ were PCB-126, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD. Among the PCDD/F congeners in the deer tissues, OCDD, OCDF and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF were dominant, while in wild boar, OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCF occurred in the highest amounts. Among PCBs, PCB-105, 118, 156, 138, 153 and 180 were dominant in all species, but with different levels. The regular consumption of muscle meat from game animals should not cause unacceptable dioxin intake above the Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) value for children and adults. However, liver consumption should be avoided, especially by children and pregnant or lactating women. High consumption of contaminated liver may cause dioxin intake at levels up to 300% of TWI for adults and up to 700% TWI for children.