Environmental Impact Assessment Review最新文献

Takeaway packaging waste seriously pollutes the ecological environment. Better identification of stakeholders' willingness to accept reusable tableware is important for addressing the growing takeaway waste packaging challenges. However, prior literature has not specifically addressed the influencing factors that affect different stakeholders' willingness toward reusable tableware. To this end, this study is designed to explore the key influencing factors and differences in residents', takeaway clerks' and enterprises' willingness to accept (WTA) and pay (WTP) for reusable tableware in Macao, Guangzhou and Zhuhai cities, based on a CVM survey. The results show that, for residents, the WTA of respondents in Macao, Guangzhou and Zhuhai were 56.73 %, 70.60 % and 64.42 % respectively, while their WTP were 73.45 %, 91.11 % and 82.86 % respectively, and their unit WTP values were 3.08 MOP ($0.38), 2.03 CNY ($0.28) and 1.89 CNY ($0.26) respectively. In addition, for takeaway clerks and enterprises, more than half (nearly 60 %) of the respondents were willing to accept the promotion of reusable tableware. Hygiene issues, convenience and cost were the key reasons for respondents' rejecting reusable tableware. Overall, personal attitude and demographic information were the important factors for all three stakeholders' WTA and for residents' WTP, showing that improving different stakeholders' willingness toward RT is the key to building a reusable takeaway packaging system.

This study explores the context of establishing local land use plans in Berlin, which, guided by Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), have shown potential to implement climate adaptation solutions in the urban landscape. The case study aims to identify contextual factors that promote knowledge brokering (KB) and facilitate the inclusion of climate issues in decision-making processes. Based on personal interviews with open-ended questions and document analysis, the Narrative Interview method was employed to understand the relevant internal aspects of the frequent practice of local plans, as well as to observe the articulation of KB spaces. In this sense, we identified the main characteristics of this practice, highlighting the conditions necessary for KB, the complexity of the strategies employed and the relevance of the relationship between the use of information and mediation in promoting changes in decision-making. The results also indicate that both the formulation of local land use plans and the promotion of climate issues are highly stimulated by the adoption of mediation strategies. However, the practice in Berlin prefers to operate from less complex strategies, and the relevance of the climate issue is not fully understood by the interviewees. This situation, combined with the lack of clearer regulations, prevents the issue from being explored more widely. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the promotion of climate issues is surrounded by governance practices that operate through both bottom-up and top-down forces, and also depend on contextual factors such as decision-making regimes, involved stakeholders, the quality of planning guidelines, the effectiveness of SEA, and the level of public participation. These factors, in turn, are influenced by the phenomenon of knowledge mediation and promoted and strengthened through learning. Thus, the case reveals that addressing climate issues depends on aligning these factors and understanding their complexity. This study confirms the significant role of SEA and knowledge brokering in facilitating not only the addressing of climate issues, but also in promoting solutions based on more plural approaches that are better prepared to tackle complex challenges.

With the fast growth of the takeaway sector, waste originating from the consumption of single-use plastic food containers (SUPFC) is increasingly generated and exacerbates plastic pollution. Its substitutes (SUPS), a reliable option for mitigating plastic pollution, are attracting attention from both the public and private sectors. To better understand consumer preferences in reducing plastic pollution from SUPFC, we here establish an intricate fabric of the consumers' cognitive impetus toward SUPS and explore the prospects of combining and enhancing the technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior framework with additional constructs. We simultaneously analyze variations in Beijing consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for SUPS via the contingent valuation method. The intention to use (ITU) was found to be positively influenced by the perceived ease-of-use (PEU), attitude (AT), and subjective norms (SN). Conversely, perceived risk exhibited a negative correlation with AT, PEU, and ITU. The results further showed that ITU was positively correlated with income, age, and education. In addition, 95.86 % of the respondents were willing to pay for SUPS, mostly between 3 and 5 RMB (51.18 %). This study delineates a paradigm for elucidating the preference of using SUPS in the context of environmental sustainability and pro-environmental consumption. Such elucidation holds paramount importance in bolstering forthcoming investigations into SUPS utilization and behavioral patterns.

Prioritizing renewable energy generation over the conservation of natural habitats and species on a large spatial scale, leads to the paradox of impacting biodiversity to mitigate climate change. In this study, we aim at quantifying the long-term demographic impact of the excess mortality caused by collisions with wind turbines on the populations of two vulture species of conservation concern. Using long-term monitoring data and Integrated Population Models (IPMs), we quantified demographic parameters and projected population trends under various wind power development scenarios. Our findings indicate that even under our most optimistic scenarios, annual collision mortality could reach up to 30 % of the current Cinereous vulture population and 7 % of the Griffon vulture population. Without further wind power expansion, both vulture populations are predicted to remain stable or increase over the next 20 years. However, the addition of 85 wind turbines is likely to drive the Cinereous vulture to local extinction within 18 years and significantly slow the growth of the Griffon vulture population. Scenarios involving larger numbers of turbines could result in the extinction of both species within two to five years for Cinereous vultures and up to 20 years for Griffon vultures, depending on space use intensity. Our results underscore the vulnerability of long-lived species to excess mortality and highlight the need for comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) that incorporate population dynamics analyses. Effective conservation strategies must include rigorous pre- and post-construction monitoring, the availability of monitoring data, and cumulative impact assessments that consider the entire foraging range of these species. Additionally, strategic planning to avoid critical vulture habitats and implementing mitigation measures in buffer zones are essential. This study emphasizes the necessity of integrating biodiversity considerations into renewable energy planning to balance the goals of energy production and wildlife conservation.

Global water scarcity poses a significant threat to economic production, especially within resource-intensive sectors such as construction. It is essential to assess the potential local economic output loss from water scarcity in the construction sector and the distant repercussions from upstream sectors for sustainable construction practices. Our study aims to evaluate the potential local economic output loss in the construction sector due to water scarcity, taking into account spatially heterogeneous environmental flow requirements. Additionally, we quantify the distant impact from upstream sectors using a multi-regional input-output model. This study emphasizes the need to identify countries, sectors, and national sectors severely affected by water scarcity using potential economic loss per unit of output value. The results indicate that the construction sectors in Gabon, the Czech Republic, and the Central African Republic are the most severely affected by water scarcity. The potential distant economic loss in the construction sector primarily stems from the quarrying of stone, sand, and clay sector, as well as the non-metallic mineral products sector. Hotspots at the national-sector level are also identified. The findings of this study can help policymakers in the construction sector identify key countries affected by water scarcity and determine the sources of these risks.

Overcoming the climate crisis and achieving the 1.5 °C target requires the exploration of climate-resilient development pathways (CRDPs), as emphasized in the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) AR6 report. Republic of Korea has aligned itself with the international context by setting nationally determined contributions (NDC) and long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LEDS) goals. In addition, the country has announced plans to enhance carbon sink in the forestry sector. This study explored the CRDP in the forestry sector using an advanced Korean forest dynamic growth model (AKO-G-Dynamic model) with refined management algorithms. We utilized this model and applied various options for forest management based on the available detailed data, including climate change scenarios and policies reflecting possible CRDPs in the Republic of Korea. As a result, CO₂ sequestration in the 2050s was predicted to be 23.08 million tCO₂ year⁻¹ if climate change SSP 5–8.5 and the current forest management level are maintained and 28.49 million tCO₂ year⁻¹ if climate change SSP 1–2.6 and resilient level of forest management are applied. Furthermore, from the perspective of the age class of the forest, the proportion of over-matured forests decreased, leading to an improvement in the imbalance of age classes as climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management were implemented. Therefore, this study demonstrated realizable CRDPs and their implementation in decision-making concerning the NDC and LEDS. This comprehensive analysis of climate change and forest management, exploring the CRDP from various perspectives, can contribute to the development of forest management policies for climate adaptation strategies and carbon sink enhancement, thereby influencing the allocation of the carbon budget.

Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), as one of the guarantee systems for improving the construction of a beautiful China, has an impact on regional environmental management). Clarifying the coupling coordination relationship between the environmental performance of regional administrations and the ESG performance of listed enterprises may help achieve high levels of ecological preservation and economic growth. This study employs three methods to measure the degree of coordinated coupling between the environmental performance of regional administrations and the ESG effectiveness of listed firms. The methods used are the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition method, the model of coordinated coupling, and the geographic Kernel density estimation method. The findings show that: (i) there is an overall higher trend in the level of coordinated coupling between the environmental performance of regional administrations and the ESG effectiveness of listed firms. This degree of coupling has evolved from near-disorder to intermediate coordination. (ii) There is an uneven spatial distribution in the level of coordinated coupling between the environmental performance of regional administrations and the ESG effectiveness of listed businesses, with inter-regional differences serving as the primary cause of spatial variation. (iii) In most provinces, there is a geographical link between the coordinated coordination of the environmental performance of regional administrations and the ESG effectiveness of listed businesses, provided that spatial elements and temporal span are taken into account. These findings give practical recommendations for regional administrations' environmental stewardship as well as important insights into the attainment of sustainable economic and social growth.

Rapid urbanization has spurred large-scale subway construction and led to the emergence of the prefabricated composite subway station (PCSSs), a novel station paradigm that integrates cast-in-situ (CIS) and prefabrication techniques, with significantly different greenhouse gas (GHG) emission boundaries than traditional stations. However, GHG emissions from PCSSs remain unclear. Under the current concept of sustainable construction, understanding the main GHG emission characteristics is essential to optimize the design and construction mode of PCSSs and facilitate their initial development. In this regard, this study innovatively takes the PCSS in Shenzhen Urban Rail Transit Phase 5 as a case study to analyze the PCSS's GHG emission efficiency from cradle-to-end of construction, and explore the key factors affecting GHG emissions. The results indicate that PCSSs reduce GHG emissions by 2.98 %–4.91% compared to traditional CIS stations, and interestingly, the PCSS's GHG emissions increase with the increase of prefabrication rate, which is primarily due to the nature of prefabricated composite technology. The GHG emissions in the production stage, transportation stage and construction stage accounted for 67.38%, 3.16% and 29.46%, respectively, among which the GHG emissions in the PCSS transportation stage are 3.04% higher than those in CIS stations. From a sub-project perspective, the enclosure structure (54.67%) and main structure (43.67%) are the main contributors to GHG emissions. Using formworks more than 40 times is effective for low-emission prefabricated composite construction. This study provides a systematic method for calculating GHG emissions of the novel PCSS model and offers industry practitioners scientific numerical analyses to enhance the PCSS's environmental benefits.

Environmental and socio-economic factors have impacts in different directions and magnitudes. This study identifies which factors added to carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂Es) in the productive sectors during 1990–2019 in Pakistan. Logarithmic mean Divisia Index and intensity analysis were applied to estimate the key factors: carbonization, substitution, transformation, energy intensity, social economic affluence, and population effects. The results show that (i) the intensity effect illustrates CO₂E growth due to huge fossil fuel consumption. The sectorial energy substitution provides significant variation except for agriculture and other govt. sectors that increased by 0.12 % and 0.86 %, showing an efficient transition. (ii) The transformation factor showed a huge impact on raising CO₂Es from 1990 to 1995 and then provided a decline in the transformation of primary energy to final energy average by 5.24 %, with significant changes in energy efficiency. (iii) Social affluence and population factors' effects contribute 7.83 % and 3.81 % to CO₂Es, causing significant growth. However, weak results of the substitution effect in mitigating CO₂Es show that Pakistan has much to do in the future and has great potential to lessen CO₂Es using multiple resources. Finally, the most imperative contributions to sectoral energy intensity are efficiency and measures in various sectors, while the reduction in industrial share impacts structural change. The study provides necessary intuitions into policy implications, highlighting an alternative mitigation technology to attain the targeted goals in a short time since the driving factors of CO₂Es change across the subsectors.

The psychological health of university students has become a focal point for researchers worldwide. The field of environmental psychology introduces the notion of a “restorative environment”, which can help promote psychological health, and increasing research has demonstrated that environmental characteristics play a significant role in psychological health. University common spaces enable a range of daily behavioural activities and play a critical role in the psychological development of university students. Consequently, it is necessary to evaluate the psychologically restorative effects on the environmental characteristics of university common spaces. In this study, 408 common spaces across 11 university campuses in Guangzhou were considered as research objects, and a deep learning full convolutional network (FCN) program was used to identify the environmental characteristic elements of these common spaces. Based on the identification results, five representative categories and 25 common space forms were selected for further quantitative analysis based on k-means clustering. The psychologically restorative effects of the environmental characteristics of the 25 common space forms were evaluated using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS). The findings indicate that (1) the environmental characteristics of the 25 common space forms can explain university students' psychologically restorative scores. Both architectural and landscape environmental characteristics directly and significantly impacted the psychologically restorative evaluations of university students. (2) Each common space's environmental characteristic elements contributed differently to the psychologically restorative evaluation. The psychological restoration of university students was primarily affected by three characteristic elements: the green view index, waterscape coverage, and openness of building enclosures. (3) Considering the environmental elements related to university students' psychological restoration and their respective magnitudes of influence, a predictive model of the psychologically restorative effects of university common spaces was successfully established. These results have practical applications for optimising the design of university common spaces and offer methodological suggestions and theoretical support for designing healthy environments on university campuses.