Ecological compensation in China: Achievement, Experience and Improvement

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) provide innovative solutions for global environmental governance. China, the largest developing country, always faces serious ecological and environmental problems. China created an Ecological compensation mechanism which combines the PES mechanism with the government’s standardized management, which has achieved remarkable results. Government-led, social participation, and market-oriented operation are its main characteristics. More importantly, the mechanism helps China achieve its anti-poverty goals. Part of its experiences have been transformed into formal institutions, i.e., Grain-for-Green plan. However, some problems have also plagued further development of it, such as the lack of environmental property rights, the single source of funds and the shortage of standardized ecological value assessment technology. We suggest that it is necessary to further improve the stability of China’s Eco-compensation mechanism. The achievement of China’s Eco-compensation mechanism provides useful guidance for other developing countries. For example, improving the role of government administrative power, and the flexibility of the system through the policy “sandbox” i.e., the policy pilot, encouraging the participation of multi-stakeholder groups, and so on. Last but most important, the policy and institutions must be closely integrated with the state of the nation for it to be sustainable.

Do People Exploit Risk–Reward Structures To Simplify Information Processing in Risky Choice?

The high rewards people desire are often unlikely. Here, we investigated whether decision makers exploit such ecological correlations between risks and rewards to simplify theirinformation processing. In a learning phase, participants were exposed to options in which risks and rewards were negatively correlated, positively correlated, or uncorrelated. In a subsequent risky choice task, where the emphasis was on making either a ’fast’ or the ’best’ possible choice, participants’ eye movements were tracked. The changes in the number, distribution, and direction of eye fixations in ’fast’ trials did not differ between the risk–reward conditions. In ’best’ trials, however, participants in the negatively correlated condition lowered their evidence threshold, responded faster, and deviated from expected value maximization more than in the other risk–reward conditions. The results underscore how conclusions about people’s cognitive processing in risky choice can depend on risk–reward structures, an often neglected environmental property.

Principles and Objectives Guiding the Modular Approach to MSME Insolvency

This chapter identifies the fundamental principles that underpin the resolution of insolvency for smaller businesses, and considers how those principles can guide the development and implementation of an approach responsive to the particular challenges faced by MSMEs. Fairness is the foundation of the Modular Approach, which seeks to systemize and generalize its requirements across the entire range of responses to MSME distress. The Approach pursues this objective by ensuring that the principles enshrined in insolvency law accord equal concern to the interests of all those stakeholders affected by issues peculiar to insolvency. Such principles must guide the creation of insolvency law tools and processes while reflecting each society’s policy choices within the complex combination of corporate, employment, environmental, property, tax, tort, and welfare laws, within which insolvency law must find its place.

Experimental Study on the Material and Environmental Property of Ancient Adobe Brick

Aiming at the environmental property and damage mechanism of ancient adobe buildings, the material components, compressive strength and freezing-thawing resisting performance of ancient adobe bricks were tested and analyzed. Based on test data, the power function relation between nondestructive rebound value and compressive strength of adobe bricks was established, and the nonlinear correlation curve between mass loss rate and freezing–thawing cycles of adobe bricks was also determined. The study shows that the compressive strength of ancient adobe brick is greater than that of adobe in traditional rammed earth wall, and ancient adobe brick is inferior to fired brick at the waterproofing quality and freezing resisting performance, it needs to adopt surface waterproofing measures for ancient adobe buildings to improve the resisting capacity to environmental erosion.

Research on Life Cycle Environmental Property of Biomass Biodegradable Packaging Material

Biomass biodegradable packaging material as a new green packaging material is a hot research area of packaging material. In order to obtain its life cycle environmental property, the life cycle environmental impact of biomass biodegradable packaging materials was studied in this paper. Firstly, the life cycle assessment theory and Eco-indicator99 method were used to establish the life cycle assessment model for biomass biodegradable packaging material; Secondly, objective and scope of the assessment are identified through the research on characteristics of life cycle stages of biomass biodegradable packaging material; Finally, Simapro software is used to do the biomass biodegradable packaging materials LCA and the comparative analysis with the corrugated cardboard, kraft paper, modified starch biodegradable plastics packaging materials.

Research and Development on Self-Cooling Beverage Can Based on Refrigeration Material

This paper illustrated the research status of current self-cooling beverage packaging, provided the design principle of self-cooling beverage can, and designed a new self-cooling beverage can based on refrigeration material (liquid CO2). Its refrigeration structure, refrigeration mechanism and manufacturing technique were further studied; besides, the calculation formula of cooling agent dosage and check formula of container strength was raised. Moreover, safety and environmental property of self-cooling beverage can were evaluated. The result shows that the design accords with the requirements of pressure vessel.

Strategy on Optimization of Local Government Environmental Regulation Performance: Economic Analysis Based on Environmental Property Right

Environmental property right structure is an important factor influencing environment protection. The public property right attribute of the regional environmental resources determines the need of local government environmental regulation on the use of environmental resources. The government behavior is the main factor affecting the local government environmental regulation performance. Optimization of local government environmental regulation performance, needs to establish public choice mechanism and the administration accountability system, and reshape incentive and restraint mechanisms on the main local government officials.