Australasian Journal of Environmental Management最新文献

{"title":"Meeting environmental objectives through energy sector reforms in Asia and the Pacific","authors":"Thilak Mallawaarachchi, Rabindra Nepal, H. Ross","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1989009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1989009","url":null,"abstract":"Economic development in the pursuit of better living standards for all requires a reliable supply of energy. Energy supplies enable growth in consumption and economic well-being both in powering basic household needs and the broader processes of production and distribution. Energy, being an essential factor input in economic production, implies that the expansion of energy sources and services have catapulted economic development by facilitating industrialisation and modernisation (Stern and Kander 2012). Therefore, access to affordable and clean energy is recognised globally as one of the distinct sustainable development goals within the framework of the United Nations. Notably, public policy focus and development planning efforts have shifted toward facilitating access, reliability, and utilisation of energy, for both households and industry. This path followed the first and second laws of thermodynamics (energy conservation and entropy), which implies that energy exists in various forms and engineering manipulations can yield productivity gains. The global emphasis towards clean and affordable energy is urgent as a climate change mitigation and adaptation response. As economies grew, and living standards improved, the world began to realise the growing impacts of associated environmental costs of fossil energy use. Although economists attributed those costs to the lack of a socially cost reflective pricing (i.e. non-pricing of the externality costs though accumulated carbon emissions) economic growth fuelled through under-priced fossil fuels always won the political debate. As this journal remarked in an editorial a decade ago, pricing attempts were incorrectly labelled as taxing, and the social purpose of driving change through appropriate price incentives was overlooked (Ross and Carter 2012). Global warming is now a reality, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation overwhelming. In the growing Asia, the emergency response consumes the meagre resources that were previously directed to poverty reduction efforts, making the contest a double hurdle. The question is whether governments and communities could work together to learn from the past reform experience and reshape policy agendas toward greater coordination. How can the development community help, and would it be feasible to find solutions that work in meeting both the environmental objectives and arresting poverty as a social reality? These questions require a revisit against the backdrop that many Asian economies since the early 1990s have initiated energy sector reforms. Microeconomic and industrial organisation theories provided the economic rationale for undertaking energy sector reforms with the key objective of maximising economic welfare (Joskow 1998). The first fundamental theorem of welfare economics holds that all competitive outcomes are Pareto efficient. Therefore, promoting competition in the generation and retail segments of the energy supply industry (ESI) was one","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"305 - 313"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45153398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AJEM reviewers in 2020–2021","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1997445","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1997445","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"I - I"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41412514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of a carbon tax implementation on non-CO2 gas emissions: the case of Japan","authors":"Aline Mortha, Farhad Taghizadeh‐Hesary, X. Vo","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1991498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1991498","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Carbon taxation affects carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through the price of fossil fuels, and hence can also affect emissions of air pollutants. Based on this fact, this study aims at exploring the impact of the carbon tax in Japan on various pollutants’ emissions, using a regression-based approach. The main contribution of this study is to assess the impact of a tax that is mainly directed at cutting CO2, on other gases, namely sulphur dioxide (SO2), suspended particulate matter (SPM), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NOX), as well as analyzing the impact of this tax on different sectors of the Japanese economy. Our results imply that the introduction of the carbon tax in Japan effectively reduced non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs) and pollutants, even when controlling for demographic and economic variables. The results of this study can be explained by a partial decoupling of fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions, possibly through investment in anti-pollution measures.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"355 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48370020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What determines coal consumption for residential heating in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic?","authors":"Dina Azhgaliyeva, Ranjeeta Mishra, K. Karymshakov, Aiymgul Kerimray, Zhanna Kapsalyamova","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1989328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1989328","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Solid fuels, such as coal and firewood, account for a large share of residential heating fuel consumption in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. Solid fuels used for residential space heating are a major source of indoor air pollution, which impose health risks. Using microdata from the national household surveys from Kazakhstan in 2018 and the Kyrgyz Republic in 2016, this study examines the factors affecting the choice of residential heating. We employ two models: logit and double-hurdle. The results show that access to cleaner and more modern energy infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines and district heating reduces solid fuel consumption, especially in rural areas. Regions with higher coal prices prefer cleaner heating, while regions with higher electricity prices are more likely to participate in the coal markets. Female-headed households are less likely to use coal.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"410 - 432"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46120062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corporate governance and carbon emissions performance: empirical evidence from Australia","authors":"Jibriel Elsayih, Rina Datt, Qingliang Tang","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1989066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1989066","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT There is a growing volume of literature on corporate governance and sustainability. Despite this, the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and carbon emissions performance (CEP) is an unresolved issue. This motivates us to examine the impact of CG on CEP, using a sample of all Australian firms that have participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire survey. This study employs fixed-effects modelling for an unbalanced panel of 425 firm-year observations from 2010–2018. We find that firms with higher board independence and the presence of an environmental committee show enhanced CEP. Further, frequency of board meetings and gender diversity lead to improved CEP. However, ownership concentration does not appear to improve CEP. Our article provides valuable insight for corporate directors and regulators to help them recognize the vital role that board meetings, board gender diversity, board independence, and the presence of an environmental committee play in driving the carbon performance of companies. They can also use these results to identify positive elements of CG that may deserve additional regulatory focus to achieve carbon policy objectives. This study contributes to the increasing literature on the association between CG and climate change and presents a new direction for related research on whether and how CEP is influenced by CG.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"433 - 459"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43971601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AJEM editors’ announcements","authors":"H. Ross, C. Baldwin","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.2002961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.2002961","url":null,"abstract":"Claudia Baldwin has been the AJEM book review editor since 2006 and has indicated that it is time to pass on the job to someone new. Simply, the job includes identifying books that would be of interest to our readership, contacting the publisher for a free copy, finding a reviewer, sending the book to the reviewer, reviewing and advising the review author of any changes, and recommending it for publication. AJEM aims for two to three each issue; this varies according to the amount of space available in each issue. So the task is not onerous but does require an understanding of AJEM’s purpose, some editing and project management skills, and the ability to identify reviewers. The reviewers keep the book, an attraction to many potential reviewers. The book review editor is named as one of the editorial team. Please indicate your interest in being book review editor by email to: helen.ross@uq.edu. au. The editors thank Claudia for her outstanding contribution in this role for 15 years.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"314 - 315"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47658882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of fossil fuel-based electricity plant location on property values: evidence from Australia","authors":"Peyman Khezr, Rabindra Nepal, Renuka K. Ganegodage","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1977194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1977194","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article investigates the effect of fossil fuel-fired power plant locations on the value of neighbourhood properties in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fossil fuels account for a significant proportion of electricity generation in Australia. Thus, there are growing community concerns regarding the possible negative environmental effects of these power plants given the high levels of emissions produced by these plants. Such concerns could potentially impact on property values. We use a comprehensive dataset with the exact location of each property to estimate the effects of existing fossil fuel-fired power plants on the value of neighbourhood properties. We use spatial econometric models to estimate these effects with controls over several property characteristics and the type of power plant. Our results suggest that coal-fired power plants have significant negative effects on property values within a specific radius. These effects are likely to be lower but still negative for properties in the vicinity of gas-fired and gas reciprocating power plants.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"391 - 409"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44532852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The relationship between energy subsidies, oil prices, and CO2 emissions in selected Asian countries: a panel threshold analysis","authors":"D. H. Husaini, H. Lean, R. Ab-Rahim","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1961620","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1961620","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Strategies to balance output growth and global warming are an important matter of discussion in the current environmental management literature. A decrease in energy prices encourages energy consumption. As energy subsidies and oil prices are a major influence on the overall energy price, they also influence the level of CO2 emissions associated with output growth. In this article, we investigate the asymmetric impact of energy subsidies, oil prices, and economic output on CO2 emissions. We used a panel dataset of 20 selected oil producing countries in Asia from 2010 to 2018. We employed threshold analysis to acquire further knowledge concerning the asymmetric impact of energy subsidies, oil prices, and output on CO2 emissions. Our findings suggest that while an energy subsidy was significant in terms of resultant CO2 emissions, energy subsidies had a greater impact on CO2 emissions when the oil price is low. However, energy subsidies are not expected to cause significantly higher CO2 emissions when the value of the subsidy is at a low level. Third, these relationships follow the pattern consistent with the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis only when the energy subsidy is relatively high. We consider an energy subsidy rationalisation program could serve to meet environmental management goals in energy use.","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"339 - 354"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48931461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contemporary developments in green human resource management research: Towards sustainability in action?","authors":"Parul Choudhary, Amit Datta","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1962750","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1962750","url":null,"abstract":"This book explores the niche concept of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) by studying the functions that organisational citizens perform towards environmental management and behaviours in thei...","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"29 1","pages":"302 - 303"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43915493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental practice and Indigenous Peoples: we can’t do it without them!","authors":"A. Chenoweth, J. Womersley, H. Ross","doi":"10.1080/14486563.2021.1960904","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2021.1960904","url":null,"abstract":"Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand have different histories with respect to recognising the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples. Nevertheless, both countries are on converging pathways to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have a role in decisions regarding environmental management and protection from impacts. As we write this editorial, NAIDOC Week (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) is drawing to a close in Australia with the theme ‘Heal Country’, and the Māori New Year (Matariki) heralds a time of reflection, renewal and celebration of life. Both these topics have direct applicability to the environment profession, which is on a journey of appreciation and understanding of Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives, especially regarding their ancestral lands and waters and connection to place. Over the past year, ethical obligations with respect to Indigenous Peoples’ rights, interests, values and traditional knowledge have been starkly highlighted in Australia by public conversations and debates about fire management and stewardship of cultural heritage places. This has coincided with growing support for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ and calls for Australian legislative or constitutional recognition of Indigenous Peoples. Australia comes late to this process of settlement, with the High Court’s Mabo decision of 1992 laying bare the myth of terra nullius that had informed Australia’s approach to land ownership. More recently, Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe (2014) and other books have also re-framed perceptions of Aboriginal land and water management and added to the momentum for change. New Zealanders have long accepted many of these principles, based on the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi as a central foundation for framing future relationships between its peoples, and the enactment of policy requirements. Within the EIANZ, discourse centres on the recognition that environmental professionals needed to practice in accordance with a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct that recognises the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples. An amended Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct has been adopted (in May 2020). The proposals for change were developed by an Indigenous Engagement Working Group, including Indigenous members and advisers. The draft Code was enhanced through widely consultation among EIANZ members and Certified Environmental Practitioners who are bound to practise in accordance with the Code. The Code changes, while seemingly minor, importantly recognise that the environment specifically includes human societies and culture, acknowledge and value the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples, while at the same time advocating for their involvement in decision making. They also legitimise Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge as part of the multiple evidence base for decision making, and recognise the importance of human values (including obligations to future generations) to","PeriodicalId":46081,"journal":{"name":"Australasian Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"28 1","pages":"215 - 219"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46557858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}