This book explores the environmental competitiveness of 133 countries around the world, presenting an index evaluation system to facilitate a comparative analysis of environmental competitiveness on a global scale. This is a new way to measure competitiveness in the light of the contradiction between world economic development and environmental protection. Global environmental competitiveness covers five aspects: the ecological environment, resources environment, environmental management, environmental impacts and environmental coordination. The authors use longitudinal study and horizontal analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis methods so as to conduct an in-depth study of theoretical, empirical and methodological issues of global environmental competitiveness. The work is presented here in three main parts beginning with the theory, technical road-map and analytical approach used. The second part reports on the countries as evaluation objects, analyzing the development status of global environmental competitiveness as a whole and revealing the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s environmental competitiveness. Basic paths and strategies to enhance the competitiveness level are presented. In the third part the reader will discover a sub-report and evaluation of the environmental competitiveness for 133 countries around the world, revealing the characteristics and relative differences of countries representing different levels of development, in order to provide an important decision-making reference to those considering environmental economic policies, especially those considering accelerating a green economic transformation and enhancing environmental competitiveness. This book will appeal to scholars and professionals with an interest in environmental issues and environmental competitiveness at a global level, as well as those with an interest in each of the 133 countries analyzed in this text, including environmental policy makers in those countries.

This book explores the environmental competitiveness of 133 countries around the world, presenting an index evaluation system to facilitate a comparative analysis of environmental competitiveness on a global scale. This is a new way to measure competitiveness in the light of the contradiction between world economic development and environmental protection. Global environmental competitiveness covers five aspects: the ecological environment, resources environment, environmental management, environmental impacts and environmental coordination. The authors use longitudinal study and horizontal analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis methods so as to conduct an in-depth study of theoretical, empirical and methodological issues of global environmental competitiveness. The work is presented here in three main parts beginning with the theory, technical road-map and analytical approach used. The second part reports on the countries as evaluation objects, analyzing the development status of global environmental competitiveness as a whole and revealing the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s environmental competitiveness. Basic paths and strategies to enhance the competitiveness level are presented. In the third part the reader will discover a sub-report and evaluation of the environmental competitiveness for 133 countries around the world, revealing the characteristics and relative differences of countries representing different levels of development, in order to provide an important decision-making reference to those considering environmental economic policies, especially those considering accelerating a green economic transformation and enhancing environmental competitiveness. This book will appeal to scholars and professionals with an interest in environmental issues and environmental competitiveness at a global level, as well as those with an interest in each of the 133 countries analyzed in this text, including environmental policy makers in those countries.

This multidisciplinary book examines the diverse ways in which environmental disasters with compounding impacts are being governed as they traverse sovereign territories across rapidly urbanising societies in Asia and the Pacific. Combining theoretical advances with contextually rich studies, the book examines efforts to tackle the complexities of cross-border environmental governance. In an urban age in which disasters are not easily contained within neatly delineated jurisdictions, both in terms of their interconnected causalities and their cascading effects, governance structures and mechanisms are faced with major challenges related to cooperation, collaboration and information sharing. This book helps bridge the gap between theory and practice by offering fresh insights and contrasting explanations for variations in transboundary disaster governance regimes among urbanising populations in the Asia-Pacific.

Now that the most recent scientific estimates have shown that China has become the world's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, China's influence on the world's environment and sustainable development highlights the importance of tailoring Chinese climate change law to conform with the requirements of international conventions and agreements on climate change. This thorough analysis, based on an examination of climate status, legal background, and current regulatory systems in China, examines the potential role of different policy instruments in reducing carbon emissions in order to find an appropriate choice for China, and recommends approaches to key issues for relevant authorities. The author conducts a comprehensive and in-depth study on the three mainstream environmental policy instruments used to control carbon emissions – the cap-and-trade system, the carbon tax, and command-and- control regulations – in a Chinese context. She reviews China's current policies, and elucidates how the issues of climate change and global warming call for social, environmental, economic, and legal reforms in China, especially in the areas of administrative law and property rights law. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: - key issues on designing and implementing each of the three policy instruments; - the choice of regulatory instruments for carbon emissions reduction in a socialist market economy based on the discussion of market failure and government failure theories; - legal challenges from China's current administrative legislation and the definition of carbon emissions entitlements; - practical effect of China's climate change policy at the national, provincial, and local levels; - effectiveness of China's implementation of its international obligations; - lessons learned from schemes implemented in the United States and Australia; - comparison of China's seven regional pilot emissions trading scheme (ETS) programmes with the well-established EU ETS; - linkage between China's ETS and other ETSs from a global perspective; and - future direction of an emerging carbon market in China. The analysis assesses the critical costs and benefits of each approach in the context of selected case studies, taking legal literature in the field fully into account. Given that the Chinese government is taking steps to reduce emissions by altering energy production and usage and is signalling a willingness to make similar commitments in a multilateral treaty, it is very timely and important for lawmakers and scholars, within and outside China, to think about new and appropriate regulatory measures to respond to the crisis and plan for a sustainable future. This study provides not only a useful benchmark for both China and other countries in formulating initiatives on enhancing climate protection, but also details the global implications for governments and for international organizations concerned with the understanding between China and the rest of the world in the context of climate change mitigation.

Companies can no longer expect to engage in dubious or unethical corporate behaviour without risking their reputation and damaging, perhaps irrevocably, their market position. Irresponsible corporate behavior not only deprives shareholders of long-term returns but also ultimately imposes a cost on society as a whole. Sustainable business is about ensuring that entities contribute toward positive social, environmental, and economic outcomes. Bad business behaviour is costly for stakeholders, for markets, for society, and the economy alike. To ensure that a company behaves well, the buy-in of the leadership team is crucial. The full commitment of the board of directors, in conjunction with the senior managers of the organization, is required if an organization is to be socially responsible. In this sense, leadership does not reside with an individual (the CEO) within the organization but with all of those at the apex of corporate power and control. Effective change management requires enlightened and capable leadership to instigate and drive the process of embedding a sustainable and socially responsible corporate philosophy and culture that supports good business decision-making. A profound understanding of the requirements of such a leadership process will help corporate managers become highly effective change agents. Governance will be the main driver of this change. For the economy and financial markets to become sustainable and resilient, radical changes in corporate leadership need to take place. Integrated reporting, government regulation, and international standards will all be important factors in bringing about this change. As well as understanding the effects of corporate behavior on financial markets, such an understanding is also now imperative in relation to the social and environmental contexts.

Countries around the world are spending up to $500 billion per year on subsidising fossil fuel consumption. By some estimates, the G20 countries alone are spending around another $450 billion on subsidising fossil fuel production. In addition, the indirect social welfare costs of these subsidies have been shown to be substantial – for instance due to air pollution, road congestion, climate change, and economic inefficiency, to name a few. Considering these numbers, there is no doubt that fossil fuel subsidies cause severe economic distortions that compromise countries’ prospects of achieving equitable and sustainable development. This book provides a guide to the complex challenge of designing, assessing, and implementing effective fossil fuel subsidy reforms. It shows that subsidy reform requires a careful balancing of complex economic and political trade-offs, as well as measures to mitigate adverse effects on vulnerable households and to assist firms with implementing efficiency enhancing measures. Going beyond the purely fiscal perspective, this book emphasises that smart subsidy reforms can contribute to all three dimensions of sustainable development – environment, society, and economy. Over the course of eight chapters, this book considers a wide range of agents and stakeholders, markets, and policy measures in order to distil the key principles of designing effective fossil fuel subsidy reforms. This book will be of great relevance to scholars and policy makers with an interest in energy economics and policy, climate change policy, and sustainable development more broadly.

This report provides insights on the political economy of biodiversity related policy reforms. It draws on existing literature and four new case studies covering the French tax on pesticides, agricultural subsidy reform in Switzerland, EU payments to Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau to...

Innovations in Computing Sciences and Software Engineering includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Systems Engineering and Sciences. Topics Covered: •Image and Pattern Recognition: Compression, Image processing, Signal Processing Architectures, Signal Processing for Communication, Signal Processing Implementation, Speech Compression, and Video Coding Architectures. •Languages and Systems: Algorithms, Databases, Embedded Systems and Applications, File Systems and I/O, Geographical Information Systems, Kernel and OS Structures, Knowledge Based Systems, Modeling and Simulation, Object Based Software Engineering, Programming Languages, and Programming Models and tools. •Parallel Processing: Distributed Scheduling, Multiprocessing, Real-time Systems, Simulation Modeling and Development, and Web Applications. •Signal and Image Processing: Content Based Video Retrieval, Character Recognition, Incremental Learning for Speech Recognition, Signal Processing Theory and Methods, and Vision-based Monitoring Systems. •Software and Systems: Activity-Based Software Estimation, Algorithms, Genetic Algorithms, Information Systems Security, Programming Languages, Software Protection Techniques, Software Protection Techniques, and User Interfaces. •Distributed Processing: Asynchronous Message Passing System, Heterogeneous Software Environments, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Resource Allocation, and Sensor Networks. •New trends in computing: Computers for People of Special Needs, Fuzzy Inference, Human Computer Interaction, Incremental Learning, Internet-based Computing Models, Machine Intelligence, Natural Language.

Sustaining a competitive edge in today’s business world requires innovative approaches to product, service, and management systems design and performance. Advances in computing technologies have presented managers with additional challenges as well as further opportunities to enhance their business models. Business Transformation and Sustainability through Cloud System Implementation presents novel computing technologies designed for use in business and corporate environments, enabling managers and associates to make the most of the technologies at their disposal. This premier reference work seeks to alert firm management professionals and researchers to the potential risks and benefits associated with emerging technologies and guide firms on the proper selection, maintenance, and use of Web-based computing systems.