O texto discute as dificuldades epistemológicas ao lidar com temática transdisiplinar, a questão ambiental, estabelecendo como enfoque geral a visão dos problemas nesse campo como fenômenos associados à transformação da natureza pelas diferentes formações sociais. Procura-se apresentar referências teóricas gerais para a discussão da política ambiental, trazendo alguns dos enfoques mais representativos e dando uma idéia da evolução do tratamento do tema, até atingir o patamar em que está posto hoje, o da discussão da sustentabilidade. No decorrer, procura-se expor conceitos básicos atinentes aos conteúdos abordados, buscando fugir da construção de um texto hermético. Passa-se depois à discussão da questão ambiental no Brasil, dentro da postura que associa a evolução dos problemas ambientais aos estágios da história econômica. Apresenta-se a progressão do movimento de cidadãos a favor da proteção ambiental e descreve-se a evolução geral da política ambiental do Estado brasileiro, na esfera da União e dos estados. Há uma discussão crítica sobre os padrões atingidos por esta política, e insere-se a descentralização - ou a entrada em cena do poder local - como novo estágio desse processo. Passa-se ao caso sobre o qual se aprofunda a pesquisa, a política ambiental de São Sebastião. Para tanto, descreve-se a natureza local e a evolução histórica do município, dedicando-se maior espaço às décadas recentes, quando maturaram os problemas ambientais hoje verificados, e o correspondente conflito social. Procura-se situar a importância da região e os impasses ali estabelecidos pelo desenvolvimento predatório. Descreve-se então a política ambiental desenvolvida, procurando permitir um acompanhamento das iniciativas empreendidas, o estágio de desenvolvimento a que chegaram, as atitudes dos diferentes setores governamentais e não governamentais envolvidos, a dinâmica política. Discute-se o alcance das iniciativas, seu potencial de inovação para a política ambiental brasileira, e sua articulação com as políticas gerais voltadas à região, para ao final procurar estabelecer a política em nível local como algo de interesse geral, na construção de uma nova cidadania. / The text initiates with the discussion about epistemologic difficulties when dealing with transdisciplinary themes, like environment, and adopting an approach wich gives special attention to the transformation of nature by different societies. There is an effort to present theoretical references for environmental policy debate, describing representative approaches and evolution until current period, when the concept of sustainability is considered as the most important reference. The text includes basic concepts, avoiding an hermetic style. It comes to discuss environmental problems in Brazil, always relating its evolution to economic history. There is a description about citizens\' claim for environmental protection and about the evolution of environmental policy of brazilian government. This policy, concerning federal and states government iniciatives, is evaluated. Related to this context, the new role of local initiatives is presented. The case which permits a deeper research is the environmental policy of São Sebastião. There is a report about region\'s nature and history, more detailed when it describes current environmental problems and the related conflicts. Concerning the environmental policy in São Sebastião, there is a description about all the initiatives, their development and results, the attitudes of different governmental and non governmental groups, and the political dynamics. The text discusses the innovation potential and the relations between local initiatives and other governmental policies concerned to the region, concluding that local environmental policy has general interest as citizenchip development.

O texto discute as dificuldades epistemológicas ao lidar com temática transdisiplinar, a questão ambiental, estabelecendo como enfoque geral a visão dos problemas nesse campo como fenômenos associados à transformação da natureza pelas diferentes formações sociais. Procura-se apresentar referências teóricas gerais para a discussão da política ambiental, trazendo alguns dos enfoques mais representativos e dando uma idéia da evolução do tratamento do tema, até atingir o patamar em que está posto hoje, o da discussão da sustentabilidade. No decorrer, procura-se expor conceitos básicos atinentes aos conteúdos abordados, buscando fugir da construção de um texto hermético. Passa-se depois à discussão da questão ambiental no Brasil, dentro da postura que associa a evolução dos problemas ambientais aos estágios da história econômica. Apresenta-se a progressão do movimento de cidadãos a favor da proteção ambiental e descreve-se a evolução geral da política ambiental do Estado brasileiro, na esfera da União e dos estados. Há uma discussão crítica sobre os padrões atingidos por esta política, e insere-se a descentralização - ou a entrada em cena do poder local - como novo estágio desse processo. Passa-se ao caso sobre o qual se aprofunda a pesquisa, a política ambiental de São Sebastião. Para tanto, descreve-se a natureza local e a evolução histórica do município, dedicando-se maior espaço às décadas recentes, quando maturaram os problemas ambientais hoje verificados, e o correspondente conflito social. Procura-se situar a importância da região e os impasses ali estabelecidos pelo desenvolvimento predatório. Descreve-se então a política ambiental desenvolvida, procurando permitir um acompanhamento das iniciativas empreendidas, o estágio de desenvolvimento a que chegaram, as atitudes dos diferentes setores governamentais e não governamentais envolvidos, a dinâmica política. Discute-se o alcance das iniciativas, seu potencial de inovação para a política ambiental brasileira, e sua articulação com as políticas gerais voltadas à região, para ao final procurar estabelecer a política em nível local como algo de interesse geral, na construção de uma nova cidadania. / The text initiates with the discussion about epistemologic difficulties when dealing with transdisciplinary themes, like environment, and adopting an approach wich gives special attention to the transformation of nature by different societies. There is an effort to present theoretical references for environmental policy debate, describing representative approaches and evolution until current period, when the concept of sustainability is considered as the most important reference. The text includes basic concepts, avoiding an hermetic style. It comes to discuss environmental problems in Brazil, always relating its evolution to economic history. There is a description about citizens\' claim for environmental protection and about the evolution of environmental policy of brazilian government. This policy, concerning federal and states government iniciatives, is evaluated. Related to this context, the new role of local initiatives is presented. The case which permits a deeper research is the environmental policy of São Sebastião. There is a report about region\'s nature and history, more detailed when it describes current environmental problems and the related conflicts. Concerning the environmental policy in São Sebastião, there is a description about all the initiatives, their development and results, the attitudes of different governmental and non governmental groups, and the political dynamics. The text discusses the innovation potential and the relations between local initiatives and other governmental policies concerned to the region, concluding that local environmental policy has general interest as citizenchip development.

No description available.

Nowadays, pressures on the environment are increasing around the world. In particular, Hong Kong, a compact city with a population of nearly seven million, one which has undergone remarkable economic growth over the past few decades, has developed severe environmental problems. It also has deficiencies in its taxation system: a small tax base, for example. In today’s world, “green” taxes have been accepted and applied by more and more countries, especially those in the OECD. However, Hong Kong still has not adequately used the tax tool as an integral part of the government’s anti-pollution strategy. Accordingly, the major objective of this study is to make proposals for improving the use of green tax measures in Hong Kong. The study first systematically introduces background theories of green tax and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. Then, it elaborates on the primary environmental problems in Hong Kong, followed by describing the green tax measures currently existing in the city. The thesis then summarizes and analyzes green tax measures in selected countries which are at the cutting edge of utilizing the tax tool as an integral part in their environmental policy, especially the Scandinavian nations. The study also conducts interviews with Government officials, green groups and those potentially in opposition to green tax. Finally, by drawing on the experiences of green tax measures in selected countries, proposals are made on improving existing green tax measures, introducing new environmental taxes, using the revenue from these taxes and dealing with implementation issues. The research findings of this project will help modernize as well as to green Hong Kong’s taxation system and thus eventually to improve the environment of Hong Kong.

This study focuses on identifying the conditions which encourage or discourage international cooperation with regard to environmental problem-solving. In particular, the divergence between two key international relations theories, Environmentalism and Realism, will be examined in hopes of forging a rapprochement and stimulating research for a comprehensive theoretical approach to global environmental problem-solving. It is hypothesized that a state-centric political system is both a reality and an effective structure for environmental problem-solving, therefore an examination of state participation and the motivators and inhibitors affecting state response on certain environmental issues is conducted. In particular, this study hypothesizes that uncertainty can act as an inhibitor, and without the introduction of motivators can prevent states from participating in environmental problem-solving. A conceptual model of state courses of action is utilized to illustrate the potential of state participation and the development of a state-centric approach.

This research analyzes three contributing factors, perception, knowledge, and affordability, in order to estimate the likelihood of state cooperation on effective regulatory policies for transboundary environmental problems. The correlative hypothesis in this research postulates that states are more likely to support environmental regulatory policies when the issue is perceived by policymakers as serious, substantiated by a high level of knowledge, and affordable for the state. Regulatory policies for transboundary environmental issues require policymakers to act in foresight, employ precautionary measures, and cooperate. Cooperation implies that states will coordinate their policies and eschew their dominant strategy of independent decision making. However, this research contends that states decide to cooperate because they perceive the strategic interaction to be beneficial. Thus, the theory of cooperation in this research is consistent with realist assumptions of rational egoism.

This dissertation provides a descriptive-analytic study of the reasons and influences underlying Japan's less than progressive policy record on wildlife preservation, domestically and globally, since 1980. This research is important for a number of reasons, but mainly it helps us to test a number of theoretical models about: policy-making in Japan; Japanese environmental diplomacy; social movements; and corporatism. I hypothesise that apart from a common sense of purpose that binds the different policy actors together, Japan's poor record on wildlife preservation is a derivative of the way environmental NGOs have been marginalised and excluded from the policy process. This hypothesis links to Japan's public safety, and food and economic security concerns whereby these concerns tend to frame and guide policy-making on wildlife and nature issues. Using case study and participant observation methodologies to gather empirical evidence, this dissertation analyses both Japanese state behaviour towards global and domestic wildlife issues, and the changing relationships between the Japanese state, foreign pressure and environmental NGOs, in order to confirm or deny the hypothesis. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Ramsar Convention are the two environmental regimes which provide the context and issues for the analyses. The research concludes that there is convincing evidence to support the hypothesis. The research also reveals the positive, although subtle, sea changes which are occurring in Japanese environmental politics in the light of the continuing changes taking place in both Japan's broader political economy and in the international community.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was introduced to inform decision-makers of the potential environmental effects of the decision before them. It has been adopted worldwide and functions as one of the primary instruments for taking account of environmental consequences in project approval decision-making. To date, there has been very little systematic investigation that explores whether the decision-makers for whom the EIA information is produced actually use it, although there are indications that EIA information is not always effective in influencing decisions. This thesis examines how, and indeed if, environmental effects information influences the decision-making processes for which it is produced, and which factors determine the use of this information. Three main areas of concern are identified and investigated: the responses of individual decision-makers to environmental effects information; the characteristics of the effects information that influence these responses; and the processes by which the effects information is dealt with. At the core of the methodology employed for this research is the development of an exploratory model of EIA-based decision-making. This model builds on the insights into decision processes from a variety of disciplines, including psychology and planning. To test the utility of the model, it is evaluated against the New Zealand system of resource consent approval decision-making under the Resource Management Act, by means of case studies. Through interviews, direct observation, and analysis of written documents the decision processes in these cases are analysed. These techniques have been augmented by psychosocial methods that allow further probing into the decision processes that takes place in a decision-maker�s head. The research results show that the effort that is spent on the preparation of EIA reports and the improvement of EIA processes is not wasted. The EIA information clearly influences the decision processes for which it is intended but it is not influencing decisions optimally. EIA information often competes with information on environmental effects from other sources that is of higher quality, more credible, or better tailored to the decision-makers� information needs. A number of ways in which the use of EIA information could be enhanced is explored in this thesis. Foremost, the improvement of the effectiveness of EIA requires a wider adoption of a decision-making perspective on EIA, and a broader recognition of the information needs of the different decision processes for which EIA is prepared.

We develop a dynamic model that explicitly considers the trans-boundary pollution problem between two asymmetric countries. We found that the countries will enjoy higher long run growth rates and a higher environmental quality when they coordinate their environmental policies. Furthermore, the two countries suffer more heavily not cooperating with each other when their attitudes towards a cleaner environment differ greatly. The implication is that despite the inherent differences in their development level and in their environmental attitudes, developed and developing countries are strongly encouraged to cooperate environmentally. In the second part of the thesis, we turn the focus to the role of international trade in relation to economic growth and the environment. We found that the long run growth rates of the countries are lower when they engage in international trade, no matter whether the environmental externality is internalised or not. The impact of trade on welfare however is ambiguous. / Thesis (M.Ec.)--School of Economics, 2004.

"August, 2004" / Bibliography: leaves 198-208. / x, 208 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis consists of three major sudies which consider various strategies undertaken by special interest groups to shape and evade public policy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 2004