The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing restaurant Owner-Managers’ decisions to adopt sustainability innovations in restaurants. A cross-sectional survey research design is used for this study, which entails distributing a survey to restaurants in the City of Richmond, Virginia, to gain an understanding of the factors influencing sustainability innovation adoption. Drawing from both the innovation adoption theory and the theory of planned behavior, the researcher contributes a baseline of the restaurants’ sustainability and the Owner-Managers’ intrinsic motivations. By integrating innovation adoption theory’s perceived innovation characteristics and measuring restaurants’ past sustainability behavior, this study increases the overall explanatory power of the theory of planned behavior. The findings demonstrate the need for new policy that effectively increases the rate of sustainability innovation adoption throughout Richmond’s restaurant industry. This study’s baseline contribution enables policymakers to move from planning to the implementation of the initiatives needed to achieve the economic development goal and first objective detailed in the City of Richmond’s sustainability plan, RVAgreen: A Roadmap to Sustainability (2011).

This thesis, submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in Geography and Environment, presents a case study of the development of the UK's market-based management system for oceanic fisheries. Implemented gradually in the years since 1984, the informal nature of the UK's fisheries management system, which has developed through a number of incremental changes and government-industry "gentlemen’s agreements" rather than clear legislative moves, means that few official policy documents (and perhaps consequently, little academic literature) on the subject currently exist. This thesis traces the material and political processes of market formation, looking at the origin of market-based policies in the theories of bioeconomics and wider economic history. It asks what the implicit assumptions of the economic discipline can – and can't – tell us about the impacts and outcomes of market creation, and using a Foucauldian inspired approach to economic performativity, discusses the role of ostensibly descriptive theories in shaping the world around them. Finally, it calls for a greater geographical engagement with marine issues, and proposes an action-research role for geographers in the politics of the sea.

This thesis whose topic is "Environmental policy in the context of competition policy within the European Union" I take to make clear, at least in part, the relationship of the environment and competition, from the perspective of European Union policies. I achieve this by analysis of the relationship of basic values of the EU policies, specifically finding their harmony or conflict, or finding harmony and contradictory points. I consider the comparison of objectives and principles as an appropriate means for consultation at the elementary level of this relationship. I also deal with questions whether the primary law of the Union is prepared to a possible conflict of policies and whether in this case governs their relationship. The conclusion of this work is that environmental protection is not in direct conflict, or in full compliance with the protection of competition. The relationship of the two policies and their ideal setting must be considered for each individual case. Individual competition policy goals and values of environmental policy and their implementation can be both, inconsistent and also consistent, due to the rate and method of the regulation of that relationship. The principles of integration and sustainable development define status of environmental policy. The core of this...

Scattered vegetation is an essential part of the landscape in the Czech Republic. It is typical mainly for farm land which has experienced deep changes during the last century, which were probably the deepest changes in the last millennium. The thesis focuses on valuation of the scattered vegetation from the fifties till present. As a reset of collectivism, land consolidation in-to large land units, grassland ploughing and disturbance of scenic elements started. These broke the ecological balance of the landscape. The priority was given to the objective of increasing agricultural production. However, this intense way of farming changed sharply after the year 1989 during the transition to free market economy when the intensity of agricultural production decreased and a lot of less efficient areas were left abandoned. At the same time, modern legislativ protecting important scenic elements and scattered vegetation was adopted. At the beginning of the new century the Czech Republic joined the European Union resulting in changes in the environmental and agricultural policy. My thesis is aiming to analyse all the elements of scattered vegetation on one study area and with the help of this analysis tries to get the response of the scattered vegetation to the factors mentioned above. Specifically, I...

Many studies exist on whether Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) improve firms’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the literature on VEPs theorizes that specific features contribute to program performance. This study examines the ability of Voluntary Environmental Programs to reduce emissions and the role of institutional design on their performance. Specifically, this study aimed to identify if specific features influence performance more than others do. The indicator of performance focuses on the overall emission reductions of firms across years 2007-2009. To analyze performance and features, the study examines the emission data and design features of each program. The results reveal the ability of the VEPs to reduce emissions and a combination of features that may have a greater influence on performance. This suggests that the success of VEPs rely on their ability to institute these features.

This thesis analyses the voluntary instruments in relationship to EU. The goal of this work is to find out, if the voluntary instruments represent a proper mean to protect the environment and how does the European Union stands in their support. At the beginning the thesis introduces the base of environmental policy at the bussiness level and then the EU environmental policy. Next there is described a model of optimal influance of the polluter to the environment. Last two chapters are about the voluntary instruments themselves. After their short introduction the thesis analyses their economical features and how can they be expressed in the model. Then the work answers the question, how does the European Union stands in their support and introduces two unique EU instruments -- EMAS and ekolabel EU.

A definição e o estabelecimento da matriz de transportes de um país são desafios que acarretam implicações ambientais além das sociais e econômicas. No contexto brasileiro existem previsões de incorporar a dimensão ambiental no processo de tomada de decisão no Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte em consonância com os pressupostos do desenvolvimento sustentável. A Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE) é um instrumento utilizado internacionalmente para propiciar essa inserção e facilitar a tomada de decisão mais estratégica. Assim, o objetivo da dissertação foi discutir e estabelecer critérios conceituais de boas práticas de AAE, as possíveis contribuições da aplicação de uma AAE nos Planos de Transporte e aplicar no caso brasileiro Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte (PNLT). Para a consecução do objetivo proposto, o presente trabalho estabeleceu critérios e formulou uma diretriz teórica de boas práticas de AAE a partir da Diretiva Européia 42 de 2001, que trata da implantação e procedimentos de AAE, e de experiências de países como a Escócia, País de Gales e Inglaterra. Esse quadro conceitual foi aplicado no caso brasileiro do Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte. Os resultados obtidos mostram um fraco compromisso do Plano Brasileiro com um efetivo envolvimento da dimensão ambiental no processo de tomada de decisão, evidenciando um descompasso entre o que é preconizado e a prática. A principal conclusão é que o Plano Nacional está direcionado para o crescimento econômico sem a devida inserção da dimensão ambiental. / The definition and the establishment of transport matrix of a country challenges that cause environmental implications as well as social and economic. In the Brazilian context, there are predictions of incorporating environmental considerations into decision-making in the National Plan of Logistics and Transport in line with the assumptions of the sustainable development process. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a tool used internationally to provide this integration and facilitate more strategic decision making. The aim of the thesis was to discuss and establish conceptual criteria of good practice SEA, the possible contributions of applying SEA in Transport Plans and apply the Brazilian case - National Plan of Logistics and Transport (NPLT). To achieve the proposed objective, this paper established criteria and formulated a theoretical guideline of best practices from the European SEA Directive 42 of 2001 that deals with the establishment and SEA procedures, and experience of countries such as Scotland, Country Wales and England. This conceptual framework was applied in the case of Brazil\'s National Plan of Logistics and Transport. The results show a weak commitment of the Brazilian Plan with an effective involvement of the environmental dimension in the decision-making process, showing a gap between what is recommended and practice. The main conclusion is that the National Plan is directed to economic growth without proper integration of the environmental dimension.

We analyse the effects of the Priority Municipalities List, that indicates the primary targets of environmental police monitoring, on deforestation of municipalities in the neighbourhood of the listed. We argue that being a neighbour to a priority municipality causes an exogenous variation in environmental authorities\' presence, and use a difference-in-differences estimator to determine the impact of such presence on deforestation. As an innovative feature, we introduce a spatial version of this estimator to correct spatial dependence. Our results show that the net effect of treatment is a decrease in deforestation of 19% to 23%. Estimates also indicate that effects get weaker the greater the distance to the priority municipality / Este trabalho avalia os efeitos da Lista de Municípios Prioritários, que indica os principais alvos de fiscalização da autoridade ambiental, sobre o desmatamento dos municípios na vizinhança dos listados. Argumenta-se que ter um vizinho listado causa uma variação exógena na presença das autoridades ambientais, e um estimador de diferença-em-diferenças é usado para determinar o impacto dessa presença sobre o desmatamento. Uma contribuição deste trabalho é acrescentar uma versão espacial do estimador para corrigir a dependência espacial na variável dependente. Nossos resultados mostram que o efeito líquido do tratamento é reduzir o desmatamento entre 19% e 23%, e que esse efeito enfraquece à medida que a distância até o município prioritário aumenta.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude des implications de l’incertitude sur la politique environnementale. Le débat autour de l’incertitude s’est intensifié dans le contexte du changement climatique et de durabilité. De nombreuses études récentes examinant les politiques environnementales ont montré comment l’incertitude peut modifier les comportements économiques. La thèse contribue à cette littérature croissante sur l’incertitude et la politique environnementale. A cet effet, le chapitre 2 vise à présenter une nouvelle explication pour les trappes à pauvreté par la présence de la probabilité de catastrophe. Je présente un nouvel arbitrage entre les politiques d’adaptation et d’atténuation autres que l’arbitrage dynamique habituel mis en évidence dans de nombreuses études. De nombreux rapports récents des institutions internationales ont commencé à mettre en évidence l’importance de construire une économie de marché grâce à des innovations en R&D qui gèrent les investissements d’adaptation et d’atténuation. Le chapitre 3 construit un modèle de croissance schumpétérienne dans lequel les investisseurs gèrent les investissements d’adaptation et d’atténuation. Le chapitre 4 porte sur les préférences individuelles et la durabilité. Ce chapitre vise à montrer que le critère du développement durable peut ne pas être conforme aux décisions optimales dans un modèle économique avec une possibilité de catastrophe lorsqu’il existe des cycles limites (Hopf bifucation). Par conséquent, le critère devrait être révisé par les décideurs politiques pour inclure la possibilité des cycles limites. / This thesis is dedicated to the study the implications of uncertainty on the design of the environmental policy. The debate around the uncertainty has intensified in the context of the climate change and sustainability issues. Many recent studies focusing on the environmental policies started to show how the uncertainty component can change the optimal behavior. The thesis contributes to this recent growing literature of uncertainty and environmental policy.The Chapter 2 aims to present a new explanation for poverty traps, by the presence of catastrophe probability. I present a new trade-off between adaptation and mitigation policies other than the usual dynamic trade-off highlighted in many studies which is crucial for developing countries.Many recent policy reports of international institutions started to highlight how important is to build a market economy through R&D innovations that handles adaptation and mitigation investments. The Chapter 3 builds a Schumpeterian growth model in which investors handle the adaptation and mitigation investments. I also show the implications of a catastrophic event risk on investment decisions. The results suggest that the economy can increase investments in R&D even though there is a higher risk of a catastrophic event.The Chapter 4 focuses on the individual preferences and sustainability. This chapter aims to show that the Sustainable Development criterion can be not in conformity with the optimal decisions in an economic model when there are limit cycles (Hopf bifucation). Therefore, the criterion should be revised by policymakers to encompass the possibility of limit cycles.

Este trabalho levanta discussão de um tema que importa à comunidade acadêmica e à sociedade em geral frente à conjuntura mundial como se encontra a questão ambiental e, consequentemente, a situação social. O presente estudo realizou-se, em estrito senso, na concepção da geografia cultural, analisando a paisagem e interpretando a relação homem natureza no espaço geográfico. Empenhou-se em contextualizar e defender o conceito de Área de Influência Real de Empreendimentos Hidroelétricos do ponto de vista da Geografia (Airehg). Os critérios definidos a partir das características do espaço físico e do impacto socioambiental passaram a consolidar o contexto do tema em epígrafe através de suas descrições e argumentações. Comparando o Rio São Francisco ao Nilo, sobretudo, os seus baixos cursos como o caso examinado, foram reveladas variáveis semelhantes e comuns aos rios, consistentes aos critérios elencados para sustentarem o assunto proposto à pesquisa. Ao confrontar Estudos de Impactos Ambientais Relatórios de Impactos Ambientais (EIA/Rima(s)) com a Lei de Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente (Lpnma) e a concepção da Geografia a respeito da área de influência de empreendimentos hidroelétricos com potencial acima de 10 MW, denotou-se que há um problema de ajuste na supracitada lei. Observou-se também que ao considerar a Airehg, após regulamentação legal, o EIA/Rima pode, assim, estar a caminho de solucionar o referido problema. Toda a abordagem consolidou-se em defesa da tese e de que o documento elaborado pelos empreendedores hidroelétricos precisa reconhecer e adotar como área de influência a representada no tema em epígrafe e, antes de tudo, passe a ser uma das exigências da Lpnma; o que é crucial para manter o Brasil adiantado nestes termos, no cenário internacional, certo de que em qualquer parte do globo terrestre tal contexto ainda não está sendo aplicado, segundo a consulta da bibliografia constante. / This paper brings the discussion of a subject that matters to the academic community and society at large by world conjuncture as seen in the environmental issue, and consequently, the social one. This study was carried out, in strict sense, in the conception of the cultural geography and analyzing the scenery and interpreting the relation between man and nature in geographic space. It endeavored to contextualize and defend the concept of Real Influence Area of Hydroelectric Enterprises from the point of view of Geography (Riaheg). The criteria set from the characteristics of the physical space and of the social and environmental impact began to consolidate the context of the above theme through their descriptions and arguments. Comparing the San Francisco River to the Nile, especially its lower courses such as the case examined, proved to be similar and shared common variables to the rivers, consistent to the criteria listed for sustaining the proposed subject to the research. Confronting Environmental Impact Assignments Environmental Impact Report (EIA/EIR) with the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa) and the design of Geography concerning the area of influence of hydroelectric projects with potential above 10 MW, it denoted that there is a problem of adjustment in the aforementioned law. It was also observed that, in considering the Riaheg, after legal regulations, the EIA/EIR can thus be on the way to solve that problem. The whole approach was consolidated in defense of the thesis and that the document prepared by the hydroelectric entrepreneurs needs to recognize and adopt as an area of influence represented in the subject title and, above all, continue to be one of the requirements of Nepa, that is crucial to keeping Brazil ahead in these terms, on the international scene, certain that in any part of the globe such context is not yet being applied, according to the constant bibliography.