Sustainable consumption across 24 OECD metropolitan areas

Decades of research has demonstrated that everyday environmental actions, such as recycling waste and reducing energy use, are strongly influenced by personal characteristics, such as age and gender. Empirical investigations of the city-level factors associated with these actions are rare. The majority of studies about the impacts of population density on environmental sustainability have placed emphasis on a particular form of consumption choice, i.e. energy use, or multiple cities in a particular country.published_or_final_versio

More or less pluralistic? A typology of remedial and alternative perspectives on the monetary valuation of the environment

Maintaining plural values is important when there is no conclusive principle by which the relative priority of normative positions can be determined. Value-articulating institutions predicated upon such principles have a low pluralistic potential. In response to the failures of stated-preference approaches to economic valuation, new perspectives have been developed to capture plural values. Three broad approaches are identified. The first, functional diversification, seeks to encompass the multiple qualities of the object of valuation, whereas positional modification enforces a particular mode of thinking on the subject. Both entail a prior judgement of values and benefit from a reduction in the range of values. Eventually, therefore, both approaches collapse pluralism to a problem that can be tackled. The third approach, structural reconstruction, has greater pluralistic potential, recognising that the more diverse and uncertain the object of valuation, the more compelling it is.postprin

Geographies of Social Capital: Catastrophe Experience, Risk Perception, and the Transformation of Social Space in Postearthquake Resettlements in Sichuan, China

This article explores the relationships between catastrophe experience and risk perception, social interaction, and household response to future catastrophes. Our main argument recognizes the geographical context in which social capital is formed and reproduced. Social relationships and norms adjust to the social landscape, which can be transformed by the spatial consequences of natural catastrophes. We therefore argue that sources of household resilience could be derived from the spatial transformation of social practices and not necessarily from catastrophe experience and risk perception directly. A case study was conducted in two postearthquake rural communities in China. The inquiry is primarily based on a household survey of 371 local residents and is further supported by an analysis of additional in-depth interviews and a review of key changes in the neighborhoods under study. The findings challenge the assumption that catastrophe experience and risk perception are related to residents' intentions to prepare for future catastrophes. Nonetheless, the relationship might be mediated by social relationships and social norms. Catastrophe experience and risk perception can be construed as a geographical contextual factor. Further analysis provides one example of such a factor: The spatial features of postearthquake resettlements have increased the proximity between residents. This shift facilitates neighborly interaction and risk communication across a neighborhood. We discuss the nonlinear, dynamic relationships between the variables examined and the grounding of social capital in space.postprin

Carbon finance and the carbon market in China

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Emission trading and carbon market performance in Shenzhen, China

China has developed its own domestic carbon markets by setting up emission trading schemes. This study addresses concerns about the functioning of these schemes and the financial performance of the Chinese carbon market. It aims to assess an actual outcome of this policy intervention, i.e. trading records, which were used in our analysis to examine a key financial property of the allowance-based market in Shenzhen. In a mature market, assets that incur higher risks are likely to yield higher returns, i.e. a positive relationship. To examine this property, we solicited historical data on the price and trading volume of emission allowances. We statistically estimated the degree of volatility in the Shenzhen market and its relationship with expected return premium. We found that the rate of return was negatively associated with expected risk. This stands at odds with the usual expectation in the financial market and the prediction of asset pricing theory. Also, kurtosis in trading volume was excessively high and its fluctuations were highly concentrated. We discuss these findings in terms of market liquidity and information uncertainties, and offer some policy recommendations. More regulatory attention and economic fixes are needed to improve market efficiency and eliminate sources of market distortions

Social capital and community preparation for urban flooding in China

Social capital can enhance community resilience to environmental change. Productive and trusted relations among social actors and effectual social norms can help local residents share resources, information and risks. The main objective of our study is to understand the ways in which social attributes and risk considerations influence adoption of resilient economic measures by individuals for reducing potential losses due to catastrophic rainstorm and flooding. This article provides evidence from China on how social capital contributes to anticipatory adaptation to environmental change. The inquiry is based on structured interviews with local residents of Tianjin, a flood-prone port city in China, and a standard regression analysis. Findings show that the intention to make preparation increases with the levels of social expectation, social relationship, and institutional trust. Perceived risk and damage experience, however, have no significant impacts. This suggests that building social capacity and trust will be more effective in enhancing community resilience than merely increasing awareness of hazard risks. We call for greater efforts on strengthening the capacity of formal and informal communal institutions. The structural changes required, however, are challenging.postprin

How climate change perception is reshaping attitudes towards the functional benefits of urban greenery: Lessons from Hong Kong

Urban greening has rapidly emerged as a key urban climate change adaptation strategy. Urban greening is thought to confer manifold socio-ecological benefits upon residents in towns and cities. Yet proponents of urban greening have seldom considered how people’s support for greening policies may be shaped by weather and climate. This paper reports the results of exploratory research examining public expectations of adverse weather changes and people’s attitudes toward the functional benefits of urban trees and green space. Results of a questionnaire survey of 800 residents of Hong Kong indicate a positive relationship. Respondents tended to rate functional benefits as more important if they anticipated adverse weather changes in the near future, namely, rising temperatures, more tropical cyclones and prolonged rain. This subjective weather effect is more salient when these weather changes are perceived as a threat to one’s daily life. We found urban greenery is assigned a higher value by individuals concerned about exposure and vulnerability to climatic stressors. Affinity for greening appears to be related to how weather and climatic variability is perceived. This observation is informed by a broader geographic perspective, which construes weather and climate as part of the spatial environment in which urban nature is apprehended and comprehended. An explanation for our findings is that increasingly volatile weather can potentially reshape urban residents’ interactions with nature, based on perceived relief and/or protection from climate-related threats.Full Tex