Environmental Policy and the Global Corporation

It is evident to any thinking person today that environment is an important area of public policy. Environment has wide support throughout the world as demonstrated by the large attendance and interest in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June,1992 Attendance at this conference and parallel non-governmental events totalled 35,000 people, with 106 heads of state participating in the Earth Summit. The 9,000 journalists in Rio for the meeting exceeded the total attendance at the previous conference in Stockholm some 20 years before (Brown, 1993). The term "environment" is quite inclusive and encompasses land. water and air resources. flora and fauna. and ecosystems formed by biological organisms and their habitats. Environmental policy also has an important geographic component. There gar global issues such as the greenhouse effect. ozone depletion. acid rain. deforestation. and depletion of ocean fisheries. There are transboundary. national and local issues. e.g .. air and water pollution. solid and hazardous waste management. fish and wildlife management. and protection of scenic and recreation areas.Environmental policy now focuses not just on correcting the mistakes of the past by abatement of air and water pollution, but striving to design and build an economic system that is environmentally sustainable. Briefly. in the words of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brown. 1993). a policy of sustainable development calls for social. economic and political progress to meet " ... the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." So the emphasis in environmental policy is shifting toward a planning perspective. and perhaps appropriately. it is through strategic planning that the global corporation can best come to terms with environmental policy

Causal correlation of foliar biochemical concentrations with AVIRIS spectra using forced entry linear regression

A major goal of airborne imaging spectrometry is to estimate the biochemical composition of vegetation canopies from reflectance spectra. Remotely-sensed estimates of foliar biochemical concentrations of forests would provide valuable indicators of ecosystem function at regional and eventually global scales. Empirical research has shown a relationship exists between the amount of radiation reflected from absorption features and the concentration of given biochemicals in leaves and canopies (Matson et al., 1994, Johnson et al., 1994). A technique commonly used to determine which wavelengths have the strongest correlation with the biochemical of interest is unguided (stepwise) multiple regression. Wavelengths are entered into a multivariate regression equation, in their order of importance, each contributing to the reduction of the variance in the measured biochemical concentration. A significant problem with the use of stepwise regression for determining the correlation between biochemical concentration and spectra is that of 'overfitting' as there are significantly more wavebands than biochemical measurements. This could result in the selection of wavebands which may be more accurately attributable to noise or canopy effects. In addition, there is a real problem of collinearity in that the individual biochemical concentrations may covary. A strong correlation between the reflectance at a given wavelength and the concentration of a biochemical of interest, therefore, may be due to the effect of another biochemical which is closely related. Furthermore, it is not always possible to account for potentially suitable waveband omissions in the stepwise selection procedure. This concern about the suitability of stepwise regression has been identified and acknowledged in a number of recent studies (Wessman et al., 1988, Curran, 1989, Curran et al., 1992, Peterson and Hubbard, 1992, Martine and Aber, 1994, Kupiec, 1994). These studies have pointed to the lack of a physical link between wavelengths chosen by stepwise regression and the biochemical of interest, and this in turn has cast doubts on the use of imaging spectrometry for the estimation of foliar biochemical concentrations at sites distant from the training sites. To investigate this problem, an analysis was conducted on the variation in canopy biochemical concentrations and reflectance spectra using forced entry linear regression

Environmental Management in Korea: an Emerging Role for Industry

Two decades ago, environmental management was primarily a concern of public interest groups, public administrators, natural resources managers and lawyers. The corporation's environmental management program, if it existed, was a staff function, focusing on the politics, the legal, economic and technical requirements of regulatory law, and on governmental relations. Environmental management now extends its reach into many functions of the business corporation, from the Executive Office on down. Today. environmental management is intertwined with international trade and marketing issues. Throughout the developed world, corporations are designing corporate environmental management programs to measure up to international standards following promulgation of ISO 14000 in 1996 of final standards by the International Organization for Standardization. This paper briefly reviews some of the major environmental problems in Korea, and the significant. well-publicized initiatives recently taken by four major chaebols (conglomerates) in declaring new priorities and funding for environmental management throughout their companies. Finally. some conclusions are drawn and questions raised about how effective these corporate environmental management programs will be

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Accounting for indirect land-use change in the life cycle assessment of biofuel supply chains

The expansion of land used for crop production causes variable direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and other economic, social and environmental effects. We analyse the use of life cycle analysis (LCA) for estimating the carbon intensity of biofuel production from indirect land-use change (ILUC). Two approaches are critiqued: direct, attributional life cycle analysis and consequential life cycle analysis (CLCA). A proposed hybrid ‘combined model’ of the two approaches for ILUC analysis relies on first defining the system boundary of the resulting full LCA. Choices are then made as to the modelling methodology (economic equilibrium or cause–effect), data inputs, land area analysis, carbon stock accounting and uncertainty analysis to be included. We conclude that CLCA is applicable for estimating the historic emissions from ILUC, although improvements to the hybrid approach proposed, coupled with regular updating, are required, and uncertainly values must be adequately represented; however, the scope and the depth of the expansion of the system boundaries required for CLCA remain controversial. In addition, robust prediction, monitoring and accounting frameworks for the dynamic and highly uncertain nature of future crop yields and the effectiveness of policies to reduce deforestation and encourage afforestation remain elusive. Finally, establishing compatible and comparable accounting frameworks for ILUC between the USA, the European Union, South East Asia, Africa, Brazil and other major biofuel trading blocs is urgently needed if substantial distortions between these markets, which would reduce its application in policy outcomes, are to be avoided