Fiddling while the planet burns? COP25 in perspective

ABSTRACT

With fires, storms, social protests, and climate strikes sweeping the world, 2019 should have been a tipping point in how the world responds to global heating. This was the backdrop to the COP25 climate change summit which took place in Madrid in December 2019. This paper assesses the outcomes of the meeting and the path towards the critically important meeting in Glasgow at the end of 2020. It analyses and explains the key points of contention over levels of ambition, the rules which should govern global carbon markets and sensitive issues such as loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change. The analysis is situated within a broader geopolitical and economic context of right-wing populism, deepening forms of marketization and financialization of responses to climate change and against a background of a world increasingly feeling the effects of the climate crisis.     

Farmers’ Risk‐Based Decision Making Under Pervasive Uncertainty: Cognitive Thresholds and Hazy Hedging

Researchers in judgment and decision making have long debunked the idea that we are economically rational optimizers. However, problematic assumptions of rationality remain common in studies of agricultural economics and climate change adaptation, especially those that involve quantitative models. Recent movement toward more complex agent‐based modeling provides an opportunity to reconsider the empirical basis for farmer decision making. Here, we reconceptualize farmer decision making from the ground up, using an in situ mental models approach to analyze weather and climate risk management. We assess how large‐scale commercial grain farmers in South Africa (n = 90) coordinate decisions about weather, climate variability, and climate change with those around other environmental, agronomic, economic, political, and personal risks that they manage every day. Contrary to common simplifying assumptions, we show that these farmers tend to satisfice rather than optimize as they face intractable and multifaceted uncertainty; they make imperfect use of limited information; they are differently averse to different risks; they make decisions on multiple time horizons; they are cautious in responding to changing conditions; and their diverse risk perceptions contribute to important differences in individual behaviors. We find that they use two important nonoptimizing strategies, which we call cognitive thresholds and hazy hedging, to make practical decisions under pervasive uncertainty. These strategies, evident in farmers' simultaneous use of conservation agriculture and livestock to manage weather risks, are the messy in situ performance of naturalistic decision‐making techniques. These results may inform continued research on such behavioral tendencies in narrower lab‐ and modeling‐based studies.     

极端气候冲击下中国粮食安全的技术进步路径选择——基于动态CGE模型的模拟

基于中国动态可计算一般均衡（CGE）模型,系统探讨了极端气候冲击下中国粮食安全的最优技术进步路径选择。从产量、价格、进口依赖度以及人均占有量的视角综合考察了粮食安全指标的动态变化,结论表明：土地、劳动力和资本增进型技术进步会缓解极端气候对粮食安全的不利冲击,并且缓解的效果依次递减;土地和劳动增进型技术进步组合、土地和资本增进型技术进步组合、劳动力和资本增进型技术进步组合缓解极端气候对粮食安全冲击的效果也依次递减。提出：在当前小规模经营农户为主的条件下,为了缓解极端气候事件对粮食安全的不利冲击,粮食生产应重点鼓励土地增进型技术进步,其次是劳动力增进型技术进步。     

气候变化对水稻质量安全的影响——基于水稻主产区1 063个农户的调查

气候变暖不仅直接影响粮食产出,还可能通过影响农药化肥的使用数量和使用效果威胁粮食质量安全。基于水稻主产区1 063份农户调查数据,发现其他条件不变,气候变化对水稻影响的感知越强烈,农户增加农药化肥投入的比例就越高,农药化肥施用量平均增加7千克/亩。此外,风险态度、参加农业产业化组织也会对农户的农药化肥使用行为产生重要影响。因此,需要关注气候变化对农产品质量安全的影响,加强对气候变化特别是极端气候明显地区农户农药化肥使用行为的引导,采取多种措施降低气候变化对农业生产的潜在风险,加强农业产业化组织尤其是合作社的建设,在提升数量安全的同时保障质量安全。     

商鞅“更礼”论

商鞅是以提倡“尊君重法”而名显一时的法家代表人物,但并非不重视礼,只是其对礼的看法和使用与儒、道、墨诸学派大异其趣。面对战国时代“礼崩乐坏”的现实,他明智地提出“更礼”的主张。商鞅之“更礼”基于他的历史观和人性论。其“变法”与“更礼”并行,而“更礼”则以“礼者,所以便事也”为指导原则,从而弱化了礼的道德意义,将礼变为功利之礼、实用之礼,对秦国及后世产生了重大的影响。     

也谈应对全球气候变化的公平性问题——法理学视角

随着全球变暖,应对全球气候变化的问题也日益升温。全球气候是一个复杂和庞大的生态系统,全球变暖全球受害,因此,应对全球气候变暖,国际社会必须通力合作。而有效合作的基础是维持彼此间的公平,这种公平应该符合权利义务和人权等相关的法理。     

Securing a Sustainable Future for Children and Young People

This article outlines why sustainable development matters for children and young people, and explores the relevant policy context in England and the UK. It asks whether enough is being carried out by central government to secure a more sustainable future for, and with, today’s children. More is needed at the national policy level to: embed sustainable living principles within a range of policy frameworks affecting children and young people; provide a clear strategy for empowering children and young people to lead change and take action on climate change and environmental issues; and address the impact of environmental degradation on disadvantaged groups of children and young people.     

Predicting rainy seasons: quantifying the beliefs of prophets

In general, meteorologists find it difficult to make seasonal predictions in the north-east region of Brazil due to the contrasting atmospheric phenomena that take place there. The rain prophets claim to be able to predict the seasonal weather by observing the behavior of nature. Their predictions have a strong degree of subjectivity; this makes science (especially meteorology) disregard these predictions, which could be a relevant source of information for prediction models. In this article, we regard the prophets’ knowledge from a subjectivist point of view: we apply elicitation of expert knowledge techniques to extract their opinions and convert them into probability densities that represent their predictions of forthcoming rainy seasons.     

气候正义是气候治理的基础

气候变化自始存在正义因素,应对气候变化绕不开正义的维度。气候治理应以气候正义为基础,气候制度也应以气候正义为价值导向。有关气候正义的理论分析与实践探索和气候治理一样主要集中于国际层面和国家主体之上,但两者实施起来都困难重重。地方层面应对气候变化是全球气候治理的新突破口,气候正义在地方层面同样存在且同样重要,在地方应对气候变化的政策与法律行动中也应贯彻和体现气候正义的理念。     

人力资源管理系统影响企业绩效的复杂性机理——基于高新技术企业的实证研究

破解人力资源管理系统影响企业绩效的机理是战略人力资源管理研究领域的核心问题。基于164家高新技术企业的调查数据,采用层级回归模型检验了人力资源管理系统与企业绩效间的复杂性机理。结果显示,人力资源管理系统对企业绩效的正向直接效应显著,影响二者关系的外生变量是创新战略非高管价值观;人力资本在二者关系间的中介效应不显著,但以组织氛围为控制变量时中介效应有了显著提高;"组织氛围调节下的人力资本中介作用模型"很好地刻画人力资本发挥中介效应的机理。研究结果强化了我们对人力资源管理系统与企业绩效关系机理的认知,同时为高新技术企业管理者在实践中管理员工提供了有益启示。