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Abstract
The current article brings together and reviews the literature on "environmental populism"; that is, environmental issues that could be explored through a populist frame. The article reviews four different cases of environmental populism: (i) right-wing populism and climate denial, (ii) resource populism, (iii) eco-populism, and (iv) the populism of environmental movements. For each case, the article analyzes how different theories of populism explain the environmental issues under consideration and how the environment is constructed. Lastly, the article argues that these four different cases only share very abstract features between them, and greater clarity would be gained by dropping the "environmental populism" label altogether in favor of "environmental populisms," in the plural.

This thesis is a regional interdisciplinary analysis of the environmental challenge to the liberal democratic state. It situates these new problems of governance in one of the dominating political conflicts of our time, the battle between market and state for the 'commanding heights'. By the end of the 1970s, environmental concerns had added to the social crises associated with the overloaded, welfare state. The study sets the political context through an exposition of the perceived problems of the overloaded state, analysed by neo-Marxist theorists in terms of rationality and legitimacy deficits and by public choice theorists in terms of the incentives and calculations confronting rational individuals. It draws out the association between these alternative perspectives on 'state overload' and the political philosophies of corporatism and neo-liberalism, showing that, on the neo-Marxist understanding, corporatism addresses the functional requirements of late capitalism, while public choice precepts are strongly influential on leading elements of neo-liberalism. This political analysis is developed through the history of a landmark piece of legislation, the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act (NSW) 1985, in toxic chemicals policymaking from the late 1970s to the end of 1997. The interpretation of the case material shows that the response in NSW to the environmental problematic has been driven by the reform agenda of the successive political programs of corporatism and neo-liberalism for the state, the bureaucracy and the democratic process. Neither the corporatist nor the neo-liberal programs succeeded in meeting environmental criteria. Examination of the inadequate responses of both corporatism and neo-liberalism, when measured against sustainability criteria, leads to a deeper understanding of the institutional reforms required if these criteria are to be addressed. The thesis concludes that the failure to effect successful reform of toxic chemicals policy in NSW reflects the failure of leading political ...

Regional development has been the focal point of both academics and decision makers in the central and local governments of many European countries. Identifying the key problems that regions face and considering how their solutions could be effectively used as a basis for planning their development process, are essential in order to improve their conditions. The growth of a region depends on its ability to attract and retain both business units and the right blend of people to run them. In this context, we introduced a variable which is referred to as the image of a region and quantifies its attractiveness. A region's image depends on a variety of factors, economic, social and environmental, some of which are common for all potential movers and some specific for particular groups, and expresses its current state of development and its future prospects. The paper examines a number of south European countries and focuses on their NUTS 2 level regions. Its objective is to estimate the image values of those regions and to group them into different clusters on the basis of the characteristics used to define their image. The results are presented and discussed.

AbstractThis study examines how family values in a firm can impact non‐market strategies. Given that family members on the board tend to pursue non‐economic, especially family related, values, we attempt to specify how the perspectives, values, and tastes of family members serving on the board can be infused into the firm's environmental performance. Since actions addressing environmental issues are less directly related to family values than other types of CSR actions, such as donations and services to the local community, the family‐value‐infused characteristics of boards that represent family firms' pursuit of socio‐emotional wealth, can make firms less committed to environmental issues. Using our comprehensive sample of large U.S. firms consisting of 15,086 firm‐year observations between 1998 and 2016, we find that when family values are treated as a critical factor for non‐market strategies, family dominated firms are less likely to pursue corporate environmental responsibility. We also find that both external and internal factors can positively moderate the family firm's environmental underperformance by diluting the family values.

A methodology that simulates outcomes from future data collection programs, utilizes Bayesian Monte Carlo analysis to predict the resulting reduction in uncertainty in an environmental fate‐and‐transport model, and estimates the expected value of this reduction in uncertainty to a risk‐based environmental remediation decision is illustrated considering polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) sediment contamination and uptake by winter flounder in New Bedford Harbor, MA. The expected value of sample information (EVSI), the difference between the expected loss of the optimal decision based on the prior uncertainty analysis and the expected loss of the optimal decision from an updated information state, is calculated for several sampling plan. For the illustrative application we have posed, the EVSI for a sampling plan of two data points is $9.4 million, for five data points is $10.4 million, and for ten data points is $11.5 million. The EVSI for sampling plans involving larger numbers of data points is bounded by the expected value of perfect information, $15.6 million. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the effect of selected model structure and parametric assumptions on the optimal decision and the EVSI. The optimal decision (total area to be dredged) is sensitive to the assumption of linearity between PCB sediment concentration and flounder PCB body burden and to the assumed relationship between area dredged and the harbor‐wide average sediment PCB concentration; these assumptions also have a moderate impact on the computed EVSI. The EVSI is most sensitive to the unit cost of remediation and rather insensitive to the penalty cost associated with under‐remediation.

The Madagascar Health and Environmental Research-Antongil (MAHERY-Antongil) study cohort was set up in September 2015 to assess the nutritional value of seafood for the coastal Malagasy population living along Antongil Bay in northeastern Madagascar. Over 28 months of surveillance, we aimed to understand the relationships among different marine resource governance models, local people's fish catch, the consumption of seafood, and nutritional status. In the Antongil Bay, fisheries governance takes three general forms: traditional management, marine national parks, and co-management. Traditional management involves little to no involvement by the national government or non-governmental organizations, and focuses on culturally accepted Malagasy community practices. Co-management and marine national parks involve management support from either an non-govermental organization (NGO) or the national government. Five communities of varying governance strategies were enrolled into the study including 225 households and 1031 individuals whose diets, resource acquisition strategies, fisheries and agricultural practices, and other social, demographic and economic indicators were measured over the span of 3 years. Clinical visits with each individual were conducted at two points during the study to measure disease and nutritional status. By analyzing differences in fish catch arising from variation in governance (in addition to intra-annual seasonal changes and minor inter-annual changes), the project will allow us to calculate the public health value of sustainable fisheries management approaches for local populations. There is hope that coastal zones that are managed sustainably can increase the productivity of fisheries, increasing the catch of seafood products for poor, undernourished populations.

Enhanced environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants in the Baltic Sea region. CWPharma project report for GoA4.3 Permitting of pharmaceutical plants in Baltic Sea countries within current legislation framework, recommendations on good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants as a possible source of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs); good practices for industrial wastewater contracts between MWWTPs and pharmaceutical plants.

Enhanced environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants in the Baltic Sea region. CWPharma project report for GoA4.3 Permitting of pharmaceutical plants in Baltic Sea countries within current legislation framework, recommendations on good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants as a possible source of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs); good practices for industrial wastewater contracts between MWWTPs and pharmaceutical plants.

Humanity is currently faced with two global crises, one financial and one environmental. Although ostensibly distinct, these crises are in fact interlinked. Unsustainable consumption, at the heart of the environmental crisis, is driven to a large extent by unsustainable debt, which creates financial instability. If these underlying issues are tackled, and investment is directed into environmental initiatives through a 'green new deal', then the ultimate outcome of the financial crisis could be the mitigation of the environmental crisis. If, conversely, economic hardship is used as a justification for delaying action on critical environmental issues and economic growth remains at the centre of government policy, then the ultimate outcome of the financial crisis could be the deepening of the environmental crisis. The relationship between the two crises therefore provides both opportunities and threats to achieving long-term economic and ecological sustainability.

This study contributes to the economic discounting debate by examining the welfare and policy implications of distorted time preferences for private investments. The analysis is applied to the energy industry, where it is of particular importance. In the transition to low-carbon energy generation, distorted time preferences are shown to induce a further distortion, in addition to that from the emission externality. Its extent varies directly with the time lag in capital accumulation. In order to implement the socially optimal path, environmental policy needs to be complemented by technology policy. The theoretical findings are applied to the upcoming structural change in the German electricity industry in the 2010s.

BACKGROUND: Focus groups and workshops can be used to gain insights into the persistence of and potential solutions for environmental health priorities in underserved areas. The objective of this study was to characterize focus group and workshop outcomes of a community-academic partnership focused on addressing environmental health priorities in an urban and a rural location in Alabama between 2012 and 2019. METHODS: Six focus groups were conducted in 2016 with 60 participants from the City of Birmingham (urban) and 51 participants from Wilcox County (rural), Alabama to discuss solutions for identified environmental health priorities based on previous focus group results in 2012. Recorded focus groups were transcribed and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Four follow-up workshops that included written survey instruments were conducted to further explore identified priorities and determine whether the priorities change over time in the same urban (68 participants) and rural (72 participants) locations in 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Consistent with focus groups in 2012, all six focus groups in 2016 in Birmingham identified abandoned houses as the primary environmental priority. Four groups listed attending city council meetings, contacting government agencies and reporting issues as individual-level solutions. Identified city-level solutions included city-led confiscation, tearing down and transferring of abandoned property ownership. In Wilcox County, all six groups agreed the top priority was drinking water quality, consistent with results in 2012. While the priority was different in Birmingham versus Wilcox County, the top identified reason for problem persistence was similar, namely unresponsive authorities. Additionally, individual-level solutions identified by Wilcox County focus groups were similar to Birmingham, including contacting and pressuring agencies and developing petitions and protesting to raise awareness, while local policy-level solutions identified in Wilcox County included ...

Maģistra darbā "Vides problemātikas attīstība masu medijos: nosacījumi un instrumenti" ir analizēta masu mediju loma vides komunikācijas un vides pārvaldības kontekstā, to spēja veidot vides apziņu sabiedrībā, ietekmēt vides politikas procesus. Autore ir identificējusi būtiskākos faktorus, nosacījumus, kas ietekmē vides problemātikas attīstību medijos. Esošā situācija ir analizēta izdalot trīs galvenos tematiskos blokus, pirmkārt, tā ir masu mediju iekšējā vide, otrkārt, ārējās vides faktori un, treškārt, tas ir masu mediju produkts, no kura ir atkarīga mediju ietekme uz sabiedrību, vides politiku. Darba ietvaros ir izstrādātas vadlīnijas vides tematikas attīstībai masu medijos un sagatavots metodoloģisks materiāls par vides žurnālistiku. ; In master work "Environmental Issues Development in Mass Media: Preconditions and Instruments" has been done analysis of role of mass media in context of environmental communication and management and their ability of raising environmental awareness, to have an impact on environmental policy. The author identifies the most essential factors, preconditions that affect environmental issues development in mass media. Current situation in this field is analyzed by dividing three main sections, first, it is internal environment of mass media, second, it is external environment and third, it is the product of mass media, that affects society and environmental policy. Within this work guidelines for environmental issues development has been developed and the author has created also methodological material about environmental journalism.