Environmental Committee Research Articles

Has the vision of a gender quota rule been realized for community-based water management committees in Kenya?

• Kenya’s gender quota affects women’s representation on community-based water governance committees. • While Kenya’s gender quota has institutionalized gender representation on water committees, gender-based inequities persist. • Men hold key decision-making leadership positions and contribute more time to water governance activities than women. • Gender, education, years served on committees, and perceptions of gender explain a committee-level leadership gap. • Measuring a gender quota’s success should extend beyond proportional gender representation to also include individual-level participation. Persisting gender inequities across political, economic, and public life have motivated global agendas to increase women’s leadership at all levels of society. Gender quotas offer one solution to encourage equitable gender representation in public decision-making by specifying a target number of women to serve on publicly-elected bodies. For natural resource governance sectors, can gender quotas promote women’s representation and participation in leadership? In 2010, Kenya enacted a new Constitution that included an article mandating that no one gender should make up greater than two-thirds of the composition of public committees. This ‘two-thirds gender rule’ also applies to community-level governance of water resources through water user resource associations, which were formally recognized in 2002. We present a study of community-based water committee compliance with Kenya’s national two-thirds gender rule based on surveys, focus groups, and interviews with water committee members. We show that Kenya’s gender quota has been moderately successful in increasing women’s representation on water committees. However, men hold more higher-level leadership positions than women, who typically serve as treasurers. Although there were no statistically significant differences between men and women’s self-reported participation frequency in various committee activities, men contributed significantly more hours per week to committee activities, facilitated meetings more frequently, and were more willing to lead meetings. Based on this leadership gap, we examine the sufficiency of a gender quota to promote equal leadership opportunities for women. We find that realizing the vision of a gender quota is conditional on how individuals are represented on community-based environmental committees as well as how individuals participate in committee activities.

Effect of Corporate Governance Attributes on Environmental Disclosure of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

This research examined the effect of corporate governance attributes on environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The data for the study were collected from annual reports and accounts of the sample twenty (20) companies listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange for the period of seven years from 2012 to 2018. Empirical analyses were carried out using correlation matrix, regression analysis. Regression analysis was used in testing hypothesis using Stata 11.0. The result of fixed effect rgression reveals independent directors has significant positive effect on the environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies. While foreign directors, directors with dual membership and educational background of the directors have positive insignificant effect on environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study therefore, recommends that management of company should have environmental committee to help them monitor and identify environmental need in their host communities. Government should come with policy that will make every company participate in environmental activities and monitor such. Keywords: Environmental disclosure, independent director and foreign directors DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-27-07 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

The color of shareholders' money: Institutional shareholders' political values and corporate environmental disclosure

In this study, we investigate whether and to what extent institutional shareholders' political values influence their investees' environmental disclosure and performance. Using employees' political donation data, we construct institutional investors' political ideology score, which higher (lower) value represents a more Republican- (Democratic)-leaning culture. We find that firms led by institutional shareholders with a more Republican-oriented political ideology are less likely to issue environmental reports. Such a negative effect is more pronounced for firms with institutional shareholders with long-term horizons, with high corporate Republican ideology scores, and without an environmental committee. We further find that institutional shareholders' Republican-oriented political values are negatively associated with their investee firms' environmental performance and green innovations. Overall, our results indicate that institutional shareholders' internal political polarization significantly influences corporate environmental disclosure policies.

‘For us climate action never dies’: a legislative process analysis of environmental movement tactics in Oregon

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss how environmental groups in Oregon have intervened in the legislative process in the last 5 years to advocate for climate policy. Methodologically, I draw on 76 interviews with Oregon legislators, state staff members, professional lobbyists, and environmental leaders, as well as participant observation and archival research. I describe how environmental groups work to influence policymaking by: (1) recruiting and positioning legislative champions on environmental committees, (2) building relationships with legislators and following the conventions of the arena (interactional decorum, incremental timeline), and (3) shoring up legislator’s commitments by framing climate policy as an ‘economic engine.’ I argue that relationships between environmental leaders and political elites are a key mechanism in the progression of the cap and invest bill through the legislative process and the development of the 2020 executive order on climate. However, subtle forms of polarization like bipartisan norms within unified governments remain a significant barrier to achieving policy goals on climate.

Task Force Updates Guide Presenting Best Practices in Environmental Management

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 199456, “Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, Second Edition - A Guide to Environmental Management Good Practices in the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry,” by Wendy Brown, IOGP, Artemis Kostareli, IPIECA, and Ian Sealy, SPE, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2020 SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability, originally scheduled to be held in Bogota, Colombia, 28-30 July. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Industry was first published in 1997 by the E&P Forum [the predecessor of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP)] and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a guide to best practices in environmental management throughout the lifecycle of upstream oil and gas projects. Since then, the industry has made substantial changes in environmental risk management and mitigation. IOGP’s Environmental Committee determined in 2016 that a revision of the publication (also known as IOGP 254) was required. The complete paper describes the development of, and summarizes the major changes and additions to, the guide’s content.

Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee

If you practice before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, you are no doubt familiar with its Rules of Practice and Procedure found at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 1021. The rules are the product of a small group of hard-working and dedicated attorneys who volunteer their time as members of the Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee (Rules Committee). The statutorily-created Rules Committee was established by the Environmental Hearing Board Act, Act of July 13, 1988, P.L. 530, 35 P.S. §§ 7511-7515, at § 7515, and has been in existence since 1989. The nine-member Committee is charged with the task of drafting and recommending procedural rules to the judges of the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB or Board). Although the EHB Act imposes a minimum requirement for Rules Committee members to have three years of practice before the Board (or comparable experience), most attorneys who have served on the Committee have extensive experience handling matters before the Board, and in many instances it is a significant part of their practice. The members of the Rules Committee are named by various appointing authorities.

AORN Position Statement on Environmental Responsibility

<scp>AORN</scp> Position Statement on Environmental Responsibility

Effectiveness of environmental management institutions in sustainable water resources management in the upper Pungwe River basin, Zimbabwe

The management of environmental resources by separate entities ought to be well coordinated to avoid gaps and overlaps. This study assessed the effectiveness of environmental management institutions and participation processes in water resources management in the Upper Pungwe river basin, a transboundary river basin in Southern Africa. It evaluated interactions between environmental management institutions and how this impacted on the quality of the environment and water resources. A concurrent mixed methods approach was used in the study. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques were employed. Twenty self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 17 ward environmental management committee chairpersons and three environmental management practitioners. Three in-depth interviews were held with water resources management practitioners operating in the river basin. Runoff, water quality and sediment load data over a 17 year period were collected and analysed using Mann-Kendal and Regression Analysis Statistics to detect trends and predict future levels. The study revealed a positive linear relationship (r2=0.1718) between runoff and sediment load while sediment load showed a negative linear relationship with pH levels (r2=0.0329). Based on the Mann-Kendal analysis (p>0.05) there were no statistically significant trends detected in the data. The study concluded that water and environmental management institutions lacked effective regular interaction and cooperation at the river basin level. Effective coordination of environmental management institutions remains key to the achievement of sustainable water resources management in the Upper Pungwe river basin.

Opinion: The future of nature conservation in Brazil

ABSTRACT This opinion article examines the main consequences of the current environmental crisis in Brazil, including dismantling of environmental policies and protection of conservation areas, absence of mitigation measures for environmental disasters, and loosening of pesticides regulation, among others. All measures have been accompanied by a reduction in research investments and popular participation in several environmental committees, as well as the weakening of monitoring. Government measures may have negative consequences on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The consequential environmental degradation compromises the provision of ecosystem services from many key natural systems throughout the country.

UK Export Finance: Scale and Impact of UKEF’s Financing of Fossil Fuels in Low and Middle-Income Countries - Environmental Audit Committee

This paper is the written evidence of NS Ghaleigh (University of Edinburgh, School of Law). It was submitted to the Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee, in response to it call for evidence for the inquiry, UK Export Finance: Scale and impact of UKEF’s financing of fossil fuels in low and middle-income countries”. Ghaleigh also gave oral evidence to the Committee, on 5 February 2019.

Board gender diversity, environmental committee and greenhouse gas voluntary disclosures

AbstractWe explore the impact of gender diversity and environmental committees on greenhouse gas (GHG) voluntary disclosures utilising a sample of 215 firms, which are listed on the London Stock Exchange market. We provide strong evidence for a strong positive association between GHG voluntary disclosures and gender diversity, which constitutes an important input to the ongoing debate about the role of women in the boardroom. The governance mechanism of environmental committees is not found to significantly affect GHG disclosures. This adds to the growing empirical evidence in the literature that questions the effectiveness of the current board structures in serving the wider needs of stakeholders and in addressing the relevant issues on climate change. Overall, our results suggest that by being diverse and open to a mixed‐gender governance approach, a firm can better serve the demands of stakeholders and legitimise their green credentials, thus gaining more trust from a broad range of stakeholders other than their shareholders. The noneffectiveness of the environmental committees in enhancing GHG voluntary disclosures demonstrates that firms may not have to directly link the relevant governance mechanism to their disclosure decisions and practices.

Environmental Audit and Environmental Disclosure Quality

In this study we explore the association between environmental audit and the quality of environmental disclosure as measured by voluntary and timely disclosure. Relying on a multiple theory framework and using a sample of 81 French non-financial companies listed on the SBF 120 index covering the six-year period from 2012 to 2017, we found a positive and statistically significant relationship between the level of voluntary disclosure of environmental information and the environmental audit committee, the environmental auditor's BIG 4, debt levels, firm size, earnings management, and the industry. In addition, findings indicate that the environmental audit committee, CSR committee, the environmental auditor's BIG 4, earnings management, firm size, and the industry have an impact on the timely disclosure of environmental information. However, the regression of the results showed that there is no relationship between CSR committee and the level of the voluntary disclosure of environmental disclosure.

Confronting Complexity with Regulatory Excellence: Recommendations in the Wake of the Philadelphia Refinery Explosion

Following the June 2019 explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery, the city of Philadelphia now confronts major challenges associated with the future of the refinery site. Whether the site is reopened as a refinery or other chemical-processing operation, or redeveloped for other uses, the city will face challenges endemic to all kinds of public policy issues: complexity, uncertainty, dynamism, tradeoffs, and value choices. This testimony, delivered to the City of Philadelphia Refinery Advisory Group’s Environment Committee, offers three main suggestions to help guide Philadelphia officials in dealing with the future of the PES refinery site. First, city officials will need to coordinate with the private sector organizations with a direct financial stake in the site as well as the various state and federal government agencies with regulatory oversight responsibilities related to the site’s future. Second, city officials will also need to keep in close communication with labor groups, local businesses, nonprofit and community groups, and city residents — not merely listening to their concerns but demonstrating that they have been heard. Finally, officials will need to evince compassion in understanding what is at stake for all those who live and work in Philadelphia who are affected by the future of the refinery site. Overall, this testimony emphasizes that the challenges confronting Philadelphia officials are similar to those raised by other complex risk management scenarios — and that any regulator or other public official confronting such challenges should be guided by principles of regulatory excellence.

Chemical Safety Board faces uncertain future

Representatives of the chemical industry, worker unions, and professional engineers, as well as senators from both parties, voiced support for the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) at a Senate oversight hearing Jan. 29. Opinions at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing stood in sharp contrast to those of President Donald J. Trump, who has tried to defund and eliminate the CSB three times. So far, Congress has continued funding. However, the board will shortly be down to one member—current Interim Executive Authority Kristen Kulinowski. Manny Ehrlich’s term expired in January, and Rick Engler’s term expires Feb. 6. Kulinowski’s term expires in August. The board investigates chemically related industrial accidents to determine their root cause. As part of that effort, it provides advice and recommendations to companies, regulators, and others on how to avoid or at least mitigate accidents. The CSB is unique in that it

Can environmental governance lower toxic emissions? A panel study of U.S. high‐polluting industries

AbstractFirms have increasingly adopted environmental governance mechanisms in the form of environmental compensation and environmental board committees. The current study examines the argument that such environmental governance mechanisms contribute to lower toxic emissions in high‐polluting industries. The sample comprises firms that were part of the S&amp;P 500 from the years 2006 to 2011 and were mandated to report toxic emissions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Release Inventory program. A panel regression model with propensity score matching was employed to minimize endogeneity bias. The results indicate that environmental compensation is a compelling incentive to motivate managers to invest in long‐term and highly uncertain environmental projects. Likewise, the presence of an environmental board committee appears to be significant, suggesting that directors contribute to a firm's strategy with their expertise and political influence. This research also found evidence supporting the cumulative adoption of both environmental governance mechanisms in enhancing environmental performance and the firm's legitimacy.

Розкриття інформації про викиди вуглецю промисловими компаніями Індонезії

In Indonesia, the government invites business actors to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through disclosure of carbon emissions. Disclosure of carbon emissions in Indonesia is still voluntary (voluntary disclosure), so not all companies disclose this information in their reports. The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of factors such as company size, profitability, company growth, environmental committees, and gender diversity on carbon emission disclosure by Indonesia’s manufacturing companies. For the study, the authors selected 16 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014-2018. The activities of these companies are the subject of study. To measure the extent of the carbon emission disclosure, a checklist is developed based on the measurement sheet provided by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The CDP is an organisation based in the United Kingdom which supports companies and cities to disclose the environmental impact of major corporations. The main idea of the project is that environmental reporting and risk management should become a business norm in order to ensure sustainable development of the economy. The study results show that company size has an effect on the level of carbon emission disclosure. The bigger is the company – the greater is the pressure that results from its economic activities. Therefore, the government and the public pay more attention to such business entities. It prompts the company to disclose its carbon emissions. At the same time, such factors as profitability, company growth, environmental committee and gender diversity do not affect on carbon emission disclosure. It was found that the level of carbon emission disclosure among Indonesia’s manufacturing companies is very low, and therefore the government and society need to take measures to increase the responsibility of business entities for environmental pollution.

Environmental, Health and Safety Committee

Environmental, health and safety (EHS supply chain management; education and training; stakeholder engagement; transparency and disclosure; and monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of EH&S procedures.

Developing Environmental and Patient Safety Guidelines for Nurses in Critical Care Units

Background: Safety during patient hospitalization is the patients’ right, and the priority of health professionals. Also, a healthcare free from risks and failures is a goal that should be reached by health professionals and a commitment of professional education. Therefore, changes to the nurses’ work environment need to focus on enabling and supporting nurses to provide high-quality and safe care Aim: of the study is to develop environmental and patient safety guidelines for nurses in critical care units. Design: the methodological design was conduct to achieve the aim of the current study. Setting: The study was carried out at critical care units of three university hospitals. Subject: the proposed guidelines was distributed to convenient sample of 31 jury members to test its validity and distributed to convenient sample of 162 participant divided to 88 bedside nurses and 74 resident physicians to test the reliability of the proposed guidelines. Results. The proposed guidelines' items were increased to 144 items, and sub-categorized to 17 dimensions. Conclusions: the validity and the reliability of the proposed guidelines were satisfactory, where it can be used in critical care units. Recommendations: use the developed environmental and patient safety guidelines in different critical care units in the selected hospitals and establish a safety committee to facilitate the application of environmental and patient safety committee.

تطبيق النظرية السلوكية في تعليم مهارة الكلام بمعهد الرحمة للبنات مالانج (دراسة الحالة)

The purpose of this research is to: (1) to reveal the application of the behavioral theory in the teaching of speech skills in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls (2) to describe the results of teaching speech skills from the application of the behavioral theory in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls (3) to describe the disadvantages and advantages of the application of behavioral theory in teaching speech skills in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls This type of qualitative research examines the case study method and obtains data from the interview, observation and documentation. The researcher chose data analysis techniques, such as the Miles and Huberman analysis of data classification, data presentation, and summary / conclusion of data. The researcher chose to examine the data on extension of participation and triangulation.The results of the research: 1) The application of the activities of teaching the skill of speech in the behavioral theory at in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls, vary from two types is teaching the skill of speech in the classroom, including: Speak and memorize the Arabic language. And on the outside of them: giving the vocabulary, the conversation after maghrib, and test vocabulary of language, training speech, the implementation of learning activities of the skill of speech in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls in accordance with the theory of behavior. Because there are educational activities inside and outside the classroom, there is repetition, imitation, conservation and punishment. 2) and the results of teaching the skill of speech in the behavioral theory in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls in the classroom suitable for the promotion of the skill of speech. The researcher looked at the results of the conversation article 100% success of 24 student. It is the article of the dialogue 93% success of 30 student. 3) The advantages of applying the behavioral theory in the teaching of the skill of speech in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls suitable for the material of conversation or exchange that need to practice conservation and speak in Arabic. The disadvantages of the application of behavioral theory in the teaching of speech skill in Boarding school Ar Rahmah Malang for Girls there is not the language environment committee on the example language system, fewer applications do not use daily language, fewer penalties that do not use language.

First Post-Legislative Scrutiny in Georgia: Steps Towards Generating Result-oriented Laws

The effective implementation of law is a complex process. This process depends on the availability of human resources, public engagement, funding (at least, on the stage of piloting), among others. Often, the focus is on getting legislation adopted, rather than on practical implementation and its impact. To fill in this gap, oversight over the Implementation of Normative Acts (i.e., Post-legislative scrutiny, hereinafter “PLS”) has been introduced in the Rules of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia (hereinafter, the “Parliament”). This article scrutinises the procedures that are shaping the Parliament’s ability to conduct PLS as well as its interaction with the executive. The working theory for this paper is that insufficient attention has been paid to the review of legislation after its enactment in Georgia. The paper addresses the work that has been undertaken at the national level, particularly through monitoring the effects of adopted legislation in ensuring benefits for constituents in the ways initially intended. Furthermore, it will reflect on the challenges identified in the ongoing PLS process by the Environments Protection and Natural Resources Committee (hereinafter “Environment Committee”) and the lessons learned based on the experience. The article uses a case study of Georgia to explore the context and challenges for effective PLS. For comparision, this research adopted the UK approach, where it is common to review the laws three to five years after enactment.