Environmental regulation policy is the main means of pollution control and emission reduction and plays an irreplaceable role in environmental governance. However, due to the competitive behavior of economic development, the local government cannot effectively use the efficiency of environmental regulation to reduce the emission of environmental pollution. Taking 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2016 as samples, this paper studies the strategic interaction of environmental regulation enforcement by local governments under different circumstances and its impact on environmental pollution, so as to provide reference for national overall environmental governance planning. Through the research, it is found that the strategic interaction of environmental regulation enforcement among Chinese cities is characterized by the race-to-the-top. And the strategic interaction of environmental regulation enforcement among cities of the same economic level has the strongest impact. Besides, the impact of environmental regulation on environmental pollution has different intensity in different scenarios, showing a non-positive correlation. Most importantly, the Pollution Paradise exists in some cities under special circumstances.

Along with monitoring air pollution level and rapid economic growth in China, the government has paid attention to the environmental policy innovation (EPI) capacity of local governments. However, scholarly research has not yet clarified the ability of local governments in EPI and its related drivers and impacts. This study explores the dynamic relations between EPI, air pollution, and the economy for the first time, using the simultaneous equation model (SEM) in China during 2006–2015 across 30 provinces. To calculate EPI, this study introduces the comprehensive concept of policy innovation, consisting of invention, diffusion, and evaluation. The results show that EPI is strongly promoted by air pollution; however, promoting EPI alone cannot decrease air pollution. These results would vary among eastern and western provinces. Economic growth has a significant positive effect on EPI and can significantly reduce air pollution. This study suggests policymakers strengthen EPI in order to achieve a balance between air pollution and economic growth.

Unapproved and illegal buildings have sprawled into the Northern Piedmont of the Qinling Mountains. The problem of illegal villas has aroused widespread public opinion and concern. The ecological environment of the Qinling Mountains has been seriously affected by the resurgence of illegal villas. This paper introduces the characteristics and distribution of illegal villas, analyzes the hazards caused by illegal villas, and describes control measures for illegal villas and land consolidation and ecological remediation in the Northern Piedmont of the Qinling Mountains. The results show that illegal planning and illegal development, as well as local governments’ irregularities, including control, governance, punishment, demolition, and compensation for illegal buildings in the expropriation of premises, have caused the problem of illegal construction of villas in the Northern Piedmont of the Qinling Mountains. Control measures for illegal villas are demolition, land consolidation, and ecological remediation. Policy implications for protection of Qinling Mountains are provided.

This study critically evaluates two COP proposals on Malaysia that have been under consideration to reduce climate damage. A top-down disaggregation framework deploying an “Empirical Regional Downscaling Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy” is used to evaluate the local government climate roadmap and Malaysia’s emissions reduction agendas under COP21 and subsequently COP22 proposals. The findings show that the costs from climate damage over the period 2010–2110 under the Malaysian Optimal Climate Action scenario will amount to MYR5,483 (US$1589) billion. The commensurate climate damage costs under the COP21 and COP22 scenario would be MYR5, 264 (US$1526) billion. Thus, the effective proposal for reducing climate damage in Malaysia over the period 2010–2110 is the COP22 time-adjusted COP21 proposal but there are a number of macroeconomic cost implications for savings and consumption that policy makers must address before acting.

Previous studies have primarily targeted at positive causal linkages between the logistics industry and economic benefits, resulting in biased findings without the consideration of undesirable social and environmental problems. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a holistic approach to the assessment of logistics efficiency, through considering comprehensive inputs and desirable and undesirable outputs. In specific, contextualized in China, this paper comprehensively examined the spatiotemporal variations of China logistics efficiency and further investigated the impact of some exogenous factors. Results indicate that the overall logistics efficiency of China was low, but temporally showed a trend of increase. Spatially, the logistics efficiency followed the pattern of Eastern > Central > Western > Northeastern. Moreover, for the spatial interaction among adjacent provinces, there occurred high–high patterns in the Eastern, and low–low aggregation in the Western and Northeastern regions. However, along with time, the spatial interaction among adjacent provinces was weakening. For exogenous factors, level of economic development, urbanization level, utilization rate of logistics resources, and location advantage had a significant positive impact on SLE, while the effect of labor quality was not significant. Overall, this paper enriches the theoretical understandings of sustainable logistics efficiency evaluation and unbiasedly inform central and local governments with approaches to optimizing logistics efficiency.

Based on field survey data of 366 traditional households (THs) and 364 family farms (FFs) from Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, a discrete-time cloglog model for parameter estimation was constructed to reveal factors that affect the two types of farms’ duration from the awareness to the adoption of green control techniques (GCTs). Differences in the influencing factors affecting the duration of the two types of farmers were also discussed. The research results are as follows. First, the duration from awareness to adoption of GCTs is significantly shorter in FFs than that in THs. Second, a higher degree of education, risk preference, family financial status, perceived ease of use and usefulness of the technique, and extension of media and supervision of agricultural technique extension departments of local governments significantly reduce the duration from awareness to adoption of GCTs by THs and FFs, whereas a male head of household prolongs the duration. Third, the age, farm size, and number of laborers exert different impacts on the duration from awareness to adoption of GCTs by THs and FFs.

Ground air monitoring stations have been installed in Taiwan since 1993 to ensure whether the criteria air pollutants meet the ambient air quality standards. In the present study, the data from the monitoring stations were used to evaluate long-term (2005–2015) trend of NO₂ and SO₂ in three metropolitan cities (northern Taipei, central Taichung, and southern Kaohsiung), two eastern coastal cities (Hualien and Taitung), and one agricultural city in west-central plain (Douliu); those cities essentially covered the entire region of Taiwan. The results indicate that SO₂ and NO₂ concentrations of all studied six cities meet the annual average standards of 30 and 50 ppb, respectively. After deseasonalizing the original data and using 7-month moving average, the trend analysis reveals a decreasing trend ranging from 0.15 to 0.57 ppb/year (R² from 0.33 to 0.85) for NO₂ and 0.06 to 0.45 ppb/year (R² from 0.32 to 0.92) for SO₂; the corresponding reductions over the 10-year span are 4 to 42% for NO₂ and 22 to 52% for SO₂. The reduction trend, despite the growth in GDP, vehicle numbers and energy consumption, industrial output, etc., is similar to those of developed countries. Clearly, there are seasonal/monthly variation patterns for these two precursor gases with minimum levels in summer (July) and maximum in winter (December). The concentration reductions, however, were lagging behind the respective emission reductions. There are significant correlations among six cites for NO₂ (r = 0.58–0.93) and, to some extent, SO₂ (0.32–0.66). The correlation between SO₂ and NO₂ (r = 0.46–0.74) indicates same or similar emission sources. Furthermore, the correlation between observed pollutant concentrations and their emission is excellent for SO₂ in two cities (0.79–0.96). The SO₂/NO₂ ratios vary with city and time and the value is site specific. For example, in 2005, the SO₂/NO₂ ratio was 0.38 in Kaohsiung and 0.18 in both Taipei and Taichung, the latter reflecting significant contribution from mobile sources. However, they all converged to 0.18–0.28 in 2015 in the six cities evaluated. All in all, the policies/measures made by the central and local government are effective in reducing ambient SO₂ and NO₂ levels.

Northwest Shanxi is located on the farming-pastoral ecotone of northern China, where aeolian desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socioeconomic issues. The remote sensing image and geostatistical approach were implemented to estimate aeolian desertified land (ADL) dynamic variations from 1975 to 2015. Results showed that the ADL covered 11,685.21 km² (82.29%) of the study area in 2015, the majority of which was classified as a light or moderate degree. The area of ADL gradually expanded at an increasing rate of 87.37 km² a⁻¹ during the 1975–2000 periods. More specifically, the area of ADL has increased by 1259.23 km² from 1975 to 1990 and by 924.96 km² from 1990 to 2000, respectively. In contrast, spatial transfer of ADL areas has dwindled by 2365.85 km² with a net decrease of 157.72 km² a⁻¹, and the mitigated areas of aeolian desertification were 10,602.24 km² between 2000 and 2015. During the past 40 years, the gravity center of ADL migrated to southeast until 2000 and moved northwest in 2000–2015. From 1975 to 2000, the migration distance of severe ADL was the largest, migrated toward the northwest by 19.03 km in 1975–1990 and by 20.16 km in 1990–2000, respectively. From 2000 to 2015, the migration distance of light ADL was the largest, 27.54 km migrated to the northwest. Aeolian desertification rapidly expanded from 1975 to 2000 under the combination of climate change and intensive human activities. Since the year of 2000, ecological engineering strategy initiated by the governments has been the dominant contributor to the aeolian desertification severity reversal. Aeolian desertification prevention is a complicated process. Both the central and local government should play a critical role in the rehabilitation of ADL in the long term.

The problems with China’s regional industrial overcapacity are often influenced by local governments. This study constructs a framework that includes the resource and environmental costs to analyze overcapacity using the non-radial direction distance function and the price method to measure industrial capacity utilization and market segmentation in 29 provinces in China from 2002 to 2014. The empirical analysis of the spatial panel econometric model shows that (1) the industrial capacity utilization in China’s provinces has a ladder-type distribution with a gradual decrease from east to west and there is a severe overcapacity in the traditional heavy industry areas; (2) local government intervention has serious negative effects on regional industry utilization and factor market segmentation more significantly inhibits the utilization rate of regional industry than commodity market segmentation; (3) economic openness improves the utilization rate of industrial capacity while the internet penetration rate and regional environmental management investment have no significant impact; and(4) a higher degree of openness and active private economic development have a positive spatial spillover effect, while there is a significant negative spatial spillover effect from local government intervention and industrial structure sophistication. This paper includes the impact of resources and the environment in overcapacity evaluations, which should guide sustainable development in emerging economies.

Concentration, composition profile, orientation distribution, sources, and potential risks of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in 76 surface (0–25 cm) soil samples collected from the Changzhi industrial district in July 2014 using a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS QP2010 Ultra) system. The composition patterns of the PAHs were dominated by the presence of four-ring PAHs (average 42.9%), followed by three-ring (average 25.9%), five-ring PAHs (average 25.6%), two-ring PAHs (average 5.03%), and lastly, six-ring PAHs (average 0.641%). Source apportionment of the soil PAHs was also performed by the diagnostic ratios, principal component analysis (PCA), and coefficient of divergence (CD) analysis indicated signatures of PAHs sources (including incineration, coal/wood combustion, and vehicular exhaust emission). The total concentration of 16 PAHs (∑16PAHs) found in the roadsides soils (RS) ranged from 2197 to 25,041 μg kg⁻¹, with an arithmetic mean value of 12,245 μg kg⁻¹; followed by the village soils (VS), which ranged from 2059 to 21,240 μg kg⁻¹, with a mean of 8976 μg kg⁻¹; and lastly, the agricultural soils (AS), which ranged from 794 to 16,858 μg kg⁻¹, with a mean of 3456 μg kg⁻¹. According to the numerical effect-based soils quality guidelines of Maliszewska-Kordybach, the levels of PAHs in the sampled industrial areas range from high to heavy contamination. The values of total benzo[a]pyrene toxicity equivalent values (∑Bapeq16PAHs) in the sample areas ranged from 0.087 to 3611 μg kg⁻¹ with an average of 969 μg kg⁻¹. According to the soil quality guidelines of Canada, values found in the highest range (100 μg kg⁻¹), which are equal to those of ∑Bapeq16PAHs found in the industrial area samples, will exert adverse biological effects. The results of this research could potentially be useful for local governments to control toxicity exposure, promote actions to alleviate PAHs contamination, and to manage human health at both work and industrial areas.