Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmental reporting Australia Evaluation'

The principal research question addressed in this thesis is how the effectiveness of an environmental legal system can best be evaluated. A legal system is effective if it is achieving or likely to achieve its objectives. For an environmental legal system this means achieving sustainable development. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the pressure-state-response ("PSR") method of State of the Environment ("SoE") Reporting provides the best available framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system. A subsidiary research question addressed in this thesis is whether the environmental legal system protecting the Great Barrier Reef ("GBR") in north-eastern Australia is likely to achieve sustainable development of it. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is likely to achieve sustainable development of the GBR. The principal method used to address these research questions and test the hypotheses is a case study of the effectiveness of the laws protecting the GBR. Particular emphasis is given in the case study to climate change both because it is now recognised as the major threat to the GBR and is a topic of significant international and national interest. This thesis is intended to contribute, in particular, to the current public and policy debate on responding effectively to climate change by using the GBR as a yardstick against which to measure "dangerous climate change" and, conversely, acceptable climate change. There are five major findings of the research. First, most of the legal writing regarding environmental legal systems is descriptive, explanatory and interpretative rather than evaluative. Second, most legal writers who attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of part or the whole of an environmental legal system implicitly use the PSR method and refer to pressures, conditions, and responses but do not acknowledge this conceptual framework. Third, the best available conceptual and analytical framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system is the PSR method. It is the simplest, most systematic, comprehensive and meaningful framework with the greatest predictive power for evaluating the effectiveness of the total social and legal response to human-induced environmental degradation currently available. Fourth, current practice in SoE reporting, at least in relation to the GBR, is largely descriptive and rarely evaluates the effectiveness of the response. The fifth major finding of this research is that, while there are many effective parts of the response to pressures on the GBR, the current environmental legal system is not likely to be effective in preventing climate change from causing very serious damage to the GBR. Based on what we know at this point in time, particularly the technology that is currently available and current greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of climate change appear likely to swamp the many good aspects of the legal system protecting the GBR. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in 2005 were approximately 379 parts per million ("ppm") and rising by 2 ppm per year. Including the effect of other greenhouse gases such as methane, the total concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases was around 455 ppm carbon dioxide equivalents ("CO2-eq") in 2005, although the cooling effect of aerosols and landuse changes reduced the net effect to around 375 ppm CO2-eq. Limiting the total increase in mean global temperature to approximately 1°C requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols around 350 ppm CO2-eq. Increasing the net effect of greenhouse gases and aerosols to 450-550 ppm CO2-eq is expected to result in a 2-3°C rise in mean surface temperatures. There are currently no international or national legal constraints to hold greenhouse gas concentrations beneath these levels and they appear likely to be exceeded. These increases in mean global temperatures are expected to severely degrade the GBR by 2030-2040. Even the targets being set by the new Australian Government of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 appear insufficient to protect the GBR. If a 60% reduction in emissions can be achieved globally by 2050 a rise in mean global temperature of around 2.4°C is expected. This indicates the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is not likely to be effective in relation to climate change and, therefore, is failing to reach its objective of sustainable development. Three major recommendations arise from the research. First, legal writers attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of the whole or part of an environmental legal system should use and acknowledge the PSR method. Second, SoE reports should include a stand-alone chapter evaluating the effectiveness of the response. Third, the environmental legal system protecting the GBR should take strong and comprehensive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the objective of sustainable development is to be achieved. Such measures should include setting policy targets for stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations around 350 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperature to 1°C. Policy targets of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols at 450-550 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperatures to 2-3°C are likely to be too high to avoid severe impacts of coral bleaching to the GBR.

The principal research question addressed in this thesis is how the effectiveness of an environmental legal system can best be evaluated. A legal system is effective if it is achieving or likely to achieve its objectives. For an environmental legal system this means achieving sustainable development. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the pressure-state-response ("PSR") method of State of the Environment ("SoE") Reporting provides the best available framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system. A subsidiary research question addressed in this thesis is whether the environmental legal system protecting the Great Barrier Reef ("GBR") in north-eastern Australia is likely to achieve sustainable development of it. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is likely to achieve sustainable development of the GBR. The principal method used to address these research questions and test the hypotheses is a case study of the effectiveness of the laws protecting the GBR. Particular emphasis is given in the case study to climate change both because it is now recognised as the major threat to the GBR and is a topic of significant international and national interest. This thesis is intended to contribute, in particular, to the current public and policy debate on responding effectively to climate change by using the GBR as a yardstick against which to measure "dangerous climate change" and, conversely, acceptable climate change. There are five major findings of the research. First, most of the legal writing regarding environmental legal systems is descriptive, explanatory and interpretative rather than evaluative. Second, most legal writers who attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of part or the whole of an environmental legal system implicitly use the PSR method and refer to pressures, conditions, and responses but do not acknowledge this conceptual framework. Third, the best available conceptual and analytical framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system is the PSR method. It is the simplest, most systematic, comprehensive and meaningful framework with the greatest predictive power for evaluating the effectiveness of the total social and legal response to human-induced environmental degradation currently available. Fourth, current practice in SoE reporting, at least in relation to the GBR, is largely descriptive and rarely evaluates the effectiveness of the response. The fifth major finding of this research is that, while there are many effective parts of the response to pressures on the GBR, the current environmental legal system is not likely to be effective in preventing climate change from causing very serious damage to the GBR. Based on what we know at this point in time, particularly the technology that is currently available and current greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of climate change appear likely to swamp the many good aspects of the legal system protecting the GBR. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in 2005 were approximately 379 parts per million ("ppm") and rising by 2 ppm per year. Including the effect of other greenhouse gases such as methane, the total concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases was around 455 ppm carbon dioxide equivalents ("CO2-eq") in 2005, although the cooling effect of aerosols and landuse changes reduced the net effect to around 375 ppm CO2-eq. Limiting the total increase in mean global temperature to approximately 1°C requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols around 350 ppm CO2-eq. Increasing the net effect of greenhouse gases and aerosols to 450-550 ppm CO2-eq is expected to result in a 2-3°C rise in mean surface temperatures. There are currently no international or national legal constraints to hold greenhouse gas concentrations beneath these levels and they appear likely to be exceeded. These increases in mean global temperatures are expected to severely degrade the GBR by 2030-2040. Even the targets being set by the new Australian Government of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 appear insufficient to protect the GBR. If a 60% reduction in emissions can be achieved globally by 2050 a rise in mean global temperature of around 2.4°C is expected. This indicates the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is not likely to be effective in relation to climate change and, therefore, is failing to reach its objective of sustainable development. Three major recommendations arise from the research. First, legal writers attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of the whole or part of an environmental legal system should use and acknowledge the PSR method. Second, SoE reports should include a stand-alone chapter evaluating the effectiveness of the response. Third, the environmental legal system protecting the GBR should take strong and comprehensive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the objective of sustainable development is to be achieved. Such measures should include setting policy targets for stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations around 350 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperature to 1°C. Policy targets of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols at 450-550 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperatures to 2-3°C are likely to be too high to avoid severe impacts of coral bleaching to the GBR.

Recently, bankers have come to realise that banking operations, especially corporate lending, affect and are affected by the natural environment and that consequently, the banks might have an important role to play in helping to raise environmental standards. Although the environment presents significant risks to banks, in particular environmental credit risk, it also perhaps presents profitable opportunities. Stricter environmental regulations have forced companies to invest in environmentally friendly technologies and pollution control measures and in tum generated lending opportunities for bankers. This research examines the corporate practices of three of the four dominant banks in South Africa with respect to the environment, focusing on issues of climate change and environmental risk management by way of reporting and disclosure to all stakeholders. The emphasis on environmental reporting by South African banks has been reinforced by the latest release of the King III Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa. Global governance requires that the triple-bottom line should be applied in all corporate undertakings due to globalisation and trade liberalisation; however, the banking sector has responded poorly to the clarion call. The false view that the banks have no significant relationship with environmental degradation is being disproved. Environmental management is a huge and massive reconstruction of what has gone wrong with nature by human influence. The South African banks have had to face with the challenging tasks of reporting on the direct and mostly the indirect impacts of their environmental activities. Based on the three sampled banks which incidentally had greater percentages of the market capitalizations, the banks have fairly performed in environmental reporting. For example, Standard Bank (SA) Ltd has just signed the Equator Principles in 2007 implying corporate lending was done in 2007 without any respect to environmental impact assessments by corporate borrowers. Consequently, environmental reporting was not done to facilitate informed decision-making by stakeholders mostly shareholders and the communities where borrowers tun businesses. The objective of this research study is to investigate the extent and quantity of/voluntary environmental disclosures in the annual and sustainability reports of the banks listed on Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The periods examined were those subsequent to the release of the Exposure Draft Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) issued in 1999. Using content analysis to focus on the environmental aspects, the research study compared three annual reports and three sustainability reports of 2007 year for the three sampled banks in order to evaluate reporting practices in the period surrounding this intervention. The results suggest a trend to triple bottom-line reporting and the extent and quantity of environmental information, albeit in specific categories.

This thesis uses an action research methodology to develop a framework for improving independent scholarly reporting about interventions addressing social or environmental conflict. As there are often contradictory interpretations about the causes and strategic responses to conflict, the problem confronting scholar-reporters is how to address perceptions of bias and reflexively specify the purpose of reporting. It is proposed that scholar-reporters require grounding in conventional realist-based social theory but equally ability to incorporate theoretical ideas generated in more idealist-based peace research and applied conflict resolution studies. To do this scholar-reporters can take a comparative approach systematically developed through an integrated framework as described in this thesis. Conceptual and theoretical considerations that support both conventional and more radical constructions are comparatively analysed and then tested in relation to a case study. In 2000 Aboriginal people throughout South Australia deliberated whether their native title claims could be better accorded recognition through conservative court processes or a negotiation process to allay deep-seated conflict. The author, in a scholar-reporter capacity, formulated a report attributing meaning to this consultative process. As such a report could have been formulated according to alternative paradigms, methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, the analysis of the adopted framework highlights how different approaches can bias the interpretation of the process and prospects for change. Realist-based conservative interpretations emphasise 'official' decision-making processes where legitimacy is expressed through political and legal frameworks based on precedent. Idealist-based interpretations emphasise that circumstances entailing significant conflict warrant equal consideration being given to 'non-official' 'resolutionary' problem-solving processes where conflict is treated as a catalyst for learning and outcomes are articulated as understanding generated about conflict and how different strategies can transform it. The developed integrated framework approach establishes the independence of scholarly reporting. Its purpose goes beyond perpetuating scholarly debate about alternative 'objective' understandings of conflict; it focuses primarily on communicating a more inclusive understanding of the contradictions inherent in a particular conflict. It increases the capacity to understand when, where, why and how conflict precipitates social change, and articulates possibilities for reconceptualising what might be the more sustainable direction of change.

This thesis uses an action research methodology to develop a framework for improving independent scholarly reporting about interventions addressing social or environmental conflict. As there are often contradictory interpretations about the causes and strategic responses to conflict, the problem confronting scholar-reporters is how to address perceptions of bias and reflexively specify the purpose of reporting. It is proposed that scholar-reporters require grounding in conventional realist-based social theory but equally ability to incorporate theoretical ideas generated in more idealist-based peace research and applied conflict resolution studies. To do this scholar-reporters can take a comparative approach systematically developed through an integrated framework as described in this thesis. Conceptual and theoretical considerations that support both conventional and more radical constructions are comparatively analysed and then tested in relation to a case study. In 2000 Aboriginal people throughout South Australia deliberated whether their native title claims could be better accorded recognition through conservative court processes or a negotiation process to allay deep-seated conflict. The author, in a scholar-reporter capacity, formulated a report attributing meaning to this consultative process. As such a report could have been formulated according to alternative paradigms, methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, the analysis of the adopted framework highlights how different approaches can bias the interpretation of the process and prospects for change. Realist-based conservative interpretations emphasise 'official' decision-making processes where legitimacy is expressed through political and legal frameworks based on precedent. Idealist-based interpretations emphasise that circumstances entailing significant conflict warrant equal consideration being given to 'non-official' 'resolutionary' problem-solving processes where conflict is treated as a catalyst for learning and outcomes are articulated as understanding generated about conflict and how different strategies can transform it. The developed integrated framework approach establishes the independence of scholarly reporting. Its purpose goes beyond perpetuating scholarly debate about alternative 'objective' understandings of conflict; it focuses primarily on communicating a more inclusive understanding of the contradictions inherent in a particular conflict. It increases the capacity to understand when, where, why and how conflict precipitates social change, and articulates possibilities for reconceptualising what might be the more sustainable direction of change.

Bibliography: leaves 84-86. Shows how environmental education could be incorporated within the current South Australian secondary school structures and critically evaluates current programs. Investigates a different frame work (International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program), as a means for overcoming some of the limitations for environmental education presented by the current DETE framework; and, student perceptions of what makes a successful environmental education program.

It has been well established that air pollution is associated with health impacts. This study investigated the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and potential biomarkers of health effects. The research project was conducted in 2 separate study locations and cohorts. Study 1: An Evaluation of Children’s Exposures to Respirable Particulates, Environmental PM2.5, PAHs and Metal Compounds in The South West of Western Australia. A cross sectional study to evaluate the exposures of children (n=18), and controls (n=15) to respirable particulates PAHs and metal compounds in the South West of Australia during 2011. Ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were found to be significantly higher in Collie as compared to Dalyellup. However, personal PM2.5 concentrations between locations were not significantly different and both PAH and heavy metals were below the levels of detection. Urinary levels of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHpy) were below the level of detection. Copper, selenium and nickel were present in urine samples and these were not significantly different between locations, nor was there any correlation with residential areas within study locations. Urinary nickel concentrations were higher than expected for nonoccupational cohorts and although statistically insignificant, mean values of urinary nickel were highest for homes using gas as a fuel source. These data endorse current views that the reconstruction of PM2.5 exposures and related respiratory health effects based simply on the mass of airborne particulate matter alone is not sufficient in providing an insight to the respiratory health of susceptible subgroups such as children. The presence of certain urinary heavy metals suggests possible accumulation in participants via alternative routes of entry, probably a dietary source. Studies that rely purely on data accrued from ambient PM2.5 mass, and/or general health data might not detect or underestimate significant relationships between certain components of PM2.5. Study 2: Urinary levels of malondialdehyde and 8-deoxyguanosine as biomarkers of oxidative DNA damage induced by exposure to nickel and cobalt in metal refinery workers. Metal mining and refinery workers in Australia have the potential to be occupationally exposed to quantities of heavy metals that may be associated with health impacts affecting major organ and immune systems. Current regulatory and internal company policies and guidelines require regular monitoring of occupational exposures of employees through a combination of air borne sampling as well as biological monitoring for heavy metals. Toxic levels of heavy metals accumulated in the body have been shown to elicit inflammatory responses linked to exacerbated health effects impacting the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems. There are many studies that have established a significant link between heavy metal exposure and increased oxidative stress. In light of these observations, this study investigated urinary levels of nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy-2’deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) which are oxidative stress markers indicative of cellular and DNA damage. A positive correlation between urinary Ni and Co exposure and oxidative stress markers among refinery workers was established. This finding has implications for occupational health management as individual responses to exposures can now be identified. In addition to implementing a global mean air borne exposure standard, individual variation and sensitivity can be accommodated through the use of urinary oxidative stress markers

Bibiography: leaves 91-96. The Timor Gap area is managed jointly by Australia and Indonesia through the Treaty of Timor Gap (1989). The Zone of Cooperation area A 's main activity is oil exploration and exploitation. The main concern of the research is the provisions for environmental protection and the procedure of environmental impact assessment in the Treaty.

En se focalisant sur 38 grands groupes cotés au CAC 40, de 2007 à 2013, la question de l’affichage environnemental et de sa valorisation sur le marché est envisagée dans une étude exploratoire selon les axes suivants : Le premier consiste à identifier l’existence d’un effet sur les cours de bourse d’une diffusion publique d’éléments afférant à la stratégie environnementale, en faisant appel aux études d’événements. La publication du document de référence a ainsi retenu toute l’attention. Puis, il apparaît essentiel de caractériser cette information : L’objectif n’est pas d’évaluer la qualité de la politique adoptée, mais d’étudier et évaluer les comportements en la matière, en mobilisant une analyse de contenu pour un total de 228 documents de référence. Une méthodologie de scoring a été adoptée, afin d’établir un indice de diffusion d’informations environnementales, sur la base d’un référentiel reconnu internationalement et pertinent, le Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Enfin, une modélisation permet de tester la relation entre la réaction observée sur le marché financier et l’information environnementale. Sur la pratique de diffusion d’informations environnementales, les comportements des entreprises de l’échantillon se sont améliorés tant sur la nature des informations divulguées que sur les pratiques globales : Elles sont de plus en plus transparente sur la base des critères environnementaux définis par le GRI. A la publication du document de référence, des rentabilités anormales cumulées sont observées et significatives. Les résultats laissent apparaître que le pouvoir explicatif de la communication environnementale est au demeurant plus important que des variables financières, tel que la variation de l’effet de levier, bien qu’il soit affecté au cours du temps
By focusing on 38 stock marketed companies from the CAC 40 from 2007 to 2013, to question on the link between environmental published information and market valorization is at stake. The response is organized trough 3 main objectives by performing an explorative analysis: First, one may identify an impact from the disclosure about environmental practices on the stock market thank to the event study methodology. Publication of the annual registration documents hold attention in order to appreciate public environmental communication: Thus, the issue is not to evaluate firms’ policies but to understand how do they behave concerning their communication, by performing a content analysis based on 228 registration documents. Then, one may use an innovative data sources through the Global reporting initiative (GRI) standardized items to explore and to score the published information concerning environmental practices, leading to build an disclosure index. Last, one may test the relationship between the disclosure practices and the impact of this disclosure on the stock market. Companies tend to be more and more transparent according to the GRI, as on the items itself than on their whole practices. When they circulate their registration documents, there are significant cumulated abnormal returns. As a result, one may observe that disclosure on environmental practices explains more the abnormal returns than financial datas, as the leverage variation, even if this effect tend to be less and less important with time

Multimetric ecological condition assessment has become an important biodiversity management tool. This study was the first to examine the reliability of these ecological surrogates across variable environments, and the implications for surrogate efficacy. It was demonstrated that through strategic application and design of the multimetric ecological condition index, the effects of environmental gradients and disturbance regimes can be mitigated, and that ecological condition assessment may serve as a scientifically rigorous approach for conservation planning.

Over more than forty years many proposals have been drawn up to complement, integrate and overcome the traditional methodologies measuring the financial dimension of corporate performance. In parallel, thousands of companies, and especially the listed ones, have introduced, developed and implemented different practices of non-financial reporting. So, what is the state of the art with regard to the most important initiatives aimed at supporting companies in managing social, environmental and sustainability performance? And, what are the current corporate approaches to sustainability evaluation and reporting? In order to answer the two research questions, the study introduced a collaborative paradigm, based on a relational view of the firm, which recognizes the strategic value of stakeholder relationships. The stakeholder framework (that is, the multiple bottom line approach) is the lens adopted to conduct the study. With regard to the first question, a broad and up-to-date review of the most important standards and tools – aimed at managing, controlling, evaluating, and reporting the social, environmental and sustainability performance of companies – has been carried out. In reference to the second question, a qualitative content analysis, based on an interpretive perspective, of the current corporate practices has been conducted. The investigation mainly explored the social/CSR/sustainability reports of sixteen leading companies from four crucial industries (i.e., four firms per each of the four industries: banks, retailing, telecommunications, and utilities). In comparison with previous contributions in this area, the analysis is characterized by depth (that is, the number of items checked for every company), breadth (i.e., the number of stakeholders and documents/information sources covered), and complexity because of the interpretive nature. What emerged from the overall study is that, because of several and different reasons (essentially, complexity and the still prevailing focus on financial value for management tools; redundancy and incompleteness for corporate reports; and lack of innovation, that is, isomorphism, for both), the prevailing methodologies and the corporate evaluation and reporting activities are unable to fully assess the sustainability, that is, the quality, of the corporate relationships with the stakeholder groups. Therefore, in order to fill the gap new solutions are needed. As an attempt to address this point and reconnect theory and practice, a sustainability evaluation and reporting system, that is, the SERS2 methodology, characterized by an innovative, stakeholder-based scheme of integrated report, has been advanced.

This thesis describes the construction of a mobile Insect Monitoring Radars (IMR) and investigations of: the reliability of IMRs for observing insect migration in inland Australia; possible biases in IMR migration estimates; the relation between an insect???s size and its radar properties; radar discrimination between insect species; the effect of weather on the migrations of Australian plague locusts and of moths; the scale of these migrations; and here IMRs are best located. The principles of entomological radar design, and the main features of insect migration in inland Australia, are reviewed. The main procedures used in the study are: calculation of radar performance and of insect radar cross sections (RCSs); reanalysis of a laboratory RCS dataset; statistical analysis of a fouryear dataset of IMR and weather observations; and a field campaign using both two existing fixed IMRs and the new mobile unit. Statistical techniques used include correlation, multiple regression, discriminant analysis, and principal components analysis. The original results of this work include design details of the mobile IMR, extension of radar performance calculations to IMRs and evaluation of flight speed biases, a holistic approach to IMR design, the relation of insect RCS magnitudes and polarization patterns to morphological variables, an estimate of the accuracy of the retrieved parameters, evaluations of three approaches (oneparameter, theory-based, and a novel two-stage method) to target identification, and verification of inferred target identities using results from nearby light traps. Possible sites for future IMRs are identified. The major conclusions are that: a mobile IMR can be built with a performance equal to that of a fixed IMR but at half the cost; significant biases in the signal processing results arise from insect speed; locusts and moths can be distinguished if all RCS parameters are used; IMRs can be designed to match particular requirements; weather has a significant effect on insect migration, the best single predictor of insect numbers being temperature; moonlight has no effect; the spatial correlation of migration properties falls to 50% at a separation of 300 km; and migrating insects can be carried by the wind for 500 km in a single night

It is now common for managers, strategists, planners and citizens at municipality level to use sustainable development indicators (SDI) to help them work towards sustainable development. SDI constitute an information system for monitoring, reporting and decision-making which in theory should help us decide how to intervene in natural, economic, social and political systems for a better, more sustainable future. But not all indicator systems are created equal. Some are better tools than others when it comes to helping cities and municipalities in their work, and thousands of municipalities use SDI worldwide. How then should we assess the effectiveness of existing indicators for municipalities? To answer this question I develop an approach for assessing the edesign, creation and communication of existing, in-use SDI, and then apply it in a case study in Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden. The approach assesses five aspects of SDI: ‘Vision’, ‘Framework’, ‘Indicator Selection’, ‘Stakeholder Participation’ and ‘Communication’. The findings in Falun suggest that SDI have been essential to the implementation of sustainable development in policy and action in general municipal operations, but the municipality has not moved beyond a ‘conventional’ sustainable development vision and monitoring strategy. The benefits and constraints of the current indicator system are then discussed using the above approach, and the thesis finishes by offering suggestions for the municipality going forward. I also point to the need to develop a standardised assessment method for thousands of municipalities using indicator systems used today, to help in ongoing review and improvement of SDI in practice.

Community welfare organisations (CWOs)¹ perform an important role in society. They are founded on religious or social values that are given expression through their mission statements. In undertaking their work, many command significant economic resources. While the literature shows an increasing use of performance reporting by CWOs, little is known about the processes through which performance reports are developed and deployed. This thesis attempts to fill this lacuna by investigating the structure and process of, and rationale for, performance reporting by a CWO. The research was undertaken through a single organisation case study of performance reporting in a large, multi-service CWO. The study employed an interpretive methodology, which was informed by Strategic Choice Theory, using data that was obtained through interviews, observation of meetings and document analysis. The study found that performance reporting by the organisation was extensive, being undertaken within two distinct but related frameworks: a voluntary system that had been developed within the organisation, and a mandatory system of external reporting. It concluded that performance reporting was essentially the strategic response of a decidedly purposeful, voluntary organisation that chose to operate in a highly regulated welfare system. The contributions to knowledge from this thesis arise from a comprehensive explanation of practice, and a demonstration of the applicability of Strategic Choice Theory to understanding organisational behaviour in a CWO. ¹ See Appendix 1 for a definition of the term Community Welfare Organisation.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2009

Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library.
This study area for this research is characterised by a regional anticline plunging to the east-south-east with large-scale internal architecture comprising transgressive, retrogradationally stacked stratigraphy that dips gently landward and is unconformably truncated by overlying sealing units. The primary reservoir/aquifer targets for CO₂ injection are palaeo-shoreline parallel nearshore sandstone bodies characterised by high porosity and permeability and good interconnectivity. The key regional sealing unit is the Lakes Entrance Formation, which consists of mudstone and marl capable of sealing large columns of CO₂. The proposed stategy for CO₂ geosequestration is to inject CO₂ outside four-way structural closure to allow up-dip fluid migration to the north then west governed by the structure of regional sealing units. Probabilistic estimates of CO₂ capacity utilising the proposed strategy indicate that 1395-2575 Mtonnes could be sequestered.
http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1281480
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Australian School of Petroleum, 2007

Despite its contribution to the economy, the resources sector faces growing pressure from stakeholders, including investors and regulators, for managing the environmental impacts of its operations. Being an environmentally sensitive sector, resource sector companies should provide disclosures of their environmental footprint in their annual and/or sustainability reports. However, it is claimed that, given that environmental disclosures in annual and sustainability reports are largely voluntary, the quality of those disclosures are questionable with respect to their relevance and faithful representation. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to explore the quality of environmental disclosures by Australian resources sector companies. This was undertaken through an assessment of quality based on existing reporting frameworks and assessment of investors’ perspectives on the quality of disclosures. Thus, the aim of the project was twofold: first, to identify the extent to which corporate environmental disclosures align with the quality attributes suggested in established regulatory guidelines and frameworks; and second, to obtain investors’ perspectives regarding corporate environmental initiatives and environmental disclosures.

The sustainable development agenda is underpinned by the recognition that there are limits to the capacity of the earth to cope with unimpeded economic growth. Businesses, due to their power and reach, are seen as major users of natural, human and financial capital resources. Granted a societal licence to operate, businesses are under increasing pressure from a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders, who expect a higher level of accountability and transparency in regard to economic, social and environmental performance measurement. In response, businesses have incorporated practices such as eco-efficiency and corporate social responsibility, and an increasing number are now moving towards a more holistic evaluation of their triple bottom line (TBL) performance. In contrast, the special events industry has continued to rely on traditional economic measures of performance. There has been tremendous growth in the number of special events being staged in tourism destinations. Events have been used strategically to bring ‘new’ money into regions, promote economic development and to showcase destinations to potential visitors. As a result of these economic imperatives, the evaluation of events has predominantly been undertaken from a narrow economic perspective. This approach, however, fails to account for the impact of the event on the host community as well as the impact on the natural environment such as water and energy use and waste generation. Since the 1980’s, event researchers have called for a broad-based evaluation model that incorporates economic, social and environmental measures. Recently, a number of these researchers have suggested that a TBL approach has merit as a potential framework. What has been lacking, however, is a set of standardised measures that would underpin a broad-based evaluation model. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a set of standardised TBL indicators, which would enable a parsimonious TBL evaluation model to be established. A seven-step indicator development process was used to underpin this research, based on a number of collaborative projects that developed indicators to measure sustainable development. Within this framework, there were a number of research stages. Initially, a comprehensive analysis of 224 academic event evaluation publications and 85 actual event impact assessments was undertaken. The aim was to understand what impacts have been used in event evaluations from academic and practical perspectives. From these 309 sources, a list of the 20 key impacts was derived. The second stage of the research was a three-round, modified Web-based Delphi survey of event experts. The aim was to use the opinions of the event experts to develop a pool of indicators to measure the key impacts. A total of 24 indicators was proposed by the experts to measure the impacts. A conceptual model was developed, which detailed the event drivers, the event inputs, the event outcomes, and the TBL indicators. The model also included a TBL evaluation, which included overall measures for the economic, social and environmental impacts. A number of possible models were discussed, which enable a number of TBL indicators to be integrated to allow an overall event 'score' to be achieved. After a subset of the indicators was selected, the third stage of the study involved the conduct of two special event case studies. The objective of this stage was to operationalise the indicators in order to test their appropriateness for inclusion in a TBL evaluation model. The case studies used intercept surveys of event attendees, competitors and exhibitors to gather economic data, mail-out surveys of local residents to gauge the social impacts and the collection of a range of environmental data from event venues and attendees. Whilst the economic and social data were readily captured via the surveys, not all environmental data were available, mainly due to the regional setting of one of the events, where there was limited capacity for capturing data. Following this, the fourth major stage of the research involved consultations with a small number of project stakeholders in order to obtain feedback on the indicators used and the results of one of the case studies. In general, the stakeholders were supportive of both the direction of the research and the use of the TBL indicators to evaluate the impact of events. A TBL evaluation will broaden the evaluation criteria for events and bring the events industry in line with the wider business community. There is a growing recognition in the tourism literature that, particularly with transportation, the tourism industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, inclusion of environmental measures will provide a clearer picture of the environmental footprint of an event. Moreover, inclusion of the measures of the impact of events on the quality of life of the host community may provide information that assists event organisers to retain the licence to stage an event, which is granted by the event stakeholders. A further benefit of a TBL evaluation is that it will enable a comparison to be made of a range of different events, which will aid tourism organisations and event stakeholders in the decision-making process about which events merit support. As a result, it will be possible to manage events in a more sustainable manner. Whilst this study contributed to the development of a TBL evaluation, further research is required to integrate the indicators into a framework that can provide an overall 'score' for an event, which can then be compared with other events.

This study provides the first comprehensive quantitative assessment of Australia's pilot Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme (PHRSTS). It casts new light on the relative merits of tradable permit system in terms of environmental and cost effectiveness under the PHRSTS, highlighting the potential benefits from an integrated regulatory instrument for management of natural resource and environmental quality. The PHRSTS was introduced by the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (NSW EPA) in 1995 to regulate the discharge of saline water from the coal mines and electric power generators into the Hunter River, which was affecting other uses of the River. It was made permanent in 2002, becoming the formalised HRSTS (FHRSTS). Allowing for the total permitted salt discharge to vary dynamically from day to day subject to river flow conditions, and for salt permits be traded among the mines and power generators, the Scheme is widely known as Australia's first active water quality trading program, and still appears to be the only dynamic tradable permits scheme operating in the world. The NSW EPA has claimed that the PHRSTS achieved significant environmental and economic benefits, but until now there has been no rigorous examination of its operational performance. To help fill this gap, this study investigates the origins, evolution and institutional arrangements of the PHRSTS, examines the performance of the salt credits trading market of the PHRSTS and the two credit auctions of the FHRSTS, and evaluates the environmental and economic effectiveness of the PHRSTS. In particular, this study finds that: (1) The credits trading market of the PHRSTS was active in terms of both volume of trading and number of participants, in spite of the high proportion of intra-company trading. The successful bidders in the credit auctions of the FHRSTS were a mix of sellers and buyers on the credit trading market of the PHRSTS. The low, narrowly-spread auction prices suggest that the firms did not value the credits highly and that the differentials in marginal cost of salt control across the participants are not large enough to yield significant savings from the credit trading. (2) The overall salinity objectives of the Hunter River were attained under the PHRSTS. However, the PHRSTS did not significantly improve the river salinity compared to the previous Trickle Discharge management system. The PHRSTS only generated trivial savings in social damage cost. (3) The PHRSTS generated measurable cost savings in the total control cost of saline water to its participants over its entire period. But this was minor in relation to the participants' sales revenues, and the tradability of the discharge permits accounted for only a very small proportion of the control cost savings. Dynamicism, instead oftradability, of the discharge permits was by far the main source of the cost savings. This study therefore concludes that neither the environmental effectiveness nor the economic effectiveness of the PHRSTS is as impressive as that claimed by the NSW EPA. Nevertheless, the valuable experience drawn from the experimental design and operation of the PHRSTS should prove useful for broader water quality management strategies in Australia and elsewhere.

The sustainable development agenda is underpinned by the recognition that there are limits to the capacity of the earth to cope with unimpeded economic growth. Businesses, due to their power and reach, are seen as major users of natural, human and financial capital resources. Granted a societal licence to operate, businesses are under increasing pressure from a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders, who expect a higher level of accountability and transparency in regard to economic, social and environmental performance measurement. In response, businesses have incorporated practices such as eco-efficiency and corporate social responsibility, and an increasing number are now moving towards a more holistic evaluation of their triple bottom line (TBL) performance. In contrast, the special events industry has continued to rely on traditional economic measures of performance. There has been tremendous growth in the number of special events being staged in tourism destinations. Events have been used strategically to bring ‘new’ money into regions, promote economic development and to showcase destinations to potential visitors. As a result of these economic imperatives, the evaluation of events has predominantly been undertaken from a narrow economic perspective. This approach, however, fails to account for the impact of the event on the host community as well as the impact on the natural environment such as water and energy use and waste generation. Since the 1980’s, event researchers have called for a broad-based evaluation model that incorporates economic, social and environmental measures. Recently, a number of these researchers have suggested that a TBL approach has merit as a potential framework. What has been lacking, however, is a set of standardised measures that would underpin a broad-based evaluation model. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a set of standardised TBL indicators, which would enable a parsimonious TBL evaluation model to be established. A seven-step indicator development process was used to underpin this research, based on a number of collaborative projects that developed indicators to measure sustainable development. Within this framework, there were a number of research stages. Initially, a comprehensive analysis of 224 academic event evaluation publications and 85 actual event impact assessments was undertaken. The aim was to understand what impacts have been used in event evaluations from academic and practical perspectives. From these 309 sources, a list of the 20 key impacts was derived. The second stage of the research was a three-round, modified Web-based Delphi survey of event experts. The aim was to use the opinions of the event experts to develop a pool of indicators to measure the key impacts. A total of 24 indicators was proposed by the experts to measure the impacts. A conceptual model was developed, which detailed the event drivers, the event inputs, the event outcomes, and the TBL indicators. The model also included a TBL evaluation, which included overall measures for the economic, social and environmental impacts. A number of possible models were discussed, which enable a number of TBL indicators to be integrated to allow an overall event 'score' to be achieved. After a subset of the indicators was selected, the third stage of the study involved the conduct of two special event case studies. The objective of this stage was to operationalise the indicators in order to test their appropriateness for inclusion in a TBL evaluation model. The case studies used intercept surveys of event attendees, competitors and exhibitors to gather economic data, mail-out surveys of local residents to gauge the social impacts and the collection of a range of environmental data from event venues and attendees. Whilst the economic and social data were readily captured via the surveys, not all environmental data were available, mainly due to the regional setting of one of the events, where there was limited capacity for capturing data. Following this, the fourth major stage of the research involved consultations with a small number of project stakeholders in order to obtain feedback on the indicators used and the results of one of the case studies. In general, the stakeholders were supportive of both the direction of the research and the use of the TBL indicators to evaluate the impact of events. A TBL evaluation will broaden the evaluation criteria for events and bring the events industry in line with the wider business community. There is a growing recognition in the tourism literature that, particularly with transportation, the tourism industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, inclusion of environmental measures will provide a clearer picture of the environmental footprint of an event. Moreover, inclusion of the measures of the impact of events on the quality of life of the host community may provide information that assists event organisers to retain the licence to stage an event, which is granted by the event stakeholders. A further benefit of a TBL evaluation is that it will enable a comparison to be made of a range of different events, which will aid tourism organisations and event stakeholders in the decision-making process about which events merit support. As a result, it will be possible to manage events in a more sustainable manner. Whilst this study contributed to the development of a TBL evaluation, further research is required to integrate the indicators into a framework that can provide an overall 'score' for an event, which can then be compared with other events.

The recent drought in South Eastern Australia and associated water restrictions led to a significant increase in the use of greywater for the watering of lawn and garden areas. There was also an emerging trend for sustainable drought resistant landscaping for which some Australian native plants were suitable. There however was an uncertainty about whether greywater was a useful source of water for plants or whether it could be harmful. This study investigated how two varieties of turf Kikuyu (Pennisetum Clandestinum) and Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea), and two varieties of Australian native flowers Scaly Buttons (Leptorhynchos squamatus) and Small Vanilla Lilies (Arthropodium minus) grew when watered with several different types of greywaters sourced from a bathroom shower and a laundry.