Environmental reporting initiatives: towards triple-bottom line reporting or the intergration of financial and environmental performance

This objective of this study was to investigate the quantity and quality of voluntary environmental disclosures in the annual reports of the top 500 firms listed by market capitalisation on the Australian Stock Exchange. The periods examined were those immediately prior and subsequent to the release of the Exposure Draft Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics (CERES) Global Reporting Initiatives(GRI) issued in March 1999. Using content analysis to focus on the environmental aspects, and drawing heavily on the research of Gamble et al (1995), the study compared 425 annual reports over a two year period and 60 environmental reports, in order to explore reporting practices in the periods surrounding this intervention. The results suggest a trend to triple bottom reporting, and a significant change in the quality and quantity of environmental information, albeit in specific categories.

Multiple lines of evidence for the beneficial effects of environmental flows in two lowland rivers in Victoria, Australia

The aim of this study was to identify whether environmental flows released into two lowland rivers (the Glenelg and Wimmera Rivers, western Victoria, Australia) during the spring to autumn period had successfully ameliorated the negative effects of multiple human impacts. Macroinvertebrates and a range of physico-chemical variables were sampled from three reaches in each river. Both rivers were sampled during three environmental release seasons with average-sized releases (1997-1998, 1998-1999 and 2001-2002) and two drought seasons with limited releases (1999-2000 and 2000-2001). The effects of releasing average-sized environmental flows on macroinvertebrates and physico-chemical variables were assessed by comparison with data from the two drought seasons. For the Glenelg River, data from a reference season prior to the release of environmental flows (1995-1996) was also compared to data from the five environmental flow seasons. Multivariate analyses revealed four pieces of evidence indicating that the release of environmental flows effectively slowed the process of environmental degradation in the Glenelg River but not in the Wimmera River: (1) the magnitude of the river discharge was dependent on the size of environmental flow releases; (2) in the Wimmera River, water quality deteriorated markedly during the two drought seasons and correlated strongly with macroinvertebrate assemblage structure, but this was not observed in the Glenelg River; (3) the taxonomic composition of the macroinvertebrate assemblages among contrasting flow release seasons reflected the severe deterioration in water quality of the Wimmera River; (4) despite two drought seasons with minimal environmental flow releases, the macroinvertebrate assemblage in the Glenelg River did not differ from the average-release seasons, nor did it return to a pre-environmental flows condition. Therefore, it appears that environmental flow releases did sustain the macroinvertebrate assemblage and maintain reasonable water quality in the Glenelg River. However, in the Wimmera River, release volumes were too small to maintain low salinities and were associated with marked changes in the macroinvertebrate assemblage. Therefore, there are multiple lines of evidence that environmental flow releases of sufficient magnitude may slow the process of degradation in a regulated lowland river.

An empirical study on the influence of environmental labels on consumers

Purpose - Despite research studies indicating strong support for labelling information, uncertainty remains with respect to how labels influence consumers. This paper attempts to empirically investigate how consumers who differ in terms of environmentalism respond to labels.

Design/methodology/approach - The data were collected on an Australian sample using a structured questionnaire administered on the phone using quantum research (CATI) data collection services. A total of 155 questionnaires were completed and used for data analysis. The data were analysed using both descriptive measures and correlations between variables.

Findings - There appears to be a proportion of consumers that find product labels hard to understand. The research found that there are consumers who will buy green products even if they are lower in quality in comparison to alternative products, but would look for environmental information on labels. With respect to price sensitive green consumers, there appears to be a relationship between price sensitivity and 'always' reading labels as well as indicating that there is 'sufficient' information on product labels to make informed purchase decisions.

Research limitations/implications - It was beyond the scope of the research to account for some of the utilitarian approaches to interpretation or in-depth comprehension of label information. The sample size of 155, although selected using a probability method, may, to some extent, limit the overall accuracy of the results.

Practical implications - Offers some important information on different green consumer segments that would alert managers on how best to position environmental labels. Findings such as 'Satisfied with labels' correlates with 'Labels are accurate', which suggests that businesses need to provide a clear, accurate and easily legible label design to encourage satisfaction with the accuracy of content and the communication aspects of a label.

Originality/value - Contributes to better understanding of green customers purchase intentions and the usefulness of ecological product labels. It offers some insights and assistance to businesses in planning their green product/labelling strategies.

Assessment of wilderness quality using the analytic hierarchy process

Wilderness is a unique environmental resource that provides a multitude of use and non-use benefits. The use and management of wilderness depend on the assessment of wilderness quality. Current wilderness assessment in Australia is based on two broad criteria, the remoteness and naturalness of the wilderness, determined using geographic information systems. This paper discusses a complementary assessment method using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The AHP can be used to incorporate additional criteria, such as social and cultural criteria, to improve the quality of wilderness assessment. It provides a flexible and compatible method for large-scale wilderness assessments with multiple criteria. The weighting factors for the different criteria can be obtained from expert panels and focus groups.

Public environmental consumerism : recycling behaviour and its impact on intentions to purchase green products

Recycling behaviour has been used as indicators of green behavior since research has indicated that there is a positive relationship between environmental concern and ecologically responsible behavior such as recycling. The objective of this study is to find out if there is a difference between recyclers and non-recyclers and heavy and light recyclers with respect to their willingness to pay more for green products despite the perception of green products being of a lower quality in comparison to alternative products. The answers to this will help us to better understand environmentally conscious consumerism of both groups of consumers i.e. the light and heavy recyclers. The results indicate that willingness to pay somewhat higher prices and accepting somewhat lower quality of green products appears to be, generally, independent of recycling and non-recycling, as well as heavy and light recycling behaviour. It also addresses the implications of these findings for business managers.

Western science and Islamic learners : informing constructivism, quality learning and `internationalising the curriculum`

This presentation reports on a two-phase research program which focuses on the experiences of Islamic-background learners in science/environmental education. The research program explores perceived dissonances between western science and Islamic belief as an issue for: the highly visible discourse of constructivism in science and environmental education; the policy challenges of ‘internationalising the university curriculum’; and the pedagogical challenge of ‘Quality Learning’ – in particular responding to ‘faith-based’ commitments in education.
Conceptually, the research program is conducted within a constructivist discourse. Essentially, we are proposing that dissonances experienced by Islamic-background learners in a western science curriculum (as reported in Sharifah, 2003), and the effects of these dissonances on how learners construct meaning in science, can be understood within a constructivist discourse. Further, we believe the research has the promise of not only exploring and explicating some of the issues experienced by teachers and learners in Islamic science education contexts (and thereby contributing to our understanding of the idea of ‘quality learning’), but also expanding our grasp of the expressions, implications and limitations of the constructivist hypothesis in education. In this sense it has a transformative agenda by working to improve access to and experience in the science curriculum for Muslim students.

Environmental management system and electronic communication : Is it the need of the hour?

Implementation and certification of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is a reality for many businesses. Communication with an organisation’s stakeholders is a required element of any EMS. In the last five years companies have steadily moved towards integrating their different management systems, such as quality, environmental, and occupational health and safety, in an attempt to reduce their costs and increase efficiency. Legislation requires extensive reporting in each of these areas, so compliance is another important driver. During this period, communication by digital technology, or electronic communication, has gained prominence and acceptance amongst all groups of people including businesses primarily as a means to disseminate crucial EMS information to geographically diverse employees in a cost effective and instantaneous manner. Some perspectives have emerged to suggest that change processes in organisations may be hindered or helped in various ways through the application of digital technology in EMS. There are, however, gaps in the literature that document the impact and effectiveness of electronic communication amongst EMS stakeholders. In this paper we will discuss employees as one of the major stakeholders and whether the move to electronic communication has been assisting or hindering transformations in awareness and understanding of issues amongst employees. We highlight opportunities and challenges presented by an increased use of electronic communication in light of the environmental and climate change debates, which underpin EMS.

Individual, social and environmental determinants of participation in physical activity for prostate cancer survivors

Participation in physical activity helps prostate cancer survivors to cope with the side effects of treatment, enhances quality of life and decreases the risks of many of the comorbidities to which survivors are highly susceptible. Prostate cancer survivors, however, are less likely than other cancer survivors (e.g., breast and colorectal) to increase physical activity after diagnosis. Interventions have been only modestly successful at increasing participation in physical activity for prostate cancers survivors and more research is needed to increase our understanding of the determinants of physical activity for this group. Using a social ecological framework, this qualitative research sought to examine the individual, social and environmental determinants of participation in physical activity for prostate cancer survivors. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 survivors of prostate cancer aged between 35 and 75 years. Participants were drawn from a public and a private health service and from a range of treatment types. We are currently collecting data for this study and preliminary themes will be discussed at the conference (abstract will be updated once findings are known).

Impact of social anxiety on quality of life : a longitudinal study

This thesis found that individuals with social anxiety had high levels of co-morbid depression, reduced quality of life, poorer health and wellbeing, and they used maladaptive coping strategies. The negative effects of social anxiety and social anxiety co-morbid depression could be predicted over a 6-month time period. The portfolio argues the impact of poor attachment style, poor parenting behaviour and negative environmental influences as contributors to individuals' longer term psychological functioning with four case studies highlighting the contributing role of these early influences on later functioning.

Nutritional and organoleptic quality in intensively farmed Murray cod

This research aimed to determine the nutritional and organoleptic changes associated with different purging procedures in farmed Murray cod. Murray cod, a highly valuable species from a nutritional point of view, greatly benefits from a period of purging in clean water before being consumed.

Deployment of DGT units in marine waters to assess the environmental risk from a deep sea tailings outfall

Measurements of total, filterable and DGT-labile concentrations of nine metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ni and Zn) have been made at five sites up to 4.2km from a deep sea tailings outfall operated by Lihir Gold Ltd. at Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea. At each site, pairs of DGT units (one containing a 0.4mm and the other a 0.8mm diffusive gel layer) were deployed at three depths (50–70; 105–130; 135–155m) for 4–7 days. Comparison of predicted water column DGT-labile metal concentrations in field deployments showed the 0.8mm DGT units were relatively enriched in metals, with the effect being greatest closer to the outfall for Pb and Mn and least for Fe, Cr, Ni and Zn. The most likely explanation for this is that in addition to simple ion diffusion, kinetic factors associated with ageing or desorption processes govern release of metals from iron and aluminium oxyhydroxide colloids which diffuse through the gels. The thicker gels have a longer residence time over which metals can be released for adsorption. This model explains why enrichment is most pronounced near the outfall; more distant sites have lower colloid concentrations because of the longer time for coagulation to increase particle sizes to the extent they cannot enter the gels. Total and filterable metal (FM) concentrations were frequently below the limits of detection (LOD) achievable by conventional ICP-AES (1–52gL⁻¹) and this limited their usefulness for assessing environmental risk and for metal speciation determination. Because of its pre-concentration step DGT gave metal concentrations above their LODs and these decreased exponentially with distance from the outfall. Concentrations of DGT–labile metal fell below Australian water quality guidelines for protection of 99% of marine organisms within 0.13km of the outfall for Cd, Cr and Ni and below that for protection of 95% of marine organisms within 0.4, 0.7 and 3.6km for lead, zinc and copper, respectively.

Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning

The solicitation behaviours performed by dependent young are under selection from the environment created by their parents, as well as wider ecological conditions. Here we show how mechanisms acting before hatching enable canary offspring to adapt their begging behaviour to a variable post-hatching world. Cross-fostering experiments revealed that canary nestling begging intensity is positively correlated with the provisioning level of their own parents (to foster chicks). When we experimentally increased food quality before and during egg laying, mothers showed higher faecal androgen levels and so did their nestlings, even when they were cross-fostered before hatching to be reared by foster mothers that had been exposed to a standard regime of food quality. Higher parental androgen levels were correlated with greater levels of post-hatching parental provisioning and (we have previously shown) increased faecal androgens in chicks were associated with greater begging intensity. We conclude that androgens mediate environmentally induced plasticity in the expression of both parental and offspring traits, which remain correlated as a result of prenatal effects, probably acting within the egg. Offspring can thus adapt their begging intensity to variable family and ecological environments.

Maternal stress to partner quality is linked to adaptive offspring sex ratio adjustment

Female birds have been shown to have a remarkable degree of control over the sex ratio of the offspring they produce. However, it remains poorly understood how these skews are achieved. Female condition, and consequent variation in circulating hormones, provides a plausible mechanistic link between offspring sex biases and the environmental and social stresses commonly invoked to explain adaptive sex allocation, such as diet, territory quality, and body condition. However, although experimental studies have shown that female perception of male phenotype alone can lead to sex ratio biases, it is unknown how partner quality influences female physiological state. Using a controlled within-female experimental design where female Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) bred with both high- and low-quality males, we found that partner quality directly affects female hormonal status and subsequent fitness. When constrained to breeding with low-quality males, females had highly elevated stress responses (corticosterone levels) and produced adaptive male-biased sex ratios, whereas when they bred with high-quality males, females had low corticosterone levels and produced an equal offspring sex ratio. There was no effect of other maternal hormones (e.g., testosterone) or body condition on offspring sex ratios. Female physiological condition during egg production, and variation in circulating hormones in particular, may provide a general mechanistic route for strategic sex allocation in birds.

Sustainable retrofit potential in lower quality office stock in the central business district

Given the relationship between energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the built environment has significant potential to lessen overall emissions. With around half of all greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the built environment; it has a significant role to play in mitigating global warming. With large percentages of office stock structurally vacant in some city centres and only 1 or 2% of new buildings added to the total stock each year; the scope for reductions lay with adaptation of existing buildings. The stock with the highest levels of vacancy and obsolescence offers the highest potential of all.

Many cities are now aiming to become carbon neutral. Successful retrofit demands that social, technological, environmental, economic and legislative criteria are addressed. Buildings have to meet user and community needs. City centres comprise a range of different type of office stock with regards to age, size, location, height, tenure and quality. All buildings present challenges and opportunities with regards to retrofit and sustainability and integrating retrofit measures that reduce energy, water and resource consumption.

Using a selection of low grade office buildings to develop retrofit profiles, this paper addresses the questions; (a) what is the nature of retrofits in relation to low quality office building stock in the Central Business District (CBD) and, (b) what is the extent and scope for sustainable retrofits to low quality office buildings. Using Melbourne CBD retrofit events of low quality office buildings were analysed between 1998 and 2008 to identify the scope and extent for integrating sustainability into retrofits projects.

A framework for considering cross-cultural exchanges as a way to develop reasoning about environmental socio-scientific issues

This study analyses the evolution of socioscientific reasoning on sustainability, of French and Australian tertiary students exchanging ideas on a digital platform, concerning local (Australian, French) environmental SSIs, and global environmental SSIs. We explore how the exchange of arguments from various disciplinary and cultural perspectives, can promote reasoning about complex problem-situations in the environment. We develop a framework of reasoning, and show how it enables a productive analysis of the nature of the exchanges, and the quality of reasoning. We argue that such a strategy may improve epistemological training on the nature of science, and citizenship.