Developed countries, defined in the global climate negotiations as the Annex I countries, have been expected to take the lead in tackling climate change. However, given the severity of climate change, reducing China's emissions is critical. China is a developing country with world's highest emissions and a leader in the renewable sector. Hence, the outside expectations for China's climate action have

Fisheries around Africa have historically suffered from the erroneous perception that there is little to no data on or knowledge about these activities, beyond the sometimes questionable or sparse official reported capture statistics. However, concerted efforts by scientists in and associated with Africa have changed this over the last decades. This includes the decade long efforts of the global Sea

Over the past 100 years, the social system, agricultural production modes, lifestyles, and ecological conditions in Kazakhstan have changed dramatically. Understanding how social institution changes altered the land use patterns and the ecosystem processes in Kazakhstan can provide important knowledge for the sustainable ecological management of semi-arid regions. By summarizing the documented research

Working for enhancing capacities of people who repeatedly face food insecurity shock requires basic understandings about where their resilience lies. The current study is an endeavor made to understand the sources of rural households' resilience to food insecurity taking the case of Boricha woreda (district) of Sidama Zone in Southern Ethiopia. Boricha woreda is one of the few areas in southern Ethiopia

Recognized as a source of clean and renewable energy, small hydropower plays an important role in providing electricity, reducing poverty, optimizing energy structure, and reducing carbon emissions. In this study, taking the countries along the Belt and Road as the study areas, an index system is developed in order to calculate and analyze the small hydropower sustainability of existing small hydropower

The study investigates the evidence and impact of climate variability and climate change on the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The mixed methods research design was used as the strategy of inquiry, and both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were employed. Results show that the climate is changing, as indicated by significant trends in annual average temperatures (P = 0.000;

Conflicts in protected areas often result from contestations around benefit-sharing arrangements. Integrating biodiversity conservation and livelihood goals in protected areas can be aided by quantitative assessments of the contribution of surrounding land-use options and trade-offs between conservation and use. Using household surveys, this study examines the contribution of livestock income (cash

Understanding land users’ livelihoods and their strategies is essential in order to adapt prevention and adaptation policies and to ensure sustainable land management (SLM) planning. Considering the global call for SLM, and due to a lack of studies on land degradation (LD) in Tunisia, we aimed to explore the livelihoods of farmers, their livelihoods strategies and perceptions about LD and land management

There is an emerging consensus among academics and resource managers that successful resource management systems must be developed locally and account for a diverse range of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. In this research we evaluate and categorize the fishers' perspectives on the environmental, economic, social, and legal impacts of transitioning from

Vulnerability assessment is an important step in developing adaptation strategies. For biogeographically vital and extremely heterogeneous regions like Himalaya, assessing vulnerability as an inherent characteristic becomes crucial. The present study assesses the inherent vulnerability (IV) for farming communities of Himachal Pradesh as a function of sensitivity and adaptive capacity using social and

Large-scale land exploitation to jumpstart backward economies is often accompanied by massive environmental impacts. The broad concepts of productivity-oriented ‘bio-economy’ and conservation-oriented ‘eco-economy’ were proposed to transform exploitative land-based economies. Taking cases in Borneo as core examples, this paper explores 10 transformative strategies for sustainability: boosting upstream

The increasing demand for farm animal products leads to higher pressure on the effective treatment of animal waste. Based on practice from other countries, biogas systems offer several significant advantages in terms of energy, environmental and economic development. Therefore, this paper investigates the potential development of small-scale biogas systems and their suitability in rural parts of northern

Energy recovery from Municipal Solid Waste in Mauritius is considered as a solution to enhance the country's energy security and tackle imminent waste management issues. This study applies an Analytical Hierarchy Process model for identifying the best waste to energy technology, which can be set up in Mauritius while taking into consideration technical as well as sustainability indicators. Incineration

Utilization of renewable energies such as biofuels is rapidly progressing in many countries for environmental protection reasons. The surge of global energy demand and environmental concerns has led to greater desire to replace fossil fuels with clean and renewable fuels. One of the best substitutes to the gasoline is bioethanol. The main advantage of bioethanol is the environmentally-friendly nature

Livelihood transitions in most agricultural nations are conditioned by changes in both human and climate systems. In the Philippines, climate change related extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods, and droughts have detrimental impacts on crop production and have significantly affected the livelihoods of cash crop focused rural villages. A shift from crop to livestock production is emerging

Brazil has the largest commercial beef cattle stock on Earth, and most of the cattle produced in the country is bred and finished on pastures. The cattle ranching sector represents a significant source of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Agricultural intensification has been highlighted as one of the main strategies in reaching global food security and reducing deforestation. The Sudden

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is the subject of much research focusing on different aspects, a wide range of issues, and development of a variety of models and tools. This study takes a different approach by developing a holistic framework that concentrates on the spatial elements of continuity and change associated with WEF transition on national, regional, and international scale. The study also

Concerns regarding water scarcity, food security, and land/soil degradation are increasing, and these issues are far from being independent of bioenergy production. The competing need for land and water resources in food and bioenergy production have been at the forefront of policy debates. In this study, we examined policy debates related to land, food and water use in sugarcane ethanol production

Humankind is currently faced with several environmental challenges. While attempting to tackle these issues, we have realised the relevance of elements specific to environmental governance processes. The aim of this study is to identify the approach of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to environmental governance and the elements that comprise this concept from the organization's point

This paper outlines good practices and serves as a guide to promote Social Learning in the elaboration and implementation processes of public policies for climate change adaptation at a local level. It is based on a multiple-case study covering 18 experiences from the United Kingdom and Brazil, an analysis of existing research about the contributions of Social Learning to socioenvironmental governance

Marine capture fisheries in African Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) are important from economic, cultural, social, and food provision perspectives. These African fisheries have a long history of high exploitation in the context of data-limited situations. There is a growing, global movement (both in terms of management requirements and scientific efforts) to develop measures of ecosystem overfishing

The increasing demand for energy and fast depletion of fossil fuels have led Saudi Arabia to actively participate in developing and using renewable energy technologies. To address these challenges, Saudi Arabia has recently begun developing 150–200-GW solar energy project and allowing homeowners to install and integrate residential solar photovoltaic systems (RSPSs) to the power grid. However, the

Urban sprawl and population growth have altered the landscape in the U.S in recent decades. Protected areas and development are compatible lenses, yet stakeholders’ involvement in decision-making is often missing from environmental governance. Knowing how managers and stakeholders work together is also necessary to capture the meanings and feelings that local communities and various groups might have

In the backdrop of climate change and over exploitation of resources, ecologically sensitive regions like Sundarban deserves special attention. This study investigates the current situation of Sundarban, both in terms of physical and sociocultural aspects. The study traverses through the harsh conditions of the region and the societal preparedness to face them. In order to save Sundarban, there is

Vine cultivation on slopes causes serious erosion with significant losses of nutrients, organic matter and water, followed by an overall loss of soil biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES). Cover crops (CC) in inter-rows can reduce these effects, but are often renounced by winegrowers due to economic causes. Soil erosion rates obtained from field data and simulations with ORUSCAL (Orchard RUSle CALibration)

The Brazilian forests account for a large part of the world's flora and fauna diversity. Nevertheless, these important ecosystems are being supplanted to anthropic uses seeking for socioeconomic development with no actual improvement in the life of Brazilians. Therefore, in this study, we have evaluated the relation between the deforestation and the socioeconomic development in Brazil, from 2000 to

Seasonal Climate Forecasting (SCF) in South Africa has a history spanning several decades. During this period a number of SCF systems have been developed for the prediction of seasonal-to-interannual variability of rainfall and surface temperatures. Areas of highest predictability, albeit relatively modest, have also been identified. The north-eastern parts of South Africa that includes the Limpopo

Iranian northern cities neighboring the Caspian Sea are dealing with several environmental and public health issues. One of them being high volume of waste generated in the region and the waste management system is based on conventional routines such as open dumping. This research proposes modifying the current waste management process based on active participation of citizens and considering the local

National parks have been used over the years as a model for preserving and conserving plants and animals. Governments also use parks as a tool for rural poverty elimination. Although national parks have been located in the living and working environments of local residents, the surrounding communities are typically not allowed to gain substantial benefits. This can lead to unsustainable practices including

In 2015, the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development presented seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs). As the largest developing country, China faces large regional imbalances in its economy and social welfare. A nationwide synthetic indicator cannot reflect the sustainable development profile. As SDGs have not been evaluated at the national level of China and related studies

Changes in land use and ecosystem services influence each other and such changes have consequences for human wellbeing. In this paper, we review the research literature on how different types of ecosystem services are affected by LUC, and the consequences for human well-being. We begin with a review of the different types of ecosystem services. We examine the influence of LUC on provisioning ecosystem

In the context of global change, the impacts and pressures attributed to human activities have become the main obstacles that restrict the sustainable development of ecological environments at the regional scale. Assessments of the relationship between humans and the environment have become common in current environmental research. The Liupan mountainous region of Ningxia is characterized by its remote

Animal husbandry on the Mongolian Plateau is a dynamic human–natural system characterized by complex relationships with the grassland ecosystem. Sustainable use of the plateau's grassland depends on the ability of herders and decision makers to adjust the grazing pattern to adapt to extreme climate events and socioeconomic conditions. Unfortunately, the system's responses and adaptation to these changes

In an increasingly meta-coupled world, the balance of interregional environmental development is becoming increasingly important, and an ecological cooperation community is emerging. Mapping the flow of an ecosystem service (ES) can aid in understanding the spatiotemporal transport paths from generation to use, thereby facilitating a visualization of the interregional relationship on environmental

Land degradation is an important environmental problem facing the world. “Land Degradation Neutrality” is one of the core indicators in the 15th goal of the “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” for 2030. Mongolia is an important country for global land degradation. The increasingly serious land degradation has caused a direct impact on the ecosystem of the entire Mongolian plateau. We analyzed

Degradation is a key issue facing the world, and the situation is particularly severe in China's vulnerable ecosystems, where sandy desertification, soil erosions by water and wind, and karst desertification are serious problems. China's 13th five-year development plan (2016–2020) prioritized the establishment of an ecological civilization to improve the country's ecological security. In this paper

Studying the causes of human–wildlife conflicts is important for reducing these conflicts. Human–wildlife conflicts can be divided into wild carnivore- and wild herbivore-related conflicts. Compared with carnivore-related conflicts, herbivore-related conflicts such as domestic livestock–wild herbivore conflicts (LHCs) have not been adequately studied, and there is scarce information on LHC intensity

Soil erosion control practices have been extensively conducted in the Chinese Loess Plateau, which is one of the most severe soil erosion regions in the world. Nevertheless, a comprehensive overview of the effectiveness of these erosion control practices in this region is lacking. Thus, this systematic review examined the use of erosion control practices in the Chinese Loess Plateau. The key question

The deterioration of the global ecological environment has accelerated the degradation of grassland resources, which directly affects the production of livestock resources and the lives of residents in countries or regions that treat products of livestock resources as the main food source. In Kazakhstan, one of the countries facing a serious grass-livestock conflict, maintaining its residents' demand

More water yield and less soil erosion are crucial to the sustainable development of the Loess Plateau and Yellow River basin. Different land use policies and climate change scenarios may have great implications on water yield and soil erosion. In this paper, four land development scenarios and two climate change scenarios are designed and applied to the Shaanxi-Gansu Loess Plateau. The InVEST model

Food consumption research is an important part of ecosystem service consumption research. Studying regional food consumption patterns and their dependence on local areas can provide important reference for research on regional resource utilization and sustainable development. The grassland areas selected for this study including a typical pastoral grassland area, a sandyland and an agro-pastoral transition

Land scarcity and land-hungry are two important terms are used for a highly populous country like Bangladesh. The only hilly area of Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), is a forest dominated area of the country is also experiencing forest area and other land area changes. With the advent of time, changes of different factors like geophysical, socioeconomic, proximity to built infrastructure

Water resources are one of the most important natural resources in ecosystems, and they have characteristics of natural and artificial flows. Natural flow causes water resources to flow from upstream to downstream between different regions in accordance with the terrain, whereas artificial flow leads to changes in seasonal and regional allocations of water resources. The water safety status of different

Vegetation cover and related ecosystem services are key indicators for ecological restoration efforts. We simulated the dynamic changes of vegetation coverage and sand-fixing service in the Beijing–Tianjin sandstorm source control project area (BTSSCPA) in the period of 2000–2015 on the basis of long-term satellite data and the revised wind erosion equation. The response levels of sand-fixing service