Regulatory bodies that monitor community water systems (CWS) can be strained for time and resources, making it difficult to take science-informed preventative action before contamination affects local populations. This research aims to develop an easy to deploy, data-driven method to identify CWS that are vulnerable to drinking water quality degradation from groundwater contamination. We focus on a

The inclusion of climate mitigation actions in the Nationally Determined Contributions and climate policies of low-income countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh means that policymakers are seeking to address both types of responses to climate change. This study assesses changes in policy paradigms pertinent to climate mitigation, in Nepal and Bangladesh for the period from 1992 to 2018. Policy paradigm

Local social networks are vital contributor to community resilience and recovery from disasters. We aim to assess how collaboration among local formal actors varies during different phases of disaster. We also identify the gaps in local institutional collaboration between policy and practice. The social network analysis is used to measure the network structure for coastal disaster management at the

All people in the world are entitled to enjoy a clean environment and a good quality of life. With big data and artificial intelligence technologies, it is possible to estimate personalized air pollution exposure and synchronize it with activity, health, quality of life and behavioural data, and provide real-time, personalized and interactive alert and advice to improve the health and well-being of

Changes in future soil erosion rates are driven by climatic conditions, land use patterns, socio-economic development, farmers’ choices, and importantly modified by agro-environmental policies. This study simulates the impact of expected climatic and land use change projections on future rates of soil erosion by water (sheet and rill processes) in 2050 within the agricultural areas of the European

Uneven access to low carbon finance and technology may give rise to energy transition frontrunners and laggards. This article offers a first conceptualization of the risks of an uneven energy transition and its implications for the international political economy and corroborates those with an empirical investigation of elite risk perceptions in the energy industry and finance sector. The multi-method

Landscape Approaches have been proposed as a transferable model of multi-stakeholder governance, yet assume conditions of ideal speech, trust, and transparency that seem untransferable to authoritarian regimes. This paper argues that building Landscape Approaches under authoritarian conditions cannot be based on a governance deficit model of awaiting idealized political conditions, but instead needs

In 2003, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation began designating Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJA) for the purpose of providing public participation opportunities to disadvantaged communities during permitting deliberations. We developed NYenviroScreen to help stakeholders understand, review, and provide input for how future PEJA designation might be updated and improved

One reason for recent opposition to REDD+ stems from concerns about possible welfare impacts on forest-dependent, especially indigenous peoples. We assess how two projects with community payments (PES / REDD+) impacted indigenous peoples (Baka) relative to the locally dominant ethnic group (Bantu) in south-eastern Cameroon, trying to understand to which extent the projects addressed equity concerns

Gaps in Forest and Farm Producer Organisations’ (FFPOs) knowledge, which are being widened by local and global uncertainties, undermine FFPOs’ pursuit of broad conceptions of prosperity. As current methods of knowledge generation face several challenges, we use a knowledge demand survey from 41 FFPOs in six countries to show how co-productive methodologies can facilitate FFPOs delivery of prosperity

Human activities in the form of technological innovations and institutional performance are degrading environmental quality all over the world by rising the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ecological footprint. The role of technological innovations and institutional performance in environmental quality has not been comprehensively explored while taking into account the cross-sectional dependence

The application of the Ecosystem Approach (EA) to the government of aquaculture has been strongly advocated by many scientists and NGOs. However, knowledge gaps exist on actual actor intentions implementing this approach in the European Union (EU) which are often assumed to simply fit with a universalized model. Presenting findings on salmon in Scotland, trout in New Aquitaine (France) and seabass

How does the state see nature? Has the emergence of “environmental states” with significant environmental laws and policy changed the state’s vision towards nonhumans, particularly endangered wildlife? These are key questions in a paradoxical context where over the past half century, endangered wildlife have largely continued to decline amid expanding state environmental legislation. Towards answers

To explore the feasibility of meeting recently proposed large-scale tree planting targets, a UK wide assessment of land available for afforestation was carried out, considering a range of physical, environmental and policy constraints in three hypothetical planting scenarios. Results show there is sufficient space to meet these targets in all three scenarios, even if planting is prevented on good to

Land degradation is a major global issue and achieving a land degradation-neutral world is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, striving for land degradation neutrality (LDN) is challenged by increasing claims on land resources and could result in major land use conflicts. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how LDN can be implemented in land system modelling and how achieving LDN

Increasingly, climate researchers are pressured to generate products and tools from their research that support informed decision-making for increased social and environmental resilience. Despite the goal of these tools to integrate climate science into decision-making, little follow-up study is conducted after climate resilience tools are released to understand their effectiveness or application.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury was established to reduce the pressure on the environment caused by mercury by significantly reducing its emissions from anthropogenic activities. However, knowledge gaps still exist concerning emission inventories, emission factors and their integration in modelling frameworks. In addition, tools to facilitate communication between decision-makers and research groups

Co-management is often put forward as a way to foster sustainability and improve the adaptive capacity of small-scale fisheries. Transformations towards co-management are enabled by processes that support social change, such as nurturing leadership, collective action and learning, as well as political processes that change legislative frameworks from centralized to decentralized decision-making. However

This study aims to investigate the influencing factors and the processes for incorporating climate change mitigation actions into policies in the non-environment sector in Nepal. We use semi-structured interviews with policy actors such as national and sub-national policymakers, and respondents from the private sector and international development organizations active in Nepal. We also use thematic

The interconnectedness of food, energy, and water systems – commonly referred as the FEW nexus - calls for the integrated study of these systems to improve resiliency of these natural resources and adapt to our changing world. In this article, we explore the state of FEW nexus research in Guatemala to highlight progress while also pointing out future research needs. A systematic literature review was

Human actions have driven earth systems close to irreversible and profound change. The need to shift towards intentional transformative adaptation (ITA) is clear. Using case studies from the Transformative Adaptation Research Alliance (TARA), we explore ITA as a way of thinking and acting that is transformative in concept and objectives, but achieved through a mix of incremental and transformative

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda rests on both economic growth and Inclusive Development (ID). However, since growth is entangled with socio-ecological exploitation and appropriation, it conflicts with ID where ‘inclusive’ encompasses social, ecological and relational dimensions, and fundamentally redefines ‘development’. Using Toulmin’s argumentative model, we show that: (a) inclusive green

Conservation organizations often adopt the normative value of “whole community” participation, predicated on the idea that broad community involvement across categories of identity and social stratification will lead to more successful project outcomes. Analysis of intra-community social stratifications in relation to participation in conservation is important to the pursuit of environmental justice

The objective of this paper was to create and test a methodological framework for examining the extent to which various plans captured diverse stakeholder policy preferences related to resilience planning and management of interdependent urban systems. Policy preferences represent what were important for stakeholders and determine the priorities of stakeholders in resilience planning of urban systems

Energy insecurity has been recognized as a global social and public health challenge. Availability of and accessibility to energy infrastructure is a core element of community resilience—a concept that characterizes a community’s ability to promote health and well-being, and to cope with and recover from adversity. We conducted a quantitative survey in order to explore the interplay between these two

Early nineties of previous century aquatic biodiversity was low in many West-European countries as a consequence of pollution, hydromorphological degradation and a lack of sound environmental legislation. Since the early 2000s and the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive a big step forward has been made to achieve a good ecological status of surface waters in Europe. However, to

This paper assesses the impact of decarbonization on the energy system and related employment in South Africa. The cost-minimizing, global energy system model (GENeSYS-MOD) is utilized to project two energy mix scenarios and their associated employment implications at provincial level. While the business as usual (BAU) scenario shows a continuous use of coal capacity in the South African power sector

River basin governance has become increasingly challenged in many river basins around the world. At heart is the poor understanding of governance performance and its interaction with biophysical restoration targets. This paper aims to improve the Murray-Darling Basin governance for better environmental outcomes by understanding the interactions between governance performance indicators and biophysical

As president of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties, Chile has advocated for developing ambitious commitments to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050. However, Chile's motivations and ambitious push to reach carbon-neutrality are complicated by a backdrop of severe drought, climate change impacts (i.e., wildfires, tree mortality), and the use of industrial

Biological invasions are a major global challenge for the conservation of biodiversity, maintenance of ecosystem health and sustainable livelihoods. As the number of novel introductions of invasive species is predicted to increase due to rising trade volumes in the emerging economies, regulatory policies to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species are of paramount importance. However

Climate challenge brings three, not just one, emergencies. These are the visible, conceptual and existential, all of which are urgent and important. The three emergencies are starkly highlighted in Louisiana, where historical coastal development and climate-induced sea level rise is causing visible emergencies in the form of extensive land loss and increased impacts of flooding and storm surges, leading

Small-scale fisheries are major contributors to global fishing catch and to the livelihoods of many coastal communities. However, little is known about these fisheries, the spatial heterogeneity in which they are found, and the factors that explain this heterogeneity. In Chile, the distinct environmental regimes driven by the Humboldt Current System can contribute to a high diversity in the species

Concerns with distributional justice invariably arise in environmental governance, especially in the conservation and management of common-pool resources. These initiatives generate an array of costs and benefits that are typically heterogeneously distributed. Distribution of these impacts in a way that is considered fair by local stakeholders is not only a moral imperative, but instrumental to achieving

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is the third coronavirus this century to threaten human health, killing more than two million people globally. Like previous coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 is suspected to have wildlife origins and was possibly transmitted to humans via wet markets selling bushmeat (aka harvested wild meat). Thus, an interdisciplinary framework is vital to address the nexus between bushmeat

Antarctica is increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with the continent predicted to warm by ∼4 °C by 2100 under a ‘business as usual’ greenhouse gas emission scenario. Simultaneously, human activity, primarily in the form of scientific research and the fishing and tourism industries, is putting increasing pressure on Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments and ecosystems. We evaluate

As climate change becomes a more obvious existential threat to many communities, sharper tools are needed to analyze policymaking and especially the variations in effective adaptive planning. While policy creation, preparedness and disaster management are essentially local activities, much analysis simply focuses on cities and overlooks robust tools to understand what happens within communities of

The article examines how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) performs its self-proclaimed role as ‘mapmaker. We seek to contribute to the emerging literature on global environmental assessments (GEA) and climate politics by reconstructing how the IPCC imagines the corridor for climate mitigation. Our particular focus is on the emergence of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) as the

Trust is a critical precondition underpinning successful knowledge exchange among environmental scientists and decision-makers, and thus, evidence-informed decision-making processes. While the importance of trust is well established, however, specific approaches to building, managing and maintaining trust at the interface of environmental science and policy are lacking. Here, we seek to address this

Wildlife diseases, such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) are growing in prevalence in ungulates in western Canada with many questions being asked about the impact on ecosystems and peoples. A collaborative research project involving a university and a regional Indigenous organization was initiated in 2007 to explore how CWD risk is being communicated to Indigenous peoples, how associated risk is being

Climate change will have a significant impact on coastal locations, affecting visitors’ and residents’ values and experiences. Yet, we know little about the ways visitors value the coast and how they may be affected by climate change impacts. There is a need for place-based studies, where residents and visitors are studied alongside one another to inform more comprehensive and socially-inclusive adaptation

Global environmental assessments are widely considered to play a prominent role in environmental governance. However, they are also criticised for a lack of effectiveness in informing policy and decision-making. In response, GEAs have adopted a number of strategies to bolster their effectiveness, including by orienting themselves towards solutions (solution-orientation), increasing the diversity of

Environmental remediation of polluted sites in developing communities often faces difficulties due to the misalignment of project objectives with the needs and interests of local communities, establishment of unrealistic expectations for the outcome of the project, and failure to account for the available resources in the community itself. Remediation decisions favor technical data and technical solutions

Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) promise a future where natural, human and technical elements help solving many of the issues plaguing cities. Pollution reduction, increased human wellbeing and climate change adaptation are only some of the challenges targeted by NBSs. However, under the warming climate affecting many of the world’s cities, most of modern NBSs will be highly impacted by the same climate

Deforestation and forest degradation remain huge global environmental challenges. Over the last decades, various forest governance initiatives and institutions have evolved in global response to interlinked topics such as climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, indigenous rights, and trade impacts – accompanied by various levels of academic attention. Using a Delphi methodology that draws

Institutional Bricolage can be a useful concept to understand how institutional change has occurred in natural resource governance. As an adaptive process, agents involved in governance blend rules, traditions, norms, symbolisms, and authority relationships, modifying old arrangements and inventing new ones. In this paper, we use the concept of Institutional Bricolage to analyze how institutional change

The coastal communities are the most vulnerable to climate vagaries, which affect their habitat and livelihood alike. Vulnerability assessments undertaken using quantitative or qualitative methods at macro- or micro-level need to capture the location and context so as to be able to use them towards improving mitigation and resilience strategies at the community level, where the impact is felt. The

An approach that has been suggested as potentially addressing the challenges of science-policy-interfaces (SPIs) is the mobilization of existing networks through a ‘network-of-networks’ (NoN) approach. This paper shares empirical findings from a mixed-method study, combining qualitative and quantitative data, that critically evaluates the ‘network-of-networks’ approach for SPIs. To establish whether

In environmental governance, the role of expertise is regarded as a crucial support to decision-making. Yet, in intergovernmental settings, studies aimed at understanding the relation between science and policy have predominantly focused on the fields of climate change and biodiversity. Through a fieldwork-based study of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) of the United Nations Convention to Combat

This study compares greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions projections in 2030 under current policies and those under 2030 mitigation targets for nine key non-G20 countries, that collectively account for about 5 % of global total emissions today. These include the four largest non-G20 fossil CO2 emitting Parties to the UN climate convention pre- Paris Agreement (Iran, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Ukraine) and

This paper draws on an empirical study to demonstrate how a ‘geographical’ work underpins the implementation of European Union (EU) directives on Birds, Habitats and Water. Indeed, this geographical work plays a key role in local institutionalizations of the EU. Our hypothesis is that social players, i.e., local actors, scientists and citizens, deploy both cognitive and material means to ‘get a grasp’

The ability of the Paris Agreement to achieve its ambitious long-term temperature goal depends on mechanisms that can promote a ramp-up of ambitions. Pledge-and-review may facilitate deeper cooperation over time by enhancing trust between parties. It has been proposed that starting out with easier cooperation that entails larger shares of domestic benefits, such as cooperation on short-lived climate