Environmental Science & Policy最新文献

Trees have been growing on millions of hectares of abandoned farmland in Russia for decades but have only recently become an issue of political and public controversy. This controversy was sparked by a campaign promoting the legalisation and management of these hitherto informal forests and promising multiple socio-economic and ecological benefits by developing what we call “new forests”. Emphasising dormant potential and claiming win-win solutions meant a fundamental discursive shift away from abandoned farmland’s negative framing. We conducted a political discourse analysis of media coverage, campaigns, and legislation around “new forests” from 2013 through 2022. Our approach draws on an analysis of practical argumentation and a Science and Technology Studies (STS)-inspired issue-oriented perspective. We found that the controversy on the future use of this land was one of conflicting visions rather than actual land-use conflicts. Three camps developed, advocating private new forests, state-controlled forestry, and agricultural recultivation. We discuss how the new forest controversy reflects broader rationalities, and tensions between agriculture, forestry, carbon sequestration, and forest conservation that remain relevant even though circumstances for policies of farmland reuse in Russia have changed fundamentally since 2022.

Climate change presents a pervasive global threat to billions of people as well as ecosystems. Global mitigation policy failures mean we must now urgently adapt to projected climate impacts. While local government is expected to play a vital role in climate change adaptation, major breakdowns are occurring in local governments’ ability to implement adaptation responses. Studies point to the importance of two key factors underpinning successful municipal climate change adaptation – supportive leadership and an authorising environment for adaptation. But few studies provide in-depth analysis of these factors and how they play out in practice. This paper reports the results of research addressing this knowledge gap, drawing on analysis of leadership in four Australian local governments (municipal councils). Twenty-five local government elected officials, executive leaders, and staff required to operationalise leaders’ decisions were interviewed. Interviews examined leaders’ role and influence in climate change adaptation and their receptiveness to mainstreaming. Results show that whether leaders consider climate risk on their policy agenda is highly variable and subject to factors such as: public mood and community expectations; issue salience; the presence of dedicated policy entrepreneurs to champion a response; and focusing events that heighten the urgency of adaptation. We identify three concrete opportunities to mainstream municipal climate adaptation responses: enhance issue salience within leaders; leverage networks of influence; and strengthen formal systems of municipal climate governance.

In post-normal science (PNS), the emergence of extended peer communities (EPCs) is a key process to deal with problems involving high uncertainty, high stakes, disputed values, and urgent decisions. However, the challenges and opportunities related to the emergence of EPCs in contentious territories—such as many across the Global South—are poorly understood. Therefore, we conducted an investigation to address two research questions: (1) Are there any indispensable social, institutional, and/or techno-scientific conditions for the emergence of EPCs coherent with PNS? and (2) How can EPCs in contentious territories of the Global South overcome adverse contextual conditions for their emergence and development? We addressed our first question through interviews with world-renowned experts in post-normal science. To answer our second question, we conducted a case study and analyzed a public consultation process led by the municipal government of Morelia, Mexico, as an alleged effort to democratize decision-making regarding local environmental conservation strategies. Our results show that (1) In PNS, EPCs can emerge as evolving problem-resolution processes despite adverse contextual conditions, though they don’t necessarily solve problems or political controversies; and (2) EPCs are bounded by their contextual conditions, which in some contexts of the Global South—like Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America—can include violence, coercion, and large power imbalances. Yet, contextual conditions aren’t inherently challenges or opportunities for the emergence of EPCs. Therefore, we argue that in PNS (and related collaborative science approaches) it is crucial to analyze contextual conditions to strengthen EPCs.

After twenty years of arduous negotiations, in 2019 the European Union (EU) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) announced the conclusion of a landmark trade agreement. Celebratory fireworks, however, were soon replaced by less desirable signs of smoke: the burning of the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, which has placed the bi-regional partnership under close public scrutiny. Since then, a lively debate among scholars, policymakers, activists, and private sector stakeholders has unfolded in an effort to assess the economic, social, and environmental implications of the agreement. To contribute to this debate, we use the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement (EMTA) as a case study to discuss the complexities of transitioning to a global green trade policy paradigm, questioning whether free trade agreements could effectively promote sustainable land use governance. Bearing in mind the current environmental footprint of EU imports of Brazilian commodities, we illustrate the challenges inherent to decoupling international agri-food trade and land conversion, examining the current estimates and projections regarding the EMTA's potential impact on land-use change in Brazil. We also investigate the sustainable development provisions in the EU-Mercosur agreement, reviewing its land conversion-related clauses. While the EMTA has limitations common to other free trade agreements, it could be a useful additional tool for improving sustainability governance in the existing trade between the two regions by establishing a structured and legally stable platform for cooperation and implementing joint initiatives. The EMTA could set a positive benchmark for future free trade agreements that Mercosur might negotiate with other countries that are larger importers of agricultural commodities.

The increased threat of more frequent extreme climatic events (ECEs) poses significant challenges to household crops and livestock production, exacerbated by their weak adaptability. To explore ways to improve households’ adaptation awareness and behaviors, a typical agro-pastoral ecotone on the northeastern QinghaiTibet Plateau (QTP), Gonghe Sandy Land (GSL), was selected as the study area. This study analyses the impact of ECEs, and the adaptation measures taken by households, and innovatively includes the perception of government services from households in the factor system to identify the key driving mechanism of coping strategies. The results revealed that (1) 74.07 % of households experienced an extreme drought, and livestock production was 29.63 % more affected than crop production was; (2) households adopted different adaptation strategies with weather forecasts being the prevailing measure among households for crop (25.93 %) and livestock (42.33 %) production adaptation; and (3) different strategies are key to improving adaptive capacity. We found that production experience sharing, demographic and economic coordination, and early warning system and support by the government can increase farmers' awareness of adaptation strategies. While enhancing cognitive levels regarding measures, optimizing a household’s health, rationally allocating assets, and increasing timely and stable government services can improve adaptive behaviors. On the basis of these findings, this study provides recommendations from the perspective of human well-being, with the aim to achieving the SDGs, enhancing regional climate change adaptation capacity and ensuring the safety and efficiency of crop and livestock production in the QTP.

Soil pollution in the European Union (EU) is poorly quantified, because of several years of reduced attention and limited funding on soil research and monitoring. Moreover, issues such as different monitoring methodologies within Member States (MS), and quantification methods focused on pseudototal rather than the available fraction of pollutants, has been limiting our understanding of risk under soil pollution. Despite that, thanks to efforts from the scientific community, it was possible to achieve some progress, which is by far insufficient for the problem at hand. In the anticipation of future policy demands and towards a common strategy for tackling soil pollution in the EU, it seemed relevant to describe the limited knowledge and main uncertainties. Such analysis should provide evidence for the development of efficient policies, as well as updating current ones to better tackle the interdisciplinary of soil. This perspective provides our view on current knowledge on soil pollution at EU scale, by compiling the most updated assessments made at EU scale, identifying soil pollution drivers, impacts on health and the environment, and evaluating current state of knowledge. Allowing us to infer about current level of uncertainties and knowledge gaps and identify solutions through future research and policies. Our suggestions are in line with an increasing investment on research and innovation, but also more frequent updates of current legislation already tackling pollution and welcoming the new proposal for a Soil Monitoring Law as an important driver for soil knowledge development and implementation of a European monitoring system.

Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and techniques benefit not only humankind but also benefit the environment. Nevertheless, the transmissions of indigenous knowledge are threatened and replaced by Western knowledge and ideologies. The focus of the study was to demonstrate the various Indigenous knowledge transmission methods, the driving forces behind their disappearance, and how they added value to the resilience of such knowledge forms in sustaining Indigenous and local communities throughout the centuries. To achieve this, the study used questionnaires consisting of open-ended and closed-ended questions (n = 136). Participants were selected and identified through purposeful sampling from five remote indigenous villages in South Africa. The data were collected only from principal elderly participants above 50 due to their profound knowledge and experiences with their local environment. The most prevalent indigenous knowledge within the Vhavenda people is folklore, which is orally transmitted from one generation to the next through traditional songs, stories, dances, myths, customs, and rituals. Drivers such as invasion of technology, reluctance on the part of custodians to pass on the knowledge, knowledge being forgotten, and knowledge being less effective were ranked to be highest in the hindrance of IK transmission in the study area. Solutions such as revitalising knowledge systems through proper documentation, such as building online libraries, integrating Western and indigenous knowledge, and introducing indigenous knowledge into mainstream education systems and media could assist in preserving such knowledge.

Use of scientific information in evidence-based decision-making is critically important in addressing coastal and ocean management concerns. In an ecosystem-based management context, ensuring that the “right” information (reliable) is available can be particularly challenging as the information often resides in different organizations with different management mandates. Many governmental and intergovernmental organizations have used a range of approaches, including technical advisory committees and working groups, to facilitate multidisciplinary input into the development of appropriate policies and management practices. This study examined the roles of multiple stakeholders participating in technical working groups that assist in decision-making for marine fisheries management in Belize, a coastal country in Central America. Through interviews with members of three working groups – the Spawning Aggregation Working Group, the Managed Access Working Group, and the National Hicatee Conservation and Monitoring Network – and decision-makers in the Belize Fisheries Department, information production processes and pathways for information uptake into policy were investigated. Major characteristics of communication at the science-policy interface associated with each working group were revealed. Important communication enablers and barriers were identified related to the operation of the working groups, such as membership commitment and resource availability, which influenced knowledge exchange within and outside the groups. Based on the results, a set of requirements for the creation and operation of effective working groups was formulated with regard to requisite inputs, the operational processes, and the types and uses of the information outputs of the groups. These requirements serve as a foundation for development of indicators of the effectiveness of working groups in environmental management contexts that support communication and decision-making at science-policy interfaces.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, organisations must transform their cultures and demonstrate high levels of commitment by developing sustainability-focused practices. However, existing measurement frameworks have often overlooked the concept of commitment or have used non-standardized approaches based on individual perceptions. Additionally, measurement approaches have tended to focus more on the final outcomes of sustainability initiatives rather than on the practices themselves, sometimes leading to behaviours that have undesired societal impacts, especially when short-term outcomes are emphasised.

This study conceptualises commitment to sustainability as the relationship between a company's resources and its implemented practices. The paper introduces a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-based index designed to assess a company's environmental and social sustainability commitment. The approach was tested on a sample of 1411 Italian companies across six different industries.

The findings demonstrate that this innovative index effectively captures the theoretical concept of commitment to sustainability. Furthermore, assessing social and environmental commitment separately provides a clearer picture than using a single indicator encompassing both dimensions, thereby offering a nuanced understanding that aligns with the comprehensive targets set by the 2030 Agenda.

Two major sociopolitical challenges loom over the development of carbon removal. One is mitigation deterrence: that research and deployment of carbon removal could delay mitigation efforts. The other is environmental and climate justice — in particular that carbon removal will be developed in ways that further environmental racism, e.g. for the benefit of interests and groups in the global North while harming overburdened communities of color. A variety of policy measures have been proposed to deal with these challenges, from developing separate targets for emissions and removals to social safeguarding principles and standards. Here, we suggest that such measures in and of themselves are unlikely to be sufficient. Policy recommendations and scholarship on mitigation deterrence need to become more attentive to how racial capitalism helps form the conditions for mitigation deterrence. We describe how racial capitalism sets up mitigation deterrence, and how mitigation deterrence in turn goes on to perpetuate racial capitalism. We conclude by suggesting a few ways in which incorporating understandings of racial capitalism can help policymakers, carbon removal developers and investors make decisions that limit the risks of mitigation deterrence and racial injustice.