Current Research in Environmental Sustainability最新文献

The overconsumption of conventional plastics has led to several environmental and social-economic issues related to plastic pollution, carbon emissions and resource depletion. Acknowledging these issues, the introduction of alternatives such as bioplastics has been promoted by national, supranational, and international organizations. However, the market for such materials is still niche, where businesses are uncertain about the benefits and costs associated with the use of these innovative materials. Successful (and sustainable) uptake of such alternatives will depend on public acceptance and changes in consumer behavior. Therefore, this study aims to explore how consumers' orientation towards environmental sustainability is related to consumer utilization of alternatives such as bio-based and biodegradable plastics. Consumer knowledge and performance expectations of these materials are also analyzed. This study employed a predominately quantitative research approach, where a self-administered online survey was used to collect the opinions of consumers across society using a snowball sampling technique. Results show continued consumer confusion, unrealistic expectations, and a value-action gap. These elements may have consequences for market uptake and broader implications across the value chain. A key implication is that both policy makers and businesses should address these barriers through enhanced communication of relevant information alongside improved consumer awareness and education.

This study investigates the adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies, specifically drip and sprinklers, within India's semi-arid states. Utilizing a probit model and data sourced from the India Human Development Survey-II, the research scrutinizes a sample size of 2891 households while engaging in focus group discussions. The findings highlight several key factors significantly impacting technology adoption, including education, caste, employment status, household income, orchard ownership, landholding size, irrigation source, access to irrigation, the Kisan Credit Card scheme, and utilization of electric and diesel pumps. Moreover, the study uncovers state-specific variations driven by factors such as water resources, crop patterns, and government policies, ultimately shaping the adoption landscape of specific irrigation technologies. Focus group discussions conducted in Andhra Pradesh reveal prominent challenges faced, including limited subsidies, high costs associated with adoption, and crop-specific irrigation requirements. In light of these findings, the study emphasizes the necessity for a comprehensive approach to achieve water conservation and enhance livelihoods. This approach advocates for the integration of joint farming practices, water-sharing methods, supportive financial policies encompassing subsidies and accessible credit facilities, and the implementation of sustainable government social schemes. Such integrated efforts are deemed imperative for fostering resilient societies amidst evolving agricultural and environmental landscapes.

Reconciling variable between-community and neighboring country goals is the focus of the United Nations partnership goals (Sustainable Development Goal 17) because of the challenges of managing shared common-pool resources, such as fisheries. Our objective was to better understand and suggest management that accounts for this variability among fishing villages along the Kenya-Tanzania national boundary. We asked stakeholders to scale their dependency on fish, objective knowledge of fisheries, governance effectiveness, management preferences, and future fisheries provisioning scenarios among villages economically aligned with international trade or national park conservation. We found high dependency on fish (90% daily consumption), modest objective knowledge about fisheries and their status (62% correct answers) but a broad agreement on the need for community engagement (>90% agreement). The perceived weakest governance principles were fisheries monitoring and the resolution of conflicts with neighbors. Considerable variability in opinions about how to provide more fish reflected the international boundary trade and conservation contexts. Rural households further from the border favored community management and local or national fisheries closure management whereas stakeholder preferences with more urban and public were associated with greater support for offshore fishing and port and aquaculture infrastructure developments. Previously measured losses of fisheries catch production in most villages was hidden from stakeholders by a lack of catch monitoring and production potential estimates. Lost fisheries production and sustainability could be recovered by increased knowledge of resource production capacity, monitoring, and governance engagement that increases compliance. Village level economics and transnational contexts require multilevel governance and good coordination to manage the diverse capacities, preferences, and management needs.

The environmental concern of a country's population is an important prerequisite for addressing environmental problems, foremost reducing CO₂ emissions and limiting global warming. In this paper, we analyze the development of environmental concern by using the newest wave of the environmental module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) for 29 countries. First, we discuss the measurement of environmental concern and construct a ranking of countries according to the 2020 survey results. Second, we analyze the determinants of environmental concern by employing multilevel models that take individual effects as well as context effects into account. The results show that environmental concern has increased in almost all nations since the last measurement in 2010. The country ranking is headed by European nations such as Switzerland, France and Germany. The USA takes a middle position and China ranks number 20. We observe more variance within countries at the individual level as compared to the differences between countries. At the individual level, environmental concern is closely related to education, post-materialistic values, political attitudes, and individuals' trust in the news media and in science. At the country level, the average environmental concern increases with the wealth of nations.

This study examines how climate change organizations employ discourse strategies to highlight the vulnerability of women to climate change. It also explores how these strategies disrupt the conventional climate change narrative by integrating gender issues and emphasizing women's social and cultural experiences. The study utilizes the framework of ecolinguistics to examine narratives woven into the textual discourse. The research, based on 40 tweets from organizations such as the UN Environment Program and UN Women, offers insights into how these organizations utilize ecolinguistic techniques in communicating climate issues. The findings of the study revealed that gender intersections with other social identities determine vulnerabilities to environmental changes, as the research highlights the disproportionate impacts on women, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. This study contributes to the existing literature in terms of exploring the depiction of this issue in the Twitter discourse of international organizations.

To promote environmentally sustainable water governance, this study emphasizes the necessity of aligning institutional structures with ecological scales. The research focused on the Urmia Lake Basin in Iran facing the serious problem of drying up. Beyond the political and economic determinants shaping the water governance system in the region, the study evaluated the effect of Urmia Lake Restoration Program (ULRP), an environmental movement, on the basin's water governance structure. Employing statistical mechanics methods to scrutinize Hamiltonian system costs related to administrative interactions for water supply-demand, the study assessed the structural fit of the water governance system to the basin across distinct stages: without- and with-including the ULRP. Results revealed diminished costs following ULRP involvement, notably in entities with higher water demands, head offices and the system overall, further improved by water-saving measures. These findings highlighted the efficacy of vertical (re)arrangements and structural reform through ULRP incorporation in enhancing system fit, stressing the significance of its water-saving policy. The methodology provides a fast and explicit scan of the system structure, demonstrating its ability to project the effect of institutional reforms on the system state. Serving as a constructive tool for policymakers, it facilitates rapid, efficient and informed decision-making in water governance. Furthermore, following the UN SDG 6, this framework supports integrated water resources management (IWRM) across sectors and regions, particularly targeting water-stressed contexts.

Constructed wetlands have been used worldwide as an alternative for wastewater treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment using two different species of macrophyte in order to reduce pollution levels in the Curiquingue Creek belonging to the Baños parish in Cuenca, Ecuador. A pilot plant was constructed using Equisetum spp and Zantedeschia aethiopica with a constant flow of $0.32m^3{d}^{-1}$. Each unit was filled with sand and gravel as the porosity medium with a hydraulic retention time of 5 days. To analyze the efficiency of the wetlands, physical and chemical parameters were analyzed in the laboratory. The results obtained in the laboratory showed that the two species of macrophyte showed good efficiency in the removal of organic matter (100% COD-100% BOD₅). On the other hand, Equisetum spp showed better efficiency in the removal of NO₃⁻ (80.28%) and PO₄³⁻ (98.57%) meanwhile, Zantedeschia aethiopica showed better efficiency in the removal of TSS (85.71%). Constructed wetlands are an effective and sustainable option for wastewater treatment.