Ambio最新文献

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a "net outcome" planning policy which aims for development projects to leave biodiversity in a better state than before they started. Understanding the origins and history of existing mandatory BNG is necessary to understand the drivers and barriers that have influenced the policy to date and could inform the development and implementation of future BNG policies. Biodiversity net gain legislation was first discussed in Parliament in England through the passage of the Environment Act (2021) and became a mandatory requirement for most terrestrial and intertidal developments in February 2024. The policy uses habitat attributes as a proxy for biodiversity and represented the widest reaching net outcome policy in the world at the point of its introduction. As such, it is expected to have a significant impact on future land use decisions in England. This paper uses a mixture of literature review and the knowledge of those involved in the early stages of this BNG policy development in England to present a timeline of the stages that have led to mandatory biodiversity net gain. In doing so, we highlight formative events and documents, as an important first step in understanding its history and understanding how this can be used to inform future biodiversity policy.

The transition towards a sustainable future is increasingly understood to rely on further development of the bioeconomy. In this, both public and private sectors play pivotal roles. Government agencies and public institutions are instrumental in shaping the trajectory of the bioeconomy through strategic frameworks, regulatory measures, and policies. These instruments may create a conducive environment by clearing away bureaucratic impediments and establishing favourable conditions. Concurrently, private sector entities, including industry interest groups and companies, have the important task of advocating for these favourable conditions and driving the bioeconomy's growth through active involvement, strategic business decisions, capital investments, and bringing bio-based innovations to market. Throughout these processes, perceptions of the bioeconomy held by actors in both sectors shape the outcomes of their actions. Hence, this study delves into the perceptions of the bioeconomy among stakeholders from both the public and private sectors across nine European regions regarding barriers and supporting conditions impacting its development, particularly important bioeconomy value chains, and the willingness and perceived responsibility to advance the bioeconomy. Findings from 534 online survey responses (288 public sector and 246 private sector) reveal that key factors identified as propelling the development of the bioeconomy forward include access to investment and scientific knowledge, while obstacles such as limited cooperation among stakeholders and inadequate supportive policies and legislative environments were noted as primary hindrances. Among the value chains highlighted, bioenergy was frequently recognised as having high growth potential, while not necessarily being the one with the most significant environmental benefits. Both the public and the private sector demonstrated a high willingness to develop the bioeconomy, yet both also assigned more responsibility to the public sector in three main areas: enhancing societal awareness and communication about the bioeconomy, ensuring beneficial environmental and social impacts, and investing in the bioeconomy's growth.

Understanding where blue carbon habitats occur and how they are affected by human activity contributes to effective management of natural carbon sinks. Here, we compiled geographical data for Sweden to map the distribution of coastal vegetated blue carbon (BC) habitats. The mapping effort focused on well-recognised (salt marshes and seagrass meadows) and emergent BC habitats (other rooted submerged macrophytes and forested wetlands). We also estimated the exposure to anthropogenic pressures on coastal BC habitats based on their proximity to land-based human activities, and subsequently, the portion of these BC habitats that were located within protected areas. The total area of BC habitats was estimated to around 1850 km², corresponding to ca. 35% of the Swedish coast. Seagrass meadows and other rooted submerged macrophytes were dominating, covering about 1500 km². Around 22% of the mapped BC habitats were expected to be exposed to high pressures from land-based human activities due to their location, while BC habitats within protected areas were often less exposed. This nationwide assessment of coastal vegetated BC habitats accentuates the need for strengthening conservation prioritisation to maximise the carbon storage potential of BC habitats.

Scientific models are increasingly expected to support decision making in complex governance environments. However, the institutional embedding of model outputs often encounters structural mismatches between the modeling and governance domains. This study explored how model-derived knowledge can be translated into actionable governance practices by integrating two theoretical perspectives: the Socialization-Externalization-Combination-Internalization (SECI) model of knowledge conversion and science-policy interface theory. Drawing on empirical evidence from the Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, we constructed a comparative framework to analyze alignment and misalignment across four key dimensions: semantic representation, logical structure, procedural compatibility, and institutional integration. Our findings revealed that successful model uptake depended not only on the technical quality of models but also on the compatibility of their outputs with policy language, decision routines, and organizational mechanisms. This work provided theoretical and practical insights into improving the usability and impact of scientific models within policy processes.

Calls for acceptable climate policies render public participation central to climate policy planning. However, implementing participation remains challenging and often limited. To foster more effective and meaningful participation, it is essential to understand how participatory practices and efforts to develop them function in real-world policy processes. We develop this understanding by applying a systemic and relational approach that focuses on public participation as a collective and contextual phenomenon and integrate this with a normative 4D approach for evaluating participation through its capacity to advance dialogue, diversity, deliberation, and to allocate decision-making power. We empirically examine public participation in the preparation of Finland's national climate policies from the perspective of government officials. Our findings show the usefulness of examining participation systemically and including its evaluation. In the Finnish context, the role of decision-making power in the participatory collectives remains weak and requires further attention.

European forests have been extensively altered by human activity. Consequently, comprehensive socio-ecological information on forests is crucial for developing policies from multiple perspectives, such as biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and renewable energy. This study presents a map of forest archetypes in Europe by integrating data on both natural and socio-economic characteristics. The map identifies seven archetypes, ranging from natural to intensively managed forests. Our findings indicate that over 50% of European forests are subject to medium to very high use intensity, while the most natural forests comprise only 13% of the total forest area. This forest archetypes map is a valuable tool for informing EU policies, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and the Bioeconomy Strategy. Understanding the distribution and prevalence of archetypes within regions and countries is essential for assessing the current state of forests and exploring potential management pathways, conservation, and management targets.

While mobility justice has been the subject of much research, it is unclear to what degree the insights of the field are applied in national and EU-level transport policy. This work examines this question empirically by analysing transport strategies for the EU and Finland. The avoid-shift-improve framework is used to assess the effectiveness of the policy measures proposed for moving towards a more sustainable transport system. The results indicate that the justice dimension of sustainable mobility is not fully considered in transport policy and that car dependence and the inequalities caused by it are mostly referenced in an indirect way. While a shift to sustainable modes is advocated, there is a heavy focus on technological solutions. Electric vehicles and sustainable alternative fuels, the key technologies for transport decarbonisation, will, however, do little to reduce transport-related inequalities.

In an era of systemic risks from natural and human-induced hazards, we need approaches that address such risks at different governance levels, including those at the community level. Citizen science (CS)-public participation in research-is one such approach that has the potential to benefit risk assessment and management. Building on systematic evidence synthesis methodologies, we examine the individual and collective benefits from CS to environmental risk assessment and management. From systematic search results (9277 records), we found 133 publications dealing with the topic in-depth. Results show that CS is increasingly being recognised for risk assessment and management and several individual-level benefits (e.g., improved scientific skills) support outcomes for communities (e.g., increased community capacity). Identified knowledge gaps include (i) unidentified potential of CS for different risk governance phases, and (ii) scattered evidence of CS community outcomes in different geographic regions. We conclude that CS can increase resilience amongst vulnerable communities.

A nature-based solutions (NBS) approach to integrated urban water management is increasingly being recognized as offering an ecological and cost-effective alternative to gray infrastructure and additional co-benefits. However, despite growing support, the upscaling of NBS remains limited. Using a case-based approach, we examine how existing governance structures and financial mechanisms are supporting this shift toward an NBS approach in the Belgian city of Genk. Our findings highlight the importance of aligning existing financial mechanisms with alternative funding options to support NBS scaling. We propose three strategies for urban NBS planners to navigate the existing financial landscape: bridging the knowledge gap on public financing mechanisms, mapping the outcome of financial mechanisms early in the planning process, and adjusting NBS planning adaptively to fit current mechanisms and fill gaps. This underscores the need to reevaluate existing governance and financing frameworks to effectively scale-up and ensure projects progress beyond the pilot stage.

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is widely promoted as a strategy that links forest management with local livelihoods through participatory governance. This global review used novel systematic review methods to evaluate predictors of people's participation in CBFM. Based on 66 cases from 47 studies across 18 countries, we identified 248 predictors that have been used to explain people's participation in CBFM and categorized them into seven broad categories. While demographics, household size, and landholding size are the most frequently tested, factors such as off-farm household income, leadership style, and forest condition are less commonly tested yet more often statistically significantly related to participation in CBFM. The meta-regression revealed that the specific type of CBFM (the institutional model) moderates the effects of certain predictors. These results highlight the multifaceted and context-specific drivers of participation in CBFM, underscoring the need for both household- and community-level strategies to foster effective forest governance.