Environmental Development最新文献

The concrete industry is among the most significant contributors of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Since this industry generates such a negative environmental impact, finding different ways to reduce the severe effect of concrete production without diminishing its excellent performance is mandatory. The partial replacement of cement with either organic or inorganic substances becomes an ecological method of managing large quantities of industrial and agricultural waste. Previously, several reviews have reported the mechanical and thermal properties of modified concrete; however, the effect of incorporating different industrial wastes on carbon dioxide emissions has yet to be considered. Thus, this article presents a comprehensive review of studies published between 2000 and 2023 where the carbon dioxide emissions in traditional and modified concrete samples were assessed. According the data founded CO₂ emissions are mainly affected by two aspects that are water/cement ratio and the substitution percentage. CO₂ emissions showed a trend of decreasing with increasing the water/cement ratio and decreasing with the increasing the percentage of substitution. Furthermore, carbon dioxide emissions depend on the type of substitute material. A substitute material with a lower emission factor has higher carbon dioxide emissions. Likewise, perspectives on this topic and other challenges facing the concrete industry are also discussed. It is expected that this review will motivate future studies to include calculations and assessments of carbon emissions as a parameter to quantify the environmental impact in the concrete industry.

Climate change has become a global threat and a cause of uncertainty for numerous economic sectors, particularly agriculture. Several studies addressing the impacts of climate change can be found in the literature; however, studies on strategies to improve sustainability in orchards are scarce. Bananas are of great economic importance in tropical regions, and their production is characterized by high consumption of natural resources, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts. This study aimed to identify critical points in banana production, understand how they influence future footprints, and develop strategies to reduce current footprints. Life cycle assessment was used to estimate water scarcity (ISO 14046) and carbon (ISO 14067) footprints. Results are presented per 1 kg of banana. Primary data from 10-year averages were collected from farms located in the Lower Jaguaribe sub-basin. The results revealed that the carbon footprint ranged from 0.21 to 0.84 kg CO₂ eq kg⁻¹ in 2023, whereas the water scarcity footprint reached 1441 m³ eq kg⁻¹. Under the current scenario, yield improvement could reduce carbon footprint by up to 57.9%, and greater efficiency in water use could decrease water footprint by up to 77%. In 2055, projections suggest that improvements in irrigation could lead to reductions of 5% in carbon footprint and 24.9% in water scarcity footprint. The findings of this study highlight the importance of adopting a sustainable approach to banana production, emphasizing the need to improve natural resource management and promote conscious agricultural practices, such as no-till farming and polyculture, which favor carbon sequestration. The use of plants that perform biological nitrogen fixation can reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizers, in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Public policies focused on providing technical assistance to farmers are crucial for achieving environmentally sustainable production and enhancing resilience to climate change and water scarcity.

A comprehensive investigation into the carbon and water footprint of a black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) farm in Murcia, Spain, was carried out following ISO 14064-1 standards. The study, utilizing data from BioflyTech, the managing company, spanned various departments to comprehensively analyze production and consumption. The results highlight that the carbon footprint associated with fresh larva production is approximately thirty times lower than that of conventional animal farming, aligning with sustainable practices and offering a promising alternative in the quest for eco-friendly protein sources. Moreover, the water footprint of the black soldier fly farm is significantly lower than that of traditional animal farms, underscoring the environmental advantages of this innovative approach to larva production over conventional livestock farming. These valuable insights contribute substantively to the ongoing discourse on sustainable and responsible agricultural practices, paving the way for more environmentally friendly solutions in the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable food production practices.

Urban ecosystems face several challenges in implementing the circular bioeconomy, including financial limitations, a lack of coordinated public policies, insufficient valorisation of biowaste, and a lack of commitment to supporting practices that encourage the creation of socio-ecological values on the part of the actors shaping the narrative. Despite global efforts to consolidate circular practices, policies addressing the bioeconomy, particularly in urban ecosystems, remain ambiguous concerning the availability of resources and the value of ecosystem services. To address these gaps, we conducted an integrative literature review centred on the underlying constructs that drive the development of narratives. We identify several critical factors, such as public-private partnerships, political support for circular initiatives, and collaboration with local authorities. We also advocate and propose the synergy of decentralisation and colocation practices and the need to promote low-entropy urban ecosystems. By highlighting the theoretical links between definitions, core constructs, and essential practices, this paper outlines approaches to assessing the impact of the urban circular bioeconomy on sustainable development. By further investigating these links, the paper provides valuable information and recommendations for future research.

Increasing the slow pace of adoption of environmental taxes across low-income countries has become a significant priority among international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, and international donors. Yet little is known about the practical institutional, administrative, and political obstacles that have led to their slow implementation and how they can be made more appealing, especially across sub-Saharan Africa. Based on a review of the literature and 16 in-depth interviews with ministries of finance, revenue authorities, and other government representatives across six African countries, this paper provides exploratory evidence of these stakeholders' view about environmental taxes deployment in their countries' context. By increasing the visibility of these policymakers’ opinions and priorities, this study aims to individuate areas in which further research can provide support for the introduction of environmental fiscal measures. While there are differences across the countries covered, a lack of data and analytical capacity to develop effective environmental taxes is a common theme, as well as the historical prioritisation of their revenue mobilisation capacity over their environmental impact. A great variety of government actors with a mandate over natural resources, often with competing policy priorities, coupled with a lack of coordination fora, has also impeded the harmonisation of the environmental charges they levy. These measures are also often perceived to be regressive and to pose an obstacle to industrial development, lowering their appeal, given that poverty reduction and employment creation are an overarching priority. Nonetheless, support for introducing specific environmental tax measures exists across the population and policymakers, especially if their revenue can be earmarked for environmental purposes.

Building resilience against shocks is crucial for enhancing the livelihoods of water-insecure smallholder farming households. This research investigates household coping strategies for mitigating weather-related shocks and explores differences in the livelihoods of water-insecure smallholder rice farming households in Ogun State, Nigeria. Field survey data was collected from 175 households, and a coping strategies index was formulated, taking into account the severity and the frequency of coping measures. Using the k-means cluster approach, households were categorized into four clusters based on the components of the sustainable livelihoods framework. The study reveals variability across the clusters in terms of vulnerability and the degree to which households are able to use adequate coping strategies. Two out of the four clusters (clusters 1 and 2) are identified as coping farming households with moderate to high vulnerability to drought and floods, while clusters 3 and 4 are limited coping farming households with moderate to low vulnerability to these weather-related shocks. Addressing households’ challenges to cope with extreme weather events is necessary to enhance the resilience and adaptability of water-insecure farming households, and will contribute to creating sustainable livelihoods of at-risk households facing climate emergencies.

Valuation of ecosystem services along with the perceptions and attitudes of local communities is crucial for sustainable management of wetlands. This study assesses changes in wetland area and bathymetry, and provides insights into local community's perceptions of ecosystem services, and attitudes towards wetland conservation in Kashmir Himalaya, India. High-resolution satellite data was used to assess land use land cover (LULC) changes within the wetland. The bathymetry changes were assessed by performing depth measurements before and after dredging in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Perceptions of ecosystem services and attitudes of residents towards wetland management were examined through surveys in 182 households from the target population of 334 families. The findings reveal that Khushalsar wetland provides important provisioning (food, fodder, thatching mats, fish, vegetables), regulating (flood control, carbon sequestration, water quality improvement), supporting (habitat, biomass and oxygen production, water and nutrient cycling), and cultural services (aesthetic, education, spiritual). The economic benefits from provisioning services range from 240 USD/yr for minor vegetables to 1201–1802 USD/0.05 ha/yr for Nelumbo nucifera. The analysis of LULC changes indicates a ∼16.5% reduction in wetland area from 1980 to 2017, with a further ∼10% decrease from 2017 to 2021, resulting in an overall loss of ∼25% (27.1 ha) in wetland area from 1980 to 2021. Bathymetric assessments reveal an increase in maximum depth from 427 cm in 2019 to 547 cm in 2022 following dredging activities. Socioeconomic analysis showed the significance of Khushalsar wetland as an important source of livelihood for local communities. Survey results indicate that all the respondents have positive attitudes towards the protection and management of the Khushalsar wetland. The study demonstrates that human conservation activities have significantly contributed to positive changes in the wetland such as increase in depth and flood storage capacity. The study concludes that government protection along with active participation of local communities is indispensable for sustainable management of wetlands.

The article maps the interface between technology and recycling, considering the advances and task management. The theme is important because of the environmental problems caused by waste, irregular disposal, and the low recycling rates in the world, around 45%. The first round of academic production analysis through the Scopus database shows that the word challenge is strongly associated with technology and recycling. The hypothesis from this first cluster organization is that recycling is an unresolved challenge regarding cost, management, and technology. To analyze the recycling system, we use the affirmatives of circular economy in line with sustainable principles. Using data mining, we searched to collect, organize, and analyze the literature on recycling and technology. Beginning with 84.542 records and making six coupling analyses, we found that challenge, process, material, environment, and management are more closely associated with recycling and technology. There is a dominance of laboratory experiments. Researchers have offered small contributions to action alternatives to recycling. In short, we looked for the intertwining between recycling and technology in academic production and did not find this connection. The article highlights the superficial stage of knowledge, analysis, management, and recycling technology use.

The Tibetan Plateau is a sensitive area to global climate change, and the special natural environmental conditions have nurtured extremely fragile vegetation and its ecosystems, making it one of the ideal regions to study the response of vegetation to climate change. In this study, we used the drought index (SPEI) and the vegetation index (NDVI) as drought and green indicators, respectively. The spatial and temporal variation patterns of vegetation greenness on the Tibetan Plateau from 1982 to 2015 were analysed, and the response of vegetation greenness to dry and wet changes was investigated. The results showed that the grassland vegetation improved overall (slope = 0.00015, P < 0.05) and degraded locally during 34 years. The NDVI of grassland vegetation showed an increasing trend from 1982 to 2008 (slope = 0.00005, P = 0.86), and a significant decreasing trend from 2009 to 2015 (slope = −0.002, P < 0.05). The degraded areas of grassland NDVI were mainly distributed in wet areas. Meanwhile, the Tibetan Plateau as a whole showed a non-significant trend of increasing drought, with a mitigating trend of drought in dry areas and an increasing trend of drought in wet areas. The probability of vegetation growth loss was higher with increasing drought. The vulnerability of grassland vegetation to drought events was significantly higher in the humid region than in the arid region. Under the current drought intensification, the risk of loss of grassland vegetation to drought in the humid zone will increase. This suggests that we need to pay more attention to the stability of vegetation in the humid region and drought trends.

Sand is a globally abundant resource and one of the most used minerals in construction. Local scarcity is becoming more common owing to the increasing demand in urban areas and stricter environmental regulations. In addition, the environmental impact caused by sand mining is worsened by clandestine extraction, which operates in a predatory manner. To reach the targets proposed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a country needs to combat the illegal extraction of sand, and this is only possible by knowing the local situation that needs to be changed. This study aims to estimate more accurately the total sand consumption that is being illegally extracted and is used by the Brazilian construction sector, its consequences, and ways to mitigate it. The method is applicable to any country with a similar problem. The results show that 76% of the extracted sand in Brazil is being mined illegally. The sum of unspent funds in environmental recovery, annual uncollected taxes, and annual unpaid social charges due to the activities of unregulated mining companies were equivalent to USD 774 million (0.05% of Brazil's GDP) in 2020. Strategies for concrete and mortar industrialization, and the substitution of natural sand by secondary materials could mitigate half of the illegal sand market that supplies sand for Brazilian construction, but it requires efforts of the entire construction sector, society, and government.