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In 2017 the paper 'The Sustainable Development Oxymoron: Quantifying and Modelling the Incompatibility of Sustainable Development Goals' was published, showing that there is a conflict between socio-economic development goals and ecological sustainability goals using cross-country time-series data. The authors looked at production-based CO2 emissions to measure and model the 13th SDG goal addressing climate change. Their models showed that production-based CO2 emissions were stalling or even decreasing in rich countries, which suggests that other countries are also likely to see stalling and decrease in their CO2 emissions once they become rich. However, this conclusion can be challenged when accounting for consumption-based CO2 emissions rather than production-based CO2 emissions. In this follow-up paper, we re-run some of the analyses performed in the original paper making use of consumption-based CO2 emissions. The analysis confirms the inherent SDG conflict between socio-economic and ecological SDGs. But, this new analysis demonstrates that from a consumption perspective the trend of stalling or decreasing CO2 emissions is reversed, with natural depletion costs being exported to poorer countries. Despite this new perspective on CO2 emissions, the conflict between SDG goals can still be avoided by making investments in public health, education and renewable energy, as suggested in the original paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an analytical toolkit to measure the sustainability of industrialization across countries. Drawing from a methodology developed to analyze economic development as a process of modernization, it ranks countries on the basis of the emissions they produce and their stage of development. The proposed index penalizes environmental pressures taking into account the modernization level of a country. The paper also proposes an assessment of the environmental performance of countries at the same level of modernization. It introduces the notion of policy space as the difference between the best and worst environmental performer at a given level of modernization. An important finding of the paper is that the magnitude of the policy space is not homogenous across different levels of income and environmental targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green buildings have gained increasing relevance and market share in recent decades. Also, higher education institutions are progressively incorporating the conceptualisation of sustainable development by greening campuses. Thus, given the construction sector relevance in climate change mitigation and the role universities have to play as models for society, the purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, the authors develop a baseline study to determine the extent to which green buildings' features and certifications are being incorporated in public Chilean higher education institutions, as a first of its kind effort in the higher education sector in Chile. Second, the authors explore the opportunities that can support the advancement of campus greening through green buildings deployment on university campuses in Chile. This study follows a qualitative strategy approach in the form of a survey design based on the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking that was administered through an online questionnaire to representatives who hold the position of Sustainability or Infrastructure Heads in public universities, which are united in the Chilean State Universities Consortium. The main findings suggest a general maturation process of green building features´ incorporation on campuses at Chilean public higher education institutions in early or transitional stages. The leading indicators relate to open space, pedestrian paths, and efficient appliances, whereas the reported performance is lower with respect to sustainability budget, zero emission vehicles, and greenhouse gas emission reduction programmes. The opportunities identified for promoting the implementation of green buildings relate to three entrenched dimensions: research, promotion, and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Arctic is a complex and fragile region which is currently experiencing unprecedented environmental degradation due to climate change. The effects of climate change on the Canadian Arctic is just one example where we're seeing the decline of ecosystems and socio-culture-environmental traditions. Mineral development in this already fragile ecosystem is indeed a contentious and high-risk endeavour. However, mining is currently one of the few industries and economic development opportunities in the Canadian Arctic, which is one of the poorest regions in Canada. Unfortunately, mining struggles to achieve environmental sustainability due to mineral development's inherent trade-off of short-term economic gains for long-term environmental impacts. Local communities are usually left with trying to find this balance. This paper analyzes how we can apply decision-making techniques and environmental management tools for the Canadian Arctic's mining industry to promote better environmental sustainability, understanding of environmental-economic trade-offs, and community involvement. Specific decision-making methodologies and management tools are analyzed to develop, discuss, and explore their application for the Canadian Arctic. This paper concludes with a framework that brings together the analyzed methods and Arctic specificities; to prioritize environmental issues and to ensure long-term thriving communities in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning in sustainable development is believed to be an important element in allowing higher education institutions to set their goals and to commit themselves towards undertaking concrete actions and measures at all levels in order to implement sustainability. Yet, there is a paucity of research that has looked at the extent to which planning can support institutions of higher education to assess their performances and to determine whether the set aims have been met. This research gap needs to be met to allow a better understanding of how planning can help to promote the integration of the three components of sustainable development - economic development, social development and environmental protection in higher education. This paper explores the challenges for planning the sustainable development in higher education, also outlining the potentials lessons learned that could assist in improving Education for Sustainable Development efforts in Higher Education Institutions. Among its main results are the fact that many universities wish to pursue sustainable development, but their efforts are hindered by lack of institutional support and planning and limited emphasis on approaches, such as problem-based learning. The universities that are engaged in the field have to face many problems, varying from limited resources to lack of trained staff. As a result, integrated approaches to sustainability become difficult to implement. Finally, the paper has identified the fact that many opportunities offered mainstream developments, such as the UN Declaration ‘The World we Want’ or the UN Sustainable Development Goals are not being put to full use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning cases as Transformational Plans are a tool that is still little explored and that have great potential in the framework of Landsenses Ecology as an emerging discipline. This work presents the project 'Mértola, a Lab for the Future' as a learning case of a Transformational Plan in the Mediterranean semi-arid region based on Landsenses Ecology. It is a project of agroecological transition, adaptation to climate change and desertification combat that places the local community leadership in the planning of a more sustainable and resilient future. The paper proposes Transformational Plans as a tool to promote networks for the sharing of technical-scientific, political and practical/lay knowledge enhancing a people-centred and place-based change. The learning case methodology follows an analysis showing a set of good governance practices for sustainability, through six transformation domains: access to natural ecosystems, knowledge and culture, systems of exchange, networks, equity, and discourse. Results show a strong articulation between the learning case and the UN 2030 Agenda, highlighting SDGs location and territorialization practices. This kind of projects, which strongly connects with governance and its multilevel and territorial translation, have a great potential for the Landsenses Ecology, contributing to innovate in governance approaches. The same place-based approach could be used and replicated by other territories in the Mediterranean semi-arid region to develop their Transformational Plans for accelerating transformation towards more sustainable territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel approach to measuring the progress of small island developing states (SIDS) towards sustainable development (SD) as set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Currently, these goals do not provide adequate guidance on how countries might measure their progress towards sustainability. We use these goals and a subset of their targets to develop an index with concrete targets, through the use of pertinent sustainability indicators, that SIDS should aim to achieve a sustainable society. In addition to the three categorical pillars of SD (social, economic and environmental), we included the category Climate Change and Disaster Management (incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction). The basis of our decision is that the UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have both recognized the vulnerability of SIDS to both environmental hazards. Our index scores a total 70 individual indicators for the four categories to track the progress of a SIDS towards a sustainable society. Using the Caribbean nation, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as our SIDS case study, we report the average of the scores for each category to illustrate its progress towards sustainability. Overall Trinidad and Tobago is slowly progressing towards a more sustainably developed society. Our results show that the nation is only moderately successful regarding progress in three traditional pillars of SD, social, economic and environmental. However, Trinidad and Tobago scores poorly in the Climate Change and Disaster Management category and needs to improve in this area especially due to its vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Farming in coastal areas has unique challenges as climate change threatens coastal people's livelihoods and food security. Therefore, household food security remains a major concern, especially in Bangladesh's climate-sensitive coastal districts. This study compared the food security status and identified the factors influencing households' food security in the exposed and interior coasts of Bangladesh. A total of 750 households (exposed coast: 375 and interior coast: 375) were surveyed from six coastal areas. The Food Consumption Score (FCS), descriptive statistics, and a set of econometric models were used to achieve the objectives. Around 20% of households in the exposed coast were in the borderline category of FCS. The FCS of the interior coast households was significantly higher than the exposed coast households. The analysis results revealed that a 1 USD increase in the price of rice per kg would decrease the likelihood of being in the food secure category by more than 40%. Households who engaged in homestead gardening had a 4.30% and 9.15% higher likelihood of being in the food secure category in the interior and exposed coasts, respectively. Access to credit increased the likelihood of being in the food secure category by 7.15% in the exposed coast area. Economic status-related factors, such as higher farm and non-farm incomes, also increased the likelihood of being food secure in both coastal areas. To improve the household-level food security in coastal areas, location-specific sustainable farming practices, non-farm employment opportunities, rice price stabilization, agricultural training, and capital availability are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in environmental sustainability remains a puzzle in empirical research. It is unclear whether ICT can help mitigate the after-effects of carbon emissions and, in turn, alleviate the unavoidable consequences of climate change. In this study, we examined the role of ICT in environmental sustainability for a panel of 24 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. We used an annual dataset obtained from the World Bank covering 40 years (1980–2019). Our empirical strategy was based on the standard fixed effects panel and the Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond dynamic panel approach. Our empirical findings highlight the importance of using ICT to promote environmental sustainability. Additionally, we identified the mechanisms through which ICT can affect the environment, namely education, transportation, foreign direct investment, regulatory quality, and institutional quality. The present study has critical implications for combatting climate change. Policymakers should pay attention not only to ICT but also to other identified mechanisms that play complementary roles in promoting a sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal social-ecological systems (SES) are home to over 500 million people and one of the most productive and diverse ecosystems in the world. In recent years, coastal SES are experiencing severe threat from an increasing population, resource exploitation, and global environmental change (e.g. climate change), which have devastating societal impacts in coastal areas. Despite several global, national, and local initiatives, there is a growing consensus that coastal resources are depleting and increasing conflicts in coastal areas. Recognizing the global call to understand social–ecological interactions for implementing development practices, this special issue features a suite (seven) of articles advancing the understanding of the sustainability of social and ecological interactions within coastal areas through theoretical SES approaches and related analytical methods. In this editorial of this special issue, we also argued that coastal area needs to define from SES perspectives, which have received less attention compared to ecological and social perspectives. We hope that this special issue will stimulate the debate and further thinking of how coastal SES can be managed sustainably by conceptualizing and understanding the complex dynamics (interaction, feedback) of SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, Singapore produced a 7.7 million tonnes of waste, which is a significant amount of waste for a small nation-state. In line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) targets 11.6 and 12.5 of the 2030 Agenda, which addresses cities' waste generation and management impacts, we ask the question of why Singapore households are not more proactively engaged in waste minimization, despite the presence of local waste minimization public campaigns. This study is the first known study to comparatively apply and test three major theories – social psychological, social-structural, and sociocultural theories, to explain household waste management behavior in Singapore. A national survey followed by regression analysis of 303 households was conducted. In our findings, we firstly describe current trends in household waste management behaviors. Secondly, we compared each applied theory's ability to predict households': (1) reuse and (2) recycling of a variety of household items; and (3) recycling frequency. We obtained partial evidence supporting the role of future-orientedness and environmental identity on householders' variety reuse and recycling. Social-structural (age cohort x income, education) and situational variables (the convenience thesis), also predicted various waste minimization behaviors. Finally, householders' knowledge of what is recyclable affected all forms of waste minimization behaviors. In view of the study's findings, we propose a need for targeted planning and policy interventions for different segments of the Singapore population, and different short- and longer-term measures to initiate and achieve sustained household waste minimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The actual way to tackle with climate change – the setting of a 2°C limit for the increase of the global mean surface temperature (MST) value – is rather unsafe as, at planet scale, the warming is far from uniform. The latitude zones are characterized not only by different climates, but also by different rates of climate parameters modification. Computer analysis of statistical data for more than 100 years shows that the warming rates of the MST and current temperature anomalies are approximately double when one compares the land/ocean areas or the 64N–90N band to the ones near the equator line. Therefore, the zone differences should be taken into consideration as a useful environment indicator for the setting of sustainability targets. The most intense rise of the surface temperature is present and will continue at increased rate in the zone comprising the Arctic area. Statistical treatment also shows a negative feedback of the planet, opposing the global warming process. The polar zones are the ones with lesser abatement tendency. The other areas, despite differences in heating rates, present almost similar values for the attenuation index. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]