Search

This paper presents a novel decision support framework for water utilities to automatically create yearly pipeline rehabilitation plans while considering multiple parameters, including pipeline physical properties and other factors like transportation and urban space. The average age of urban water pipelines is growing, and the annual rehabilitation volumes are often lower than needed to improve or even preserve the level of service quality. The existing rehabilitation strategies range from simple pipe-age-based approaches to complex multiparameter strategies. The needed input of specific and detailed data, which are usually not available for water utilities, impedes a straightforward implementation of the latter strategies. Therefore, this study presents a two-step pipe rehabilitation strategy that enables the utility to automatically prioritise the pipes and related street areas/sections based on condition ranking. The strategy was validated on an operational water network in Tallinn, Estonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews breeding objectives of the current global cattle industry and outlines existing challenges and opportunities for improving sustainability in the livestock sector through genetic selection. Cattle breeding programs have historically been focused on generating profit by selecting for high-producing animals and broadened to include traits related to health, reproduction, fertility, and efficiency. Now, cattle industries around the world are using genetics to reduce their environmental impacts and improve sustainability. Reducing emissions is vital to improve sustainability, and industry leaders have set emission goals to either reduce gross emissions, lower emissions intensity, or reach net-zero. However, additional traits should also be measured and compared in terms of their impact on the broader definition of sustainability. In addition to environmental impact, a sustainable breeding objective must consider profit, animal welfare, farmer wellbeing, and social responsibility. Traits to be considered include direct emissions (e.g. nitrogen and methane), production efficiency (e.g. feed efficiency, growth), closer to biology reproduction and fertility (e.g. oestrous strength and semen quality), health (e.g. calf and transition cow health) and welfare traits (e.g. polled). Many of these novel traits require labour-intensive or expensive phenotyping, resulting in small datasets and low reliability of estimated breeding values. Opportunities exist to overcome this limitation by utilising international collaboration to build large data bases, develop inexpensive and easy-to-measure proxy traits, and expand novel-phenotype reference populations by using female-driven reference populations and young stock and males. Non-economic values can be estimated that quantify the impact that a trait has on societal perspective (e.g. farmer preference) or the environmental impact (methane emissions), and combined with economic weights to calculate aggregate weights for each trait. While validation techniques are still uncertain, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals may be applied to determine the improvement in sustainability due to genetic selection. This approach allows for various perspectives of sustainability, such as in the developed versus developing world, to be considered. The number and quality of relevant phenotypes are currently the main limiting factors. As confidence continues to grow in the opportunity to improve sustainability through genetic selection, substantial new investment will be required both in phenotyping activities, but also into novel breeding structures and scheme designs that can maximise the value and impact of these phenotypes. This paper reviews breeding objectives of the current cattle industry and outlines existing challenges and opportunities for improving sustainability in the livestock sector through genetic selection. As confidence continues to grow in the opportunity to improve sustainability through genetic selection, substantial new investment will be required both in phenotyping activities, but also into novel breeding structures and scheme designs that can maximise the value and impact of these phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good deal of contemporary work in cultural evolutionary theory focuses on the adaptive significance of culture. In this paper, we make the case that scientifically accurate and politically feasible responses to the climate crisis require a complex understanding of human cultural practices of niche construction that moves beyond the adaptive significance of culture. We develop this thesis in two related ways. First, we argue that cumulative cultural practices of niche construction can generate stable equilibria and runaway selection processes that result in long-term existential risks within and across cultural groups. We dub this the back of the invisible hand. Second, we argue that the ability of cultural groups to innovate technological solutions to environmental problems is highly constrained in ways that are exacerbated by sustained intergroup conflict, inequality and by inherently unpredictable cascades in climate change and human migration patterns. After developing these theoretical points about human cultural practices of niche construction in detail, we conclude our discussion with some tentative practical suggestions about the way that cultural evolutionary history can more fruitfully be used in efforts to remit the climate crisis and contribute to sustainable practices of human climate change adaptation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Climate change may be the most pressing existential threat to human health and wellbeing in the twenty first century. In this paper, the authors provide context and critique on barriers to climate action in the United States and other high-income countries, including the profit-driven approach to health, consumerism, and the climate change countermovement. The reciprocal connections between occupational engagement and climate damage are examined from a lens of collective and irresponsible occupations and subsequent accountability. The authors propose the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a basis for recommendations occupational therapy practitioners could implement within the priorities of adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Climate Change (GCC) and its responses are already changing how food is produced, processed, and consumed. The agriculture sector's recent history of hardships and challenges brought about by GCC has posed a significant danger to people's ability to acquire food, particularly in developing countries. Today, GCC impacts are already being felt across the globe, especially in remote and rural communities where vulnerability is high, adaptation capacity is limited, and resources are scarce. Therefore, finding sustainable, practical, and cutting-edge solutions to the challenges of GCC is essential. The United Nations 2030 agenda on sustainability aims to reshape the world's society by achieving a number of broad sustainable development goals (SDGs), which call for significant structural changes in society as well as profound transformations in policy, the economy, technology, and science. More specifically, agenda 2030 emphasizes the creation and effective application of models, technology innovations, and strategies that call for the full participation of all parties, including local and indigenous people and their experiences, traditions, and cultural practices. However, despite providing clear examples of sustainable lifestyles within their ecological environment, particularly in the equitable distribution of resources among community members, indigenous and local people's voices, knowledge, and concerns have remained underrepresented in the climate change and sustainability discourse. Thus, this paper advances the climate adaptation, resilience-building, and sustainability (CARS) model in agriculture in developing countries. The CARS model is meant for policymakers and hinges on integrating scientific knowledge with indigenous and local ecological knowledge (ILEK) in the climate change adaptation and sustainability discourse. This theoretical model supports the notion that an understanding of the indigenous and local ecological knowledge systems is critical to opening up an environment that supports community-based efforts to adapt to GCC by giving them options and engaging them in finding innovative, sustainable, and effective strategies to adapt to the impacts emanating from GCC. The ultimate goal of this model is to promote positive co-management and regional development through sustainability and climate change adaptation while generating a forum for discussion among indigenous and local communities and the relevant stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change remains a serious global problem posing a wide range of challenges and impacts which will likely hinder the attainment of the widely discussed sustainable development goals (SDGs). The impacts and threats from a changing climate have the potential to significantly impact all sectors of the global economy and will largely be multifaceted, multidimensional, and multi-sectoral. These adverse impacts will to a greater extent, be manifested at the local and community level where the adaptability capacity is weak and resources are scarce. In the last two decades, there has been growing support and evidence that suggests that local people and communities in partnership with their local governments and NGOs are undertaking community ecological based adaptation (CEBA) practices at both the local and community level which are enhancing their adaptability and resilience capacities to a changing climate. CEBA mechanisms are initiatives and practices that local and rural communities across the developing world are sometimes adopting in partnership with their local government and non-governmental organizations to adapt to a changing climate. However, over the years, these initiatives, experiments, and activities have been poorly actualized, communicated, and there is uncertainty on whether these practices and mechanisms are enhancing the adaptability and resilience capacities of the many poor people in these communities. It is from this background that this paper seeks to assess and analyze present and future climate change impacts on agriculture in Central Zambia and further seeks to appraise the effectiveness of CEBA mechanisms being adopted and utilized in this region. Using community assessment and rural appraisal tools this research paper found that indeed some CEBA practices are innovative and effective and are enhancing the adaptability and resilience of the local people in agriculture in this region. The paper recommends that the advancement, funding, and integration of innovative and effective CEBA practices with scientific knowledge and the ultimate replication and incorporation of these practices into developmental and climate change policies can be one of the most beneficial and effective ways for a sustainable, adaptive, and resilient agriculture sector in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass use for energy and materials is, on the one hand, one of the key mitigation options to reach the 1.5 °C GMT target set in the Paris Agreement, as highlighted by the IPCC and many other key analyses. On the other hand, particularly in parts of the EU, a strong negative connotation has emerged in public debate and EC policy, with a particular emphasis on the (presumed) displacement effect in markets and land use. This is a remarkable contrast because the reasons to use sustainable biomass, on the one hand, and the possibilities and synergies for supplying sustainable biomass, on the other, are underpinned with strong evidence, also providing insights on how displacement issues can be avoided. Sustainable biomass supplies can contribute 20–30% of the future global and European energy supply, leading to reduced overall mitigation costs, including realizing the net CO2 removal from the atmosphere using BECCS concepts. This paper highlights which options, pathways and preconditions are key to achieving such a substantial contribution of sustainable biomass in future (2050) energy and material supply (with a focus on the European setting). By pinpointing how "biomass can be done right" and how important synergies can be achieved via better agricultural methods, the restoration of marginal and degraded lands and the adaptation of climate change, a different policy agenda emerges in sharp contrast to how a biobased economy has been framed in recent years. It is recommended that future policy priorities, particularly at the EU level, take a more integral view on the synergy between the role of biomass in the energy transition, climate adaptation and mitigation, better agriculture and the better use of land in general. Strategies to achieve such positive results typically require an alignment between renewable energy, and agricultural, environmental, mitigation and adaptation policies, which is a largely missing nexus in different policy arenas. Resolving this lack of alignment offers a major opportunity, globally, to contribute to the European Green deal and improve energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The complex interconnectedness of climate change, energy demand, and health and long-term care poses current and future cascading challenges for the resilience of older people. • Key interconnections include a concern for the impact of frequent and intense weather events parallel to a global increase in life expectancy and social justice issues connected with strained resources and public infrastructure. • Comprehensive, targeted policies are needed on the national and global level that incentivize sustainable practices, enhance climate resilience, and support vulnerable populations in the Global South, and that mitigate the social justice implications of climate change for older adults. Challenges faced by many countries are energy insecurity, climate change, and the health and long-term care of growing numbers of older people. These challenges are increasingly intersecting with rising energy prices, aging populations, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme climate events. This paper gives a deeper understanding of the current and predicted interconnections among these challenges through narrative-driven content and thematic analysis from workshops with a diverse group of international stakeholders from the Global North and Global South. Narratives emerged highlighting a complex nexus of interconnections and presenting critical action areas. Targeted local and global policies and interventions are needed to alleviate stress on health systems, encourage the integrated uptake of clean energy sources, and uphold social justice across all economies. Professionals can use this work to inform the design and implementation of effective interventions and increase the resilience of older adults by better preparing for systemic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ogden and Gachon [[3]] opined that climate change will probably drive the emergence of infectious disease in Canada. There is a pressing need to elucidate the links between climate change and the emergence of infectious diseases because of the considerable threats these climate change-related phenomena and disease outbreak pose to living biota. Keywords: adaptation; natural resilience; paradigm shift; responsiveness EN adaptation natural resilience paradigm shift responsiveness 515 517 3 11/15/22 20221101 NES 221101 To the Editor, Hereinafter, we present our views in sequel to the Opinion Paper " I COVID-19 and the Le Chatelier's principle i " [[1]] that we read with interest. [Extracted from the article]

The health of the world's oceans is intrinsically linked to the biodiversity of the ecosystems they sustain. The importance of protecting and maintaining ocean biodiversity has been affirmed through the setting of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use the ocean for society's continuing needs. The decade beginning 2021–2030 has additionally been declared as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. This program aims to maximize the benefits of ocean science to the management, conservation, and sustainable development of the marine environment by facilitating communication and cooperation at the science–policy interface. A central principle of the program is the conservation of species and ecosystem components of biodiversity. However, a significant omission from the draft version of the Decade of Ocean Science Implementation Plan is the acknowledgment of the importance of monitoring and maintaining genetic biodiversity within species. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of genetic diversity to adaptive capacity, evolutionary potential, community function, and resilience within populations, as well as highlighting some of the major threats to genetic diversity in the marine environment from direct human impacts and the effects of global climate change. We then highlight the significance of ocean genetic diversity to a diverse range of socioeconomic factors in the marine environment, including marine industries, welfare and leisure pursuits, coastal communities, and wider society. Genetic biodiversity in the ocean, and its monitoring and maintenance, is then discussed with respect to its integral role in the successful realization of the 2030 vision for the Decade of Ocean Science. Finally, we suggest how ocean genetic diversity might be better integrated into biodiversity management practices through the continued interaction between environmental managers and scientists, as well as through key leverage points in industry requirements for Blue Capital financing and social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the emotional experiences of some undergraduate sustainability students in a semester long course on climate change. Specifically, it attends to experiences of anxiety, frustration, overwhelm, guilt, grief and hope. I suggest these experiences are characteristic of a process I term learning to live-with climate change. Learning to live-with climate change involves attuning to the relational composition of the world and thus the self; mourning desirable relationships that are lost as the planet warms; and responding to these conditions in ways that may foster more liveable worlds. Collectively, these processes enrol people in practices of bearing worlds: enduring the pain of the end of the world they have known, and labouring to generate promising alternatives. As such, these processes reconfigure the self and its relations, and attunement to how climate change composes, recomposes and decomposes particular subjectivities is important. The paper argues that affective adaptation is therefore a crucial element of climate change education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the Global South, community-based adaptation (CBA) projects are increasingly being implemented in an effort to respond effectively and sustainably to the impacts of climate change, with a particular focus on people's livelihoods. Despite an increase in the number of CBA projects being implemented, detailed analysis and evaluation of their efficacy and the barriers faced in achieving successful outcomes is lacking. This study draws on an analysis of grey literature (i.e. project and donor reports) to explore the barriers faced in achieving effective CBA. An extensive global search of online project evaluations yielded 25 documents comprising 69 projects from which this analysis is based. This paper first presents an overview of the 69 projects and highlights any trends. Second, this paper describes the barriers to CBA according to three broad themes: socio-political, resource, and physical systems and processes. Following this is a discussion of the most prevalent barriers: cognitive and behavioural, financial, and human resources. Third, this paper discusses the key findings elucidated from this review. This includes the need for greater sharing of project reports and findings so lessons can be learned across spatial and temporal scales, and the disparity between critical academic literature on CBA and what is implemented in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change adaptation field has evolved considerably in recent years. Important contributions have been made, with scholars developing methods for assessing vulnerability in different countries and communities, documenting broad strategies for adaptation and identifying opportunities for and barriers to adaptation as well as ways to enhance adaptive capacity. Issues of sustainability are, however, not readily argued and embraced. Predominantly, our analysis exposes that current adaptation discourse, particularly in Africa, offers a narrow conceptualisation of sustainability. The paper argues for a clear framework of sustainability in adaptation discourse which encompasses awareness to contextual aspects in responding to climate variability and change as well as resilience aspects. The paper also calls for an expansion of the knowledge base around the concept of 'climate-smart agriculture' towards effectively incorporating sustainability aspects in climate change adaptation discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose There is a growing interest in climate change action in the higher education sector. Higher education institutions (HEIs) play an important role as property owners, employers, education and research hubs as well as leaders of societal transformations. The purpose of this paper was therefore to benchmark how universities globally are addressing climate risks.Design/methodology/approach An international survey was conducted to benchmark the sector's organisational planning for climate change and to better understand how the higher education sector contributes to local-level climate adaptation planning processes. The international survey focused especially on the assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation plans.Findings Based on the responses of 45 HEIs located in six different countries on three continents, the study found that there are still very few tertiary institutions that plan for climate-related risks in a systematic way.Originality/value The paper sheds light on the barriers HEIs face in engaging in climate adaptation planning and action. Some of the actions to overcome such hindering factors include integrating climate adaptation in existing risk management and sustainability planning processes, using the internal academic expertise and curriculum to assist the mapping of climate change impacts and collaborating with external actors to guarantee the necessary resources. The higher education sector can act as a leader in building institutional resilience at the local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Sahel region, drought is of serious concern due to its consequences on the livelihoods of the populations. In this paper, opportunities for proactive drought policies are analyzed with qualitative techniques using a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews with key experts from the public, private, and other relevant societal sectors. The results show that adaptation options such as sustainable agricultural practices, migration, diversification of income sources, and social networks are most frequently used as a drought response by rural households in the region. To build resilience to drought in the Sahel, there is a need to disseminate climate-friendly agricultural practices accompanied by strong monitoring and evaluation system. It is also important to provide information on early drought warning and preparedness and mobilize more financial resources in implementing policies for building drought resilience. Finally, a drought policy should be participatory and results-based, and be based on long-term forecasting to ensure sustainability and resilience. • Proactive measures are advised in building resilience to drought. • The involvement of all stakeholders is necessary for building resilience to drought. • Failure of early warning and preparedness are constraints for any drought policy. • Lack of financial support negatively affects drought policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long term impact posed by climate change risk remains unclear and is subject to diverse interpretations from different maritime stakeholders. The inter-dynamics between climate change and ports can also significantly diversify in different geographical regions. Consequently, risk and cost data used to support climate adaptation is of high uncertainty and in many occasions, real data is often unavailable and incomplete. This paper presents a risk and cost evaluation methodology that can be applied to the analysis of port climate change adaptation measures in situations where data uncertainty is high. Risk and cost criteria are used in a decision-making model for the selection of climate adaptation measures. Information produced using a fuzzy-Bayesian risk analysis approach is utilized to evaluate risk reduction outcomes from the use of adaptation measures in ports. An evidential reasoning approach is then employed to synthesize the risk reduction data as inputs to the decision-making model. The results can assist policymakers in developing efficient adaptation measures that take into account the reduction in the likelihood of risks, their possible consequences, their timeframe, and costs incurred. A technical study across 14 major container ports in Greater China is presented to demonstrate the interaction between cost and risk analysis, and to highlight the applicability of the stated methodology in practice. The paper offers a useful analytical tool for assessing climate change risks to ports and selecting the most cost-effective adaptation measures in uncertain conditions. It can also be used to compare the practitioners’ perceptions of climate risks across different geographical regions, and to evaluate improvements after implementation of the selected adaptation measures with potential budgetary constraints. The methodology, together with the illustrative cases, provides important insights on how to develop efficient climate change adaptation measures in a supply chain context to improve the sustainability of development and enhance adaptation measures for ports, port cities, intermodal transport, supply chains, and urban and regional planning in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and salinisation present substantial challenges to the sustainability of cropping systems in south-west coastal Bangladesh. This is the third paper in a series reporting a study to assess the impacts of climate change and salinity on the productivity and economic viability of ten current and potential rice-based cropping systems in two coastal villages in Khulna District. In this paper, possible adaptations are assessed, including novel dry-season crops, changed fertilizer use, and changed sowing dates, across five climate and three salinity scenarios. Farmers' estimated, APSIM-simulated, and extrapolated yield distributions were incorporated in budgets for the ten cropping systems, using current and projected salinity levels. Current and projected future prices and costs were used to estimate different measures of profitability. Estimated variability in yields and prices was used to generate probability distributions for these profitability measures, permitting comparison of cropping systems based on profitability and risk. Adaptation through changed fertilizer use (higher or lower, depending on the crop) was projected to give higher returns for some cropping systems. However, larger improvements were obtainable with changes in sowing dates to avoid the worst stresses imposed by climate change and salinity. The loss of production of all crops except watermelon and pumpkin due to salinity was more than offset with changed sowing dates for 2030 and 2060 conditions, irrespective of season. With such adaptations, and allowing for risk, the rice/shrimp system maintained the top ranking in terms of net income per hectare in 2030 and 2060 and the rice/sunflower system maintained the second ranking. The rice/pumpkin/rice system ranked third for 2030 and fourth in 2060 while the rice/maize system moved up to third in 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses complex challenges and addressing these requires increasing integration across policy domains. This research developed a framework to assess policy integration between the tourism and climate change domains by examining coverage, scope, materiality and alignment. A database of 101 policy documents was compiled, representing 61 countries over 17 years. Only 37 documents covered the tourism-climate nexus substantially, suggesting climate change has not yet become a priority for tourism policy makers. Considering that tourism makes considerable contributions to and is substantially impacted by climate change, the observed gaps in tourism policy need to be addressed. The paper concludes with some minimum expectations for policy integration, including examples of good practice, and suggests that more effort is required to achieve climate change policy integration in tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates to what extent and how micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries are adapting to climate risks. We use a questionnaire survey to collect data from 325 SMEs in the semi-arid regions of Kenya and Senegal and analyze this information to estimate the quality of current adaptation measures, distinguishing between sustainable and unsustainable adaptation . We then study the link between these current adaptation practices and adaptation planning for future climate change. We find that financial barriers are a key reason why firms resort to unsustainable adaptation, while general business support, access to information technology and adaptation assistance encourages sustainable adaptation responses. Engaging in adaptation today also increases the likelihood that a firm is preparing for future climate change. The finding lends support to the strategy of many development agencies who use adaptation to current climate variability as a way of building resilience to future climate change. There is a clear role for public policy in facilitating good adaptation. The ability of firms to respond to climate risks depends in no small measure on factors such as business environment that can be shaped through policy intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil fuel consumption, luxurious lifestyles, population and economic growths are drivers of climate change. Rampant rise in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions drives the big wheel of climate change which affects human societies, animal habitats and woodlands by flash floods, glacial melts, acidic rains, droughts, famines, wildfires, epidemics, heat and cold waves. South Asia is one of the most severely affected regions on the planet due to its demographics. The per capita impact of climate change on the millions of Pakistanis is very high compared to their diminutive per capita share of global GHG emissions. Environmental issues of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries include deforestation, air pollution, desertification, glacial melts, sea level rise, water contamination and loss of biodiversity. Pakistan is among the top ten countries worst hit by climate change, where native populations of lions, leopards, dolphins, tortoise and vultures face extinction threat. Acacia and rosewood tree forests in Sindh, Punjab and Pak-Afghan precincts have already dried by dieback disease during 1998–2005. Hundreds of people succumb to death annually by heat waves in South during summer and cold waves in North during winter. Climate change is a global phenomenon; nevertheless, higher GHG emissions first affect local and regional territories and later impact worldwide. Pakistan's CO 2 emissions are greater than least developed SAARC countries but much lower than the nearby Himalayan slope countries. This paper reports impact of CO 2 emissions on society, forests, crops and wildlife in Pakistan recounting adaptation and mitigation strategies in SAARC countries. We present simulation results for a future super smart grid connecting Central Asian States (CAS) to SAARC countries for bilateral electricity trade, progress in carbon capture and storage technologies in SAARC countries, and original research on utilizing CO 2 (R744) for water heating in extremely cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Strengthening contraceptive services in sub Saharan Africa is critical to achieve the FP 2020 goal of enabling 120 million more women and girls to access and use contraceptives by 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets of universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services including family planning by 2030. Method: The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have designed a multifaceted project to strengthen health systems to reduce the unmet need of contraceptive and family planning services in sub Saharan Africa. The plan leverages global, regional and national partnerships to facilitate and increase the use of evidence based WHO guidelines with a specific focus on postpartum family planning. The four key approaches undertaken are i) making WHO Guidelines adaptable & appropriate for country use ii) building capacity of WHO regional/country staff iii) providing technical support to countries and iv) strengthening partnerships for introduction and implementation of WHO guidelines. This paper describes the project design and elaborates the multifaceted approaches required in initial implementation to strengthen contraceptive services. Conclusion: The initial results from this project reflect that simultaneous application these approaches may strengthen contraceptive services in Sub Saharan Africa and ensure sustainability of the efforts. The lessons learned may be used to scale up and expand services in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deltas around the globe are facing a multitude of intensifying environmental change and development-linked pressures. One key concern is the reduction in the quantity of suspended sediment reaching and building floodplains. Sediment deposition provides multiple services to deltaic social-ecological systems, in particular, countering the subsidence of the delta-body, and providing plentiful nutrients. Experiencing particularly rapid change is the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). In An Giang Province an increasing number of high dyke rings, which exclude the flood and facilitate triple rice-cropping, simultaneously prevent much of the sediment load from reaching the floodplain. This paper explores the trade-offs implicit in the decision to shift from (i) doublecropping (higher sediment deposition) to (ii) triple cropping (lower sediment deposition) by asking: what is the impact of the shift on VMD farmers? Is it sustainable? And what is the significance of the associated sediment exclusion? A novel survey of An Giang rice farmers was conducted, investigating key agricultural practices, and uniquely, the farmers' estimates of annual sediment deposition depth. The survey elicits some key changes under the adapted system (ii), particularly, unsustainable trajectories in the yield to fertiliser ratio which penalise land-poor farmers. Furthermore, the value (to farmers) of the sediment contribution to agricultural fertilisation which is lost due to triple-cropping is estimated at USD 15 (±5) million annually. We argue that our growing understanding of the importance of sediment in the deltaic social-ecological system may be revealing an emergent risk; arising from conflicting long and short-term adaptation and agricultural development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to valuate existing building stock with respect to its contribution to a changing and uncertain future, especially in relation to energy performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review literature related to existing buildings, climate change and future environmental needs; present energy performance data from ten case studies; and identify inadequacies and scope for improvements with reference to typical housing stock. Findings – Current policies and programmes are inadequate to the scope and scale of the task; a step-change in thought and practice is needed. Practical implications – A massive programme is warranted if the substantial stock of existing buildings is to be adapted to meet identified environmental standards to "save the planet"; a radical re-conceptualisation of building adaptation is required. Originality/value – The paper prompts a review of the role of the surveyor in achieving sustainability through adaptation of existing buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, policy makers and scientists have become interested in the dynamic links between migration and environmental change (Döös in Global Environ Change 7(1):41-61, ; Adger et al. in Living with Environmental Change: Social vulnerability, adaptation and resilience in Vietnam, ; Gunderson and Holling in Panarchy-understanding transformations in systems of humans and nature, Island Press, Washington, DC, Gunderson and Holling ; Scoones et al. in Dynamic systems and the challenge of sustainability, ; Galaz et al. in Ecosystems under pressure. A policy brief for the International Commission on Climate Change and Development, ). Recently, scoping activities have emerged to produce empirical observations about the role of environmental change in decisions about human mobility, including a range of movements from voluntary to forced migration and displacement. One notable recent attempt to contribute to the base of knowledge about the links between environmental change and migration has been the European Commission co-sponsored the Environmental Change and Forced Scenarios (EACH-FOR) project. The EACH-FOR project was created to assess the impact of environmental change on migration at the local, national, regional and international level. This paper shares the methods and fieldwork experiences of a first-time, multicontinent survey of environmental change and migration from the research project supported by the European Commission: Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR, Contract Number 044468, ). This paper has three purposes. First, the authors explore issues related to how EACH-FOR designed its methodological approach for the first global survey of environmental change and migration. The paper then describes how the project attempted to create a method that would produce comparable results in a challenging context of multiple scientific challenges and trade-offs for research design. The second purpose of this paper is to examine how field researchers implemented and used this methodology in the EACH-FOR project. This paper takes a closer look at the fieldwork approach applied in investigating the 23 EACH-FOR project case studies. These case studies presented diverse local conditions and social contexts and different types of environmental changes. The paper discusses some of the practical considerations and shortcomings of the method in practice and illustrates how local researchers from selected case studies managed the challenges of their complex assignment. The third purpose of this paper is to explore lessons learned from the initial fieldwork experience and fruitful directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and its consequences present one of the most important threats to biodiversity and the functions of ecosystems. The stress on biodiversity is far beyond the levels imposed by the natural global climatic changes occurring in the recent evolutionary past. It includes temperature increases, shifts of climate zones, melting of snow and ice, sea level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events. Natural systems are vulnerable to such changes due to their limited adaptive capacity. Based on an analysis using the DPSIR framework, this paper discusses some of the important socio-economic driving forces of climate change, with a focus on energy use and transportation. The paper also analyses observed and potential changes of climate and the pressures they exert on biodiversity, the changes in biodiversity, the resulting impacts on ecosystem functions, and possible policy responses. The latter can be divided into mitigation and adaptation measures. Both strategies are needed, mitigation in order to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and adaptation in order to adjust to changes that have already occurred or cannot be avoided. One mitigation option, increased biofuel production, which is also a response to oil depletion, would change land use patterns and increase human appropriation of net primary production of biomass, thereby threatening biodiversity. By considering the first order and second order impacts of climate change on biodiversity when developing policy measures, it will be possible to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity protection into decision-making processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyses key contributors to sustainable livelihoods in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), Cambodia, by focusing upon villagers' access to assets, adaptation to shock and stress, and their degree of resilience to declines in natural resources. The study reveals that their access to the five assets for sustainable livelihoods is limited; that their capacity to adapt to shock and stress is low due to floods, drought and high food prices; and that their resilience to declines in natural resources is weak. Improvement in their capacity to adapt and in their resilience will be influenced by the degree to which they can access human, physical and social assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban resilience is an emergent concept that is receiving an increasing attention. Its definition is linked with the ability of an urban system to resist, maintain continuity and recover through all stresses while adapting and transforming towards sustainability. The aim of this study is two-fold. First, we analyse the research output on urban resilience using bibliometric techniques and Web of Science (WoS) in order to define the scope and identify topics in the urban resilience literature. CiteSpace software is used to establish the intellectual framework. Second, their contribution to sustainability dimensions and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on the research output is explored. For that purpose, we examined 1014 publications during the period 1998–2020. The findings reveal urban resilience literature has grown since the 2009.A specialization in recent years from more theoretical research to a more practical is identified. In terms of contribution towards sustainability, the findings show the number of publications that directly address sustainability is scarce and more balanced to environmental and social perspectives. These findings can provide a better understanding of the patterns and trends in the field and provides first evidence of the contribution of academic research on urban resilience to sustainability. • Urban resilience output concentration in a few journals denotes that it is emerging as a discipline • The research illustrates a specialization in recent years from more theoretical research to a more practical. • The number of papers that address sustainability is scarce and more balanced to environmental and social perspectives. • Urban resilience research should increasingly focus on exploring the relationship between resilience and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade many papers have explored the challenges of defining and framing urban resilience. Academic literature has recently emphasised how urban resilience differs from urban sustainability, while urban policy agendas use these terms almost interchangeably. This paper explores European academics' and city practitioners' perspectives around urban resilience meanings and principles. It aims to enhance the understanding of the concept's evolution and to discuss the gap between theory and implementation. To do so, we conducted a survey among around 100 junior and senior European scholars from different fields and interviewed 24 city practitioners. Both academics' and practitioners' perspectives have aligned with the latest conceptualisations of urban resilience. The respondents endorsed transformative and "bouncing forward" approaches, emphasizing that nowadays challenges stand within reconciling and combining transformation and resistance to change resilience perspectives. The more engineering, robustness and safety driven ones seem to be left behind. However, inconsistencies emerged when addressing implementation and resilience characteristics: interviews' responses showed how practices are still driven through robustness and safety-driven measures. The paper critically discusses these emerging conceptual misalignment and gaps to overcome in future research and practice. • Perspectives on urban resilience among EU academics and practitioners are analysed. • The metaphor of urban resilience as 'bouncing forwards' has become more popular. • Conceptual misalignments emerged about resilience definition and its characteristics. • Different actors have diverging ideas about what transformative approach entails. • Better alignment between urban resilience and sustainability is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a critical sustainability challenge for alpine tourism and the ski industry. Climate change adaptation is characterised as identifying and taking advantage of new business opportunities plus reducing physical risks. For adaptation strategies to be sustainable they should consider the environment, economy and society. While several adaptive ski industry strategies have been identified, not all can fulfil these criteria; some adaptive strategies could be perceived as unsustainable, or maladaptive. This paper provides a qualitative, perceptual study of ski industry stakeholders in Queenstown, New Zealand, addressing perceptions of climate change adaptation by the core industry, wider industry actors, local community and tourists. It answers two research questions: What are perceived as the main climate change adaptation strategies for Queenstown's ski industry? How do ski industry stakeholders perceive current adaptation strategies in terms of sustainability? It finds snowmaking central to addressing both current weather variability and medium/long-term future climate change. Ski-field operators use snowmaking to ensure the industry's economic sustainability, to extend seasons even beyond traditional norms, but with little consideration for environmental or social sustainability. It finds some local people questioning snowmaking on ethical and environmental grounds, and skier acceptance of snowmaking connected to activity preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With nearly 70% of the world population expected to live in cities by 2050, assessing the sustainability of urban systems, both existing and future ones, is becoming increasingly relevant. Making cities more sustainable is a global priority, which is highlighted by 'Sustainable Cities and Communities' being listed as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by United Nations Member States in 2015. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) explores the implementation and assessment of policies and technologies that contribute to the transition to a sustainable, energy efficient and regenerative society. We organized the issue according to four main research themes: 1) Renewable Energy Systems (i.e., different types of systems, qualitative assessments and public acceptance); 2) Sustainable Built Environment (which includes construction, operation and refurbishment); 3) Multi-Scale Models (considering urban sustainability transition from building to districts, or cities and regions to multi-country comparisons and their scaling across different countries); and 4) Governance and Policy (climate change mitigation and adaptation plans/policies that are reported across countries, urban services and infrastructures). This paper serves two purposes. The first is to provide an analysis about patterns, correlations and synergies found across the different topics that have been addressed over the last 20 years in the literature about cities' sustainability paths. A bibliometric analysis and a contingency matrix show the degree of correlation between scientific journals and main topics addressed by published articles. Secondly, the paper acts as an Editorial to the VSI, introducing the wealth of research articles and topics included in it. Both the bibliometric analysis and the papers published in this VSI demonstrate the interconnectedness of energy consumption, pollutant emissions and the competition for finite resources. The aim is to present advances and challenges of this exciting and ever-evolving research field to inform and guide future studies of urban sustainability. • We carried out a bibliometric analysis of the literature using the Cortext Manager platform· Using network analysis of a corpus of paper spanning 20 years we identified 8 major clusters. • The paper serves also as editorial for a virtual special issue dealing with urban sustainability pathways. • The virtual special issue is organised in four main themes, which touch upon different Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper concerns the integration in food networks under a governance point of view. We conceptualize the integration processes in terms of the adaptation theory and focus the issues related under a transaction cost economics perspective. We conjecture that the allocation of decisions rights between the parties to a transaction is a key instrument in order to cope with the sources of basic uncertainty in food networks: technological innovation, sustainability strategies, quality and safety objectives. Six case studies are proposed which contribute to corroborate our conjecture. Managerial patters based on a joint decision approach also are documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effects of climate change in agriculture and food in Latin America. In response to Maletta (2009), this essay analyze the real impacts climate change will have in the region. We suggest that global impacts in agriculture and food will be high in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show how nature oriented forestry measures in a typical temperate forest type in combination with bioenergy systems could lead to continuous and permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. We employ a forest growth model suited for modeling uneven-aged mixed temperate stands and analyze the interaction with biomass energy systems that allow for CO2 removal and long-term sequestration in geological formations. On global scales this technological option to convert the global energy system from a CO2 emitter to a CO2 remover has been overlooked by both the science and policy communities. Removal of the major Greenhouse Gas (GHG) CO2 from the atmosphere is possible using biomass energy to produce both carbon neutral energy carriers (e.g., electricity and hydrogen) and, at the same time, offer a permanent CO2 sink by capturing carbon at the conversion facility and permanently storing it in geological formations. This technological option resolves the issues of permanence and saturation of biological sinks while at the same time this option respects the multiple benefits of sustaining diverse, healthy, and resilient forests. Our results indicate that a typical temperate forest in combination with capturing and long-term storage can permanently remove and on a continuous basis about 2.5 t C yr−1 ha−1 on a sustainable basis respecting the ecological integrity of the ecosystem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The wine sector is highly vulnerable to climate change, especially due to the dependence of vine growing on climatic and environmental conditions. For this reason, adaptation and mitigation measures are important for the future of the wine industry. However, the process of adopting these measures by companies is not sufficiently known. The objective of this paper is to study the action against climate change by the wine sector in Spain, which has 13% of the world's vineyard area. Data capture was carried out through a survey of wineries. First, a questionnaire was designed and validated. This process included semi-structured and in-depth interviews with several winery owners. Second, the survey was conducted on a simple random sample of 87 Spanish wineries, stratified by region. Third, using a multivariate technique of factor analysis, the research found a set of 11 indicators describing the different types of measures adopted. In addition, a cluster analysis provided four different winery profiles. The first group comprises 37% of the wineries, whose sustainability actions are very focused on viticulture. The second group includes 22% of the wineries, which manage their activities according to widespread sustainability criteria. The third group is composed of 21% of the wineries, whose mitigation measures are only focused on energy. The fourth group includes 21% of the wineries, which are characterized by the absence of measures to achieve sustainability. Finally, the characteristics of the wineries and their responses to specific variables were studied, in relation to their belonging to the groups. The results show that the wineries of all the groups are aware of the existence of climate change and that it can seriously affect them. However, the adoption of measures is very variable from one group to another. Regarding the characteristics of the wineries, large companies and young professionals are positively related to the professional management of sustainability. The certification of organic production is frequent in the wineries, but it is not enough to guide them in their action against climate change. The calculation of the carbon footprint, which is not widespread, is associated with the wineries that systematically manage sustainability. In view of the results, some policies are suggested to favour the action of the vitivinicultural sector against climate change. Image 1 • A survey shows that Spanish wineries are aware of the risks of climate change. • Four profiles of wineries have been found, according to the measures they adopt. • The adoption of measures is limited and very variable from one group to another. • A wine sustainability is needed, covering both mitigation and adaptation. • Information to manage actions against climate change must be provided externally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]