Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wolfgang Kiessling, Jansen A. Smith, Nussaibah B. Raja
Summary: Paleontology provides valuable knowledge on Earth's history and can contribute to addressing societal challenges like climate change. However, its long-term perspective poses obstacles to its relevance for policy bodies like the IPCC. The issue lies more in inappropriate framing and reporting in paleontological publications, rather than the temporal scope.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Kashif Abbass, Muhammad Zeeshan Qasim, Huaming Song, Muntasir Murshed, Haider Mahmood, Ijaz Younis
Summary: Climate change poses a global threat and affects various sectors, including agriculture, species integrity, disease risks, and the tourism industry. Government involvement and global commitment are crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Steef Hanssen, Zoran J. N. Steinmann, Vassilis Daioglou, Mirza Cengic, Detlef P. Van Vuuren, Mark A. J. Huijbregts
Summary: Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) using lignocellulosic crops can provide negative CO2 emissions to combat climate change, but its land requirements may lead to biodiversity loss. The study shows that using crop-based BECCS could cause extinction of terrestrial vertebrate species and underscores the importance of considering biodiversity in implementing BECCS for long-term climate mitigation goals.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY BIOENERGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Unai Pascual, Pamela D. McElwee, Sarah E. Diamond, Hien T. Ngo, Xuemei Bai, William W. L. Cheung, Michelle Lim, Nadja Steiner, John Agard, Camila Donatti, Carlos M. Duarte, Rik Leemans, Shunsuke Managi, Aliny P. F. Pires, Victoria Reyes-Garcia, Christopher Trisos, Robert J. Scholes, Hans-Otto Portner
Summary: The article discusses the importance of transformative governance in addressing the global environmental crisis. It draws on a joint report between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to identify principles for transformative governance. The case studies include forest ecosystems, marine ecosystems, urban environments, and the Arctic. The article argues that transformative governance principles are essential for effectively addressing climate change, biodiversity decline, and promoting human well-being.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
J. Giuntoli, J. Barredo, V Avitabile, A. Camia, N. E. Cazzaniga, G. Grassi, G. Jasinevicius, R. Jonsson, L. Marelli, N. Robert, A. Agostini, S. Mubareka
Summary: The debate on forest bioenergy sustainability has primarily focused on carbon emissions and overlooked the biodiversity perspective. This study reviews the impacts of specific bioenergy pathways on biodiversity and carbon emissions, presenting a matrix that highlights win-win and lose-lose options. The findings show that some pathways mitigate carbon emissions without deteriorating ecosystem condition, while others are detrimental to ecosystems and offer little carbon mitigation. The study concludes that eliminating negative options is more fruitful than seeking agreement on best options in the polarised debate.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Asif Ishtiaque, Ronald C. Estoque, Hallie Eakin, Jagadish Parajuli, Yasin Wahid Rabby
Summary: This paper identifies the reasons for the low adoption of the AR5 conceptualization in climate change vulnerability assessments and calls for clarification from the IPCC. It suggests treating "exposure" not only as a precondition for vulnerability, but also as a secondary driver to capture the influence of differential exposure.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Felix Creutzig, Max Callaghan, Anjali Ramakrishnan, Aneeque Javaid, Leila Niamir, Jan Minx, Finn Mueller-Hansen, Benjamin Sovacool, Zakia Afroz, Mark Andor, Miklos Antal, Victor Court, Nandini Das, Julio Diaz-Jose, Friederike Dobbe, Maria J. Figueroa, Andrew Gouldson, Helmut Haberl, Andrew Hook, Diana Ivanova, William F. Lamb, Nadia Maizi, Erika Mata, Kristian S. Nielsen, Chioma Daisy Onyige, Lucia A. Reisch, Joyashree Roy, Pauline Scheelbeek, Mahendra Sethi, Shreya Some, Steven Sorrell, Mathilde Tessier, Tania Urmee, Doris Virag, Can Wan, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Charlie Wilson
Summary: Current actions are insufficient to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, but there is hope that solutions related to demand, services, and social aspects of climate change mitigation can bridge the gap. By classifying and mapping the literature related to demand-side mitigation, it was found that key clusters include policy, housing, mobility, and food/consumption.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Candice Howarth, David Viner
Summary: The delivery of effective climate adaptation on the ground requires better incorporation of climate adaptation practitioners into the process of producing, gathering, and synthesizing evidence on adaptation as part of the IPCC process. An analysis of IPCC reports shows that while there has been an increase in practitioner representation in AR6, it remains low. This low representation can impact readership and the potential for informing climate adaptation practice.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Mohd Fadhli Hamdan, Chou Khai Soong Karlson, Ee Yang Teoh, Su-Ee Lau, Boon Chin Tan
Summary: Climate change poses a serious threat to global agriculture and food production. Plant genome editing technologies, particularly the CRISPR/Cas system, offer targeted alterations of the plant genome to develop crops with desired traits and mitigate the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses on agriculture. This review discusses the current development, future applications, shortcomings, and challenges of genome editing technologies in agriculture.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Luca Coscieme, Lars F. Mortensen, Ian Donohue
Summary: Ensuring policy coherence across environmental, social, and economic goals is a key challenge for sustainable development. The United Nations SDGs provide a framework to track progress, but the environmental goals are the most complex and least coherent. Improving data availability and prioritizing coherence within and among biodiversity and climate SDGs are highlighted as critical areas for achieving policy coherence in sustainable development.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Raj Mukhopadhyay, Binoy Sarkar, Hanuman Sahay Jat, Parbodh Chander Sharma, Nanthi S. Bolan
Summary: Soil salinity is a major challenge for global food security and environmental sustainability, exacerbated by the harmful impacts of climate change. Mitigation strategies such as application of amendments and cultivation of tolerant genotypes have successfully addressed the issue, offering benefits of soil carbon sequestration, natural resource conservation, and improved socio-economic conditions.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Wen Wen, Zhiqiang Li, Jirong Shao, Yu Tang, Zhijun Zhao, Jingang Yang, Mengqi Ding, Xuemei Zhu, Meiliang Zhou
Summary: This research analyzed the history, suitable areas, and resource protection of buckwheat in China, finding that the diversity of wild buckwheat will decrease under the influence of climate change. In order to strengthen the development and utilization of buckwheat resources, it is necessary to protect buckwheat resources and promote diversity.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Pete Smith, Almut Arneth, David K. A. Barnes, Kazuhito Ichii, Pablo A. Marquet, Alex Popp, Hans-Otto Poertner, Alex D. Rogers, Robert J. Scholes, Bernardo Strassburg, Jainguo Wu, Hein Ngo
Summary: Protecting, restoring, managing and creating ecosystems can have co-benefits for climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation, but not all climate mitigation strategies are equally effective at producing positive biodiversity outcomes. Social implications should also be given more consideration in the climate-biodiversity nexus.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Aijun Guo, Yao Wei, Fanglei Zhong, Penglong Wang
Summary: Research in this study focuses on the impact of climate change perception and value cognition on farmers' sustainable livelihood capacity in arid areas of Northwest China. The findings indicate that climate change perception not only directly affects farmers' livelihoods, but also indirectly influences their sustainable livelihood capacity through economic and ecological value cognition. The study also highlights the varied effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the relationship between climate change perception, value cognition, and sustainable livelihood capability.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2022)
Article
Development Studies
Stephen Balaka Opiyo, Sammy Letema, Godwin Opinde
Summary: This study aims to assess the vulnerability level and sources of households' livelihood vulnerability to climate change impacts in the Migori River watershed, Kenya. By applying the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) framed within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) vulnerability framework (LVI-IPCC), significant differences in vulnerability were found across the upstream, midstream, and downstream zones, with the downstream households exhibiting the highest vulnerability and the upstream households demonstrating the least vulnerability. Policy recommendations for reducing households' exposure to climate risks and strengthening their adaptive capacity are discussed.
CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Franz Schug, David Frantz, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Helmut Haberl, Doris Virag, Sebastian van der Linden, Patrick Hostert
Summary: This study assessed the dynamics of material stock and its relation to population in Germany using Landsat imagery and a spatial resolution of 30 m. The results showed that material stock and population in Germany grew by 13% and 4% respectively, with highly variable spatial patterns. The reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 led to a rapid growth of material stock per capita in East Germany, despite a decline in population. Possible over- or underestimations of stock growth due to methodological assumptions require further research.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sven Rubanschi, Sebastian T. T. Meyer, Christian Hof, Wolfgang W. W. Weisser
Summary: By modeling the environmental conditions of Bavaria, we found that most biotopes are more correlated with climate variables than soil variables. 92% of the area in Bavaria is suitable for at least one biotope, and 77% is suitable for at least three biotopes. Therefore, considering the composition of potentially suitable biotopes, rather than just the most suitable one, can help identify conservation priorities and restoration opportunities.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Jeffrey A. Harvey, Kevin Tougeron, Rieta Gols, Robin Heinen, Mariana Abarca, Paul K. Abram, Yves Basset, Matty Berg, Carol Boggs, Jacques Brodeur, Pedro Cardoso, Jetske G. de Boer, Geert R. De Snoo, Charl Deacon, Jane E. Dell, Nicolas Desneux, Michael E. Dillon, Grant A. Duffy, Lee A. Dyer, Jacintha Ellers, Anahi Espindola, James Fordyce, Matthew L. Forister, Caroline Fukushima, Matthew J. G. Gage, Carlos Garcia-Robledo, Claire Gely, Mauro Gobbi, Caspar Hallmann, Thierry Hance, John Harte, Axel Hochkirch, Christian Hof, Ary A. Hoffmann, Joel G. Kingsolver, Greg P. A. Lamarre, William F. Laurance, Blas Lavandero, Simon R. Leather, Philipp Lehmann, Cecile Le Lann, Margarita M. Lopez-Uribe, Chun-Sen Ma, Gang Ma, Joffrey Moiroux, Lucie Monticelli, Chris Nice, Paul J. Ode, Sylvain Pincebourde, William J. Ripple, Melissah Rowe, Michael J. Samways, Arnaud Sentis, Alisha A. Shah, Nigel Stork, John S. Terblanche, Madhav P. Thakur, Matthew B. Thomas, Jason M. Tylianakis, Joan Van Baaren, Martijn Van de Pol, Wim H. Van der Putten, Hans Van Dyck, Wilco C. E. P. Verberk, David L. Wagner, Wolfgang W. Weisser, William C. Wetzel, H. Arthur Woods, Kris A. G. Wyckhuys, Steven L. Chown
Summary: Climate warming is a serious anthropogenic stress on the environment, exacerbating the harmful effects of other threats and potentially threatening species preservation and ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Insects, as central components of many ecosystems, are highly affected by climate change, with effects on physiology, behavior, distribution, and interactions, as well as extreme events.
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Philipp Semenchuk, Gerald Kalt, Lisa Kaufmann, Thomas Kastner, Sarah Matej, Giorgio Bidoglio, Karl -Heinz Erb, Franz Essl, Helmut Haberl, Stefan Dullinger, Fridolin Krausmann
Summary: By quantifying the global biodiversity footprint (BDF) of Vienna's biomass consumption, we found that food consumption (58%), biomass for material applications (28%), and bioenergy consumption (13%) contribute significantly to the loss of biodiversity. Although Vienna's per capita biomass consumption is above the global average, the per capita BDE in Vienna is roughly equal to the global average, indicating that Vienna sources its products from regions with efficient production systems and relatively low native species richness. It is concluded that dietary changes offer a key leverage point to reduce the urban BDF, while expanding the use of biomass for material and energy may increase the BDF and requires appropriate monitoring.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Ivan Savin, Felix Creutzig, Tatiana Filatova, Joel Foramitti, Theo Konc, Leila Niamir, Karolina Safarzynska, Jeroen van den Bergh
Summary: Ambitious climate mitigation policies face resistance due to social and political factors, partly because they fail to incorporate diverse insights from the social sciences regarding potential policy outcomes. Agent-based models can serve as a powerful tool for integrating elements from different disciplines, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of climate policies.
WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Claudine Egger, Andreas Mayer, Bastian Bertsch-Hoermann, Christoph Plutzar, Stefan Schindler, Peter Tramberend, Helmut Haberl, Veronika Gaube
Summary: European farm households will face challenging conditions in the coming decades due to climate change. This study assesses the interrelations between climate change, agricultural price and subsidy schemes, and farmers' decision-making. By integrating individual learning into a simulation model, the study explores how farmers in Eastern Austria can navigate future scenarios of water scarcity and drought risk. The results show that adaptive learning moderates the decline in active farms and farmland, but increases the workload of farmers, highlighting the need for labor support.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Joerdis F. Terlau, Ulrich Brose, Nico Eisenhauer, Angelos Amyntas, Thomas Boy, Alexander Dyer, Alban Gebler, Christian Hof, Tao Liu, Christoph Scherber, Ulrike E. Schlaegel, Anja Schmidt, Myriam R. Hirt
Summary: Anthropogenic global warming affects mobile terrestrial insects by changing their activity levels and distribution patterns. Heat extremes induce physiological responses in insects, causing them to either decrease activity or seek out favorable microhabitats. The availability of these microhabitats is affected by anthropogenic land transformation, which reduces habitat heterogeneity. It is important to understand the combined effects of these global change drivers on insect activity.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Karina Reiter, Christoph Plutzar, Dietmar Moser, Philipp Semenchuk, Karl-Heinz Erb, Franz Essl, Andreas Gattringer, Helmut Haberl, Fridolin Krausmann, Bernd Lenzner, Johannes Wessely, Sarah Matej, Robin Pouteau, Stefan Dullinger
Summary: Land use is a major driver of biodiversity loss. This study examines the correlation between human appropriation of net primary production and the decline of species richness in used landscapes across the globe. The findings suggest that human appropriation of net primary production is a useful indicator of heterotrophic species loss in used landscapes.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Matthias F. Biber, Alke Voskamp, Christian Hof
Summary: This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of climate impacts on global reptile distributions. The results showed that reptile richness is projected to decline significantly in the future, especially in Brazil, Australia and South Africa. Regions with warm and moist climates currently have the highest species richness, but these regions are expected to shift towards climate extremes in the future.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Harald F. Grabher, Henrike Rau, Samuel T. Ledermann, Helmut Haberl
Summary: More than three billion people rely on solid fuels for household energy in rural areas of low and lower-middle income countries. Energy is used for various purposes including cooking, heating, insect repulsion, illumination, or goods preparation. However, current energy research mainly focuses on cooking, neglecting other energy uses. This paper adopts an energy services perspective to analyze domestic energy use in Ethiopia, finding that households usually combine multiple interconnected energy service needs. The availability and utility of appliances and energy carriers determine the combinations of energy services. Improved cookstoves can reduce energy consumption but limit the combinations of energy services. Understanding the purposes of energy use is crucial for developing sustainable energy solutions.
ENERGY RESEARCH & SOCIAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Franz Schug, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Helmut Haberl, David Frantz, Doris Virag, Sebastian van der Linden, Patrick Hostert
Summary: This study provides high-resolution maps of material stocks in buildings and infrastructures in Austria, showing a 33-year time series. These data are important for studies on societal resource use, transport studies, and land system science.
Article
Environmental Studies
Erik Haites, Paolo Bertoldi, Michael Koenig, Christopher Bataille, Felix Creutzig, Dipak Dasgupta, Stephane de la Rue du Can, Smail Khennas, Yong-Gun Kim, Lars J. Nilsson, Joyashree Roy, Agus Sari
Summary: This paper highlights the challenge of reducing emissions in emissions-intensive, trade-exposed sectors and proposes policy packages to achieve emission reduction targets while minimizing the risk of leakage.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Felix Creutzig, Frank Goetzke, Anjali Ramakrishnan, Marina Andrijevic, Patricia Perkins
Summary: Climate change mitigation is often evaluated based on technologies and policy instruments, but the role of governance and social capital in complex social systems should not be overlooked. This study explores the importance of quality of governance, social capital, and equality as prerequisites for effective climate policies. By analyzing national-level indicators of social systems with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Structural Equation Models (SEM), we find that impartiality in governance is crucial for fostering social capital, interpersonal trust, equality, and effective climate policies such as carbon pricing. Socio-economic inequalities can undermine trust and political engagement, posing challenges to achieving the overarching goal of climate change mitigation. However, evidence suggests that fairly implemented climate policies can contribute to a virtuous cycle by improving the quality of governance and strengthening the capacity to implement strong climate policies. Our findings highlight the significance of impartial governance and social capital in driving effective climate policies.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Helmut Haberl, Markus Loew, Alejandro Perez-Laborda, Sarah Matej, Barbara Plank, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Felix Creutzig, Karl-Heinz Erb, Juan Antonio Duro
Summary: The extent and spatial patterns of settlements and infrastructures have a significant impact on the resource demand of national economies worldwide, almost as much as GDP. While built structures at the urban level are known to influence energy demand and CO2 emissions, their role at the national level is often overlooked due to limited data availability. Instead, factors such as GDP are more commonly assessed. In this study, we present national-level indicators to characterize patterns of built structures and find that they are almost equally important as GDP for predicting energy demand and CO2 emissions.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Carol Hunsberger, Yanqi Adela Li
Summary: This paper investigates how fossil fuel companies strategically define project boundaries to facilitate resource extraction, and reveals their tactics of fragmenting work, incrementally expanding networks, and portraying facilities as independent to limit regulatory scrutiny and impede community participation.
EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES AND SOCIETY
(2023)
