Solution-oriented global environmental assessments: Opportunities and challenges

This article provides an introduction to the Special Issue dedicated to “Solution-oriented Global Environmental Assessments: Opportunities and Challenges”. In the follow-up to the Paris climate agreement and the adoption and early implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals involving many synergies and trade-offs, the need to shift the focus from environmental problem analysis towards the exploration of specific solution options can be observed in international environmental governance debates. To remain policy-relevant, credible and legitimate, global environmental assessments (GEAs) must carefully adapt to a rapidly evolving governance landscape. This Special Issue sheds light on the potential utility and implications of increased solution-orientation of GEAs. It builds on the research project “The Future of Global Environmental Assessment Making” that was jointly initiated in 2013 by UN Environment and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. The article collection includes research on the coevolution of GEAs and the increasingly solution-oriented governance context; conditions of success for contemporary GEAs; the treatment of divergent viewpoints, stakes and stakeholders in solution-oriented GEAs; knowledge aggregation; and the enhanced measurement of GEA effectiveness in the emerging governance landscape.     

The GLASS model: a strategy for quantifying global environmental security

The objective of this paper is to present a strategy for quantifying the link between environmental change and human security. We introduce the concept and preliminary calculations of a new integrated model — the GLASS model (G̱lobal A̱ssessment of S̱ecurity) — designed to link extreme global environmental changes (such as droughts, flooding, and large-scale air pollution episodes) and the risk to society due to these changes. It is hoped that model results can also eventually contribute to designing strategies to lessen security threats. The model takes a unique approach in using coupled submodels for calculating ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ global changes, and how they interact and influence the potential for crisis in society. At the core of the model is the Crisis model which relates environmental stress and susceptibility to the occurrence of crises, such as water shortages or famines. After estimating environmental stress and susceptibility, the model is calibrated to international data of crisis events (such as drought-related water shortages and famines) between 1901 and 1995. Once calibrated, the model is used for scenario analysis of the future long-term potential for environmental crises.     

Food security and climate change in drought-sensitive savanna zones of Ghana

Desertification, climate variability and food security are closely linked through drought, land cover changes, and climate and biological feedbacks. In Ghana, only few studies have documented these linkages. To establish this link the study provides historical and predicted climatic changes for two drought sensitive agro-ecological zones in Ghana and further determines how these changes have influenced crop production within the two zones. This objective was attained via Markov chain and Fuzzy modelling. Results from the Markov chain model point to the fact that the Guinea savanna agro-ecological zone has experienced delayed rains from 1960 to 2008 while the Sudan savanna agro-ecological zone had slightly earlier rains for the same period. Results of Fuzzy Modelling indicate that very suitable and moderately suitable croplands for millet and sorghum production are evenly distributed within the two agro-ecological zones. For Ghana to adapt to climate change and thereby achieve food security, it is important to pursue strategies such as expansion of irrigated agricultural areas, improvement of crop water productivity in rain-fed agriculture, crop improvement and specialisation, and improvement in indigenous technology. It is also important to encourage farmers in the Sudan and Guinea Savanna zones to focus on the production of cereals and legumes (e.g. sorghum, millet and soybeans) as the edaphic and climatic factors favour these crops and will give the farmers a competitive advantage. It may be necessary to consider the development of the study area as the main production and supply source of selected cereals and legumes for the entire country in order to free lands in other regions for the production of crops highly suitable for those regions on the basis of their edaphic and climatic conditions.     

深圳市土地利用/覆盖变化与生态环境安全分析

应用１９８０、１９８８、１９９４年的ＭＳＳ、ＴＭ资料,编制了相应时期深圳市土地利用／覆盖图,分析了近２０年来深圳市土地利用变化的时空分异规律。在此基础上,分析了土地利用变化与城市生态环境安全水平的关系。研究结果表明,深圳快速的城市化过程是引起土地利用变化的主要原因；土地利用中城镇用地的增加导致城市洪水的加剧和水土流失的增加；以乡镇为单元的环境污染的空间差异与对应区域城镇用地比例的大小呈明显的正相关关系,显著性水平达到０－００１,由此认为,在城市化过程中,确保相当数量的绿地对缓解城市生态环境问题有着不可替代的作用。     

全球环境变化的系统研究方法浅议

论文总结和分析了数据获取现代技术手段、地理信息系统、数学模型和地学信息图谱的研究进展,从地球信息科学的角度探讨了我国全球环境变化的系统研究方法。     

The effects of land tenure change on sustainability: human security and environmental change in southern African savannas

Using a human security perspective, we investigate how the history of land tenure changes has driven sustainability in southern African savannas. The paper examines four countries—Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Two research questions are addressed: first, how has colonial land tenure and distribution affected people's options and capacity to end, mitigate or adapt to risks to their human, environmental and social rights, and what have been the related effects on land uses and degradation? Second, to what extent have post-independence land reforms addressed threats to human security and political causes of land degradation? The inequitable distribution of land and colonial legacy of dual or pluralistic systems of tenure are found to be at the root of many agrarian and environmental problems. Post-independence land reforms have largely failed to address these fundamental issues, sometimes even reinforcing threats to social, economic and environmental sustainability. The skewed distribution of land and resources, insecure rights, and the marginalisation and restriction of savanna livelihood systems have persisted, undermining human security and environmental integrity in the region as well as leading to mounting conflict and insecurity.     

Organophosphate pesticides an emerging environmental contaminant: Pollution,toxicity,bioremediation progress,and remaining challenges

Organophosphates(OPs) are an integral part of modern agriculture; however, due to overexploitation, OPs pesticides residues are leaching and accumulating in the soil, and groundwater contaminated terrestrial and aquatic food webs. Acute exposure to OPs could produce toxicity in insects, plants, animals, and humans. OPs are known for covalent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase enzyme in pests and terrestrial/aquatic organisms, leading to nervous, respiratory, reproductive, and hepatic abnormaliti...     

循环经济与环境安全

20世纪90年代以来,随着可持续发展战略被普遍采纳,国际社会正把发展循环经济,建立循环型社会作为实现环境与经济协调发展的重要途径。发展循环经济就是节约资源、保护环境,探讨了发展循环经济对提高环境资源利用效率、优化环境资源配置的作用,提示了：循环经济是实现环境安全的根本保障。     

Catastrophe theory to assess water security and adaptation strategy in the context of environmental change

Economic development, population growth, urbanization and climate change have led to an increasing water shortage across the globe. Ensuring water security under changing environment will be the greatest challenge for water resources managers in near future. In this paper, catastrophe theory based multi-criteria evaluation model has been proposed to assess water security under different management strategies to recommend the best water management strategy to achieve water security in the context of global environmental change. The assessment model involves future scenarios of climate change, population growth and economic development. Total 16 indicators related to climate, socio-economy and water availability and consumption have been proposed to measure water security under three management strategies viz. business-as-usual, water demand management and water supply management. The model has been applied to Yulin city of North West China to assess water security as well as to identify the water management strategy under changing environment. The results show that under business-as-usual situation the water shortage rate will reach up to 44 % by the year 2020 and up to 70 % by the year 2030 in Yulin. Water supply is required to increase by 41 % to meet the water demand under supply management strategy which is beyond the safe baseline rate. The study reveals that water demand management can reduce the gap between water supply and demand to a reasonable amount and therefore, can be considered as the most effective approach for adapting with environment change.     

食品安全体系经历变革

2005年9月8日，国家发改委透露，《食品安全法》第一稿已由国务院法制办公室拟订，相关部门正在就《意见稿》做进一步的修改和研究工作。国家发改委同时还表示，经过规定程序，食品安全法将在2006年正式出台实施，但是具体颁布时间还没有确定。     

推进可持续发展,实现全球生态安全

党的"十八大"突出了生态文明建设,强调人与自然的和谐,经济社会与资源环境的协调和可持续发展.促进经济社会发展向绿色、低碳路径转型,应成为生态文明建设的核心内容和重要着力点,从而在全球低碳发展的潮流中争取主动、占据优势,提升国家的综合竞争力.     

粮食与营养安全研究评述及展望

当前国际粮食安全局势堪忧,大多数发展中国家饥饿、营养素缺乏与营养过剩三重困境并存,实现全球粮食安全与营养安全的双重目标任重道远。本文梳理了95篇文献,旨在理清粮食与营养安全的发展脉络及演变规律,提出中国未来粮食与营养安全的研究重点。首先对全球粮食与营养安全的概念演变进行回顾,指出粮食安全概念由谷物供给总量安全到所有食物数量安全、再到食物质量与营养安全与可持续内涵的动态演化,由单一可供应维度向可供应、可获得性、可利用性、稳定性、可持续性多维度不断拓展。随后,从宏观国家层面梳理中国粮食与营养需求分析及预测、粮食生产能力和进口能力的相关研究,从微观家庭及个人层面评述收入、市场、城镇化、农户农业生产对食物消费及营养的影响。最后,基于未来城乡居民营养均衡发展目标,对中国粮食与营养安全研究的主要趋势和未来研究重点作出展望,指出未来展开对农业生产多样性、作物种植结构调整及作物营养强化,城镇化与市场建设的影响,城市中低收入人群和农村贫困人口营养问题的研究具有重大意义。     

Climate change and forests in India: adaptation opportunities and challenges

Climate change is projected to lead to shift of forest types leading to irreversible damage to forests by rendering several species extinct and potentially affecting the livelihoods of local communities and the economy. Approximately 47% and 42% of tropical dry deciduous grids are projected to undergo shifts under A2 and B2 SRES scenarios respectively, as opposed to less than 16% grids comprising of tropical wet evergreen forests. Similarly, the tropical thorny scrub forest is projected to undergo shifts in majority of forested grids under A2 (more than 80%) as well as B2 scenarios (50% of grids). Thus the forest managers and policymakers need to adapt to the ecological as well as the socio-economic impacts of climate change. This requires formulation of effective forest management policies and practices, incorporating climate concerns into long-term forest policy and management plans. India has formulated a large number of innovative and progressive forest policies but a mechanism to ensure effective implementation of these policies is needed. Additional policies and practices may be needed to address the impacts of climate change. This paper discusses an approach and steps involved in the development of an adaptation framework as well as policies, strategies and practices needed for mainstreaming adaptation to cope with projected climate change. Further, the existing barriers which may affect proactive adaptation planning given the scale, accuracy and uncertainty associated with assessing climate change impacts are presented.     

Adapting food systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmental change: key information needs to improve policy formulation

The Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP; including regions of Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh) is generally characterised by fertile soils, favourable climate and an abundant supply of water. Nevertheless, the challenge of increasing food production in the IGP in line with demand grows ever greater; any perturbation in agriculture will considerably affect the food systems of the region and increase the vulnerability of the resource-poor population. Increasing regional production is already complicated by increasing competition for land resources by non-agricultural sectors and by the deterioration of agri-environments and water resources. Global environmental change (GEC), especially changes in climate mean values and variability, will further complicate the agricultural situation and will therefore, have serious implications for food systems of the region. Strategies to reduce the vulnerability of the region's food systems to GEC need to be based on a combination of technical and policy options, and developed in recognition of the concurrent changes in socioeconomic stresses. Adaptation options need to be assessed with regard to their socioeconomic and environmental efficacy, but a greater understanding of the interactions of food systems with GEC is needed to be able to do this with confidence. This paper discusses information needs relating to resource management and policy support to guide the development of research planning for increasing the robustness of IGP food systems to GEC. Further information is needed to develop a range of adaptation strategies including augmenting production and its sustainability, increasing income from agricultural enterprises, diversification from rice–wheat systems, improving land use and natural resource management, and instigating more flexible policies and institutions.     

The environmental challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are doing some rethinking, after decades of development that have resulted in continued poverty, international indebtedness, environmental degradation, and inappropriate Western models. Technological innovations, institutional developments, and family planning are key inputs. Development should shift to a focus on elimination of widespread poverty. Past development strategies in an African context of ample resources have harmed the environment without improving the average person's standard of living. Knowledge about Africa's environment and environmental degradation is inadequate. Recent studies have found, contrary to popular belief, that small shareholders made considerable investments in resource-based capital, which protected their farms from major environmental deterioration and negative impacts of intensification. In Nigeria field studies found that rising demand for fuelwood did not lead to greater deforestation or desertification. Severe degradation has occurred in places where density of population is greater than 500 persons per sq. km, where the land is physically or biologically vulnerable, and where socioeconomic conditions interfere with application of conservation measures. Reduced well-being and reduced food capacity is attributed to land tenure arrangements, misguided macroeconomic policies, and inadequate infrastructure. The issues of development, environment, and population are complex. Sustainable development is possible with appropriate investment priorities that will provide needed infrastructure, services, and education. Urban areas need safe water, solid waste disposal, and spatial planning to relieve congested spaces. Rural areas should focus on health education and basic sanitation. Regulatory measures and conservation measures are also important. Institutional development that promotes democracy, expands individual property rights, and increases the knowledge base offers the most hope for alleviating poverty and protecting the environment.     

Pesticides and trace elements in cannabis: Analytical and environmental challenges and opportunities

Cannabis is increasingly used for both medicinal and recreational purposes with an estimate of over 180 million users annually. Canada has recently legalized cannabis use in October 2018, joining several states in the United States of America (e.g., Colorado, California, and Oregon) and a few other countries. A variety of cannabis products including dry flowers, edibles, and oil products are widely consumed. With high demand for cannabis products worldwide, the quality of cannabis and its related products has become a major concern for consumer safety. Various guidelines have been set by different countries to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of cannabis products. In general, these guidelines require control of contaminants including pesticides, toxic elements, mycotoxins, and pathogens, as well as residual solvents in regard to cannabis oil. Accordingly, appropriate analytical methods are required to determine these contaminants in cannabis products for quality control. In this review, we focus on the current analytical challenges and method development for detection of pesticides and toxic elements in cannabis to meet various guidelines.     

Public ecology: an environmental science and policy for global society

Public ecology exists at the interface of science and policy. Public ecology is an approach to environmental inquiry and decision making that does not expect scientific knowledge to be perfect or complete. Rather, public ecology requires that science be produced in collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders in order to construct a body of knowledge that will reflect the pluralist and pragmatic context of its use (decision context), while continuing to maintain the rigor and accountability that earns scientific knowledge its privileged status in contemporary society. As such, public ecology entails both process and content. The process is that of a post-modern scientific method: a process that values the participation of extended peer communities composed of a diversity of research specialists, professional policy-makers, concerned citizens and a variety of other stakeholders. The content of public ecology is a biocultural knowledge of dynamic human ecosystems that directly relates to and results from the participatory, democratic processes that distinguish public ecology as a citizen science. The primary goal of public ecology is to build common ground among competing beliefs and values for the environment. The purpose of this paper is to help unify and establish public ecology as a distinctive approach to environmental science and policy in global society.     

Adapting to climate change through local municipal planning: barriers and challenges

Municipal planning represents a key avenue for local adaptation, but is subject to recognised constraints. To date, these constraints have focused on simplistic factors such as limited resources and lack of information. In this paper we argue that this focus has obscured a wider set of constraints which need to be acknowledged and addressed if adaptation is likely to advance through municipal planning. Although these recognised constraints are relevant, we argue that what underpins these issues are more fundamental challenges affecting local, placed-based planning by drawing on the related field of community-based environmental planning (CBEP). In considering a wider set of constraints to practical attempts towards adaptation, the paper considers planning based on a case study of three municipalities in Sydney, Australia in 2008. The results demonstrate that climate adaptation was widely accepted as an important issue for planning conducted by local governments. However, it was yet to be embedded in planning practice which retained a strong mitigation bias in relation to climate change. In considering the case study, we draw attention to factors thus far under-acknowledged in the climate adaptation literature. These include leadership, institutional context and competing planning agendas. These factors can serve as constraints or enabling mechanisms for achieving climate adaptation depending upon how they are exploited in any given situation. The paper concludes that, through addressing these issues, local, place-based planning can play a greater role in achieving climate adaptation.