Showing papers in "Environmental Science & Policy in 2017"

TL;DR: In this article, a holistic framework for assessing co-benefits (and costs) of NBS across elements of socio-cultural and socio-economic systems, biodiversity, ecosystems and climate is presented.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that effective implementation of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus can be supported by robust science and that robust science automatically leads to effective implementation.

TL;DR: The paper argues in favour of developing a nexus paradigm which guides processes of purposeful design and of self-organization of nexus governance systems and elaborates on the transformative potential of the SDGs and on the role of a WEF nexus approach in realizing such a potential.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors review some of the experience gained in earlier attempts to enhance integration and policy coherence, and to promote systems analysis, and suggest that efforts to implement a water-energy-food nexus approach will not enhance the policy process in all settings.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that biodegradable plastic films do not necessarily represent a long-term solution to the problem of contaminating soil with plastic residues, and that transformative science and policies are needed to mitigate uncertainty of biodegarable plastic residue accumulation in agricultural soils.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take stock of and systematises the theoretical insights from sustainability transition literature and identify the policy implication for international organisations, donors, governments and civil society organisations.

TL;DR: A review of the existing Nexus modelling tools used for integrated policy making to determine and to help policy makers, practitioners, and agencies trying to implement the Nexus Approach to identify a tool that is most suited to their modelling needs is explored in this article.

TL;DR: The TARA approach represents a means for achieving changes in institutions and governance needed to support transformative adaptation and provides a future-oriented approach to evaluation and use of ecosystem services, a dynamic, grounded understanding of governance and decision-making and a logical, sequential approach that connects decisions over time.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a top-down approach to consistently track the Ecological Footprint of 19 coastal cities in the Mediterranean region, including Valletta, Athens, and Genoa.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors re-conceptualized climate policy integration in the land use sector to highlight the need to assess the level of integration of mitigation and adaptation objectives and policies to minimize trade-offs and to exploit synergies.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the factors that influence how and why different stakeholders are involved (or excluded) during the processes of developing adaptation strategies, and how this gets reflected in process outcomes.

TL;DR: In this article, the role of a simulation game facilitated by a knowledge broker, in a real-life local decision setting on flood risk management in New Zealand, was examined and their influence was analyzed.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored how and which ecosystem services are currently considered in the SDGs and the Aichi targets and identified which information might be already available for monitoring progress towards their goals by reviewing national ecosystem assessments.

TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of the U.S. public indicates that individuals who believe climate change impacts are unlikely to happen or will primarily affect other people in other places are less likely to be concerned about climate change, while those who support climate adaptation are more concerned about the impacts of climate change on themselves.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a model framework based on six equity principles of effort-sharing, to allocate countries' reduction targets under global emissions scenarios consistent with meeting the Paris climate goals.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors have used an institutional framework documented in the development studies literature, which describes three types of institutional settings: welfare, informal security, and insecurity, to explore the limitations of using frameworks such as the Multi-level perspective and the Strategic Niche Management approach in the developing world.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the key implications of resilience thinking for the management of extreme weather events and translate these into five practical principles for policy making, which are then translated into policy making.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the need for responses along three avenues to prepare the IPCC for continued success in the future: 1) IPCC assessments must make better use of big-data methods and available computational power to assess the growing body of literature and ensure comprehensiveness; 2) systematic review practices need to be enshrined into IPCC procedures to ensure adequate focus and transparency in its assessments; 3) a synthetic research culture needs to be established in the social sciences and humanities in order to foster knowledge accumulation and learning on climate solutions.

TL;DR: In this paper, the EU Seventh Framework Programme within the EU Biodiversity Observation Network (No. 308454) was used to support a post-doctoral fellowship from Fondation Wiener Anspach, Belgium.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present results of five themed workshops organized in the UK (focusing on shocks and hazards, infrastructure, local economy, governance and governments, finance and insurance) featuring 78 stakeholders from academia, government and industry.

TL;DR: A Delphi survey with 45 European experts on food security was conducted to identify the main drivers of change, threats and weaknesses of the EU food system and to uncover their root causes as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: A special issue on sustainability transitions in developing countries, which takes stock of this emerging field of research and presents new empirical research that contributes to further advancement of our understanding of the conditions in which sustainability transitions are likely to take place and what is involved in these transformative processes.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the IPBES documents to see how the platform deals with participatory, epistemological and ontological challenges, including different communicative forms, diverging criteria for knowledge validation, and conflicting views of nature.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the perspectives of a diverse group of actors embarking on a 10-year transdisciplinary research project focused on building resilience to natural hazards and disasters in New Zealand.

TL;DR: In this paper, the IMAGE integrated assessment model is applied to estimate the annual abatement costs of achieving the NDC reduction targets, and the additional costs if countries would take targets in line with keeping global warming well below 2 °C and "pursue efforts" towards 1.5 °C.

TL;DR: This paper found that climate scientists struggle to respond to users other than a small cadre of actors like themselves, highly technical and highly numerate mini-mes, as what constitutes credible, usable, and relevant science is different for users and scientists.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply an iterative process of field assessments and literature reviews across multiple governance levels and spatial scales to identify constraints to effective formulation and implementation of climate change related policies and strategies in Uganda.

TL;DR: In this article, a policy letter sets out five particularly demanding areas of concern: (i) constructing a resonating policy frame, (ii) formulating policy goals, (iii) involving relevant sectors and levels, (iv) the question of what constitutes optimal policy integration, and (v) designing a consistent mix of policy instruments.

TL;DR: In this paper, the evaluative criteria for best available social science (BASS) were proposed and evaluated for natural resource management decision-making, and the U.S. Forest Service used them in the planning process of the national forest planning process.

TL;DR: The recent catastrophic wildfires in Portugal and Chile shared similar features, not just because they developed under extreme weather conditions but also because extensive forest plantations were involved as mentioned in this paper, leading to the development of high-intensity large fires, threatening people and the forest industry sustainability under increasingly frequent and severe drought events.