Despite fishing-induced biomass depletion on coral reefs, fisheries persist. This study presents a framework to evaluate potential reef fisheries productivity across a major fishing pressure gradient and shows evidence of compensatory ecological responses triggered by fishing on coral reefs.

Food production stability depends on yield, and planted and harvested areas, but most research has only studied yield response to climate. This study finds that planted area and harvestable fraction contribute substantially to US crop production shocks, emphasizing their key role in food system stability.

A more in-depth understanding of the link between biodiversity and human well-being can help the design of nature-based public health interventions. This study analyses a database of species’ effect traits (colours, sounds and smells) and the diverse well-being responses that they generate.

Current models, based on incremental changes in a single stress, have limited ability to anticipate abrupt ecosystem changes due to climate and human activities. Experiments on four models simulating ecosystems with a range of anthropogenic interactions show how much earlier abrupt change can happen.

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the need to transform governance for the world to develop sustainably. Using a mixed method approach, this study presents 13 principles for transformative ocean governance that can help turn ocean-use practices into more sustainable ones.

Heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for a substantial portion of road emissions from fossil-fuelled vehicles and cause harmful air pollution. Transitioning to electric heavy-duty vehicles would provide substantial health benefits, especially in Black and Hispanic/Latino urban neighbourhoods.

Clean-up of oil spills is a global challenge because current methods are ineffective when facing highly viscous oil with low fluidity. Here the authors develop a tool for efficient and high-throughput clean-up of highly viscous oil spills.

Coral reefs and related fish populations are under threat of extinction unless additional conservation measures are put in place. Focusing on 12 countries with diverse income and tropical reef proximity, this study analyses the willingness of the public to pay for global coral and reef fish conservation.

Media attention to the disastrous consequences of this summer’s wildfires has been at a record high. Now the world should wake up to the urgent need to restore burnt sites.

Principles underpinning the 2030 Agenda — indivisibility, integration and universality — can safeguard against inaction or unsustainable practices but have not yet come into effect. We propose measures to strengthen alignment with them as the world gears up to accelerate implementation at the 2023 SDG Summit.

This season’s wildfires have wreaked havoc for local communities, summer tourists and densely populated cities more than 1,000 km away. International cooperation is urgently needed to ensure humans’ sustainable future with increasing wildfires.

Freshwaters require targeted policy considerations to achieve biodiversity conservation goals and to support ecosystem services that communities around the globe depend upon. Effective conservation requires creative solutions that build and expand upon conventional protected areas, contextualized for these diverse ecosystems.

As the research community remembers John Bannister Goodenough for his contributions to the development of batteries, we reflect on his legacy, what it means to sustainability and where we go next in the quest for a more sustainable future.