Perspectives

Sustainability science needs to better mobilize a range of knowledge to support transformative change. This Perspective contends that such transformative, action-oriented knowledge emerges from integrating multiple kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing.

The water–energy–food nexus has provided a framework for comprehensive analysis, but this Perspective argues for adding forest studies to better integrate the needs and ecosystems of smallholders, especially in the Global South.

The authors propose that a dashboard of indicators should be used to monitor progress toward a sustainable ocean economy.

The natural capital concept is making way into government policy processes and the private sector, but different understandings of the approach might lead to misuse or omissions. In order to address this issue, a comprehensive framework for natural capital analysis and decision making is presented.

For seafood, concerns about food security often clash with those about sustainability. This Perspective proposes the reconciling concept of ‘sustainable commoditization’ and identifies actions to catalyse this for seafood in the Global South.

Policies and discussion regarding sustainable goals has overlooked inland fisheries despite its importance for both food security and livelihoods. This Perspective looks at synergies between SDGs in regards to this critical food and economic service.

This Perspective argues for a global research prioritization framework to advance sustainable intensification, an increase in agricultural yields on existing land and respecting ecosystem integrity, noting research gaps and suggesting priorities.

Environmental policy often delays addressing problems. This Perspective defines such ‘stopgap measures’, considers examples, and applies to solar geoengineering a new framework for assessing stopgaps.

Transitioning agriculture toward greater sustainability is vital. This Perspective argues for more-holistic consideration of organic agriculture in life cycle assessments, widely used to analyse environmental impacts.

Increasing concerns about the impacts of palm oil cultivation have led to a growing focus on how to replace palm oil in commercial applications. This Perspective analyses replacement options—from a technical, environmental and economic angle—and how to make current cultivation practices more sustainable.

Increasing urbanization will lead to a significant expansion of buildings and related infrastructure, major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. This Perspective discusses the possibility of constructing mid-rise urban buildings with engineered timber for long-term carbon storage and carbon emissions reduction.

Research addressing sustainability issues is more effective if ‘co-produced’ by academics and non-academics, but definitions of co-production vary. This Perspective presents four knowledge co-production principles for sustainability research and guides on how to engage in co-productive practices.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to quantify the environmental sustainability performance of products. This Perspective analyses LCA studies of commercialized biochemicals produced through microbial fermentation to highlight gaps in coverage of environmental impacts and life cycle stages.

Advances in remote sensing have helped to understand the human drivers of land-use change globally, but have neglected the role of illicit transactions. This Perspective presents a framework to identify illicit land transactions, and an approach to link them to land uses using remotely sensed data.

Promotion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) will accompany China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This Perspective notes the potential risks and advocates open-eyed cooperation to build sustainability into this expanding TCM market.

Land use is one of the most contested issues facing global conservation, but degraded lands should be the focus of governments and trusts to take and conserve uncontested areas for nature.

The diversity of approaches to knowledge production can be challenging for transdisciplinary teams. This Perspective proposes a way to articulate the epistemology, methodology and implementation underpinning research.

Opportunities, challenges and recommended targeted actions to accelerate qualitative data sharing to address complex socio–environmental problems

To understand and address sustainability problems, a complex model of human behaviour is proposed, one that co-evolves with their context, as opposed to simpler models.

Real-time control of combined sewer systems and green infrastructure can be used to reduce flooding. In this Perspective, the authors simulated the use of integrated stormwater inflow control to dynamically activate infrastructure in Copenhagen, Denmark, to substantially reduce combined sewage emissions.