Articles in 2024

While the economic effects of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been studied extensively, this study examines how efforts to achieve balance across the SDGs affect subjective well-being within and across countries.

Risks in globally interconnected socio-environmental systems are complex and efforts to study them are incomplete. This Perspective argues that risks should be considered as both a product of these systems and a force that rewires them through a variety of mechanisms.

Efforts to protect and conserve the planet’s land and oceans should also guarantee that people can access them equitably. Comparing marine and terrestrial protected areas in the United States, a study shows different access patterns based on income and race.

For battery electrolytes, addressing their safety often leads to compromised electrochemical properties. Here, the electrolyte formulation is not only non-flammable but also supports excellent performance in both K-ion and Li-ion cells.

Earth Observation (EO) satellites have transformed understanding of the state and trajectories of Earth’s environment. Recent mushrooming of EO satellites and of resultant data that are stored, distributed and processed, often on the cloud, generate widespread environmental impacts that demand urgent consideration, particularly given that EO data outlive EO satellites.

Government spending for COVID-19 recovery could have enhanced society’s resilience to environmental shocks, but it is unclear whether this was adequately reflected in policies. A study now sheds light on this issue by applying a fiscal policy taxonomy for climate change adaptation and resilience to policies across different countries.

Air pollution is commonly thought to disproportionately affect lower-income communities. In most low- and middle-income countries, however, air pollution is found to be highest in wealthier urban areas.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc metal batteries represent a promising solution to the storage of renewable energy on the gigawatt scale. For a standardized set of protocols for their electrochemical performance measurements, we highlight the current common issues and recommend practices for future studies.

Cookstove carbon offset projects can contribute to various socio-economic and environmental goals if their implementation is based on accurate emissions reductions estimations. A study assesses different methodologies for cookstove offset projects and quantifies their over-crediting.

Eco-sensitive river basins are facing pressure to reduce carbon emissions and rapidly grow their economies. Now, a study identifies the exploitable hydropower potential in low-carbon futures, and the risks of relying on large-scale hydropower projects to integrate variable renewable energy in a decarbonized world.

Hydropower is expected to expand in the coming decades as an attractive renewable energy source, but one that can have negative environmental impacts in sensitive ecosystems. Enhanced integration of variable renewable energy can offset hydropower expansion in some eco-sensitive river basins, but is mostly insufficient to offset the steep upward pressure on hydropower development that will be exerted by the low-carbon energy transition.

Removal of ultrafine suspended solids from contaminated water in a cost-effective manner remains a global challenge. Here the authors develop an injection-driven filter system that is based on a fully bio-based biodegradable nanofibre hydrogel film to achieve such a goal.

Artificial reefs provide important ecosystem services in marine environments. Accurate knowledge of the area covered by such reefs can help evaluate benefits and risks of such structures. This study describes the physical footprint of artificial reefs deployed in coastal waters of the United States.

Translating Earth system boundaries across scale involves scientific and normative judgements, with associated assumptions, bias and uncertainties. A protocol involving key building blocks and control steps in translation is presented with focus on businesses and cities, two understudied critical actors.

Independent impact evaluations of voluntary REDD+ projects to protect forests are needed to provide evidence of their effects. This study evaluates the impacts of a large voluntary REDD+ project in Sierra Leone and finds evidence of slowing deforestation with no socioeconomic harm to local people.