News & Views in 2020

Wind and solar power plants emit no air pollution while operating, but how effectively do they lower overall emissions from the electric grid? New research traces wind and solar impacts through the grid, even across regional boundaries.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries based on manganese oxide electrode materials are more environmentally friendly than conventional ones but generally suffer from rapid performance fading. A recent study sheds light on possible remedies through engineering of the interface.

Perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology is moving closer to commercialization but the ecotoxicity of the solvents involved in perovskite processing remains a barrier. A study now identifies a green solvent that can help PSC sustainability and scalability.

Many scientists argue that large-scale value changes are needed for a sustainability transformation. New research shows that such changes might be happening.

For decades research has found evidence that community forest management provides both income for local communities and conservation of forests. A recent article suggests some of the design principles that can make it work.

Planetary health solutions that protect the environment and promote development have been hard to find. Eco-certification of palm oil that restricts fires also reduces local poverty in Indonesia, but only in communities integrated into the market.

Models typically used to analyse climate–economy interactions have paradoxically ignored much of nature’s value. A new study explicitly addresses this issue and reveals feedback loops between nature and the climate system that make climate change more costly.

Construction along coasts and offshore is accelerating. A new study estimates the extent of different developments and their wider influence and forecasts their expansion.

Reports on the widespread presence of plastic particles in the environment have raised concerns about whether these particles could be taken up by plants and end up on our plates. An experimental study now reveals a mechanism through which nanoplastics can make their way into plant roots.

Political pressure on the creation and use of scientific evidence to support environmental approvals for the Adani coal mine has undermined the legitimacy of these approvals. We need to harness the power of law more effectively to protect the independence and rigour of scientific processes, and enable transparent consideration of the evidence.

In a world of increasingly integrated supply chains, disasters have impacts far from where they hit. A new paper looks at how tropical-cyclone impacts propagate across cities, showing that indirect impacts become large for the most-destructive storms.

Various scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions indicate possible futures for climate change. Are they probable?

Large hydropower infrastructure is being built along environmentally sensitive tropical rivers. An analysis in Amazonia shows that climate change and forest cover must be considered when planning hydropower infrastructure.

Can economic growth be made greener, or must we look beyond growth to achieve sustainability? An important new study shows that the pursuit of ‘green growth’ would increase inequality and unemployment unless accompanied by radical social policies.

Increasing pressure for communities to conserve wildlife in mixtures with livestock faces scepticism about whether such management is sustainable. The study by Sitters et al. shows that wildlife–livestock coexistence may be sustainable, but only if megaherbivores are included.