Reviews & Analysis

Culture influences low-carbon energy transitions and as a result should be considered in the design of relevant policies. Focusing on a selection of low-carbon technologies and behavioural practices, this Review highlights the role of culture with respect to different dimensions of sustainability.

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.

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.

The ocean genome is the genetic material present in marine biodiversity. While technological advances are enabling exploration, conservation and innovation of this resource, the associated capacities are inequitably distributed among countries.

A review of marine spatial planning literature identifies links with climate change and gaps in the practical integration of both concepts.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A literature review on transboundary freshwater cooperation and conflict finds the former prevails, followed by non-violent conflict. Despite greater understanding of drivers, analysis of recent events and better datasets are needed.

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.