Volume 3 Issue 10, October 2020

Hand hygiene is critical for reducing transmission of communicable diseases, as we are so acutely aware during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF has identified behaviour change and knowledge promotion as top strategies for increasing handwashing during this crisis, while acknowledging that millions of people lack the water necessary for handwashing.

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.

This Review covers the sustainability of deep-seabed mining, suggesting a slower transition from exploration to exploitation may be beneficial.

Comparing relevant indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals with other indicators of biodiversity trends shows little relation between the two, because the former more strongly reflect socioeconomic indicators.

To promote sustainable agriculture, small-scale producers must be included in the transformation of food systems. This scoping review finds that non-contract interactions provide producers with services such as credit, information and logistics.

A more sustainable agriculture is needed to address global food security and environmental degradation. This scoping review surveys the incentives for farmers to adopt sustainable practices benefiting their farms, the environment or both.

Reducing postharvest crop losses is vital to sustainably increase agricultural productivity. This analysis reveals a need for systematic assessment of postharvest loss reduction interventions across the value chain, targeting stakeholders beyond farmers, and for a more diverse range of food crops, to shape future policy decisions.

A geospatial estimate of water scarcity in middle- to low-income countries finds that less than 37% of small-scale farms have irrigation. However, there exist considerable gaps in evidence for most commonly proposed, on-farm interventions.

Half of Brazil’s tropical Cerrado savannah has been cleared for agropastoral use. Using models, this study finds that this clearing is degrading regional weather, reducing maize yields there.

Coastal wetlands may affect flood risks, as from rising sea level. This study finds that saltmarshes provided coastal defence from historic Northwest European floods.

Air pollution harms health but rises with economic activity, which aids health. This study uses long-range Saharan dust to isolate impacts, finding a significant rise in Sub-Saharan infant mortality from particulate pollution.

Moral concerns matter for decisions in markets where activities generate negative externalities such as pollution emissions. With controlled experiments in which trading creates pollution, this study shows that a large portion of producers refrain from polluting even at the cost of forgoing profits.

Little is known about how human factors influence the patterns of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the intertidal zone, a transitional boundary between terrestrial and marine environments. This study shows that human activities affect both the distribution and the deposition of PAHs.