Volume 4 Issue 1, January 2021

China’s decision to ban the trade and consumption of terrestrial wild animals, while controversial, is a viable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ban has implications that extend beyond safeguarding human health to also help combat illegal wildlife trade and protect threatened species.

The COVID-19 outbreak has stimulated calls for a global wildlife trade ban. Such actions may only partially curb pandemic risk while negatively affecting people who depend on wildlife. More worryingly, they may provide cover for inaction on issues that would make a true difference in preventing future pandemics.

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

Fungi-derived material can substitute for leather. This Review synthesizes information on this process and its environmental and ethical benefits.

Shifting global food production to plant-based diets by 2050 can sequester 99–163% of the CO₂ emissions budget towards limiting climate warming to 1.5 °C.

Drylands are under pressure from climate change and population growth. This study finds the sensitivity of dryland vegetation to rainfall changing, with opposite effects in poorer and richer nations.

Marine construction is sprawling globally. As of 2018, this study finds that the structures occupied 32,000 km² but affected 1 to 3 million km², a shadow expected to expand 50–70% by 2028.

Worldwide, longer fire seasons are causing unsustainable impacts. This study finds that the 2019–20 Australia fire season caused health-related costs of AU$1.95 billion, nine times the median for the previous 19 years.

Recycling nutrient-rich manure helped fertilize traditional farms. This study finds a near 60% drop in the share of rural Chinese households raising livestock and planting crops, a link worth rebuilding regionally to intensify agriculture sustainably.

While ecological restoration has been promoted for curbing degradation and improving ecosystem health, the impacts on water flux and storage have been understudied. This article finds that large-scale restoration efforts can actually deplete terrestrial water storage, requiring more effort to balance ecosystem needs.

Changes in forest disturbance affect their sustainability. This study finds that between 1986 and 2016, 36 million disturbances by humans or other causes affected 17% of Europe’s forest area.

New battery chemistry can help reduce the reliance on Co for electric vehicles. However, to avoid burden shifting to other resources such as Ni, circular economy strategies with enhanced battery traceability and recycling could contribute substantially to the reduction of primary Co demand from the automotive industry.