Volume 4 Issue 5, May 2021

Universities and research centres around the world have made significant progress towards establishing collaborative, interdisciplinary initiatives in sustainability science. However, more needs to be done to support the career development of junior sustainability scholars whose work is often team based and outreach oriented.

Improving environmental stewardship requires improvement of the options available down to the poorest resource users. Agriculture will no longer be the path to development and better options that it once was, without rethinking how and where to intervene. An iconic video game provides a lens into how this can happen.

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.

How can we promote sustainable behaviours and reduce unsustainable ones? A new study explores potential neural mechanisms underlying thoughts about farsighted future actions.

Photoreforming is a sunlight-driven technology that can simultaneously reclaim the value in waste and contribute to renewable hydrogen production. This Review examines the advantages and challenges and identifies ways forward.

The field of battery chemistry must embrace abundant elements such as Mn for improved sustainability. Here the authors engineer the orientation of Mn 3d orbitals, resulting in excellent performance in LiMnO₂ cathodes.

The demands of sustainable energy supply and clean water production continue to drive membrane development. Here the authors design graphene oxide membranes intercalated with polyaromatic cations that not only exhibit sustained nanofiltration performance under realistic conditions but also are scalable for industrial applications.

Small hydropower plants are increasingly favoured. This study finds that these plants are decreasing river connectivity in Brazil more than larger dams, potentially harming migratory fish, and suggests future dam portfolios that result in less river fragmentation while delivering similar power.

Energy intensity improvement, scale structure adjustment and electrification measures in major industrial sectors can substantially and simultaneously reduce CO₂, NO_x, SO₂ and particulate matter emissions.

Insurance for a group that reduces risks with informal within-group transfers and local peer monitoring can help low-income farmers alleviate poverty aggravated by extreme weather.

Increasing sustainable behaviours is more feasible than reducing unsustainable ones, according to a neuroimaging study.

Wise management is critical to sustaining fisheries. This study finds that rebuilding plans, ratification of international agreements and harvest control rules yield strong benefits and that these are cumulative.

A study of 177 forest user groups shows that these are more likely to self-organize to monitor rule compliance for forest management when the groups are larger, they design the rules and they are located either close to or far from markets.