Volume 4 Issue 8, August 2021

Awaiting the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in China late in 2021, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary to the CBD, talks to Nature Sustainability about the challenges of stepping up efforts to address biodiversity decline.

Expanding renewable energy sources in remote rural Alaska villages promises to improve sustainability and resilience. What happens to the food–energy–water nexus when critical resources are abundant public goods?

To more effectively navigate environmental politics and governance, this Perspective recommends actions in four areas: knowledge, relationships, strategies, and decision and implementation.

While the food–energy–water nexus has become a focal point for inter- and cross-disciplinary studies in recent years, this analysis of rural communities contextualizes how effective the nexus is for describing and studying interactions.

In-stream turbines could be a viable alternative to storage-based large hydropower projects. This study finds that about two-thirds of the planned hydropower generation in the Brazilian Amazon basin could be harnessed using in-stream turbines.

A valuation of the flood risk reduction services of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure in the United States finds that these benefits exceed US$1.8 billion annually.

Freshwater salinization syndrome is an emerging threat to freshwater globally. Here the authors quantify the contribution of indirect potable reuse to sodium pollution and suggest a variety of behavioural and technological interventions to address this growing environmental problem.

The oceans contain 1,000 times more uranium than terrestrial resources, which could contribute to the sustainability of nuclear power. Here the authors report a polymeric adsorbent that can capture uranium from seawater selectively with an extraction capacity of 7.12 mg g^–1. It is even resistant against biofouling and can be reused.

The textile industry is one of the largest polluters. Here the authors show that polyethylene is a sustainable alternative textile with water wicking and fast-drying performance. The fabrication of polyethylene fabrics is compatible with standard equipment and could be dry-coloured, further reducing water consumption.

The electroreduction of CO₂ provides a sustainable pathway to value-added fuels and chemicals. Here the authors show a cascade reaction that yields methylamine from CO₂ and nitrate. With detailed insight into the multistep catalytic process, the current findings further push the boundaries of this technology.

An analysis of national economies’ unequal exposure to biocapacity constraints and purchasing power reveals how increasing demand of natural resources can lead to inescapable poverty traps.

Expanding energy infrastructure has been vital to China’s development plans, but has had negative consequences. This study finds that in 2017 the level of embodied greenhouse gas emissions from the expansion of China’s power transmission infrastructure increased by more than 7.3 times that in 1990.