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Abstract: Neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have become widespread since the turn of 21st century and many communities, mainly in the developed world, are utilizing these tools to measure their success in approaching sustainable development goals. In this study, seven tools from Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States are selected and analyzed with the aim of providing insights into the current situations; highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and making recommendations for future improvements. Using a content analysis, the issues of sustainability coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, scoring and weighting, participation, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper. The results of this study indicate that most of the tools are not doing well regarding the coverage of social, economic, and institutional aspects of sustainability; there are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring, and rating; in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; and, only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Assessed the effect of various ELV legislations on vehicle material circularity. • Vehicle material circularity was measured using MCI and PCI methods (product-level). • Identified the impact of changing vehicle technologies on material circularity. • Identified main opportunities for circularity improvement in vehicle material flows. • Higher scrap utilisation has the most potential to increase material circularity scores. For many years, regulation and life cycle studies have focussed on reducing the environmental footprint of vehicles. Despite the implementation of different end-of-life vehicle (ELV) regulations to encourage material reuse and to increase recycling and recovery rates, it is unclear how these policies are progressing towards realising a circular economy (CE). This paper assesses the impact of different ELV regulations implemented in Europe, Japan, Australia, and the US on the effectiveness of product-based circularity using the Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circularity Indicator. Scenario analysis is carried out to identify potential improvements in vehicle material circularity based on different circular economy strategies: more advanced recycling technology; higher scrap utilisation; design for reuse/remanufacturing; and higher product utility; and the effects of changing vehicle technologies on material circularity. This study addresses the gap in current ELV regulations in a CE context using a quantitative assessment approach. It is shown that there is limited impact on the material circularity performance, at most by 17.3%, due to the focus on material recycling rates at the end-of-life phase. It is recommended that current ELV regulations are leveraged to implement effective CE strategies from a holistic life cycle approach, particularly through more scrap utilisation, higher intensity of vehicle use and the design for reuse/remanufacturing. The greatest potential for circularity improvement is shown through higher scrap utilisation. This is also the case for newer vehicle technologies, such as electrification and lightweighting, which have shown a wide range of material circularity outcomes due to changing material composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 1999 the Governments of Australia and New Zealand decided tosubmit their dispute with Japan over southern bluefin tuna to an arbitration procedure under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Pending the constitution of an arbitral tribunal, they also requested the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to prescribe provisional measures. This paper traces the beginnings of tuna as an issue in Australia's relations with Japan, from 1945until the conclusion of the first bilateral negotiations on the subject in 1968. Drawing on recently released archival material the paperexplains why, in terms of the evolving law of the sea, the 1968 agreement was generous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]