Search

• In 2022, China was the number one academic publisher on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) • Chinese environmental assistance abroad is increasingly framed in terms of NbS. • "Chinese-style" NbS provides a way for Ecological Civilization to "go global" • We identify 3 types: triangle cooperation, bi/multilateral, and green infrastructure. • China's NbS are most prevalent in Asia, followed by Africa, and least in Latin America. China increasingly engages in environmental diplomacy through South-South cooperation across the developing world. Since 2019, the rise of the discourse of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) within this cooperation has been exponential. Coined just over ten years ago, NbS refers to the underexplored potential of leveraging the natural world to address socio-environmental challenges. The concept finds particular resonance in China, where it demonstrates strong parallels with the domestically-pioneered concept of Ecological Civilization – the ruling paradigm when it comes to all realms of Chinese environmental governance. Building on the global discourse, NbS has been adapted to the Chinese context, creating what some call "Chinese-style" NbS that prioritizes large-scale interventions and ecological engineering over grassroots preservation. China's NbS are not only being pursued domestically, but also increasingly abroad through the country's Belt and Road Initiative. From Southeast and Central Asia to Africa and Latin America, this article surveys Chinese-led or financed projects that fall under the broad umbrella of NbS. We provide a comparative analysis of these interventions – or the conspicuous lack of such interventions – to show the current status and future prospects for China's growing sphere of influence when it comes to advancing NbS in the Global South. We find that China's embrace of this concept in environmental diplomacy is directly related to the potential for NbS to serve as a tool for helping the country's vision of an Ecological Civilization "go global." The consonance between the rhetoric of NbS and Ecological Civilization, combined with the global reach of NbS, provides a powerful platform for taking Chinese environmental discourse to the global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Crop booms spur land transformations, social change, and environmental degradation. • The speed, extent, and complexity of actors involved make them difficult to study and govern. • A new analytical framework based on empirical case studies and theories is presented. • The framework improves crop boom research through interdisciplinary approaches. • The framework facilitates identifying leverage points and sustainable alternatives. The expansion of commercial agriculture is one of the primary drivers of livelihood and land-use changes in the world. Globalisation and other factors have intensified this expansion to the point where booms in single cash crops overtake entire regions before going bust, a pattern that is particularly pervasive in resource frontiers. Using case studies across the Mekong Region, a place which serves as a harbinger for crop booms globally, we propose a new analytical framework for understanding and governing crop booms. We combine multiple theoretical approaches to study crop booms and draw on insights from case study work conducted across temporal and spatial scales. The framework consists of three components: 1) the nested nature of crop boom-bust trajectories, 2) the cyclical spatial and temporal patterns of crop booms, and 3) the variegated pathways and impacts of agrarian change. The framework presents new insights into the processes of agricultural intensification in frontier spaces. As such, it facilitates a better understanding of the drivers, characteristics and impacts of crop booms for researchers and decision-makers alike with the intention of supporting efforts to develop more sustainable pathways in the region and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]