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In September 2020 Deutsche Bank published a report entitled "The Age of Disorder." Fronted dramatically by the image of a volcano and volley of lightning across a brooding sky, the report warned that the global economy was on the precipice of a phase shift from neo-liberal quasi-stability to an era characterized by dramatic social, economic, and ecological upheavals. Deutsche Bank's researchers call this new period "the age of disorder". This paper proposes Deutsche Bank's appraisal is part of a broader condition that it calls capitalist catastrophism and an emerging regime of eco-apartheid. Taking as its point of departure Geoff Mann and Joel Wainwright's call for geographers to construct concepts that might help navigate a hotter planet, the paper introduces capitalist catastrophism as a concept that names and theorizes the effects of a dramatic and asymmetrically catastrophic reconfiguration of the capitalist world-system. Capitalist catastrophism has three characteristics. First, a newfound ability for social movements and theorists to imagine post-capitalist futures combined with an inability to realize them. Second, cascading and mutually amplifying social and ecological crises that outrun the capacities of states and capital to contain them. Third, an unevenly distributed cancellation of human and non-human futures. Drawing on Marxist political economy and Nyasha Mboti's theorization of apartheid, the paper concludes that capitalist catastrophism is resolving itself into a global system of eco-apartheid in which a green transition for some is secured by putting the exploited and oppressed majority in harm's way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change leads to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters. It has had a severe impact on agricultural economic growth in China. Based on data in China from 2004 to 2020, this paper uses a fixed-effect model to discuss the effects of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth. The empirical results are as follows. (1) Natural disasters negatively affect agricultural economic growth. The regression coefficient of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth is −0.1183. (2) The inhibition of agricultural economic growth by natural disasters is more prominent in areas with low government attention and average agricultural production conditions. (3) The mechanism analysis shows that natural disasters inhibit agricultural economic growth through channels that cause the spread of diseases and pests. (4) Expanding the scale of agricultural insurance can prevent the impact of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth. This research provides policy recommendations for preventing the negative impacts of natural disasters. Agricultural producers should raise awareness of disaster management and improve the accuracy of disaster warning mechanisms. • This paper measures the level of natural disasters in China. • This paper expands the application field of functional data analysis methods. • This paper examines the mechanism of natural disasters affecting agricultural economic growth. • This paper provides policy suggestions for ensuring agricultural economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of stock assessment is to provide managers with an understanding of the biomass and age-/size-composition of a stock, stock status (ideally relative to target and reference points), and to support management decision making, often through projections and application of harvest control rules. Stock assessments are increasingly being used to form the basis for the operating models used to evaluate the ability of management strategies to achieve the goals of fisheries management. Stock assessments for rock lobsters were among the first to adopt size-structured population models as the basis for stock assessment, and population model-based stock assessments have been used extensively to evaluate management strategies for rock lobster stocks in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. This paper identifies how closely population model-based stock assessments for rock lobsters satisfy the guidelines identified for best practices for conducting stock assessments during meetings of, for example, the Center for the Advancement of Population Assessment Methodology and papers identifying best practice guidelines for stock assessment. The paper highlights some key directions for stock assessment science for rock lobsters, including considerations related to environmental variation and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do 'green' environmental concerns – such as about biodiversity, climate change, pollution – deter citizens from having children? This paper reports the first longitudinal evidence consistent with that increasingly discussed hypothesis. It follows through time a random sample of thousands of initially childless men and women in the UK. The paper shows that those individuals who are committed to a green lifestyle are found to be substantially less likely to go on later to have offspring. Probit and Weibull survival models are estimated. The results are robust to controlling for people's age, education, income, marital status, mental health, life satisfaction, optimism, and physical health. The paper's key estimated effect-size is substantial. A person entirely unconcerned about environmental behaviour is estimated to be just over 50% more likely to go on to have a child than a deeply committed environmentalist. • Will fertility decline because humans become so concerned about environmental damage? • Using UK data on thousands of randomly selected young adults, we provide the first longitudinal evidence that those who have environmental concerns and act in a 'green' way go on to have fewer children. • The estimated effect-size is large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective selection of climate predictors is a fundamental aspect of climate modeling research. Predictor Screening (PS) plays a crucial role in identifying regional climate drivers, reducing noise, expediting convergence, and minimizing time consumption, ultimately leading to the development of robust models. This review delves into the complex landscape of PS techniques within the context of Numerical Climate Modeling (NCM), with a specific focus on their applicability across various Köppen climate classifications and PS model structures. The analysis revealed substantial variations in the performance of PS methods, shedding light on their ability to capture –and prioritize predictors related to precipitation and temperature within distinct climate contexts. Furthermore, the provided methods have been categorized into two subsections: Feature Selection (FS) and Feature Extraction (FE), with FS encompassing filter, wrapper, embedded, and ensemble/hybrid techniques, and FE covering Linear Feature Extraction (LFE), Time-Domain Analysis (TDA), deep learning, and clustering methods. The initial compilation of papers, acquired through a keyword search on Scopus, consisted of 3650 documents. Following a meticulous evaluation process, 206 papers were identified as fitting for inclusion in the literature review, covering the time frame from 1974 to November 3, 2023. In conclusion, the results provide a detailed understanding of the strengths and limitations of each approach, establishing a hierarchy of effectiveness contingent upon the specific climate context. Additionally, insights into promising avenues for future research in this field are offered. This review follows the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) standard as its foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian monsoon influences the lives of more than a third of the world's population, and understanding its spatial and temporal variability is fundamental to sustainable development. The complex dynamics of this climatic system are therefore of broad scientific and societal interest. In this virtual special issue (VSI), we present 19 papers dealing with the Asian monsoon since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼21 kyr BP), with a focus on understanding variability and forcing mechanisms. Findings use recently developed quantitative reconstructions combined with numerical simulations, and present novel insights as follows: (1) analyses of comprehensive datasets of pollen, diatom, brGDGTs, oxygen and hydrogen isotopes and frequency magnetic susceptibility, as well as an innovative algorithm model for the lake energy-water balance, improve the reliability of quantitative reconstructions of Asian monsoon climate variations; (2) studies of quantitative climate parameters in central East Asia show that mean annual temperature (MAT) was ∼5 °C (or ∼ 7.9 °C using brGDGTs) lower during the LGM, ∼1.5 °C (±41% using brGDGTs) higher around the Holocene thermal optimum (HO) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) varied between 30 and 150% with marked seasonality during 8–5 ka; (3) dynamical downscaling palaeoclimatic simulations improve the accuracy of past monsoon variations, revealing strong variability in monsoon precipitation across the LGM and HO. The holistic study of Asian monsoon variations at orbital to centennial timescales in these VSI papers presents reliable observations of monsoon variability and its driving mechanisms, providing high-resolution quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions that fill existing gaps in spatial coverage, as well as offering an improved understanding, thorough numerical simulation, of coupled sea-level change and vegetation feedbacks. • An introduction to Asian monsoon variations over the past 21 ka. • Transfer functions, sedimentary records and numerical simulation are developed for studying past Asian monsoon. • Averaged MAP in East Asia varied between 30-150 % over the past 21 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From charting out climate change mitigation pathways to estimating price risks associated with the social cost of carbon, as environmentally concerned citizens of the twenty-first century, we live in a culture of foresight. Because of a growing integration of an ever-wider sample space of possible climate futures into the present, historical experience has become seemingly irrelevant for effectively predicting where our climate transitions are headed, in effect restricting our sense of futurity to its performativity in the present. What has been surprisingly absent as a theoretical and methodological approach among sociologists, however, are treatments of the performativity of the future as the expression of a historical praxis for prognosis, with its own mode of disclosure. By interrogating the temporal structure of anticipation that characterizes computer-based simulations of emissions scenarios, the paper illustrates how this praxis discloses the future in accordance with the grammatical tense of the future perfect. It then argues that this relationship between past and future is the cultural product of a historically particular set of prognostic techniques and technologies, namely, model-based scenario analysis. Against this background, the paper seeks to contribute to the rehabilitation of the relevance of historical experience by historicizing the social ontological status of the future that theories of performativity take as their starting point. • When it comes to climate mitigation, our sense of futurity has become restricted to its performativity in the present. • This paper historicizes the ontological status of the future that theories of performativity take as their starting point. • It interrogates the temporal structure of anticipation that characterizes computer-based simulations of emissions scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the further question of whether water-related environmental innovations affect water stress in three main sectors such as agriculture, industry and services. The sample consists of 30 OECD countries for the period 2000–2019. This paper employs the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) with fixed effects to analyze the effects of water-related innovative activities across different quantiles of water stress for all three sectors separately. The empirical results indicate that water-related innovations positively affect water stress in the agricultural sector in the lower and middle quantiles, while it has a negative effect in the middle and higher quantiles for the services sector and the higher quantiles for the industrial sector. These findings reveal nuanced effects of water-related innovations on water stress across sectors. Furthermore, the study suggests that while innovations in the industrial and services sectors can mitigate water stress beyond a certain threshold level, the agricultural sector appears to benefit comparatively less from such innovations. These findings underscore the importance of complementing water-related innovations with appropriate regulatory measures, to address informal practices such as losses and leakages in agricultural irrigation. Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights for policy makers to formulate targeted environmental policies and strategies, especially in the context of climate change adaptation, thereby enabling a more effective allocation of resources to mitigate water stress within each sector. • The relationship water-related environmental innovations affect water stress in three main sectors. • Water-related environmental innovations are closely related to water stress. • Environmental innovations has an important nonlinear role for water stress. • Environmental innovation has different impacts depending the level of water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies which topics of negotiation are providing momentum for climate negotiations after the Paris Agreement and to what extent. To do so, it examines the main requests that developing countries have expressed through different negotiation groups between 2017 and 2023. To measure the progression of climate negotiations, the paper identifies whether those requests have been translated into COP decisions. This is done through discourse analysis contained in numerous daily reports of COPs, summaries, and official decisions. In this research, COP decisions are defined as the expression of collective negotiations in the UNFCCC system, and as decisions with political consequences. The paper identifies advancements on twenty-nine issues in areas like gender, loss and damage, facilitative dialogue, adaptation, and the acceleration of finance flows to small-island developing states. Eighteen issues have been identified as acknowledged in COP decisions, but not fully addressed. These correspond mainly to finance-related items and the commitment to contributing US$100 billion to climate mitigation. Sixteen issues have been identified as ignored in the COP decisions examined. The conclusions suggest that there is agreement on creating new frameworks to allow further discussions on important topics brought to the table by developing states, but there is no real agreement on increasing funding in a significant way. Also, conclusions underline that despite the lack of sufficient funding, commitment to fighting climate change has not declined over time, and states continue to prefer multilateral negotiations to working outside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change mandate. • States prefer multilateralism to other forms of cooperation to face climate change. • Climate negotiations remain a key forum for countries' coordination despite the slowness in decision-making. • There has been progress in climate negotiations in the areas of loss and damage, gender or adaptation. • Funding remains a key issue in climate negotiations, being critical to increase trust among parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue carbon, a concept that emerged in the last decade, has received increasing attention in recent years. The development of blue carbon as a nature-based solution is crucial to global climate governance, biodiversity conservation, and restoration of fishery resources. This study utilized CiteSpace visualization software to conduct bibliometric and systematic analyses of 3474 papers retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection in 2003–2022, depicting a comprehensive framework of international research on blue carbon, exploring hotspots and trends, and proposing future directions and implications for ocean and coastal management. Overall, blue carbon research has experienced the early exploration period (2003–2007) based on scientific concepts, the development period (2008–2015) of research on carbon sequestration mechanisms and functions of different organisms and ecosystems, and the outbreak period (2016–2022) of carbon sink system quantification and management based on model prediction. Co-authorship analysis indicated that blue carbon research collaborates well across intuitions and countries, while collaboration among authors needs to be strengthened. Thematic evolution and hotspot analysis based on cited references and keywords revealed that coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, are a popular research theme, and the functional protection and development of management strategies for coastal ecosystems are major current research hotspots. In addition, it emphasized the need to focus on the protection, restoration and creation of blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), develop sustainable marine ranching to promote blue carbon trading, explore more potential emerging blue carbon, and strengthen the management of blue carbon from the social level in the future. This paper combines traditional bibliometric review with modern visual analysis software to carry out network metrics, clustering and visualization of the blue carbon thematic literature from multiple perspectives, which reflects its novelty. It provides the latest, in-depth and comprehensive insights into blue carbon research that will serve as valuable reference for relevant scholars, managers and governments. [Display omitted] • Blue carbon field has experienced exploration, development and outbreak periods. • Blue carbon research is well-collaborated across institutions and countries. • Coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, have been a popular central research area. • Protection and management of coastal ecosystems are new hotspots in research. • Propose ocean and coastal management implications for realizing the potential of blue carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents projections of climate extremes over China under global warming of 1.5, 2, and 3 °C above pre-industrial (1861-1900), based on the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) simulations. Results are compared with what produced by the precedent phase of the project, CMIP5. Model evaluation for the reference period (1985-2005) indicates that CMIP6 models outperform their predecessors in CMIP5, especially in simulating precipitation extremes. Areal averages for changes of most indices are found larger in CMIP6 than in CMIP5. The emblematic annual mean temperature, when averaged over the whole of China in CMIP6, increases by 1.49, 2.21, and 3.53 °C (relative to 1985-2005) for 1.5, 2, and 3 °C above-preindustrial global warming levels, while the counterpart in CMIP5 is 1.20, 1.93 and 3.39 °C respectively. Similarly, total precipitation increases by 5.3%, 8.6%, and 16.3% in CMIP6 and by 4.4%, 7.0% and 12.8% in CMIP5, respectively. The spatial distribution of changes for extreme indices is generally consistent in both CMIP5 and CMIP6, but with significantly higher increases in CMIP6 over Northeast and Northwest China for the hottest day temperature, and South China for the coldest night temperature. In the south bank of the Yangtze River, and most regions around 40°N, CMIP6 shows higher increases for both total precipitation and heavy precipitation. The projected difference between CMIP6 and CMIP5 is mainly attributable to the physical upgrading of climate models and largely independent from their emission scenarios., (Copyright © 2021 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Climate change constitutes a complex challenge posing an urgent threat to our planet and life and creating an entirely different way of conceptualising the world and our chances to provide safe food within it. There are currently numerous studies dealing with the potential effect of increased temperature, extreme weather events and cascading events on food safety and subsequently human health. In contrast to food safety, the available data on the impact of climate change on food quality, including food spoilage, are very limited. This paper presents an overview of the potential impact of climate change on both food safety and microbial spoilage at various stages of the food chain. Among the different hazards related to climate change, mycotoxin and marine biotoxin contamination, environmental residuals derived from various anthropogenic activities and zoonosis diseases are identified as climatic-driven emerging risks to human life and discussed further in this paper. Global warming is projected to affect all microorganisms, including spoilage bacteria and fungi. Hence, this paper also discusses the potential increased risk of microbial spoilage for bulk dried foods and non-refrigerated processed foods which could be high susceptible to climate change in relation to growth of spoilage organisms. The paper concludes that climate change requires multidisciplinary approaches to gain in-depth knowledge and identify potential emerging risks. In addition, this paper goes beyond food safety and addresses an overlooked aspect of climate change, namely the microbiological spoilage of foods that may require a high level of preparedness by both the food industry and policy makers. • Τhe potential impact of climate change on food safety and food spoilage is reviewed. • The most important climatic-driven emerging risks are discussed. • Climate change may promote pathogens proliferation and foodborne diseases outbreaks. • Spoilage bacteria and fungi are expected to be affected due to climate change. • Non-refrigerated foods are the most susceptible to spoilage due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) plays a crucial role in maintaining natural resources, protecting the ecological environment, enhancing global food security, eradicating poverty, and even promoting rural revitalization. To understand the degree of implementation of SARD in the Shenfu coalfield under climate change, three villages that had different levels of energy development were selected. The linear trends and the Mann-Kendall method were used to analyse the climate change characteristics in the study area and a coordinated development model was employed to measure both the SARD coordination and its coordination degree and to analyse the perceptions of farmers, the adaption strategies they have employed, and the factors influencing the success of SARD. The results demonstrate that the climate in the study area has generally become warmer and drier, and this change has increased the vulnerability of the ecological environment and has had adverse impacts on local SARD. Farmers' perceptions of climate change are in line with climate records, but their perceptions of temperature change exhibit a certain time lag. In addition, their adaptation strategies are conducted autonomously, and they vary among the three villages. Based on these results, it is recommended that the local government implement additional policies relating to carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce the adverse effects of climate change. Factors influencing the success of SARD in the three villages are as follows: rapid urbanization; low incomes provided from crop farming; the outflow of primary and middle school students together with the accompanying population; climate warming and the increased frequency of extreme weather events; and environmental pollution and secondary geological disasters caused by coal mining. For all three villages, only by ensuring the synchronization of energy development and environmental protection can SARD be realized in the study area. Countermeasures that can be used to promote SARD in the Shenfu coalfield are proposed in this paper, and they include adjusting the industrial structure in the study area with respect to water conditions, selecting appropriate crop varieties, and accelerating the development of the alfalfa industry in response to national initiatives. • In the study area, the annual mean temperature increased while annual mean precipitation decreased, and this change has increased the vulnerability of the ecological environment while causing adverse impacts on local SARD. Farmers' perceptions about climate change are in basic agreement with climate records, although their perception of the temperature mutation slightly lags behind the one recorded. • Farmers' perceptions of climate change are in line with climate records, but their perceptions of temperature change exhibit a certain time lag. In addition, their adaptation strategies are conducted autonomously, and they vary among the three villages. Based on these results, it is recommended that the local government implement additional policies relating to carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce the adverse effects of climate change. • Factors influencing the success of SARD in the three villages are as follows: rapid urbanization; low incomes provided from crop farming; the outflow of primary and middle school students together with the accompanying population; climate warming and the increased frequency of extreme weather events; and environmental pollution and secondary geological disasters caused by coal mining. • For all three villages, only by ensuring the synchronization of energy development and environmental protection can SARD be realized in the study area. • Countermeasures that can be used to promote SARD in the Shenfu coalfield are proposed in this paper, and they include adjusting the industrial structure in the study area with respect to water conditions, selecting appropriate crop varieties, and accelerating the development of the alfalfa industry in response to national initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper presents the first on-the-ground study of attitudes towards just transition ideas in Australian coal communities. • It highlights the range of specific anxieties and reservations that workers and individuals in these communities have about these ideas. • The study highlights the dire need for local autonomy and control over any transition planning in these regions. Over the past several years, numerous actors across Australian society have increasingly advocated 'just transition' policies to help coal communities move beyond their reliance on fossil fuel extraction. As part of this, individuals from the environmental movement, trade unions, various NGOs and the private sector have called for a range of initiatives designed to help maintain the social and economic integrity of these regions as coal inevitably declines. Yet while just transition ideas have grown in popularity in these numerous forums in Australian society, it remains unclear how they are being understood by the very workers and communities for whom they are being proposed. To shed light on this question, we conducted interviews with residents of coal communities throughout Eastern Australia. We found that respondents had several key anxieties about just transition ideas and their impacts on their lives. In this paper, we break our findings down into five main themes that help explain these anxieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News coverage of noteworthy environmental events is often fleeting, moving from one spectacle to another and rarely retaining global attention. But in August 2019, news of Amazon rainforest fires spread seemingly as quickly as the fires themselves, with sustained global coverage and funding pouring into environmental organizations. Yet Amazon fires regularly occur and fires were simultaneously burning in other important Brazilian biomes, with some causing worse damage. What was it about the 2019 Amazon fires that elicited such a strong and persistent global response? In this paper, we draw on distinctions between slow/immediate (Nixon, 2011) and structural/direct violence (Galtung, 1969) to answer this question. We argue that the Amazon's reputation as a global treasure and its association with climate change and biodiversity through 'giantness' (Slater, 2002) meant that the fires' local spectacular violence became felt as an instant global threat, shifting perceptions of violence from slow to immediate. Moreover, as the identified instigator of the violence, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro became a sort of 'bridge' between structural and direct dimensions of violence, thus making the violence personal. These three dynamics combined to enhance visibility of the Amazon's destruction and its connection to planetary stability, thereby inspiring the 2019 fires' extraordinary reactions. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to psychological literature on perceptions of ecological crises and to discussions in political ecology/geography concerning violent environments by demonstrating how and why both the slow and structural violence of the global climate and biodiversity crises can be rendered more visible via localized effects. • Significant environmental events rarely receive sustained global news coverage. • In 2019, the Amazon fires stood out for their extended global news coverage. • The fires shifted the violence of environmental crises from slow to immediate. • Bolsonaro shifted the violence of environmental crises from structural to personal. • These dynamics made the violence of the climate and biodiversity crises more visible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents new data and reviews previously obtained results on the late glacial to Holocene history of peatlands in the southern part of the Baikal region under conditions of regional climate changes. To better understand climate signals, we have combined vegetation and geochemical variation data in 4.6 m thick peat deposits in the Vydrino bog located on the Tankhoi piedmont plain south of Lake Baikal. The territory has been swamped since 13.1 cal ka BP when the peatland started developing as a fen upon a sedimentary substrate. The 13.1–9.5 cal kyr climate record included two events of warming separated by an excursion of dry cold climate. Warming continued till 9.0 cal ka BP and eutrophic peat formation occurred in favorable temperature and moisture conditions. Another warming episode between 9.0 and 8.4 cal ka BP ended up with the Holocene climate optimum while the bog became mesotrophic. About 7.3–6.5 cal ka BP, the temperature and moisture inputs were no longer optimal for fir and spruce forests in the Vydrino area, which led to dramatic changes in landscape and vegetation. The wet and warm climate gradually became drier and colder from 6.5 to 2.3 cal ka BP, with a brief warm excursion about 5.5–5.3 cal ka BP. The peat deposition was interrupted in a cold climate from ∼2.3 cal ka BP to ∼0.7 cal ka BP, and the bog became oligotrophic afterwards. The newly obtained data allowed us to compare the paleoclimatic indicators available for the south Baikal region to determine their compatibility and inconsistency. In addition, we provide a general view to the quality of the climate and environmental reconstructions in the Baikal region by comparison of the data on its peatland study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade witnessed a wide expansion of a fossil fuel divestment movement. Fossil fuel free (FFF) financial products—which are portfolios that exclude companies involved in the production of oil, gas, and coal—have proliferated, initiating a debate on their financial and ecological implications for economic agents. This paper examines whether and the extent to which these financial products are immune to fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels. To do so, we empirically assess the daily effects of changes in oil, gas, and coal prices on returns on fossil fuel free indices provided by S&P. While we find no evidence that the FFF indices underperforms their conventional counterparts on average, the results from our model further show that the returns on FFF portfolios have more exposure to movements in fossil fuel prices than those on mainstream portfolios. The insights from our estimations have important implications for investors and other economic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting and influencing consumer behavior can aid in combating the climate crisis. Previously, Matthews et al. (2022) modelled the influence of relational framing on consumer purchasing, where relational training established pro- and anti-environmental coordinated classes. The current paper extends Matthews et al.'s (2022) analysis by empirically modelling complex relational networks consistent with Relational Density Theory (RDT; Belisle & Dixon, 2020). In the experiment, participants completed a pre- and post- relational training multidimensional scaling procedure including positive and negative valence environmental related imagery and unfamiliar symbols. The relational training was designed to establish coordination between the symbols and evaluative climate functions. This analysis allowed for the development of a geometric model of complex relational behavior that were consistent with shifts in purchasing behavior observed in the prior study, supporting the link between relational behavior and overt behavior that may be of interest to behavior and climate scientists. Moreover, the current study provides a direct translational extension of existing research on RDT to a topic of immense social importance. • Introduction provides a comprehensive overview of relational frame theory and relational density theory as applied to consumer behavior influencing earth's climate. • Preliminary experiment with a convenience sample extends results reported by Matthews et al. (in press) by graphing climate relational frames in a two-dimensional geometric space. • Results also demonstrate latent class organization that is contextually influenced by observing repeated stimulus pairing within a SPOP observation task. • Discussion delineates future research that can utilize relational density frameworks to evaluate complex relational networks involving climate arbitrary symbolic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock production is affected by climate change, but also contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. This leads to ambiguity in how livestock are framed in climate and development policy processes. We use the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to investigate the role of knowledge brokers in Kenyan livestock and climate change policy processes. We analyse how knowledge brokers deal with ambiguity from different problem and response framings within science-policy interfaces using the case of a project that seeks to inform Kenyan policies relevant to livestock and climate change. We identify ambiguity within the problem stream where actors recognise adaptation and mitigation as dual challenges of livestock and climate change. This ambiguity creates tension between actors but can be strategically deployed to help match the problem and policy streams. Actors use the terms 'climate smart' and 'co-benefits' to link the dual adaptation and mitigation needs. In the political stream, nationally defined priorities and external funding possibilities influence the political will and motivation to adopt identified response options. There are opportunities for knowledge brokers to address the ambiguities and translate knowledge during windows of opportunity when the streams are being coupled, but challenges exist, resulting in slow and inadequate development of policies. This paper makes two contributions to the MSF literature. First, we further refine the concept of knowledge brokers and establish their role across all three streams. Second, we apply the MSF in a lower income country and demonstrate that international organizations must be among the actors considered. • Ambiguity surrounds livestock; they are affected by and contribute to climate change. • Knowledge brokers in Kenya frame issues, offer solutions and influence politics. • International actors shape problem framing and solutions around livestock in Kenya. • The MSF needs to be adapted to apply in developing country contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under climate change, many parts of the world are warming with increasing frequencies and intensities of heatwaves, bringing heat-health risks to places including those that have a historically temperate or cool climate. These places may have extensive experience in managing cold-health risks, while experience is lacking in dealing with heat-health risks due to their lack of historical exposure to high temperatures. This paper explores this overlooked area of the challenges and opportunities of heat-health governance in cool places using Scotland as a case study. Various important themes of heat-health governance in cool places were identified by the study, including socio-cultural barriers to intervention, vulnerable population overlaps, temporal and geographical scales, and governance arrangements. The study found challenges in managing heat-health risks including a perceived lack of heat-health risks and policy priority as well as unsuitable building stock. Meanwhile, it also identified opportunities for governing cold and heat risks holistically within existing institutional systems and creating co-benefits of improving communication and information dissemination, reducing inequality and improving indoor thermal comfort of both cold and heat as well as providing good quality greenspace. Our findings contribute to the development or improvement of national/regional strategies to manage heat-health risks not only in Scotland but also in other places with a historically cool or temperate climate. • Temperature increase under climate change poses health risks to cool places as well. • Cool places have distinctive challenges and opportunities in heat-health governance. • Perceived lack of heat risks poses socio-cultural barriers to heat-health governance. • A holistic governance approach of cold and heat-health risks was preferred. • Building design and occupant behaviour are crucial for thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure is increasing globally to deliver integrated land use at large spatial scales (10–100 s km2) to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies through delivery of nature-based solutions. There is also pressure to decentralise land use decision-making to sub-national levels of government and multi-stakeholder partnerships, with the aim of improving policy targeting, coordination and participation. Whilst there has been significant research on these issues at smaller spatial and administrative scales, it is limited at larger scales. This paper addresses this gap, investigating whether the introduction of additional regional institutions can help address these challenges. It draws insights from Scotland's decade old Land Use Strategy (LUS) and evolving Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) that aim to mitigate climate change through encouraging improved and integrated land use and land management. We find that despite considerable stakeholder support, such approaches may not deliver on their ambitions. An overarching finding relates to the importance of political commitment to implementation at these larger scales, which is crucial for establishing clear objectives, giving regions authority to respond to regional priorities, and ensuring adequate resourcing. This affects buy-in from stakeholders and the resolution of policy coordination challenges that the partnerships are meant to address. It has wider implications for the delivery of national climate policies, given the importance of land management in most climate change strategies. The insights, and the analytical framework used, are relevant for any country grappling with the challenge of implementing nature-based solutions at ever larger scales whilst bridging local and national land use priorities. • Regional integrated land use planning in Scotland evaluated and wider lessons drawn. • Clear objectives, transfer of powers, and resourcing key to regional land use planning. • Political commitment is crucial in overcoming delivery challenges at this scale. • Approaches to scaling up integrated land use need to account for politics. • These lessons are important in global efforts to scale up nature-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variability and dynamics of the Asian monsoon (AM, hereafter indicates both of the summer and winter monsoons.) at orbital and millennial timescales has attracted wide interest. Chinese loess deposits, covering an area of ~500 × 103 km2 and with a thickness of several tens to more than three hundred meters, is an ideal continental archive to reconstruct AM variations during the Quaternary epoch. Over the past thirty years, since the earliest paper published in an international journal that linked the Asian monsoon and Chinese loess deposits, many studies have been undertaken focusing on this research topic. These results have greatly deepened our understanding of the variations of the AM climate and their driving mechanisms during the past ~2.6 Myr. In this paper, we emphasize recent progress on the AM variability and dynamics revealed by Chinese loess records; in particular, we discuss the reliability and precision of the timescale and the monsoon proxy indicators for the loess-paleosol sequences, which are two fundamental aspects for understanding AM behavior. We analyze what we know and discuss what we do not know about the AM. We refine the timescale for the typical loess-paleosol sequence in the central Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), which can be used as a new timescale to study palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental changes in the monsoonal Asia. We conclude that low-latitude insolation changes induced by precession, and global ice volume, temperature at high-latitudes, as well as sea-level changes forced variations of the AM at orbital time scales. High-latitude cooling events and low-latitude hydroclimate process at millennial time scales, such as climate changes associated with Heinrich events and Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles in Northern Atlantic and Greenland, have also modulated AM variability. We suggest that high-latitude forcing of AM variations occurs through ocean and atmospheric circulation linkages, although the roles of atmospheric CO 2 , ocean and vegetation feedbacks need further investigation. In future study, high-resolution independent dating, novel proxy indices and transient numerical simulations are still basic tools to understand the loess deposition and AM variations that require considerably more work. Issues such as reliable spatial comparison and regional linkages of records (dependent on precise and accurate numerical chronologies), and quantitative reconstruction of the AM variations, should be given priority in the study the past climate change in Asia, and low-latitude hydroclimate process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although states continue to work together under the UNFCCC, it is increasingly apparent that not enough is being done, and that a just response to climate change is not being pursued. This paper asks whether non-state actors, such as cities, corporations, and non-governmental organisations might, by contrast, offer hope for such a response to emerge. Using the city of Bristol as an empirical case study, the paper puts forward that non-state actors can not only lower emissions and/or contribute to adaptation efforts, but more importantly have the potential to significantly shift the context of climate change action and create space for systemic change. They therefore offer room for cautious optimism. • Cosmopolitan climate justice centred analysis of non-state actors. • Non-state actors offer hope for a just response to climate change. • Non-state actors can push for systemic change in climate change policy. • City of Bristol, UK, used as an empirical case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monthly rainfall data for Blue Nile Basin (BNB) were obtained from the Ethiopian Meteorological Authority (1950–2018). Long-term trends in the BNB annual and monthly rainfall are investigated in this study. The challenges of the paper were to explore the impact of climate change on the study area using sound practical methods. The paper used the widely used statistical methods to find precisely the significance of the impact of climate change rainfall variability and distribution both spatially and temporally in the BNB. The statistical significance of the trend in the study is calculated by the Mann-Kendall (MK) test. Data were analyzed using the coefficient of variation, anomaly index, and precipitation concentration index. The coefficient of variation is high in Kiremt rainfall which implies more inter-annual variability of Bega rainfall than Kiremt (Coefficient of Variation (CV): Bega˃ Belg˃ Kiremt season). Based on Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) value, the number of moderate concentration years (89.9%) has been increasing through time and the study area has encountered successive years of drought. The results showed that the annual, Bega, Belg, and Kiremt precipitation over the whole of BNB is significantly decreasing except Bega season with a magnitude of 36.38, 3.8, 7.8, and 24.7 mm per decade respectively. The rainfall in the study area is characterized by a high CV. Moreover, prolonged droughts have become common which adversely affects the agricultural system. It was also found that very low values of rainfall anomalies that correspond to severe droughts were associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• South Australia is leading low carbon energy transitions in Australia. • Socio-technical transitions are complex, non-linear and follow multiple adaptive pathways. • Complex adaptive systems and risk society theory can be integrated to better understand transitions. • Bold leadership and innovative policy are required to navigate transitions in a reflexive modernity. • Governance can exploit crises to justify transition policy in response to future risk and uncertainty. Renewable energy transitions are occurring across the globe in response to climate change. Such socio-technical transitions are complex and non-linear. They require bold leadership and innovative policy, both in response to environmental risk and to navigate political, technical and socio-economic conditions. This paper integrates complex adaptive systems and risk society theory to inform a discussion on regional socio-technical transitions. South Australia is forging its own adaptive pathway, and in doing so, is leading energy transitions in Australia. Utilising the complex adaptive cycle to frame the state's renewable energy transition, the path can be seen to be evolving from a simple first modernity to a multi-dimensional second modernity. Socio-technical transitions are partly a by-product of responses to risk. While there is no single map for navigating societal transitions, this paper proposes that risk, in the context of risk society theory, is an important guiding dimension for understanding transformational change in socio-technical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing overconsumption to a level that ensures well-being within planetary boundaries is one potential strategy to mitigate climate change. Such strategies might imply considerable changes to consumerist lifestyles. This paper examines individual-level gains and losses that might motivate or hinder people to uptake consumption-reduced lifestyles and accept corresponding demand-side measures. To identify such gains and losses, the paper combines (1) an interdisciplinary systematic literature review spanning eight concepts that assess voluntary consumption reduction from different angles with (2) a qualitative vignette study based upon a sample of mainstream consumers. The paper develops the gains and losses of reduced consumption taxonomy (GLORCY), which comprises three main categories of gains and losses that consumers experience, associate, or anticipate to result from consumption reduction. The taxonomy differentiates personal, social, and universal main categories and provides detailed categories for each. These findings provide relevant insights into motivators and barriers to be considered for promoting consumption reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective functioning of water systems is critical to ensure the quality of human life. Therefore, failure prediction of water mains under climatic variations is necessary to avoid socio-economic and environmental losses. This paper aims to propose a hybrid model named STL-GC-LSTM for an accurate failure prediction of water mains under the impact of climatic variations. Firstly, the seasonal-trend decomposition based on Loess (STL) method is employed to decompose the failure time series. Next, significant climate variables are selected from the Granger causality (GC) test. Lastly, the final predicted failure of water mains is acquired by adding up the predictive results of the three components which are learned by Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models. Several evaluation metrics are used to assess the prediction performance. The results from a case study in Hong Kong imply that STL decomposition is promising for fully mining intrinsic properties of failure series. The developed hybrid models are effective in specifically identifying which component climatic variations exert influence on, and the final failure predictions show satisfactory agreement compared with peer models. This paper could provide an accurate estimation for failures of water mains ahead of time and be used as an essential complement to other numerical prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Carbon reduction measures were summarized and evaluated. • The carbon removal capacity and cost of some carbon reduction methods were predicted. • The main CCUS projects in the world were collated and analyzed. • The principles of CCUS technology were reviewed in terms of progress, problems and prospects. Since the industrial revolution, the greenhouse effect has become more and more serious, causing great impacts on human beings and society. Many countries have formulated carbon neutrality and introduced a series of emission reduction measures. This paper summarizes and evaluates for the first time three universally appropriate carbon reduction measures: energy upgrading, biotechnology, and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology in conjunction with the policies of each country. The choice of carbon reduction methods depends on the economic situation and natural resources of each country. For example, the Middle East is more in need of energy upgrades, South America is focused on biotechnology, and Western Europe is currently more suited to CCUS technology. This paper also predicts the carbon reduction capacity and capital consumption of 10 carbon reduction methods based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data and the current development of emission reduction technologies. This can provide a reference for countries to choose appropriate carbon reduction methods. Meanwhile, this paper comprehensively reviews the principles of CCUS technology, including the current progress, problems, and prospects for application. The CCUS technology plays a significant role in promoting the transformation of the energy structure and responding to global climate change. Promoting the rapid development and wide application of CCUS technology requires the joint efforts of governments, enterprises and the public: government policy, enterprise investment and public support. This paper can provide references for countries to select appropriate carbon reduction methods and guidance for researchers to further improve the effect of CCUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a critical gap in telecom regulators' awareness of the climate impact of their policy decisions and highlights the substantial potential of broadband technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). Empirical evidence shows that broadband can achieve a GHGe reduction of approximately 15–20%, a notable efficiency given its relatively low direct emissions of around 0.4–1.0% of global emissions. This analysis substantiates the premise that effective telecom policy serves as robust climate policy. The paper argues for a global alignment of telecom and climate policies, advocating for an integrated approach that acknowledges the deep interdependencies between these sectors. Key policy recommendations include targeted subsidies for broadband in rural areas, strategic spectrum allocation, and comprehensive incentives for green technology adoption across consumers, industries, and governments. The goal is to prompt a reevaluation of policy frameworks, urging advanced economies to harness the full potential of digital infrastructure to combat climate change. • Broadband technologies contribute only about 0.4–1.0% of direct GHGe within the ICT sector, underscoring their efficiency as sustainable technologies. • Broadband adoption can enable a significant reduction in GHGe, estimated at 15–20%, by facilitating low-carbon consumer behaviors, optimizing industrial practices, and enhancing government services. • There is a significant gap in awareness among telecom regulators about the climatic consequences of their decisions. • Targeted education and collaboration initiatives are essential to increase awareness and integrate climate considerations into telecom policy. • The pressing nature of the climate crisis necessitates translating academic findings into concrete policies. • This includes removing regulatory barriers to network investments, optimizing spectrum allocation for energy-efficient technologies, and developing comprehensive incentive programs for consumers, industries, and governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate emergency is widely acknowledged. However, our institutions are struggling to find new intervention types to accelerate the transition. This paper analyses this struggle by combining agency theories and discursive approaches to study transition intermediaries, i.e, organizations seeking to foster the transition activities of others. The internal meaning structures of intermediaries are described as interlocking shared action frames, i.e., beliefs and meanings underpining their activities. These frames are characterized through the definition of pairs of contrasting frame elements along eleven framing dimensions. This conceptualization allows for a semi-quantitative mapping of internal structures. The method is developped and illustrated with the in-depth case study of a Swiss regional utility department running an energy efficiency programme. Analysing a series of exploratory workshops, we find that established frames revolve around technology-oriented, managerial approaches to the transition, ultimately narrowing the range of imaginable interventions. While these are well-studied shortcomings of energy efficiency centred approaches, further observations suggest that these frames underpin the perception of intervention impacts, helping keep staff and recipients involved. To strike a balance between energy saving targets and transformative ambitions, this paper suggests revising programme evaluation logics and reframing technological solutions as responses, rather than substitutes, to practice changes. [Display omitted] • A discursive approach is used to explore the agency of transition intermediaries. • Internal meaning structures are described as interlocking shared agency frames. • A utility department running an energy efficiency programme is taken as case study. • An established perspective revolves around technical, managerial approaches. • Emergent perspectives tend to be linked this coherent established perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Paris Agreement, European member countries have been committed to mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects. Climate action planning allows cities to organize their approach. It is critical to ensure that investments in infrastructure and services have a low-carbon impact and consider likely climate change perspectives. The output of this process is the climate action plan (CAP): one or more documents where a city sets out its roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen climate resilience throughout the community. Many cities have already developed and published a Paris Agreement-compatible CAP. The quality and compliance of these plans will also influence the achievement of the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2015). Thus, cities are crucial players in global climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, and how they engage in climate policy is currently under debate. The paper is intended to support technological design, selecting good practices from the latest and most complete ones for climate mitigation and adaptation in urban settings. In particular, the paper focuses on public space and built environment regeneration actions that can tangibly contribute to the global climate resilience movement. Considering the operational difficulty that could arise in planning climate adaptation measures in historical urban contexts, the study critically analyzes current strategies in sedimented landscape realities of high cultural-historical value. The goal is to draw from them a cognitive and expeditious method of intervention that can be reiterated for similar contexts and is compatible with the consistency and value of urban and built heritage. The theme is timely and falls into Sustainable Development Goals No. 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and No. 13 (climate action). • The paper analyses the most recent studies and scientific papers on climate action plans. • Good practices for climate mitigation and adaptation in urban settings are critically investigated. • The study analyses current strategies in sedimented landscape realities of high historical and cultural value. • A toolkit is proposed that can be repurposed for similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal communities and their environments are facing unprecedented changes, with climate change driving rising global mean sea level, exacerbating extreme sea level events, and increasing hazards. Whilst adaptations to change have been central to coastal life for millennia, climate change brings a speed and intensity of change not previously experienced. Researchers are noting that adaptations are needed that are large scale and systemic with significant changes to lives and livelihoods – Transformational Adaptations – yet there is little evidence of this in practice, and there remains an operationalisation gap between ambitions and actions. This paper uses a qualitative case study method to assess how existing policy may enable and inhibit local stakeholder involvement in transformational adaptation in English coastal flood and erosion risk management. Through twenty interviews with coastal management stakeholders, the capacity for local coastal management stakeholders to initiate transformational adaptation and the perceived involvement of residents are analysed. The results indicate that transformational adaptation remains a distant aspiration in the English coastal management system, with local stakeholders possessing limited capacity to initiate it. The perceived role for residents in adaptation processes is often focused on their being recipients of adaptation interventions, and there are a range of barriers to their further involvement. The paper concludes that despite the theoretical interest in transformational adaptation, there is limited evidence its implementation in English coastal flood and erosion risk management, and there are multiple priority areas for policy development to support capacity for engaged transformational adaptation practices in coastal management contexts. • There are few examples of transformational adaptation in the English coastal flood and erosion risk management. • The perceived role for residents in adaptation processes is often focused on their being recipients of interventions. • There are a range of barriers for local stakeholders to develop and enact coastal adaptation policy or practice. • There are multiple priorities for policy development to support capacity for engaged transformational adaptation practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing the impact of natural disasters on urban-rural income inequality helps to achieve shared prosperity. This paper uses the functional entropy weight method to calculate the level of natural disasters from 2004 to 2020. Then, this paper discusses the impact of natural disasters on the urban-rural income gap. The empirical results are as follows. (1) Natural disasters have expanded the urban-rural income gap. The regression coefficient is 0.2663, which is significant at the 1% level. (2) In areas with a high proportion of the rural population, the impact of natural disasters is more prominent. (3) Mechanism analysis indicates that natural disasters have widened the urban-rural income gap by restraining rural investment and agricultural production. Finally, this paper suggests strengthening investment in the agricultural sector to mitigate the negative impact of natural disasters. • This paper uses the functional entropy weight method to calculate the level of natural disasters. • This paper quantitatively measures the impact of natural disasters on the urban-rural income gap. • This paper examines the mechanism of the impact of natural disasters on the urban-rural income gap. • This paper provides policy suggestions for narrowing the urban-rural income gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) is the primary supplier of heat and moisture to the global atmosphere, and exerts a significant impact on tropical and worldwide climate variability. This special issue expands our understanding of the paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic evolution of the IPWP since Neogene times with implications for understanding future change. It contains fifteen research articles addressing two primary themes: (1) Ocean-atmosphere coupled processes via the ocean water-column, sea surface, atmospheric evaporation/precipitation; and (2) Sediment source-to-sink and biogeochemical carbon-cycles, and their interactions with oceanographic, hydrological, tectonic and other factors. These contributions improve our understanding of thermocline temperature, salinity, oxygenation, hydrography, carbon cycle, biological productivity, and sedimentary response in the IPWP across Neogene and Quaternary time scales, as well as aiding in the forecast of future climate responses in the context of current global warming. The special issue will capture the attention of geologists, climatologists, and anybody else interested in global climate change. • This is the editorial preface for the VSI on Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. • 15 papers are included and shortly introduced. • Two themes are included. • The 15 papers provide new views on paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic changes in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • This paper proposes the concept of room-temperature solar-powered CH 4 reforming. • The non-metallic element (Br, N and S) doped TiO 2 is prepared. • The doped catalysts X-TiO 2 were used in photocatalytic methane reforming. • The structure–activity relationship was studied by density functional theory. • Based on isotope tracer results, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. • The catalytic performance of S-TiO 2 is 22–65 times that of bulk TiO 2 catalyst. • The possible catalytic mechanism was verified by in situ infrared characterization. Given the increasingly severe climate and energy crises, this paper proposes the concept of "room-temperature solar-powered CH 4 reforming", intended to achieve carbon emission reduction and efficiently use carbon-containing resources. However, traditional semiconductors as catalysts have some problems, such as few catalytic active sites and fast recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, resulting in low efficiency of photocatalytic CH 4 reforming. For this reason, a series of doped catalysts X-TiO 2 (X = Br, N, and S) are prepared by introducing nonmetallic elements into the TiO 2 lattice to construct oxygen defects. Notably, the CO yield of the S-TiO 2 catalyst was 1048 μ mol g−1, 65 times higher than the catalytic performance of bulk TiO 2. Based on the functional density theory (DFT) calculation, the interaction between the S active site and the performance of photocatalytic CH 4 reforming with oxygen defects is discussed in detail. The synergistic effect of the S site and the oxygen defect has been shown to rapidly activate C = O and C-H bonds at room temperature. Finally, based on the tracer experiment and DFT calculation, a possible mechanism of photocatalytic CH 4 reforming at room temperature is proposed. This work provides a new research direction for achieving carbon neutrality at room temperature and a feasible technical scheme for the large-scale application of photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the critical issue of decolonizing meanings within the context of the climate crisis and land-based adaptations, specifically focusing on Indigenous women's perspectives in Western Canada. The study focuses on the intricate relationship between Indigenous knowledge, culture, and the environment, emphasizing the unique insights that Indigenous women bring to the discourse surrounding climate change and adaptation. Drawing on the decolonial feminist research approach, community engagement, and participatory research methods, the paper highlights the diverse ways Indigenous women conceptualize the climate crisis and respond to the impacts of the climate crisis on their traditional lands. It critically examines the colonial legacies that have shaped environmental policies and interventions, often marginalizing Indigenous voices and perspectives. The findings advocate the importance of centering Indigenous women's knowledge and experiences in climate change discourse and policy-making. By decolonizing meanings, the paper advocates for a more inclusive and equitable approach to land-based adaptations that acknowledges the resilience and wisdom embedded in Indigenous land-based learning and practice. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on sustainable and culturally sensitive strategies for addressing the climate crisis, fostering a deeper understanding of the intersections between gender, Indigeneity, and environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product service systems (PSS) are an example of a novel business model billed as having the potential to significantly reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption processes. However, despite widespread interest in PSS, consensus regarding their actual environmental impacts, particularly with regard to salient issues such as global warming, is lacking. Hence this paper explores existing research to investigate the state of the art regarding the climatic impacts of PSS, alongside the set of factors that influence climatic impacts. The paper comprises a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature, quantifying the extent to which different types of PSS have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across multiple product categories. Our study shows that significant reductions in climatic emissions are possible, but PSS are in many cases associated with more modest reductions and, in some cases, increased emissions. Further, we observe no clear differences in climatic impacts according to the type of PSS model that is deployed. Rather, differences in climatic impact are influenced by factors such as production and design alongside use-phase impacts and contextual factors such as transportation and the energy mix. The study argues that further research is needed to establish a more robust baseline upon which to draw conclusions regarding the sources of climatic impacts, and outlines fruitful ways for companies to tackle the complexities of climatic emissions that are beyond their control. • In some cases, product service systems can reduce climatic impacts by up to 80%. • In other cases, climatic impacts increase compared to traditional product sales. • Climatic impacts are influenced by use intensity, transportation and production. • Other contextual factors such as the energy mix play a role. • More quantitative assessments are needed with less reliance on estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seychelles' issuance of the world's first blue bond in 2018 represents a novel approach to financing sustainable blue economy activities. Consisting of socio-legal methodologies, this paper examines the implications of this financial innovation, particularly for the local fisheries sector, and explores how it shapes the implementation of international environmental law in Seychelles. The paper reveals that the ecological modernization trajectory based on the discourse that sees sustainable transition as a profitable opportunity prioritizes commercial interests over the needs of local communities and alternative fisheries proposals. However, the paper claims that such a strategy should be read in the context of low climate financing for adaptation to small island states that are pushed to come up with their climate financing solutions at the expense of becoming indebted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking China's provincial panel data from 2010 to 2020 as an example, this paper verifies that climate change, especially extreme climate change, can destabilize China's financial stability and explores the transmission path of climate risks with meteorological disaster losses as the channel variable. Our empirical results demonstrate that: (a) only after the extreme climate change breaks through a certain threshold, thus causing a significant impact on the financial system; (b) we cannot ignore the improvement of disaster prevention and reduction ability brought by the improvement of social and economic development level; (c) the impact of extreme climate change will spread to the financial system through the economic losses caused by meteorological disasters; (d) there is obvious regional heterogeneity in the spread of meteorological disaster losses to the financial system. Our results are robust to a wider battery of checks and have important policy implications. • This paper empirically tests the impact of climate change on financial stability. • Extreme climate change will damage China's financial stability. • The economic losses caused by climate disasters will spread to the finance. • The transmission of such losses has obvious regional heterogeneity. • This paper provides policy implication for coping with climate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining industry is crucial to the current global economy; however, it confronts sustainability challenges. Recovering secondary metals from mining residues is a promising opportunity to enhance the sustainability of the mining sector. This paper introduces a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) to evaluate the sustainability of a new valorization process designed for a residue from a sulfidic mine located in Sweden. Results show mixed environmental impacts, with higher climate change (+22%) but lower mineral resource use (-98%) compared to primary mining. Economic analysis suggests that with a CAPEX between 80 M€and 120 M€, the final NPV is between 8.2 M€and 48 M€, depending on the purity of the recovered cobalt. Social analysis reveals fair worker compensation and limited access to local resources as crucial social risks. In the case study presented in this paper, the LCSA provides valuable insights for future cleaner production and more sustainability-oriented decision-making. • A Sustainability assessment evaluates mining residues valorization development. • The LCA, except for climate change and land use, shows clear benefits. • The purity of recovered cobalt is the key driver to economic viability. • Fair salary and access to local resources are the main social hotpots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Traditional and Indigenous knowledges and strategies are overlooked and suppressed by mainstream approaches to adaptation. • Modernist adaptation approaches frame climate as something that can be controlled and understood rationally. • The suppression of traditional and Indigenous approaches to adaptation has led to increased vulnerability and marginalisation. • People's local and place-based knowledges are assets that help them better adapt to climate change. • Adaptation planners and practitioners should listen with openness to plural forms of knowing and being. The differential impacts of climate change have highlighted the need to implement fit-for-purpose interventions that are reflective of the needs of vulnerable communities. However, adaptation projects tend to favour technocratic, market-driven, and Eurocentric approaches that inadvertently disregard the place-based and contextual adaptation strategies of many communities in the Global South. The paper aims to decolonise climate change adaptation guided by the critical tenets of 'Decolonising Climate Adaptation Scholarship' (DCAS). It presents empirical case studies from Fiji, Vietnam, and the Philippines and reveals the different ways that Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and strategies are devalued and suppressed by modernist and developmentalist approaches to climate adaptation. The paper then foregrounds some of the adaptive techniques that resist and remain, or have been re-worked in hybrid ways with ILK. Ultimately, this paper combats the delegitimisation of ILK by mainstream climate change adaptation scholarship and highlights the need for awareness and openness to other forms of knowing and being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uncovers the most important factors causing institutional inertia in the water management sector related to flood control in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States Gulf Coast region. The gradual modifications in water management systems, structures, and institutions are increasingly associated with the concept of institutional inertia, which serves as a valuable perspective for understanding resistance to change. New Orleans was chosen as a case study due to its history of catastrophic flooding events, vulnerability to climate change, extensive subsidence and reliance on hard infrastructure solutions to water management. Through a process tracing method, this paper illuminates the phenomenon of critical junctures in the period of study for New Orleans (1893-present) to understand their causes, results, and path-dependent legacies. The main findings are that some key contributing factors (i.e. costs, uncertainty, path dependence, power and legitimacy, and complexity) did promote institutional inertia in the New Orleans water management sector related to flood control. In addition, the paper sheds lights on the critical junctures that largely have failed to break the flood resistance paradigm that has dominated New Orleans water management since the system's inception. The application of institutional inertia and critical juncture lenses in New Orleans is novel, making it particularly relevant for water management institutions and flood control practices. • New Orleans illustrates how potential transformative periods have failed to engender paradigmatic and systemic shifts. • All five factors depicted as contributors to institutional inertia exert an influence with different levels of significance. • Some variables (i.e., path dependence) are more strongly related to institutional inertia than others (i.e., uncertainty). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Earth's oceans serve as vast heat storage reservoirs and the ocean currents, forming a heat transfer zone, act as a buffer for climate change. The oceans play a crucial role in the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle, interacting with the atmosphere. However, the increasing occurrence of heatwaves in recent years has disrupted the stability of the oceans and affected their function as a global thermostat. This paper examines relevant literature from the Web of Science database spanning from 1996 to 2023. Our analysis reveals the evolving research hotspots regarding the impact of heatwaves on ocean carbon sinks, progressing from "carbon dioxide - carbon emissions - ocean - seawater - organic matter - marine sediment" over the past decades. Keyword frequency and centrality analysis indicate a deepening focus in this field of study. The research areas primarily revolve around climate change, carbon dioxide, ocean variability, the influence of high temperatures on the carbon cycle, the weakening of the ocean carbon sink function, and ocean temperature. This study summarizes research findings on the mechanisms by which high temperature heatwaves affect ocean carbon sinks, alterations in ocean carbon cycle patterns, their impacts on marine ecosystems, and factors influencing seawater temperature and heatwave occurrence. Finally, the paper discusses novel findings in this field and proposes countermeasures to enhance ocean sink capacity amidst the warming trend. • The research hotspots have shifted from "carbon dioxide-carbon emissions-ocean-seawater-organic matter-marine sediment". • The study analyzes mechanisms by which high-temperature heat waves affect ocean carbon sinks and identifies influencing factors. • The research presents novel findings in this area and proposes strategies to enhance the capacity of ocean sinks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change poses an unprecedented and urgent challenge, driving the international community towards a consensus on low-carbon sustainable development. Enterprise digital transformation is a strategic response to the evolving demands of the Information Age, which reshapes business processes and reduces energy consumption. This paper empirically investigates the impact of enterprise digital transformation on low-carbon urban development, based on matched "firm-city" data covering the period 2006–2020. The SBM-DDF model is employed to assess low-carbon urban development, and the text mining approach is utilized to calculate the digital transformation index of enterprises. The results indicate that enterprise digital transformation significantly facilitates low-carbon urban development and the primary mechanisms involve fostering green technology innovation, increasing the scale of green investment, and driving the transformation of industrial structure. This promotional effect is positively reinforced by government environmental concerns, government environmental subsidies, and fintech development. Additionally, the positive impact of digital transformation on low-carbon development occurs more predominantly in regions with lower levels of industrialization and marketization, and this effect becomes more evident after the digital transformation wave. By establishing a micro-level empirical foundation, this paper aims to contribute to digital transformation strategic decision-making within enterprises, while also offering a tangible and feasible pathway for advancing low-carbon urban transformation initiatives. • Enterprise digital transformation significantly facilitates low-carbon urban development. • he primary mechanisms through which enterprise digital transformation promotes low-carbon urban development involve fostering green technology innovation, increasing the scale of green investment, and driving the transformation of industrial structure. • The impact of enterprise digital transformation on low-carbon urban development is positively reinforced by government environmental concerns, government environmental subsidies, and fintech development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of anthropogenic climate change, forest and tree populations must adapt, migrate, or face extirpation. Assisted migration (AM) has emerged as a promising forestry strategy to mitigate the impacts of climate change, yet its role in the evolutionary and ecological processes remains unclear. Various models, including climate niche models and transfer and response functions, have been employed to guide AM efforts. Each of these models has advantages and limitations, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of their rationale and constraints for further development and improvement. In our review, we aimed to define the role of forestry AM and elucidate the scenarios in which AM becomes a critical necessity in the context of climate change. Furthermore, we provided a comprehensive overview of the rationale and development of commonly used models and functions in the realm of forestry AM. Finally, we analyzed 214 published papers related to forestry AM, examining how previous evidence either supports or opposes the implementation of AM, and the underlying reasons for the agreement or disagreement. Our findings reveal that nearly 60% of the reviewed papers express a positive stance towards AM. More than one-fifth of the papers emphasize AM's potential to enhance adaptation. Another significant aspect supporting AM is its capacity to increase production and reduce extirpation risks. However, AM can also introduce invasive risks, lead to maladaptation, and even raise moral concerns. In conclusion, we advocate for a holistic approach to AM, incorporating genetic knowledge, models accounting for biological interactions and edaphic adaptation, and the formulation of comprehensive policies. This integrated strategy will be pivotal in guiding AM practices aimed at mitigating the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. ● Explores AM's ecological and evolutionary role under climate change. ● AM enhances species adaptation and productivity. ● AM risks: invasive species and maladaptation. ● Advantages and limits of forestry AM models. ● Calls for integrated policy in AM strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the body of knowledge on the first human occupations predating MIS 21 in the Atapuerca karst system. These occupations are described in terms of their ecological, cultural and technological context based on the Sima del Elefante and Gran Dolina sites. This paper focuses on the lower units of these sedimentary infills, specifically Unit TE9 of Sima del Elefante and Unit TD4 of Gran Dolina. In addition, evidence of the earliest human settlements in Europe is reviewed and hypotheses about the dynamics and intensity of that settlement are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale of the decarbonisation challenge and the short timeframes over which action is required demand urgent action. This paper is set within the surface transport sector, now the largest sector of emissions with the slowest pace of change in many advanced liberal economies. It focuses on the strategies and actions of local government which is recognised to be a central player in catalysing change. Our evidence is derived from the actions of two UK local areas which claim to be at the forefront of the decarbonisation challenge. The paper focuses on the role of funding and financial mechanisms in addressing the climate crisis. In the face of an established pattern of austerity and hollowing out of local government we explore how deep transformation is being envisaged. We find a recursive set of issues which derive from a dependence on funding from outwith. This dependence means that despite comprehensive overarching strategies and goals the funding available is the core of the strategy. This means that the nature of the funds, such as the requirement for experimentation, innovation or private sector leverage, defines direction. In turn, and to maintain success in attracting funds, there is an emphasis on presenting 'premium spaces of ambition' with little evidence of attention to broader systemic change. This duality is openly recognised. This paper advances a wider point that greater emphasis should be placed on the 'financialisation' of climate policy and the reality rather than the rhetoric of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recognition of the impacts of climate change and air pollution, a special issue was prepared to address the response and adaptation of agricultural ecosystems to global changes. A total of thirteen papers were published, delving into the mechanisms underlying the effects on crops and agroecosystems and adding important insights into the modeling and adaptation of agroecosystems to global change through optimized management practices. This collection of papers has a broad relevance to numerous areas in agriculture, ecology, and environmental and earth sciences. • A special issue dedicated to 'agricultural ecosystems response and adaptation to global changes'. • A total of thirteen papers were published. • Studies concerned ozone, precipitation, warming, management, and modelling. • This Editorial discusses the content of the publications included in the special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develops and tests a conceptual framework of seasonal culture as rhythmic patterns. • Perceived seasonal patterns shift with climatic, environmental and social changes. • People maintain, recalibrate or detach from their seasonal patterns of activities. • Recalibrating seasonal cultures to shifting rhythms is sustainable adaptation. There is a growing literature on the cultural capacities influencing communities' adaptation to environmental and social change, including the temporal frameworks they draw on for timely action. This paper focuses on seasonal cultures, and how they enable communities on the Coromandel Peninsula to interpret and adapt practical timings to disrupted patterns of seasonal rhythms. The paper develops and applies a conceptual framework of seasonal cultures as perceived rhythmic patterns practiced by communities as cultural repertoires for action, emphasising the ways cultures evolve as patterns are contested and change. This concept steered critical, mixed-method ethnographic study with communities on the peninsula over two years. The research found that Coromandel communities' cultures make seasonal change visible as long-term shifts and asynchrony between rhythmic patterns, which they linked to climatic change, environmental degradation, colonisation and globalisation, and shifting relations between society and the environment. As seasonal patterns fail to hold, communities deploy a combination of strategies for re-configuring seasonal rhythms through their practices: (i) maintaining established, institutionalised schemas of activity while coping with seasonal variability; (ii) season-proofing activities from environmental rhythms; or (iii) re-learning and recalibrating cultures to mutable configurations of rhythms in a highly modified environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the economic value of marine and coastal ecosystem services by analyzing 67 studies published in scientific literature. It appraises, collects, and analyzes economic valuations, combining a systematic literature review and meta-analysis regressions. The studies focus on ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, marine waters, and mangrove forests, with recreation, tourism, and fishing being the most valued services. The economic value ranges for provisioning services are between $99 to $1535 per hectare per year, cultural services are between $45 to $2170 per hectare per year, and recreation and tourism services range from $185 to $895 per individual per year. However, the estimates should be used with caution due to the limited number of publications and the use of value transfer techniques. This paper's findings can help develop future research for academics and practitioners communities and inform policy discussions about preserving these valuable ecosystems in the context of the climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]