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Southeast Asia is considered to have some of the highest levels of marine plastic pollution in the world. It is therefore vitally important to increase our understanding of the impacts and risks of plastic pollution to marine ecosystems and the essential services they provide to support the development of mitigation measures in the region. An interdisciplinary, international network of experts (Australia, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam) set a research agenda for marine plastic pollution in the region, synthesizing current knowledge and highlighting areas for further research in Southeast Asia. Using an inductive method, 21 research questions emerged under five non-predefined key themes, grouping them according to which: (1) characterise marine plastic pollution in Southeast Asia; (2) explore its movement and fate across the region; (3) describe the biological and chemical modifications marine plastic pollution undergoes; (4) detail its environmental, social, and economic impacts; and, finally, (5) target regional policies and possible solutions. Questions relating to these research priority areas highlight the importance of better understanding the fate of marine plastic pollution, its degradation, and the impacts and risks it can generate across communities and different ecosystem services. Knowledge of these aspects will help support actions which currently suffer from transboundary problems, lack of responsibility, and inaction to tackle the issue from its point source in the region. Being profoundly affected by marine plastic pollution, Southeast Asian countries provide an opportunity to test the effectiveness of innovative and socially inclusive changes in marine plastic governance, as well as both high and low-tech solutions, which can offer insights and actionable models to the rest of the world.

2021 has been a landmark year for UK energy and climate policy. Plans and strategies were announced across many sectors, from offshore wind to how we heat our homes. The UK also hosted COP26 and pressed hard for greater ambition. Now that the spotlight has moved, in this Review, we consider whether plans will be adequate to deliver results.With a focus on gas and the UK continental shelf, industrial decarbonisation, heat, mobility and the environment, we look at developments both at home and internationally and ask whether the UK is a leader in decarbonisation, and if the transition is being managed as well as it could be.

The ecosystem services approach is based on the interdependencies between nature and human well-being. The ecosystem services aspect of these conceptual classifications is well-developed but the well-being aspect still remains unstructured and vaguely defined. This research advances and exemplifies the linkages between ecosystem services and well-being, with important insights for environmental and health management. An integrated framework was developed by adapting and linking the UKNEA-FO framework with Smith et al.’s (2013) human well-being domains. Besides benefits, the notion of disbenefits was incorporated to recognise the potentially detrimental effects from interacting with nature. Benefits and disbenefits occur at the social-ecological interface so they are classified by the seven domains of well-being they affect. Accounting for disbenefits and benefits specifically increased understanding of the differences in magnitude of their impact on society, spatial scale, and users. The framework is applied to Welsh saltmarshes, where we see that benefits mainly accrue at larger scales with a greater magnitude affecting local to global individuals, while disbenefits tend to occur at a smaller scale and impacting in-situ individuals only. Through trialling our integrated framework on Welsh saltmarshes it is evident that, by including the disbenefits and explicit well-being domains, this approach enables the greater inclusion and understanding of human well-being from the natural environment.

The ecosystem services approach is based on the interdependencies between nature and human well‐being. However, while the ecosystem services aspect of this approach is well‐developed, the human well‐being aspect remains unstructured and vaguely defined. An integrated conceptual framework was developed by adapting and linking the UK National Ecosystem Assessment‐Follow On framework with human well‐being domains. As well as benefits, the notion of disbenefits was incorporated to recognise the potentially detrimental effects from interacting with nature. Benefits and disbenefits occur at the social–ecological interface and are classified by the seven domains of human well‐being they affect. The framework is applied to saltmarsh habitat as a case study, highlighting knowledge gaps and the potential applicability and usefulness of the framework. In saltmarsh, benefits mainly accrue at larger scales with a greater impact affecting local to global individuals, while disbenefits tend to occur at a smaller scale and impact in‐situ individuals. The framework provides in‐depth insight into links, trade‐offs and dichotomies between benefits and disbenefits and human well‐being, and improves accessibility to the complex research area of human well‐being. This research can be a useful tool to guide environmental and health policy and management, as well as stakeholder engagement. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

This report has been prepared for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs under project code ME5115. Executive summary The aim of this report is to improve understanding of how the natural capital approach can be applied to the marine environment and how this links to UK national policy, particularly in terms of assessing trade-offs and value for money in monitoring, protection and rebuilding of marine assets. It is important to understand better both the concept of Natural Capital (as developed for the terrestrial environment), and whether it is possible to measure and classify its components, linkages and services generated in the marine environment. This is important in order to support value for money investment and to guide both national and local decisions. The report details the outcome of a review of existing literature, data and methods, which considered different aspects of the natural capital approach as well as workshop discussions with a cross-disciplinary group of experts.

There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. These include relatively familiar uses in project appraisal and more novel applications in advocacy, performance tracking and accounting in public and private settings. Decision makers who use valuation information need to understand the background, strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. The methods have a strong foundation in economic theory and offer a rapidly growing evidence base, improving ability to evaluate a broad range of ecosystem goods and services. Nevertheless, there are theoretical and practical limitations that need to be understood and kept in mind when interpreting results. In this paper, we briefly review the economic valuation methods and situate them in their historical and theoretical contexts. We assess the main critiques, attempts at resolving them, and implications for the usefulness of the methods in different contexts. We examine the main barriers and opportunities for wider uses of valuation evidence, and draw conclusions on the appropriate role of valuation in future, as a tool for aiding reflection and deliberation processes.

International audience; Mapping ecosystem services delivers essential insights into the spatial characteristics of various goods' and services' flows from nature to human society. It has become a central topic of science, policy, business and society - all belonging on functioning ecosystems. This textbook summarises the current state-of-the-art of ecosystem services mapping, related theory and methods, different ecosystem service quantification and modelling approaches as well as practical applications. The book is produced by various international experts in the field, in a professional but understandable format to be used by stakeholders, students, teachers, practitioners and scientists involved or interested in ecosystem services mapping.