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Organic amendments, such as compost and biochar, mitigate the environmental burdens associated with wasting organic resources and close nutrient loops by capturing, transforming, and resupplying nutrients to soils. While compost or biochar application to soil can enhance an agroecosystem's capacity to store carbon and produce food, there have been few field studies investigating the agroecological impacts of amending soil with biochar co‐compost, produced through the composting of nitrogen‐rich organic material, such as manure, with carbon‐rich biochar. Here, we examine the impact of biochar co‐compost on soil properties and processes by conducting a field study in which we compare the environmental and agronomic impacts associated with the amendment of either dairy manure co‐composted with biochar, dairy manure compost, or biochar to soils in a winter wheat cropping system. Organic amendments were applied at equivalent C rates (8 Mg C ha−1). We found that all three treatments significantly increased soil water holding capacity and total plant biomass relative to the no‐amendment control. Soils amended with biochar or biochar co‐compost resulted in significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than the compost or control soils. Biochar co‐compost also resulted in a significant reduction in nutrient leaching relative to the application of biochar alone or compost alone. Our results suggest that biochar co‐composting could optimize organic resource recycling for climate change mitigation and agricultural productivity while minimizing nutrient losses from agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling is emerging as both a viable alternative to extraction in many industries and a cornerstone of the circular economy. In this paper, we assess the role of paper and cardboard recycling on the forest sector, from both an economic and carbon perspective. For this purpose, we add the recycling industry to an existing forest-sector model in an attempt to capture its effects on other wood products and the overall forest resource. As the forest sector has an important potential for climate change mitigation, this model allows us to assess the effects of increased paper and cardboard recycling on the availability of the natural resource and the carbon balance of the forest sector. We show that these results are strongly linked to the hypotheses of substitutability and/or complementarity of recycled pulp and virgin pulpwood. Although we find increased emissions at the pulp sector level, the effects on emissions in other wood products are small. When pulp products are considered substitutes, we find the impact on total net sequestration to be positive. In the case where pulp products are considered complements, we find the impact on total net sequestration to be negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The lakeside has an enormous sediment carbon storage potential; however, it is susceptible to various environmental changes and can easily become a source of carbon emissions. Understanding the amount of carbon storage in lakeside sediments and organic matter sources may provide information about the potential of lakeside zones in climate change mitigation, particularly for sustainable lake management. This study aims to estimate sediment organic carbon stock and the sources of organic matter in the Maninjau Lakeside-West Sumatera, Indonesia. METHODS: Sediment sampling was performed at five research sites, with a depth of 0-100 centimeters. Sediment samples were divided into 4 subsamples: 0-15; 15-30; 30-50; and 50-100 centimeters. Bulk density and total nitrogen content were analyzed, and the percentage of organic carbon was calculated from the loss of ignition. The sediment organic carbon stock was calculated based on the bulk density and organic carbon content. Carbon per nitrogen ratio was also calculated to determine temporal changes in the sources of organic matter in the lake. FINDINGS: This study demonstrated that Maninjau Lakeside has an enormous potential sedimentary organic carbon stock range between 284.23-442.59 megagrams per carbon per hectare. The highest total sediment carbon stock was found in Duo Koto (442.59 megagrams per carbon per hectare), with the lowest in Koto Kaciak (284.23 megagrams per carbon per hectare). In addition, the study's results also exhibited significant differences in sediment organic carbon stocks at each location with different land use and cover; in this case, the forest area has a higher carbon stock value than the agricultural and settlement areas. Therefore, it is essential to take initiatives for the restoration and conservation of lakeside areas because of their essential role in mitigating the climate change. The mean ratio of organic carbon and total nitrogen was between 9.96 to 16.91, indicating that phytoplankton, a mixture of floating macrophytes, and submerged vegetation were the sources of organic matter. CONCLUSION: In general, the value of sediment organic carbon stocks tends to be lower in locations with intensive agricultural settlements than in forest areas. This study emphasizes that restoring lakeside wetland is vital in increasing sediment organic carbon stocks and maintaining lake sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions and develop sustainability plans, companies need carbon credits to offset emissions that cannot be eliminated from their operations, new global carbon exchange to launch in Singapore by 2021 end, the high-quality credit can bridge this gap and play an important role in the overall climate change mitigation strategy. The purpose of this research is to use the production data (including carbon emissions) of paper-making companies in Taiwan to establish a circular economy mathematical programming model and the concept based on the activity cost method (ABC) to explore the impact of different carbon emissions costs (such carbon tax, carbon cap-and-trade, etc.) on the company's production structure and profitability impact. The research results show that different carbon emission cost models have different effects on the company's optimal product-mix and profitability. The managerial implication is to combine the extensive application of the carbon emission credit mechanism, which can offset the carbon emissions in the production process and have a significant impact on the company's sustainable competitiveness. In addition, this study can also enable decision makers to understand the impact of different carbon emission cost models on the profitability of the company's product mix, which can be used as a reference for production planning decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese Green Climate Fund (GCF) is expected to launch by the government in the foreseeable future to support local governments in climate change adaption and mitigation. Lessons from experiences of international financing and allocating mechanisms provide valuable references for establishing the Chinese GCF. This study aims to explore the feasibility of several well-recognized schemes for financing and allocating the Chinese GCF among China's 30 provinces. These include: financing schemes of historical emission responsibility (HR), ability-to-pay (AP) and preference score compromises (PSC); as well as allocating schemes of carbon emissions intensity (CI), carbon emissions per capital (CC), GDP per capital (GC) and PSC. This study derives several important findings. Firstly, given different financing schemes, the coastal economically developed provinces including Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Zhejiang would collectively shoulder most of the financing responsibility (almost 70% in total) and play central roles in climate financing. Shandong province presents high financing responsibilities mainly due to its export trades of primary products which rely on the development of high-polluted industries. Other three provinces show high financing responsibilities mainly due to the rapid growth of their industries (petrochemical, steel, building materials, electric power, etc.) for economic development. Secondly, the inland economically backward provinces including Shanxi, Ningxia, Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Gansu would be the top five largest recipients of the funds, obtaining more than 30% of total disbursements. The innovations and contributions of the present study are as follows: Firstly, this paper systematically explored the feasibility and alternative schemes for Chinese GCF for the first time. Further, it introduces PSC methods based on diversified approaches to explore suitable financing and allocating schemes. The schemes proposed would establish theoretical foundations for the Chinese GCF and would also promote the development of other kinds of financing for China and countries with similar economic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aviation industry is challenged to reduce its climate impact. The introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is, among other policy instruments such as the European Emissions Trading Scheme, an option favored by policymakers in Europe to achieve this objective. These fuels feature substantially reduced carbon life-cycle emissions in comparison to fossil fuels. In Europe, a mandatory quota for the use of sustainable fuels will most likely be introduced, starting in the year 2025. The introduction of a blending mandate by governments and the European Commission is associated with a range of challenges. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economics of climate change mitigation in aviation and the role SAFs can play. The economic issues associated with the introduction of SAFs are analyzed, with a particular focus on the European Commission's proposal for a blending mandate. Several suggestions for improvement are discussed. Furthermore, alternatives to SAFs are presented and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvested timber and constructed infrastructure over the logging area leave massive damage that contributes to the emission of anthropogenic gases into the atmosphere. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation are the second largest source of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Even though the emissions vary from region to region, a significant amount of carbon emissions comes mostly from timber harvesting, which is tightly linked to the selective logging intensity. This study intended to utilize a remote sensing approach to quantify carbon emissions from selective logging activities in Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia. To quantify the emissions, the relevant variables from the logging's impact were identified as a predictor in the model development and were listed as stump height, stump diameter, cross-sectional area, timber volume, logging gaps, road, skid trails, and incidental damage resulting from the logging process. The predictive performance of linear regression and machine learning models, namely support vector machine (SVM), random forest, and K-nearest neighbor, were examined to assess the carbon emission from this degraded forest. To test the different methods, a combination of ground inventory plots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and satellite imagery were analyzed, and the performance in terms of root mean square error (RMSE), bias, and coefficient of correlation (R2) were calculated. Among the four models tested, the machine learning model SVM provided the best accuracy with an RMSE of 21.10% and a bias of 0.23% with an adjusted R2 of 0.80. Meanwhile, the linear model performed second with an RMSE of 22.14%, a bias of 0.72%, and an adjusted R2 of 0.75. This study demonstrates the efficacy of remotely sensed data to facilitate the conventional methods of quantifying carbon emissions from selective logging and promoting advanced assessments that are more effective, especially in massive logging areas and various forest conditions. Findings from this research will be useful in assisting the relevant authorities in optimizing logging practices to sustain forest carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limiting climate change to within the 2 °C limit requires net zero emissions of CO2 by 2050. However, the window of opportunity is closing fast. Geoengineering as the intentional and large-scale manipulation of the environment and the climate is increasingly discussed as a complement to ongoing mitigation efforts. As a particular geoengineering approach, space-based geoengineering proposes blocking or dissipating a fraction of incoming sunlight via a large number of occulting membranes, located close to the Lagrange 1 point between the Sun and the Earth. However, the mass of these sunshades, around 107–108 tons, and their deployment cost and effort render them about 10³ times more costly than terrestrial geoengineering alternatives. In this article, affordable sunshades, to be positioned close to L1 of the Earth-Sun system, are proposed, which are between 102 to 10³ times lighter than the lightest existing sunshade concepts. This is achieved via a nearly zero-radiation pressure design based on transparent refractive surfaces manufactured with ultra-thin polymeric films and SiO 2 nanotubes. The lightest sunshade proposed in this article has a total mass of approximately 5.5 × 105 tons and its deployment requires between 859 and 399 annual launches during a ten year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing carbon emission from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has drawn attention and remain one of the main options for climate change mitigation. However, the extent to which conservation for carbon may enhance biodiversity conservation in both disturbed and relatively undisturbed (control) environment remain unclear in most forest types. The extent to which anthropogenic disturbances affect carbon stock and ground beetle diversity is also far from clear. This paper addressed these knowledge gaps using data based on ground beetles, carbon stock in live trees and tree species sampled in Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve (USNFR). All trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were measured for height and DBH in twelve clusters of 1 ha in size. In the same clusters, ground beetles were sampled using pitfall traps, active night search and active day search. The species diversity of ground beetles differed significantly between control sites and disturbed sites (p < 0.05). The mean total biomass and carbon stock in live trees were high in disturbed sites (323.72 t/ha) when compared to control sites (289.72 t/ha) but the difference was not statistically significant (U = 14, p > 0.05). Carbon in live trees and ground beetle diversity showed a weak positive correlation, while richness and abundance showed weak negative in control sites. Results show that REDD+ related activities in a tropical forest may enhance ground beetle diversity and carbon stock if ground beetles conservation is explicitly taken into account. Thus forest conservation planning that pursues both carbon storage and ground-dwelling invertebrate diversity is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cities have risen to prominence as climate actors, emissions' data scarcity has been the primary challenge to evaluating their performance. Here we develop a scalable, replicable machine learning approach for evaluating the mitigation performance for nearly all local administrative areas in Europe from 2001-2018. By combining publicly available, spatially explicit environmental and socio-economic data with self-reported emissions data from European cities, we predict annual carbon dioxide emissions to explore trends in city-scale mitigation performance. We find that European cities participating in transnational climate initiatives have likely decreased emissions since 2001, with slightly more than half likely to have achieved their 2020 emissions reduction target. Cities who report emissions data are more likely to have achieved greater reductions than those who fail to report any data. Despite its limitations, our model provides a replicable, scalable starting point for understanding city-level climate emissions mitigation performance. Since the Paris Agreement recognized in 2015 cities have pledged climate actions that often exceed the scope and ambition of their national governments' policies but there is scant evidence of these actions' outcomes, largely because of the lack of reported emissions data. Here the authors utilize spatially explicit datasets relevant to urban carbon emissions and self-reported emissions data from European cities, and develops a machine-learning approach to predict and explore trends in city-scale mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A global warming potential of albedo (GWPA) is proposed, that represents the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to a 0.01 increase in albedo over 1 m2 of horizontal surface. A survey of prior literature suggests GWPA ≈ −4.2 kgCO2/m2. Taking Los Angeles, CA as a test site for urban global warming mitigation actions, a residential "cool roof" project offers approximately seven times as much radiative forcing benefit from albedo change as from GHG reduction of energy efficiency; and a citywide increase to commercial building roof albedo offers radiative forcing benefit equivalent to the first 6½ years of all commercial sector GHG emission reductions proposed in the City of Los Angeles climate action plan. Discussion explores pathways and challenges to making albedo increases fungible with GHG reductions in GHG markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contribute considerably towards increasing greenhouse effect. Carbon capture and storage can reduce CO2 emissions to a great extent but lacks economic feasibility. The economic feasibility of CO2 capture could be boosted by utilizing the captured gas to produce valuable end products. CO2 is a highly stable molecule; therefore, special catalysts and elevated conditions of temperature and pressure are required for its conversion. This review presents the current status of CO2 utilization processes from various aspects, including thermodynamic, economic, and environmental impacts. The use of process systems engineering (PSE) tools and techniques in a broad spectrum, to improve the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of these processes, is the major focus of this review. In this regard, a framework has also been presented showing the integration of various PSE techniques. All the related information in the form of tabulated data as well as qualitative and quantitative plots have been presented and critically analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities in China are on the frontline of low-carbon transition which requires monitoring city-level emissions with low-latency to support timely climate actions. Most existing CO2 emission inventories lag reality by more than one year and only provide annual totals. To improve the timeliness and temporal resolution of city-level emission inventories, we present Carbon Monitor Cities-China (CMCC), a near-real-time dataset of daily CO2 emissions from fossil fuel and cement production for 48 major high-emission cities in China. This dataset provides territory-based emission estimates from 2020-01-01 to 2021-12-31 for five sectors: power generation, residential (buildings and services), industry, ground transportation, and aviation. CMCC is developed based on an innovative framework that integrates bottom-up inventory construction and daily emission estimates from sectoral activities and models. Annual emissions show reasonable agreement with other datasets, and uncertainty ranges are estimated for each city and sector. CMCC provides valuable daily emission estimates that enable low-latency mitigation monitoring for cities in China. Measurement(s) carbon dioxide emissions Technology Type(s) fossil fuel consumption [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis and related events are often in the headline in recent years. The climate agreements reflected these concerns and called the researchers' attention to the urgent need for climate mitigation and adaptation policies. Many countries made new commitments during the latest United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in November 2021 in Glasgow. In turn, scientists and experts worry that new pledges are not ambitious enough. The first environmental regulation was ratified in Great Britain in 1863. Later, the industrial and agricultural revolution stimulated pollution and brought about the emergence of environmental issues. The first agreement aiming to mitigate environmental pollution and stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Behind the European Union, the contribution of the biggest polluter countries to climate change is also significant. The objective of the paper is to investigate the explanatory factors of CO 2 emission, focusing on the contribution of economic growth, agriculture, and trade along with free trade and climate agreements on climate change in Non-European Union member states, including the biggest emitters in the past two decades. In addition, it investigates the role of specific free trade agreements in emission cuts. The results showed an increase in CO 2 emissions in third countries, the reduction in the impact of agricultural export on greenhouse gas emissions, underlining the potential hidden effect of trade-related emissions between 2000 and 2018. NAFTA was encouraged while EFTA, ASEAN and MERCOSUR reduced emission growth. The USA, China, and Russia have the highest responsibility in controlling climate change. The findings reflect the limited progress and implementation of climate and trade policies and agricultural-related emissions in Non-EU countries. • Confirmed the validity of the U-shaped EKC curve in Non-EU countries. • Economic development stimulates while agricultural development reduces CO 2 emission. • Agricultural export has a sinking impact on GHGs in the rest of the world. • NAFTA encouraged while EFTA, MERCOSUR and ASEAN hindered CO 2 emission. • The USA, China, Russia have the highest responsibility in controlling emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The world is setting aggressive targets for climate change mitigation and most pathway models require negative emission technologies (NETs) to meet these targets. Direct air capture (DAC) is a promising NET that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmospheric air; however, indirect and embodied emissions to power and build DAC systems must be considered when exploring NET options. Wind energy has experienced rapid cost reductions in the past few years and experts predict a significant continued decline in offshore wind energy costs. Here, we develop a conceptual design and conduct an energy assessment of two dominating DAC designs to show the potential of offshore wind to meet the DAC energy demand for two different scenarios capturing 3.3 GtCO2/y (10%) and 11 GtCO2/y (33.3%) of current global CO2 emissions covering a range of estimates for future NETs required to meet net‐zero goals. Energy assessment showed that the estimated energy requirement for the Carbon Engineering based design is higher as compared with Climeworks based design owing to the high temperature (900°C) requirement in the calcination step required for the desorption of CO2. However, conceptual design revealed that area requirements for DAC configurations are much less for Carbon Engineering based design comparatively. Employing offshore wind energy can eliminate indirect emissions associated with meeting DAC energy demands, facilitative modular NET deployment globally, be positioned geographically to avoid competition with grid decarbonization and take advantage of otherwise stranded offshore wind resources. Large‐scale offshore wind energy integrated DAC systems, therefore, deserve development efforts and deployment alongside other mitigation and NET options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review focuses on the consequences of the early and rapid deployment of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technologies, which is currently recognized as a critical problem in fulfilling climate change mitigation objectives and as a viable alternative for countries throughout the world. Currently, the geological storage of CO2 is the most effective and, in many cases, the only viable short- to medium-term alternative for considerably moving towards CO2 sequestration in geological sinks and, thus, lowering net carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, this review explores the global and environmental measurements of CO2 emissions, as well as the emphasis behind more efficient energy usage. The components of the CCS system are briefly examined, with an emphasis on the technologies that have been developed by previous scholars to support carbon capture, as well as the kinds of carbon geological formations that are suitable sinks for CO2. Additionally, the importance of carbon interaction and sequestration in unconventional formations are examined through case studies that are applied to coalbed seams and shale gas reservoirs. Numerous trapping processes are grouped and introduced in a constructive matrix to easily distinguish the broad trapping mechanisms, which are (1) chemical, (2) physicochemical, and (3) physical trapping, and each of these categories are further classified in depth based on their contribution to CO2 storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study draws motivation from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a special focus on SDGs 7 and 13, which highlight the need for access to clean and affordable energy in an environment devoid of emissions; it addresses climate change mitigation in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, a carbon-income function setting for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is constructed. The dynamic relationship between financial development and climate change is evaluated using three indicators and foreign direct investment and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), while accounting for regulatory institutional quality using a "generalized method of a moment" estimation technique that addresses both heterogeneous cross-sectional issues. Empirical results obtained showed a positive statistical relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in SSA at the <0.01 significance level. This suggests that, in SSA, the economic growth path is pollutant emissions driven. This indicates that SSA is still at the scale phase of her growth trajectory. However, an important finding from the present study is that regulatory institutional indicators, such as political stability, government effectiveness, control of corruption, and voice and accountability, all exert a negative effect on CO2 emissions. This implies that regulatory measures militate against emissions in SSA. Based on the empirical findings of this study, it can be concluded that clean FDI inflows assist in ameliorating emissions. Thus, the need for a paradigm shift to cleaner technologies, such as renewables, that are more eco-friendly, is encouraged in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the current study demonstrates the mitigating role of renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions. Further policy prescriptions are presented in the concluding section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper utilized a panel dataset to investigate the effects of the impact factors, namely, economic growth, energy intensity, energy consumption, urbanisation, passenger vehicles and transport infrastructure investments on carbon emissions (CO2-eq). The transport sector of the main buoyant economic provinces of South Africa for a consecutive period of five years was investigated using STIRPAT models. Carbon emissions coefficient method, (CECM) is made applicable to determine the quantification of the forms of fossil fuels utilized in the transportation sector. The characterized parametric panel dataset for Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape were assessed from 2016 to 2020 to make objective function determinations. The results indicate that GDP and passenger vehicles contributed largely to CO2-eq emissions, however, the impact varies across the three provinces. Energy intensity and the approach to energy consumption are significant in mitigating carbon emissions, which is due to the possibilities of high fuel efficiency and pollution decrease. The outcome of the research advances climate change mitigation strategy and proffers the required attention to policy makers in South Africa and Africa as a continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate economic performance and its association with carbon emissions has been the subject of extensive research within the last few decades. The present study examines the economic performance of green firms as reflected in the Financial Times Stock Exchange Environmental Opportunities Index Series (FTSE EO) and its association with carbon emissions, incorporating the role of two more indices, namely the Baltic Clean Tanker Index (BAIT) and EUR/USD exchange rate. The methodology employed is the Bayesian Vector Autoregression Model (BVAR). Our findings confirm the interlinkages among the variables studied. More specifically, based on impulse response analysis, the direction of causality is two-way. The response of carbon emissions to a shock in the other variables is negative for the case of the EUR/USD exchange rate and Baltic Clean Tanker Index (BAIT) (an index representing the conventional energy sources), while it is positive for a shock in the FTSE EO. However, the most important finding is the return to the steady state after nine or ten periods. This result is very significant since the global environmental agreements along with the global economic conditions and the energy resources may well lead to limitations in carbon emissions within a framework of a well-organized and targeted climate change mitigation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses a significant threat to humanity and human activity is largely responsible for it. Clinical microbiology laboratories have their unintended shares in carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. The aim of this study is to estimate CO 2 emission of a clinical microbiology laboratory and to propose initiatives to reduce the emissions. CO 2 emission of instruments was estimated based on their electricity consumption. CO 2 emitted in producing consumables was estimated by weighing the consumables needed to perform major tests in a large academic hospital. A systematic literature review was performed to identify studies on the impact of clinical microbiology laboratories on the environment. A short survey was sent to four major manufacturers of agar plates on initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of their products. Opinion was given on activities that can reduce CO 2 emission in laboratories. The study shows that the largest amount of CO 2 emission in the microbiological laboratories comes from consumables and personnel commuting. For example, the production and transportation of agar plates needed to culture samples for a year in a hospital with 1320 beds result in 16 590 kg CO 2 is emitted. All survey participants mentioned that they were committed to reduce environmental impact of their products. The initiatives to reduce CO 2 emission can be performed at the laboratory and at policy level, such as reducing the number of tests to only the necessary amount to reduce consumables. The calculations contribute to map CO 2 -related emissions in clinical microbiology laboratory activities, and the proposed initiatives to reduce the CO 2 may serve as starting point for further discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate action is the grand challenge of the 21st century. Large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed, with net-zero CO 2 emissions by mid-century a requirement for many scenarios that restrain global warming below 1.5 °C by 2100. This will require massive deployment of renewables such as ground-based solar and wind, increased long-distance grid transmission capacity, and electrification of much of the global economy. Increased electrification, coupled with rising standards of living in developing countries, will drive ever-larger electricity demand to 2050 and beyond. And the intermittency, land-use, and transmission requirements of ground-based solar and wind present challenges to large-scale deployment to meet Net Zero targets. Space-based solar power (SSP) presents an enticing alternative, and with full reusability of upcoming heavy launch vehicles and modular SSP architectures, the economics of deployment are expected to become favorable in the coming decades. Efforts exist today to deploy demonstrators this decade, with initial production systems by 2050. However, deploying SSP at the scale required to address rising, global electricity demand will itself require orders-of-magnitude greater launch frequencies. If heavy launch frequency does not increase quickly enough, due to environmental concerns, launch site competition, or other bottlenecks, the dropping cost of launch will not be sufficient to enable SSP for global impact this century. A space elevator (SE) development program like that proposed by the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) offers an alternative delivery mechanism for scaling SSP beyond 2050, hedging the risk of reliance on a single delivery system while reducing the time required for large-scale SSP deployment. To de-risk possible futures in which SSP is a major part of the global energy mix this century, a dual space access architecture is proposed, leveraging the strengths of heavy launch and SEs together. Such an architecture would secure the future for green energy on Earth, in 2050 and beyond. • Net-zero CO 2 emissions by 2050 required for many climate scenarios with < 1. 5 °C warming. • Massive deployment of renewables and scale-ups of long-distance transmission required. • Space-based solar power (SSP) is becoming economically viable as an enticing alternative. • Reusable heavy launch must scale-up rapidly to deploy SSP at scale for net-zero. • A space elevator development program would de-risk delivery of SSP at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions elimination in the rapid urbanization areas contributes to regional sustainable development and global climate change mitigation. With the target of carbon neutrality, the global top-class Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration which confronts with the dual pressure of excess carbon emissions and shrink ecological space has increased its carbon reduction coordination cooperation, among which energy consumption carbon emission control and natural resource sink maintenance have been recognized as the key strategy. However, the study on carbon balance prediction is lack and the amount of energy consumption carbon emissions in the future can be offset by the ecological carbon sink is still unknown. To estimate the gap to carbon neutrality, this study proposes a framework for carbon offset analysis and prediction which takes various carbon emission scenarios and the potential of natural resource on carbon reduction into consideration. After the framework conduction in the agglomeration, it is revealed that the regional least carbon emissions of 29.51 Mt mainly derive from the population and economic growth brought by urbanization process, while the carbon sink predicted to be 2552.31 Kt is still far to cover the emissions. With the regional carbon offset rate decline from 0.68% to 0.63%, the ecological carbon sink in Beijing will offset 1.21% of its carbon emission, while the least ecological space keep city Tianjin is predicted to suffer the lowest offset rate of 0.09%. The research results contribute to recognize the key factors on carbon emission control and key areas for carbon maintenance in following years, as well as narrowing the gap to neutrality with both consideration of carbon emission reduction and sink maintenance. [Display omitted] • Framework on energy consumption carbon offset analysis was established. • Regional carbon emissions, sinks and offset rate were predicted. • Drop from 0.68% in 2020 to 0.63% in 2030, the declining offset rate indicates the gap to neutrality is still large. • Implications for each area's carbon emission offset rate improvement were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform an ex-ante life cycle assessment, integrating cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions into an off-grid energy system model. By applying a multi-objective optimization, minimizing both costs and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) emissions, we find the Pareto boundary between these two goals. As a case study, we chose the power supply to an astronomical observatory in Chile, using mostly solar power and energy storage in batteries and hydrogen. We compare the ex-ante study to a prior ex-post life cycle assessment, and furthermore dive into sensitivities of our model regarding component lifetimes and costs. We find (i) low-hanging fruit in lowering emissions with small cost increases, (ii) ex-ante life cycle assessments' possibility to find less CO 2 e intensive power systems compared to ex-post conducted studies, (iii) a pronounced sensitivity of the optimization model on assumed lifetimes of energy storage components. This study shows the importance of including life cycle CO 2 e emissions into the optimization objective of energy system models. This method uncovers the environmental and economic trade-offs associated with high shares of renewable energies in off-grid energy systems. • We integrate life cycle assessment (LCA) into an off-grid energy system optimization. • The applied case study powers a remote astronomical telescope in Chile. • A multi-objective optimization finds Pareto curves at varying costs and lifetimes. • Low-hanging fruit shows low additional system costs to reduce CO 2 e impacts. • In contrast, a separate LCA did not find such trade-offs in costs and CO 2 e emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's carbon emission trading policy plays a crucial role in achieving both its "3060" dual carbon objectives and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13) on climate action. The policy's effectiveness in reducing pollution and mitigating carbon emissions holds significant importance. This paper investigated whether China's carbon emission trading policy affects pollution reduction (PM 2.5 and SO 2) and carbon mitigation (CO 2) in pilot regions, using panel data from 30 provinces and municipalities in China from 2005 to 2019 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. Furthermore, it analyzed the heterogeneity of carbon market mechanisms and regional variations. Finally, it examined the governance pathways for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation from a holistic perspective. The results indicate that: (1) China's carbon emission trading policy has reduced CO 2 emissions by 18% and SO 2 emissions by 36% in pilot areas, with an immediate impact on the "carbon mitigation" effect, while the "pollution reduction" effect exhibits a time lag. (2) Higher carbon trading prices lead to stronger "carbon mitigation" effect, and larger carbon market scales are associated with greater "pollution reduction" effects on PM 2.5. Governance effects on pollution reduction and carbon mitigation vary among pilot regions: Carbon markets of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin show significant governance effects in both "pollution reduction" and "carbon mitigation", whereas Guangdong's carbon market exhibits only a "pollution reduction" effect, and Hubei's carbon market demonstrates only a "carbon mitigation" effect. (3) Currently, China's carbon emission trading policy achieves pollution reduction and carbon mitigation through "process management" and "end-of-pipe treatment". This study could provide empirical insights and policy implications for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation, as well as for the development of China's carbon emission trading market. • China's carbon emission trading (CET) policy promotes pollution reduction and carbon mitigation. • Higher carbon trading prices lead to stronger "carbon mitigation" effect. • Larger carbon market scales bring greater "pollution reduction" effects on PM 2.5. • Regional heterogeneity exists on pollution reduction and carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to enhance greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in East Asia play a pivotal role on both global and regional scales in advancing climate mitigation strategies. This study aimed to better constrain anthropogenic CO 2 emission estimates by expanding the network of near-surface in-situ stations for CO 2 observations across South Korea. To achieve an optimal CO 2 network design, we conducted an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) coupled with the Stochastic Lagrangian Transport model (STILT), utilizing meteorological data from the Korean Integrated Model (KIM). Our inversion setup incorporated two CO 2 emission datasets with a 0.1o resolution: EDGAR v6 for prior emissions and GRACED for truth emissions. A uniform model-mismatch error of 3 ppm was introduced across sites. The effectiveness of the existing five in-situ stations, termed the base network, in South Korea was evaluated to gauge their ability to constrain CO 2 surface flux estimates. However, the findings revealed a reduction in flux uncertainty of only 29.2%, which fell short of the desired uncertainty reduction goal. In this base network, the Lotte World Tower (LWT: 37.5126°E, 127.1025°E) in Seoul and the Anmyeondo (AMY: 36.538576° N, 126.330071° E) site in Taean county stood as major contributors, with estimated reductions of 17.48% and 6.35%, respectively. Consequently, we proposed and developed an extended network, identifying seven candidate sites based on consideration of logistical factors, existing infrastructures, and proximity to the emission source regions. An incremental optimization scheme ranked their contributions, resulting in an additional 25% reduction, bringing the total to 54.13%. However, it is noteworthy that diminishing returns (ranging from 13% to less than 0.1%) were observed with an increase in station count mainly due to the possibility that adding a station earlier in the sequence might render subsequent stations redundant. Despite this, the proposed CO 2 network successfully reduced uncertainty in emissions, narrowing the gap with the objectives of the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (G3W). • Designing CO 2 near-surface observation network over South Korea. • New stations selected considering logistic factors, existing infrastructures, and proximity to emission sources. • The base network was able to reduce 29.18% of the uncertainty in CO 2 emissions. • Extending network, by adding new seven candidate sites, led to a total uncertainty reduction of 54.13%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of Eucalyptus urophylla in dryland ecosystems plays an important contribution to support climate change mitigation and renewable energy diversification. However, the information about the potential of E. urophylla for carbon reduction and energy production is rarely documented, even though it is necessary as fundamental considerations to determine the best strategy for sustainable natural resources management, primarily in dryland ecosystems. This study aimed to quantify the carbon storage and energy production of E. urophylla established in dryland ecosystems at East Nusa Tenggara. The study site is located in a eucalyptus plantation managed by Timor Tengah Selatan Forest Management Unit. Destructive sampling was conducted on 25 sample trees that were evenly distributed from small to big ones. The percentage of carbon content in every tree component, namely stem, branch, and foliage, was determined using elemental analysis, while the calorific value of each tree component was analyzed using a bomb calorimeter. Carbon storage in each component was calculated by multiplying biomass and the percentage of carbon content, while the energy production was computed by multiplying high heating value and biomass from every tree component. The results found the mean carbon storage of E. urophylla in the study site was 55.51 kg tree-1 with a minimum of 6.34 kg tree-1 and a maximum of 184.76 kg tree-1. The percentage of carbon content in the foliage was lower than other tree components by approximately 34.1%. Interestingly, the calorific value of foliage was relatively higher than stem and branch with around 5,252 kcal kg-1. The energy production of E. urophylla ranged from 252.6 to 7,813.3 MJ tree-1 with an average of 2,357.87 MJ tree-1. According to the results, this study concluded the development of E. urophylla in dryland ecosystems demonstrated a meaningful contribution to carbon absorption and energy production at East Nusa Tenggara.

Now that many countries have set goals for reaching net zero emissions by the middle of the century, it is important to clarify the role of each country in achieving the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Agreement. Here, we evaluated China's role by calculating the global temperature impacts caused by China's emission pathways available in global emissions scenarios toward the 1.5 °C target. Our results show that China's contribution to global warming in 2050 (since 2005) is 0.17 °C on average, with a range of 0.1 °C to 0.22 °C. The peak contributions of China vary from 0.1 °C to 0.23 °C, with the years reached distributing between 2036 and 2065. The large difference in peak temperatures arises from the differences in emission pathways of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). We further analyzed the effect of the different mix of CO2 and CH4 mitigation trajectories in China's pathways on the global mean temperature. We found that China's near-term CH4 mitigation reduces the peak temperature in the middle of the century, whereas it plays a less important role in determining the end-of-the-century temperature. Early CH4 mitigation action in China is an effective way to shave the peak temperature, further contributing to reducing the temperature overshoot along the way toward the 1.5 °C target. This underscores the necessity for early CO2 mitigation to ultimately achieve the long-term temperature goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way Norway is spearheading electrification in the transport sector is of global interest. In this study, we used the Norwegian Emissions from Road Vehicle Exhaust (NERVE) model, a bottom-up high-resolution traffic emission model, to calculate all emissions in Norway (2009–2020) and evaluate potential co-benefit and trade-offs of policies to target climate change mitigation, air quality and socioeconomic factors. Results for municipal data with regard to traffic growth, road network influences, vehicle composition, emissions and energy consumption are presented. Light vehicle CO 2 emissions per kilometer have been reduced by 22% since 2009, mainly driven by an increasing bio-fuel mixing and battery electric vehicles (BEV) share. BEVs are mostly located in and around the main cities, areas with young vehicle fleets, and strong local incentives. Beneficiaries of BEVs incentives have been a subset of the population with strong economic indicators. The incentivized growth in the share of diesel-fuelled passenger vehicles has been turned, and together with Euro6 emission standards, light vehicle NOx emissions have been halved since peaking in 2014. BEVs represent an investment in emission reductions in years to come, and current sales set Norway up for an accelerated decline in all exhaust emissions despite the continual growth in traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban residential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased sharply along with the rapid urbanization process. Few studies have considered the different effects of influencing factors between Northern and Southern China, and the analysis of CO2 per unit area from the spatial perspective is also rarely involved. Using the spatial Durbin model (SDM), this study aimed at revealing the influencing factors (including income, inequality, population density, urban morphology, etc.) on CO2 per capita and CO2 per unit area during 2001–2018 between Northern and Southern China. The results showed that the Northern cities had higher carbon emissions and a faster growth rate, and the high-high clusters were also mainly located in the Northern cities. The Gini coefficient was correlated adversely with CO2, while income imposed a positive effect on carbon emissions. The negative coefficients of the quadratic term of the GDP per capita demonstrated that the residential carbon emissions have the potential to decrease when the income increases to a certain level. The indirect effects of income and the Gini showed that spatial spillover effects exist. Urban population density and the ratio of residential area to built-up area had an opposite effect on CO2 per capita and CO2 per unit area, and they have a bigger impact on the CO2 per unit area. This study revealed the different roles of various factors in reducing CO2 per unit area from the spatial perspective and CO2 per capita from the non-spatial perspective between the Northern and Southern regions, which could help policymakers to design targeted mitigation measures in the residential sector in China, providing references for developing countries to jointly reduce carbon emissions to promote the mitigation of global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal wetland restoration is an important activity to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, improve water quality, and reach the Sustainable Development Goals. However, many uncertainties remain in connection with achieving, measuring, and reporting success from coastal wetland restoration. We measured levels of carbon (C) abatement and nitrogen (N) removal potential of restored coastal wetlands in subtropical Queensland, Australia. The site was originally a supratidal forest composed of Melaleuca spp. that was cleared and drained in the 1990s for sugarcane production. In 2010, tidal inundation was reinstated, and a mosaic of coastal vegetation (saltmarshes, mangroves, and supratidal forests) emerged. We measured soil GHG fluxes (CH4, N2O, CO2) and sequestration of organic C in the trees and soil to estimate the net C abatement associated with the reference, converted, and restored sites. To assess the influence of restoration on water quality improvement, we measured denitrification and soil N accumulation. We calculated C abatement of 18.5 Mg CO2−eq ha−1 year−1 when sugarcane land transitioned to supratidal forests, 11.0 Mg CO2−eq ha−1 year−1 when the land transitioned to mangroves, and 6.2 Mg CO2−eq ha−1 year−1 when the land transitioned to saltmarshes. The C abatement was due to tree growth, soil accumulation, and reduced N2O emissions due to the cessation of fertilization. Carbon abatement was still positive, even accounting for CH4 emissions, which increased in the wetlands due to flooding and N2O production due to enhanced levels of denitrification. Coastal wetland restoration in this subtropical setting effectively reduces CO2 emissions while providing additional cobenefits, notably water quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests mitigate climate change by absorbing CO2. However, N2O emissions in forests, which has 298 times larger global warming potential than CO2, can diminish the climate mitigation role of forests. Thus, it is crucial to project not only CO2 absorption but also N2O emissions in forests to provide a scientific basis for the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal. This study used a biogeochemical model, called FBD-CAN, to project CO2 absorption and N2O emissions of South Korean forests from 2021 to 2080 under three climate scenarios, including the current climate, Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5, and RCP 8.5. From 2021 to 2080, CO2 absorption decreased from 5.0 to 1.4 Mg CO2 ha—1 year—1 under the current climate with the aging of forests, while N2O emissions increased from 0.25 to 0.33 Mg CO2 eq. ha—1 year—1. Climate change accelerated the decreasing trend in CO2 absorption and the increasing trend in N2O emissions. The subalpine region had a faster decreasing trend in CO2 absorption than the central and southern regions due to its older stand age. These findings provide scientific references for future greenhouse gas reduction plans and broaden our knowledge of the impacts of climate change on the climate mitigation role of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is vital for mitigating climate change and meeting commitments to international agreements such as the COP 21 Paris Agreement of 2015. Agriculture is reported to account for approximately 11 percent of total global GHG emissions such that: the agricultural sector has an important role to play in meeting climate change mitigation objectives. However, there is currently little consensus on how farm management and interventions, along with interactions with in-field variability, such as soil type, affect the production and assimilation of GHGs in arable crop lands. Practical recommendations for farmers are often vague or generalised, and models (e.g. on the amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied) are used despite limited understanding of the influence of local conditions, such as the importance of soil type. Here, we report the findings of a systematic map of the evidence relating to the impact on GHG flux from the in-field management of arable land in temperate regions. Methods: We searched for, collated and catalogued research relating to the effects of in-field arable farming practices in temperate systems on GHG emissions. Results from 6 bibliographic databases, a web-based search engine and organisational websites were combined with evidence from stakeholders. Duplicates were removed and the results were then screened for relevance at title and abstract, and full-text levels according to a predefined set of eligibility criteria (following consistency checking). Relevant studies were then coded and their meta-data extracted and used to populate a systematic map database describing each study's settings, methods and measured outcomes. Results: The mapping process identified 538 relevant studies from 351 articles. Nearly all of these (96%) were found from traditional research papers, with 42% from European countries and nearly half (203 studies) lasting for 12 months or less. Over half of all studies (55%) investigated multiple interventions with chemical fertiliser (n = 100), tillage (n = 70), and organic fertiliser (n = 30) the most frequently studied single intervention types. When combining individually studied and multiple interventions, the top three intervention types most frequently studied were: chemical fertiliser (n = 312); organic fertiliser (n = 176) and tillage (n = 158). Nitrous oxide was the most commonly studied outcome, with over double the number of studies compared to carbon dioxide, the next most studied outcome. Sandy loam and silty loam were the most commonly studied soils but there was a good distribution of studies across other types. However, studies predominately focused on humid sub-tropical (Cfa) and temperate oceanic (Cfb) climates, with hot summer Mediterranean (CSa) and warm summer Mediterranean (Csb) climate zones less represented. Conclusions: The mapping process identified clusters of research for chemical and organic fertiliser especially in relation to nitrous oxide emissions and for both carbon dioxide and nitrous dioxide in relation to tillage. Therefore, there is potential for further synthesis for these interventions. The spread of research across soil textures and in the humid sub-tropical and temperate oceanic climates may enable further synthesis to provide tailored in-field advice for farmers and provide an evidence base to inform subsidies policy. However, smaller amounts of research relating to biochar, cover crops, crop rotation, and nitrogen inhibitors highlight gaps where further research would be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of analyses of energy efficiency and environmental outcomes of putting into operation high-speed trains—first of that kind in Poland—in 2014 on upgraded 3 kV DC lines. Comparative analyses of these trains in Poland have not been carried out so far and provide a new approach to assessing the feasibility of their adoption and, in a broader context, the advisability of replacing conventional with high-speed rail transport. The analysis supports the advantages of high-speed railway (HSR) and the need to develop a network of high-speed connections using energy-efficient trains in Poland. Putting these trains into service reduced CO2 emissions, which is significant in Poland as a country relying heavily on power generated in coal power plants and complies with the assumptions of the sustainable development policies and EU Green Deal. The outcomes of our analysis can be used for transportation planning to mitigate climate change and the presented approach provides a method of quantification of environmental impacts of HS trains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation has become a challenge as the urban population grows while cities' land areas, amenities, and green spaces have remained relatively unchanged or even declined. While urban areas are growing, the link between humans and nature is fading. Increasingly, cities are being affected by climate change impacts and so, the role of media in providing updated and correct knowledge to the public is becoming more valuable. Based on this theoretical ground, the research evaluated two printed Iranian newspapers' functionality in informing the public on Tehran climate based on two main themes of air pollution and greenery spaces, spanning seven years (2007–2014). The paper evaluated the tone, style, and outline of messages publicised by the press media to explore the following questions: Which types of news are dominantly conceptualised as the significant debates and concerns on Tehran's climatic issues? Who is mainly writing about Tehran's climatic issues? Is the public being informed effectively on the surrounding arguments and issues by reading newspapers? As such, five self-descriptive indicators were developed: 'Layout' (Title, Subject, Content), 'Message' (Public Awareness, Educating, Alarming), 'Contributor' (Columnist, Researcher, Authority), 'Spatiality' (Local, Provincial, National, International), and 'Allocated space' (10% to 100%). A text analysis of Persian newspapers using a Structured Query Language (SQL) was employed to extract data. It was found that the news articles mostly covered public awareness, followed by alarming messages on climate. The findings highlighted the critical role of researchers in generating scientific news while encouraging media for disseminating more educating messages on climate change in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that household consumption accounts for more than 60% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing household CO2 emissions (HCEs) can help combat climate change globally and can provide a wide range of environmental, financial and public health benefits. Here, we present data from a large survey on 14,928 households in eighty-eight Chinese cities to investigate the spatial patterns in HCEs per person (PHCEs) and the drivers behind these patterns based on a multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model. We found that higher PHCEs were mainly in northern cities with a severe and cold climate. Our findings suggest that PHCEs could be modeled as a function of household size, education level, income level, consumption tendency and HCEs intensity. HCEs intensity was identified as the most important determinant, and its effect increased from eastern cities to central and western cities in China. The quantification of city-level PHCEs and their drivers help policy makers to make fair and equitable GHG mitigation polices, and they help achieve many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explores the escalating carbon emissions from North American boreal forest wildfires and the climate mitigation potential of fire management. It characterize the magnitude of recent and projected gross and net boreal North American wildfire carbon dioxide emissions, evaluate fire management as an emissions reduction strategy, and quantify the associated costs.

Converting mangroves to other land cover types can induce large emissions of carbon dioxide, depending on the type of land use and land cover (LULC) change. However, mangroves may also recover their ecosystem carbon stocks rapidly following restoration, potentially offsetting carbon stock losses. While studies have quantified these tradeoffs at global scales using coarse metrics, fewer studies have quantified them at national scales at higher resolution. Here, we used high‐resolution data sets of LULC for mangroves in Thailand to quantify district‐level gross and net changes in mangrove carbon stocks from ~1960 to 2014. We found emissions based on gross gain and loss statistics (7.18 ± 0.24 million Mg C) to be greater than those associated with emissions based on net area change statistics (1.65 ± 0.26 million Mg C) by a factor of four. The difference in estimates arises from slower rates of carbon stock recovery following reforestation relative to carbon stock loss following LULC change. Overall, we found the greatest gains in mangrove carbon stocks to be from mangrove expansion in areas of accreting sediments, which were strongly correlated with district‐level extent of undisturbed mangroves. Our results show that net loss statistics may greatly underestimate emissions associated with LULC change in mangroves. Additionally, our findings suggest that gains in mangrove carbon stocks associated with natural establishment at the periphery of standing mangroves may offset substantial carbon stock losses at national scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations is the main driver of global warming due to fossil fuel combustion. Satellite observations provide continuous global CO2 retrieval products, that reveal the nonuniform distributions of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, climate simulation studies are almost based on a globally uniform mean or latitudinally resolved CO2 concentrations assumption. In this study, we reconstructed the historical global monthly distributions of atmospheric CO2 concentrations with 1° resolution from 1850 to 2013 which are based on the historical monthly and latitudinally resolved CO2 concentrations accounting longitudinal features retrieved from fossil-fuel CO2 emissions from Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. And the spatial distributions of nonuniform CO2 under Shared Socio-economic Pathways and Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios were generated based on the spatial, seasonal and interannual scales of the current CO2 concentrations from 2015 to 2150. Including the heterogenous CO2 distributions could enhance the realism of global climate modeling, to better anticipate the potential socio-economic implications, adaptation practices, and mitigation of climate change. Measurement(s) atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations Technology Type(s) satellite observations • spatial statistical analysis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest IPCC report foreshadows a far gloomier picture of climate change consequences than previously held by demonstrating how avoiding environmental damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has "no documented historic precedent." One of the options to address climate change is adoption of mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions on national, sectoral, and corporate levels. This research analyzes mitigation responses by organizations facing institutional and stakeholder pressures while dealing with the risk and opportunities presented by climate change. Our research indicates that different types of institutional pressures—coercive, normative, and mimetic—lead to different and, in certain situations, more active responses from companies. We find that coercive pressures are about equal or more effective than normative or mimetic pressures for adoption of mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While identifying the drivers of global CO 2 emission is crucial for climate change mitigation, the heterogeneous technology-related drivers (e.g., technological change and efficiency of energy and CO 2 emission) were ignored to a large extent at a global scale, hindering to formulate heterogenous climate policies. Moreover, the projection of CO 2 emission was also not well compared for countries. Here, the study investigated the heterogeneous technology-related drivers of CO 2 emissions in time and space simultaneously in 42 major emitter countries over 1998–2020 by extending the spatiotemporal production-theoretical decomposition models, and compared the different performances for forecasting CO 2 emission by traditional time-series models and several machine learning models. Key findings as follows: first, drivers of CO 2 emissions exhibit significant heterogeneity across countries where the effects of energy usage technology gap and CO 2 emission technology gap were negative drivers for USA, South Korea, and the Czech Republic and potential energy intensity effect was the negative driver in countries like China, Russia, Japan, and India. Second, the effects of within-GDP per capita and within- population size were the important drivers affecting global CO 2 emission difference. Third, general regression neural network achieved the best forecasting performance on average compared with other models in the study. The study highlights the importance of formulating climate policies based on heterogeneous technology and emission forecast modeling. • Heterogeneous technology-induced global CO 2 emission reduction was analyzed. • Two spatial production-theoretical decomposition models were proposed. • Forecasting models including machine learning were compared for projecting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation requires simultaneous reduction of carbon emissions and air pollution. This study examines the synergy between pollution reduction and carbon reduction, identifying key variables and strategies to achieve this goal. Using a Geographical Detector model and a Coupling Degree of Coordination model, 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) are investigated. Results show that while controlling PM2.5 has been more successful than managing carbon emissions in the YREB, synergy between pollution reduction and carbon emissions increased by an average of 7.2% from 2006 to 2019. Spatial analysis reveals higher synergy in upstream areas, indicating significant spatial diversity. The impact of pollution and emission reduction synergies is influenced by societal and environmental variables, including industry structure, technological innovation, energy structure, human capital quality, and economic basis. Synergy is amplified when natural limits align with high-quality development drivers such as technical innovation and the digital economy. Recommendations include enhancing city-to-city contact, improving energy and industrial structures, and fostering technological innovation to address regional variations in synergy levels. • Synergy between pollution and carbon reduction increased by 7.2% from 2006 to 2019. • Higher synergy observed in upstream areas of YREB. • Controlling PM2.5 more successful than managing carbon emissions. • Synergy influenced by industry structure, technological innovation, energy structure, and human capital quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise digital transformation (EDT) is a strategic initiative that provides robust support for optimising resource allocation, fosters business innovation, and significantly impacts ecological environment to increase financial performance. This study re-examines the substantial contributions of EDT to climate change mitigation. Drawing on data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021, we investigated the changes and mechanisms influencing carbon emissions reduction performance (CERP) of enterprises undergoing digital transformation. The empirical results indicate that EDT actively contributes to enhancing the CERP of enterprises, with a more pronounced effect observed in non-polluting industries, state-owned enterprises, and manufacturing companies. Furthermore, empirical findings from mechanism tests reveal that EDT effectively improves the CERP by driving green technological innovation, strengthening industry chain connections, and enhancing capacity utilisation. Finally, within external oversight groups, particularly in government and investor supervision, the enhancement of enterprise CERP is more significant, highlighting the crucial role of external oversight in the EDT process. • EDT significantly enhances CERP. • Green technology innovation, industrial chain connectivity, and production capacity utilisation play crucial roles. • Strengthening government oversight and investor supervision groups is the most effective way to improve CERP. • Policymakers should enhance the guiding role of EDT in CERP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Implementation costs are a more relevant constraint to afforestation than opportunity costs. • Financial incentives for afforestation are constrained by market access and market prices. • Carbon-neutral and food multi-oriented land policies need further exploration. • Collaboration among global carbon markets can enhance CO 2 removal efficiency. Afforestation is a promising nature-based climate solution for mitigating climate change, but it is subject to a complex web of biophysical, cost-benefit, market, and policy processes. Although its biophysical feasibility has been established, the cost, market, and policy constraints that affect climate change mitigation through afforestation are still unclear. Here, we estimate such cost, market, and policy constraints on the basis of biophysical feasibility. Our findings reveal that implementation costs are a more relevant constraint than opportunity costs on mitigating climate change through afforestation. The China Certified Emission Reduction market currently provides only a 0.308 % incentive for climate change mitigation through afforestation, due to market access constraints. The current market prices of China Certified Emission Reduction, China Carbon Emissions Trading Exchange, and Nature Based Carbon Offset in Voluntary Carbon Market constrain 88.15 %, 87.95 %, and 85.75 % of CO 2 removal actions through afforestation, compared to the carbon price scenario (US$62.97 tCO 2 -1) of the EU Emissions Trading System. Moreover, land policy under the scenarios of prohibiting conversion of cultivated land to forest and forest restoration in degraded areas exhibit 8.87–29.59 % and 65.16–74.10 % constraints, respectively, on mitigating climate change through afforestation compared to land-use freedom conversion scenarios from 2020 to 2060. Thus, enhancing the incentive price of CO 2 removal, addressing the market access barrier, strengthening cooperation between global carbon markets, and exploring carbon–neutral and food multi-oriented land policies can be valuable sources of mitigation efforts over the next 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renewal of old bridges is sometimes restricted to avoid the high carbon emissions caused by materials and construction, which however might not be conductive to climate change mitigation due to their insufficient functions. In order to facilitate the optimization of renewal timing and strategy from the perspective of reducing the comprehensive global warming impacts, we put forward the low-carbon bridge renewal decision method referring to the ideas of consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) and dynamic LCA. In the proposed method, a comparative system boundary matching the bridge renewal characteristics is constructed, where the carbon emission reduction owing to the traffic efficiency improvement by functional updating is incorporated as the low-carbon benefits of renewal, and three types of time-dependent factors, i.e., time-dependent characterization factor, trend factors and changes of traffic demands, are introduced to characterize the influence of renewal timing. The proposed method provided guidance for the renewal of Maogang Bridge, the first long-span cable-stayed bridge in Shanghai. Results illustrate that the global warming impacts of renewal construction activities and the low-carbon benefits from functional updating decrease with the renewal timing. For Maogang Bridge, the rapidly increasing traffic demands inevitably advocated renewal in advance, and the reduction of global warming impacts from emission reduction or carbon uptake could be manifested for renewal in advance. Adopting material recycling in the disposal of old bridge helped reconstructing a new bridge while deconstructing the old one in 2019 becoming the finally selected low-carbon renewal strategy, which is expected to reduce 15.04 kt CO 2 e-2019 compared to the essential renewal in 2050 with the landfill disposal method. The robustness of the strategy choice has been justified, given the variations of analytical time horizon, expected emission trends and repair emissions. In this way, the low-carbon renewal decision method could build a quantitative basis for judging the urgency of functional updating and verifying the low-carbon benefits of immediate concrete recycling in up-coming urban renewals. • Low-carbon bridge renewal decision optimizes renewal timing and strategy. • System boundary is expanded for quantifying benefits from functional updating. • Emission trends and time-dependent characterization factors are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing challenges related to water security and climate mitigation underscore the pressing need for forward-thinking systems planning tools to drive urban sustainability transitions. In this study, we propose a novel city-level multi-objective planning framework that explores the nexus between carbon trading and water management, with the aim of facilitating water-efficient urban industrial restructuring. The framework integrates cap-and-trade mechanisms into a two-layered optimization model, creating an integrated approach to optimizing carbon emissions and generating economic opportunities for improving water efficiency. To illustrate the potential application of this framework, we conducted a case study focusing on Dongguan City, a water-stressed industrial metropolis in southern China. The results illustrate potential synergies between water planning strategies and carbon trading schemes, which could be harnessed to enable targeted reductions in water usage and carbon emissions. Furthermore, our findings identify the textile, apparel, and paper products manufacturing industries as primary candidates for strategic production scale reduction, emphasizing the importance of sustained support for the development of the computer and electronic manufacturing sector as a catalyst for urban sustainability transitions. By pioneering this new nexus-based perspective, our study offers valuable insights into long-term strategic planning for a low-carbon and resource-efficient urban economy. • Synergizing carbon trading and water management within a novel integrated planning framework. • Implementing resource-efficiency-driven optimization for water- and carbon-intensive manufacturing sectors. • Gaining insights into the specific roles of key manufacturing sectors in water management and carbon trading. • Introducing carbon trading systems may help in promoting water-efficient industrial restructuring. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government has announced ambitious carbon reduction goals to address climate change, however, there has been limited scientific attention to the achievement of deep decarbonization in regions with insufficient economic development. Moreover, the complex impacts of climate change mitigation on energy system, environment and economic development remain unclear in Northwest China. Here we construct a comprehensive evaluation model system to evaluate the effects of different climate mitigation pathways in Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang provinces. Results show that the four provinces need to vigorously increase the share of electricity that consumed in final energy to 53.1–60.0% and 52.9–62.0% for 2 °C and 1.5 °C target, respectively, and reduce total energy demand to 11.6–44.4 Mtoe and 8.2–34.1 Mtoe in 2050. Meanwhile, the CO 2 emissions for their energy systems will reach peak by 2025 at lower values. Moreover, the synergies of CO 2 reduction are most conducive to abating SO 2 pollution and also contributing to decreasing PM 2.5 concentrations. Additionally, the GDP losses in 2050 fluctuate from 5.0 to 21.7 billion USD in the 2 °C scenario to 11.5–52.7 billion USD in the 1.5 °C scenario. Our study provides practical guidance on achieving carbon reductions in less developed regions of China and lays foundations to promote decarbonization of energy systems in other provinces. • Realizing climate goals requires low-carbon energy systems led by electricity. • Energy-related carbon emissions in Northwest China will peak by 2025. • More ambitious climate and clean air policies are needed for air quality improvement. • Economic loss shows an upward trend in the future under climate targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture technologies are becoming increasingly crucial in addressing global climate change issues by lowering CO 2 emissions from industrial and power generation activities. Post-combustion carbon capture, which uses membranes instead of adsorbents, has emerged as one of promising and environmentally friendly approaches among these technologies. The operation of membrane technology is based on the premise of selectively separating CO 2 from flue gas emissions. This provides a number of different benefits, including improved energy efficiency and decreased costs of operation. Because of its adaptability to changing conditions and its low impact on the surrounding ecosystem, it is an appealing choice for a diverse array of uses. However, there are still issues to be resolved, such as those pertaining to establishing a high selectivity, membrane degradation, and the costs of the necessary materials. In this article, we evaluate and explore the prospective applications and roles of membrane technologies to control climate change by post-combustion carbon capturing. The primary proposition suggests that the utilization of membrane-based carbon capture has the potential to make a substantial impact in mitigating CO 2 emissions originating from industrial and power production activities. This is due to its heightened ability to selectively absorb carbon, better efficiency in energy consumption, and its flexibility to various applications. The forthcoming challenges and potential associated with the application of membranes in post-carbon capture are also discussed. • Crucial role of carbon capture technology in climate change mitigation and environmental resilience. • Crucial role of membrane in climate change mitigation for ecosystem has been critically analyzed. • Efficiency, cost, and benefits of membranes for climate change in ecosystem. • Challenges and prospects in CO 2 capture for and environmental resilience are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to avoid the acceleration of global warming have tended to focus on countries with high CO 2 emissions levels and large populations, with a high level of economic development or industrialization. African countries, which often do not conform to such criteria, are more vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on climate-sensitive industries and their limited infrastructure and technological capacity to cope with its impacts. The long-term economic growth rates projected for Africa's rapid development period will, further, make Africa a potential emission hotspot in the near future. Here, for the first time, we built an energy-related emissions inventory for 19 African countries for 2010–2019, which addresses emissions from 47 economic sectors and 5 energy types, making it the most comprehensive of its kind. The degree of decoupling of economy and emissions, and drivers of CO 2 emission changes are also examined. Most African countries experienced rapid growth in CO 2 emissions, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5% for fossil fuel-related CO 2 emissions and 6.0% for unsustainable biomass-related CO 2 emissions. Only two countries, South Africa and Tanzania, have achieved a strong decoupling of economic growth from CO 2 emissions. Economic and population are the most important drivers of emissions, while energy intensity has been identified as a key factor in mitigating CO 2 emissions, especially for those countries that have reached strong or weak decoupling. The findings from this study provide essential insights that could guide the development of low-carbon policies and strategies in Africa. • We provide energy-related emission inventories for 19 African countries from 2010 to 2019. • African countries experienced rapid growth in CO2 emissions. • Two countries achieved strong decoupling of GDP from CO2 emissions. • Economic and population growth are the most important drivers of emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]