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Many governments have set ambitious targets for tree planting and increased woodland cover as a key part of actions to reach net‐zero carbon emissions by 2050. However, many uncertainties remain concerning how and where to expand tree cover, what species to plant, and how best to manage new plantations. Much contemporary forestry has been based on even‐aged monocultures, largely because of perceived advantages for timber production. However, in order to play a key role in climate change mitigation future forests will have to achieve timber production (and wider ecosystem service provision) alongside resilience to biotic and abiotic challenge. It is therefore crucial that appropriate informed decisions are made with regard to the structure, composition, and planning of future forests, in order to provide sustainable solutions that provide environmental, economic, and health benefits to society. Genetically diverse, mixed, and irregular forests, with their higher biodiversity and niche complementarity, are promising new forest configurations for regulating the water cycle, storing carbon, and delivering other goods and services. In the following discussion, we have used UK information to illustrate the benefits of mixed woodland versus monocultures and highlighted current issues related to government initiatives and policies for current and future forests. However, similar issues and problems are encountered globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) contents and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in paddy soil fields can result in positive impacts on climate change mitigation and soil quality. However, SOC accumulation and its microbial driving factors under enhanced fertilization strategies (e.g., organic matter application) are still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of organic matter addition on SOC variations, CO2 fluxes, and their relationships with soil bacterial compositions and functions through a 6-year fertilizer experiment in rice fields involving two fertilization types, namely chemical fertilizer (NPK) and chemical fertilizer combined with organic matter (NPK+OM). The results showed significantly higher and lower SOC contents (p < 0.05) in the 10–20 cm soil layer under the NPK+OM treatment before rice transplanting and after rice harvest, respectively, than those under the NPK treatment. The lower SOC contents after rice harvest might be due to the great nutrient consumption, resulting in higher rice yields in the NPK+OM than those in the NPK treatment by 6.68 to 32.35%. Compared with NPK, NPK+OM reduced the in-situ CO2 fluxes by 38.70–118.59%. However, the ex-situ SOC mineralization rates were not affected by NPK+OM in the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers. The 16S rRNA sequence indicated a significant increase in the abundance of non-singleton amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in the NPK+OM treatment scenario compared to those in the NPK treatment scenario. The top three most important soil bacterial phylum influenced by NPK+OM were LCP-89, BRC1, and Rokubacteria in April, as well as Firmicutes, Nitrospinae, and BRC1 in July. Soil Actinobacteria was negatively correlated with the SOC contents in April and July. The results of the present study demonstrate the economic and ecological benefits of the organic matter addition in rice production, as well as the contribution of soil bacteria to SOC accumulation and CO2 emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires are becoming more frequent due to the global climate change. Large amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by wildfires can lead to increases in extreme climate events. Accurately estimating the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires is important for mitigation of climate change. In this paper, we develop a novel method to estimate wildfire CO2 emissions from the relationship between local CO2 emissions and XCO2 anomalies. Our method uses the WRF-Chem assimilation system from OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals which coupled with Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART). To validate our results, we conducted three experiments evaluating the wildfire CO2 emissions over the conterminous United States. The four-month average wildfire emissions from July to October in 2015∼2018 were estimated at 4.408 Tg C, 1.784 Tg C, 1.514 Tg C and 2.873 Tg C, respectively. Compared to the average of established inventories CT2019B, FINNv1.5 and GFASv1.2 fire emissions, our estimates fall within one standard deviation, except for 2017 due to lacking of OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals. These results suggest that the regional carbon assimilation system, such as WRF-Chem/DART, using OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals has a great potential for accurately tracking regional wildfire emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify an elevated occurrence of abrupt changes in ocean environmental conditions under human‐induced climate forcing using Earth system model output through a novel analysis method that compares the temporal evolution of the forcings applied with the development of local ocean state changes for temperature, oxygen concentration, and carbonate ion concentration. Through a multi‐centennial Earth system model experiment, we show that such an increase is not fully reversible after excess greenhouse gas emissions go back to zero. The increase in occurrence of regional abrupt changes in marine environmental conditions has not yet been accounted for adequately in climate impact analyses that usually associate ecosystem shifts large‐scale variability or extreme events. Estimates for remaining greenhouse gas emission targets need thus to be more conservative. Plain Language Summary: The ocean warms up, gets more acidic, and loses oxygen under progressing anthropogenic climate change putting ecosystems under stress. Regionally, abrupt changes in temperature, acidity, and dissolved oxygen concentration can occur and may make it impossible for organisms to adjust to these new environmental conditions, thereby increasing the risk for deterioration of entire ecosystems. The study provides evidence for elevated occurrence of regional abrupt changes in marine environmental conditions that is not yet accounted for appropriately in climate impact analyses that usually associate ecosystem shifts with changes in large‐scale variability or extreme events. Therefore, the time window for effective climate mitigation to prevent unwanted marine ecosystem impacts may close sooner than previously expected. Key Points: There is an elevated occurrence of abrupt changes in key ocean state variables under human‐induced climate forcingThe occurrence of abrupt changes in the upper ocean peaks around the maximum of the rate of change in human‐induced forcingA multi‐centennial legacy is expected for abrupt shifts in environmental conditions, long after a stop of anthropogenic CO2 emissions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to the Paris Agreement and climate change mitigation, Indonesia aims to reach net zero by 2060 or sooner. Due to Indonesia's dependence on coal and growing consumption, alternative sources of clean energy are imperative for meeting its rising energy needs and reducing energy-related greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the energy transition. This project aims to examine Indonesia's opportunities and potential to achieve low carbon ambition in the energy sector and identify alternative pathways for the energy transition in Indonesia. In this study, the open-source energy modelling system (OSeMOSYS), which is a long-term energy system modelling tool, is employed to compare electricity generation, investment, and carbon dioxide emissions between business-as-usual and five alternative scenarios. Six scenarios, including business as usual, least-cost, two coal-phrase out and two net zero aligned with national climate targets and optimal scenarios, were simulated across different target years. The results show that the net zero (NZ) scenario is more cost-effective and emits fewer greenhouse gases than the other scenarios in meeting Indonesia's future energy demand. However, achieving net zero by 2050 (NZ50) results in significantly lower CO2 emissions (10,134 MtCO2), which is less than half of the emissions in the net zero by 2060 (NZ60) scenario (16,849 MtCO2) at a similar cost (6229 and 6177 billion USD, respectively). This paper's insights emphasise that large-scale renewable energy deployment and coal retirement are critical pathways to reaching carbon neutrality and achieving the energy mix transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proposals for slowing climate change by reflecting sunlight back to space, known as solar geoengineering (SG), are gaining traction in climate policy. Given SG's capacity to slow warming without reducing carbon emissions, prominent criticism suggests that it will enable fossil fueled business-as-usual. This assessment is not without merit, yet the primary funders of SG research do not emanate from fossil capital. We analyze sources of funding for SG research globally, finding close ties to mostly US financial and technological capital as well as a number of billionaire philanthropists. These corporate sectors and associated philanthropies comprise part of 'climate capital' – the fraction of the capitalist class nominally aligned with climate action. We argue that SG is being positioned as a tactic for enabling incremental, market-driven decarbonization, explore key institutions advocating this approach in US climate policy, and conclude that SG is poised to serve as a tool for class compromise between fossil and climate capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Human-generated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the largest contributor to climate change worldwide. Climate change negatively impacts human and planetary health, threatening the existence of life on earth. The healthcare industry is responsible for approximately 8.5% of carbon emissions in the United States. Measuring baseline GHG emissions is the first step in emissions reduction. However, very few models of measurement exist for health care organizations. This project aimed to develop and implement a program to measure and track GHG emissions at a midwestern academic medical center (MAMC) and to educate staff on how to manage the process. (2) Methods: A Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle and Quality Improvement methodology were used to develop, implement, and assess a standardized GHG emission inventory process to measure Scope 1 and Scope 2 baseline emissions and provide virtual training and education to the accountable staff. A pre- and post-survey design was used to measure the knowledge and readiness of the staff after the implementation of the GHG inventory training. (3) Results: The GHG inventory process was validated through an external verification process, and the measurement of Scope 1 and Scope 2 baseline GHG emissions was completed and verified for accuracy through a data comparison review. The pre-post-training survey showed an increase in the knowledge and readiness of staff to maintain a GHG inventory. (4) Conclusions: This work shows the feasibility of obtaining baseline GHG emissions data at large medical centers. It represents the initial phase of the overarching goal to develop site-wide and system-wide carbon reduction strategies and a climate action plan within this health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction is an important sector for climate action. The construction, operation and maintenance, demolition and disposal stages of house buildings consume many resources and have a significant impact on society, the economy and the environment. To assess such efforts, we propose the emergy footprint model of house buildings, which can quantitatively analyse the ecological effect in the house buildings life cycle. The research shows the following. China's ecological efficiency of the housing sector is characterized by improvement. In the house building fifty-year life cycle, the emergy footprint of the operation and maintenance stage is the largest (75.92%), followed by the construction stage (21.95%), but the emergy footprint intensity of the latter is 4.82 times that of the former. Reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the operation and maintenance stage is the key to reducing the life cycle emergy footprint of house buildings. The ecological impact coefficient of house buildings is negatively exponentially correlated with their service life. It reaches ecological break-even when the service period of the house building is equal to 36.73 years. If the house building is demolished after less than nine years of service, the impact is extremely unfavourable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change imposes significant challenges on the ecological environment and human sustainability. Industrial parks, in line with the national climate change mitigation strategy, are key targets for low-carbon revolution within the industrial sector. To predict the carbon emission of industrial parks and formulate the strategic path of emission reduction, this paper amalgamates the benefits of the "top-down" and "bottom-up" prediction methodologies, incorporating the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) decomposition method and long-range energy alternatives planning (LEAP) model, and integrates the Tapio decoupling theory to predict the carbon emissions of an industrial park cluster of an economic development zone in Yancheng from 2020 to 2035 under baseline (BAS) and low-carbon scenarios (LC1, LC2, and LC3). The findings suggest that, in comparison to the BAS scenario, the carbon emissions in the LC1, LC2, and LC3 scenarios decreased by 30.4%, 38.4%, and 46.2%, respectively, with LC3 being the most suitable pathway for the park's development. Finally, the paper explores carbon emission sources, and analyzes emission reduction potential and optimization measures of the energy structure, thus providing a reference for the formulation of emission reduction strategies for industrial parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study emphasizes the inherent shortcomings of laws and policy approaches that are based on the premise that by increasing wood production, much more emission credits can be achieved by using wood in alternative uses. The article aims to exploit the financing of emission reductions, discuss how carbon sinks held in forest resources can be activated, traded, and financed, and explain how Turkiye's forest carbon potential can be exploited. To make a comparative analysis of the situation of Turkiye at global level, Russian's potential for carbon sequestration and its trade have been dealt with as a comparison by following quantitative research methodology. In this research, the calculation method has been used to determine the number of houses that are likely to be built in rural areas using wood materials, e.g., the construction of 100,000 houses with a construction area of 100 m² per year. Consequently, the forest carbon generated by alternative scenarios contributes positively to the emission balance sheet, as well as climate change mitigation through carbon emission trade despite all legal and technical constraints. Although both countries have similar shortcomings of obtaining carbon credits and its trade, of course Russia has a promising situation in comparison with Turkiye with respect to the amount of carbon sequestered and the likelihood of its trade potential at global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The untapped potential for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils represents one of the most cost-effective tools for climate change mitigation. Increasing soil organic matter also brings other agronomic benefits such as improved soil structure, enhanced water-and-nutrient-retention capacity, and biological activity. Broadly, soil organic carbon storage is achieved by increasing carbon inputs (plant residues and organic amendments) and reducing carbon outputs (soil loss mechanisms, decomposition). With a focus on carbon inputs—more specifically, organic amendments—as leverage to increase soil organic carbon, we compared the respiration rates and carbon storage of incubated soil cores amended with maize straw, manure, two digestates and the solid fraction of digestate. Using the variation in the natural 13C abundance found in C4 and C3 plants as a tracer, we were able to partition the CO2 emissions between the exogenous organic matter materials elaborated from maize (C4) and native soil organic carbon (C3). The addition of digestate resulted in an additional 65 to 77% of remaining organic carbon after 92 days. The digestate-derived CO2 was fitted to a second-order kinetic carbon model that accounts for the substrate C that is assimilated into the microbial biomass. The model predicted a carbon sequestration potential of 56 to 73% of the total applied organic carbon after one to two years. For the solid fraction, the results were higher, with 89% of the applied organic carbon after 92 days and a sequestration potential of 86%. The soil priming ranged from −19% to +136% in relation to the unamended control soil, highlighting a surprisingly wide spectrum of results that warrants the need for further research on soil–digestate interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction is an important sector for climate action. The construction, operation and maintenance, demolition and disposal stages of house buildings consume many resources and have a significant impact on society, the economy and the environment. To assess such efforts, we propose the emergy footprint model of house buildings, which can quantitatively analyse the ecological effect in the house buildings life cycle. The research shows the following. China's ecological efficiency of the housing sector is characterized by improvement. In the house building fifty-year life cycle, the emergy footprint of the operation and maintenance stage is the largest (75.92%), followed by the construction stage (21.95%), but the emergy footprint intensity of the latter is 4.82 times that of the former. Reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the operation and maintenance stage is the key to reducing the life cycle emergy footprint of house buildings. The ecological impact coefficient of house buildings is negatively exponentially correlated with their service life. It reaches ecological break-even when the service period of the house building is equal to 36.73 years. If the house building is demolished after less than nine years of service, the impact is extremely unfavourable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy sector in the selected Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam, was responsible for around 84% of total CO2 emissions (equivalent to 423.16 MtCO2) in 2015. Without the intervention of climate change mitigation actions, the emissions of CO2 from energy systems would be tremendously increased. Nevertheless, only Thailand appears to have clear targets for reaching carbon neutrality by the mid-21st century. This study investigates the possibility of energy system transformation to reach net-zero CO2 emissions in 2050 in the selected nations. The Net-Zero-Emission (NZE) scenario is built as a CO2 mitigation countermeasure to the reference scenario. Results show that to reach the goal of decarbonized energy systems in the NZE scenario, efficient and advanced technologies must be used on both the demand and supply sides to reduce around 41% of the final energy demand, and at least 81% of all electricity must be generated by renewable energy. Additionally, the application of advanced low-carbon technologies, including carbon capture and storage in the coal, natural gas, and bioenergy industries and power generation in cooperation with the utilization of electric vehicles in the transport sector, are the key measures for attaining carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral interventions are increasingly being considered as useful complements of traditional climate-policy instruments. These interventions are so far mostly being studied and applied in high-income countries. Here, we examine their application to achieve carbon emissions reduction in low- and middle-income countries. This involves synthesizing evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews from developed countries and deriving general insights for developing countries. We also review evidence from primary studies in developing countries, organizing insights by major world regions. We discuss context dependence of findings, as well to what extent behavioral interventions are complementary to, and create synergies with, other policy instruments. We hope that the present overview serves as starting point to expand the currently small evidence base on climate-relevant behavioral interventions in developing countries. Suggestions are made how to move this research forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are the main emission sources of the CO2 produced by energy use around the globe and have a great impact on the variation of climate. Although the implications of urbanization and socioeconomic elements for carbon emission have been extensively explored, previous studies have mostly focused on developed cities, and there is a lack of research into naturally related elements due to the limited data. At present, remote sensing data provide favorable conditions for the study of large-scale and long-time series. Also, the spillover mechanism of urbanization effects on the discharge of carbon has not been fully studied. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the types of influence that various urbanization factors have on emissions of CO2. Firstly, this study quantifies the urban CO2 emissions in China by utilizing nighttime lighting images. Then, the spatio-temporal variations and spatial dependence modes of CO2 emissions are explored for 284 cities in China from 2000–2018. Finally, the study further ascertains that multi-dimensional urbanization, socio-economic and climate variables affect the discharge of carbon using spatial regression models. The results indicate that CO2 emissions have a remarkable positive spatial autocorrelation. Urbanization significantly increases CO2 emissions, of which the land urbanization contribution towards CO2 emissions is the most important in terms of spillover effects. Specifically, the data on urbanization's direct effects reveal that CO2 emissions will increase 0.066%when the urbanization level of a city rises 1%, while the spillover effect indicates that an 0.492% emissions increase is associated with a 1% rise of bordering cities' average urbanization level. As for the socio-economic factors, population density suppresses CO2 emissions, while technological levels boost CO2 emissions. The natural control factors effect a remarkable impact on CO2 emissions by adjusting energy consumption. This study can provide evidence for regional joint prevention in urban energy conservation, emission reduction, and climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poplars and their hybrids are widely planted in both plantation forestry and agroforestry systems of the world. Along with the utilization and plantation management processes, a large amount of biomass residues are produced, but the relationship between biochar properties and soil CO2 emissions is largely unknown. Here, a laboratory incubation study was conducted to assess the effects of different biochars and their corresponding biomass residues on soil CO2 emissions during the 180 days of incubation. Poplar residue‐derived biochars were larger in the surface area and total pore volume but lower in nutrients and pH values than the rice straw‐derived biochar. Increasing pyrolysis temperature led to a decrease in the total nitrogen (TN) content of poplar leaf‐ and rice straw‐derived biochars, but enhanced the TN in the poplar twig‐ and poplar bark‐derived biochars. After 180‐day incubation, the total cumulative CO2 emission decreased by 33.1%–73.8% in the biochar amendments compared to their corresponding biomass residue addition, whereas the biochars derived from poplar twig and bark residues had more positive effects on reducing soil CO2 emissions, but depended on the pyrolysis temperature. Correlation analysis showed a significant and positive correlation between the CO2 emissions and TN content of bio‐based materials but the negative relationships to total carbon content and C/N ratio. Meanwhile the positive correlations of CO2 emissions to the surface area, t‐plot micropore area, and volume of the biochars were detected. Our results suggest that application of poplar twig‐ and poplar bark‐derived biochars has a great potential for mitigating global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global climate warming caused by greenhouse gases poses a great threat to human living and biological ecosystems. To mitigate climate change, many measures have been taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Among them, the forest carbon sink (FCS) is considered as one of the most economical and effective carbon sequestration methods to realize carbon emission reductions in next 30 to 50 years. FCS projects are being implemented in many countries to increase their carbon sequestration and thereby to realize carbon emission reductions. However, there are some issues associated with implementation with such policies. Firstly, these projects mainly have focused only on carbon sequestration and have ignored the comprehensive ecological effects to obtain their best economical benefits. Secondly, implementing these projects fails to establish a sustainable and healthy forest industry because they place too much reliance on preferential policies from governments. Finally, the projects lack systematic technological standards and legislation to guarantee their smooth implementation. This editorial briefly discusses these issues for the suitable implementation of the FCS projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling the carbon footprints of household firewood consumption is critical for promoting global sustainability and mitigating the impacts of climate change. This study aims to investigate the determinants of household firewood consumption and associated carbon footprint in Pakistan by employing the 2018-2019 data of Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES), Heckman selection model, and Tobit regression method. On average, households consumed 1706 kg of firewood in Pakistan annually, which generated carbon emissions of 19.29 Gg per annum. The results of first stage of Heckman selection model reveal that household head's primary education, agricultural occupation, household size, rural residency, and KP region contribute to choosing firewood as an energy source, while head's higher education, household income, housing types, adoption of cooking range and clean stoves, and residency in Punjab and Sindh provinces discourage firewood use. Similarly, the results of the second stage of Heckman model demonstrate that head's age, household size, income, detached and semidetached houses, and KP residency significantly account for household firewood consumption expenditure. Findings of Tobit regression uncover that illiterate head with agricultural occupation, household size, and rural residency in particular in KP province have a significant association with household carbon emissions. However, female-headed households, higher education, paid work, household income, and Punjab and Sindh residencies tend to generate lower carbon emissions. Therefore, the study suggests raising awareness among females about the harmful effects of firewood energy, expanding access to alternative cleaner energy sources, and promoting the use of clean and efficient stoves. In addition, increasing household income and decreasing household size could be other valid policy options for reducing household carbon footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since seagrasses are efficient sinks for marine organic carbon, there is growing interest in incorporating seagrass protection and restoration into climate mitigation schemes, that is, offering credit for accumulated carbon to offset carbon dioxide emissions. However, patterns and drivers of organic carbon storage by seagrasses are not well resolved, especially at scales relevant to management decisions. Here, we quantified geographic variation in standing stocks of sedimentary organic carbon (Mg Corg ha−1) associated with seagrasses along the northern Florida Gulf Coast using field surveys and sediment cores. We measured plant biomass, organic carbon, and sediment composition in each core. Using a multivariate modeling approach, we evaluated the relative importance of ecological, physical, oceanographic, and seascape drivers, developing the first spatially explicit predictions of seagrass‐associated carbon stocks for this region. Applying model predictions to confirmed seagrass beds and potential recovery areas, we also estimated the carbon storage value of potential seagrass conservation and restoration as the resulting stock enhancement value per hectare of seagrass (Δ Mg Corg ha−1). We found that organic carbon stored by seagrass sediments varied considerably across this region, with stocks significantly increasing with seagrass cover, proximity to oyster reefs, and distance from river outlets, highlighting potential synergies for coordinated management. We also found that current seagrass beds could offer nearly double the carbon storage value of potential recovery areas, emphasizing the importance of conservation as well as restoration. Our results have important implications for management, restoration, and understanding biogeographic patterns of seagrass ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive urban construction is primarily driven by uncontrolled population growth, which has serious consequences for the environment, energy, cost, and human life in general when building materials are massively used. In terms of energy and economic efficiency, buildings that make use of sustainable construction materials and technologies perform better. This is because building in an eco-friendly way results in less waste. Agro-industrial by-products and insulating materials are two examples of sustainable materials that have been put to good use in the climate change mitigation effort and to preserve the environment. Precast components are emphasized as a viable option that is suitable for this purpose and may potentially fulfill the need for housing units. Thus, this study investigated the viability of employing agricultural waste consisting of pomegranate peel waste to produce fired clay bricks. Results demonstrated that the optimum amount of pomegranate peel waste was determined to be 15%, and the optimal firing temperature was determined to be 900 °C. The thermal conductivity of all test samples was lower than that of conventional brick. Furthermore, when compared to conventional wall brick, all the tested samples of manufactured brick reduced energy consumption by 17.55% to 33.13% and carbon dioxide emissions by 7.50% to 24.50%. In addition, the economic feasibility of employing each synthetic sample was evaluated by computing the simple payback time (SPP). It was determined that 1.88–10.74 years were required for the brick samples to provide a return on their initial investment. Due to its ability to decrease heat gain, preserve energy, minimize CO2 emissions, and shorten the payback time, burned clay bricks manufactured from pomegranate peel waste are regarded as a feasible building material. Hence, manufactured bricks are usually considered an exceptional contribution to environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]