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Social capital is frequently invoked as a reason for engaging in collaborative environmental governance. Yet we have a limited understanding of how collaborative environmental governance mobilizes different types of social capital and how the advantages and costs of social capital accrue for different groups of people. Explicit measures of social capital, such as through social network methods, will help build an understanding of how social capital facilitates collective processes and for whom. We reviewed highly cited articles in Web of Science and Scopus using ‘social capital’ as the search term to identify foundational and emergent social capital concepts. In the context of collaborative environmental governance, we operationalized these social capital concepts with network measures drawn from our expertise and highlighted existing empirical relationships between such network measures and collaborative outcomes. We identified two different perspectives on social capital—one based on social relations that could be readily operationalized with social network measures and the other based on actor characteristics that can further contextualize network data. Relational social capital concepts included social relations among actors; the collective social setting in which relations are embedded; and the advantages and costs that social capital confers to individuals and the collective. Social capital concepts based on actor characteristics included socio-cognitions (e.g. trust, norms, identification with a group, shared meanings) and community engagement (e.g. group membership, civic participation, volunteerism). Empirical evidence using social network approaches to measure social capital reveals patterns in relationship building that influence collaborative and other sustainability outcomes. Social network approaches described here may help define and quantify the social capital mobilized by collaborative governance. Additional research is necessary to track the social capital of collaboratives over time, link it to outcomes, and better understand the social justice implications of collaborative governance.

Investment in science, technologies, and infrastructures has been a critical aspect of China's development strategy since the early 2000s. China's national policies designated waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerators as the dominant end-of-life technology to bring about a form of modern and sustainable waste treatment that can turn waste into energy while eliminating pollution. Amid rising citizen skepticism over the safety and efficacy of this technology in China and elsewhere, this article examines the genre of the orchestrated waste tour, which seeks to place the public as witnesses to state performances of technological improvement. Tours to waste facilities illuminate the generic conventions and strategies that China's late-socialist mode of green techno-scientific governance relied on to legitimize its achievement of environmental improvement. Tours did not produce passive observers. Through an in-depth discussion of a waste tour in Guangzhou, this paper documents that opportunities for firsthand encounters of WtE incinerators provided a forum for those suspicious of the state's claims of techno-science to form counternarratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a phase of environmental awareness, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental governance's (EG) involvement in green innovation (GI) is a subject of growing significance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the extent of environmental degradation that can be ascribed to the corporations listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange. This study examines the detailed connection between CSR, EG, and GI within the context of ecologically sustainable development led by innovation. The data encompassing the years 2011 to 2020 are employed for this analysis. The findings indicate that the adoption of CSR initiatives by heavily polluting businesses significantly boosts their capacity for innovation. The positive effect is further enhanced by robust EG, particularly in the short term. The findings further suggest that CSR has a moderate influence on innovation within privately owned companies and those that primarily focus on addressing less severe environmental concerns. In contrast, CSR exhibits a more pronounced influence in state‐owned enterprises that face more substantial environmental challenges. The findings offer significant perspectives for businesses, policymakers, and scholars, thereby promoting sustainability and enabling eco‐friendly innovation in contaminated environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three decades, a new ‘haze season’ has emerged in the public discourse in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The semantic construction of ‘haze season’ signifies societal acknowledgement of recurring and hazardous air pollution episodes caused by the widespread burning of tropical peatlands. This study problematizes the underlying political ecology of the discursive framing of haze as ‘seasonal.’ Through a comprehensive discourse analysis of news media and government/corporate/NGO documents, this paper identifies and analyses three storylines used by divergent groups of actors seeking to attribute meaning and value to haze: (1) ‘it keeps coming back’; (2) ‘it will go away’; and (3) ‘it is normal’. Political actors draw upon these storylines to meet their distinctive political and ecological objectives. Divergent framing of seasonality by different actors reveals some of the mechanisms influencing haze mitigation and adaptation. Our study highlights the importance of unearthing and interrogating the underlying politics involved in constructing ‘seasons of the Anthropocene’. The semantic construction and popularization of ‘seasonality’ for anthropogenic environmental events can be a double‐edged sword, with familiarity enhancing societal preparedness, while normalization can lead to desensitization and inertia towards mitigation. Untangling the divergent pathways of politicizing Anthropocene seasonalities is key to determining whether and how societies can build a ‘liveable future’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distance between governments and firms is associated with firms’ economic activities, while the association of geographic proximity to environmental agencies with industrial pollution emissions is unclear. To explore the effects of geographic distance on firms’ pollution emissions, we use the fixed-effect models with data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database. Our results show that the firms located further away from environmental agencies release more SO2 (β = 0.102, p < 0.01) than those close to those environmental agencies. Subsequent investigations reveal that geographic distance has a positive correlation with the short-term performance of firms (total production value and fixed investment) but a negative correlation with firms’ long-term performance (green innovation, technological updates and clean energy use). Heterogeneous checks show that the influence of geographic distance on SO2 emissions is mainly found in non-local firms, suggesting a possibility of collusion between proximate firms and local government. This study highlights how the firm-agency distance relation affects pollution emissions and suggests that policymakers should consider more efficient instruments for environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, MOFs hydrogels have attracted extensive attention due to their unique structure and excellent performance. MOF‐based hydrogels combine the highly ordered pore structure and tunability of MOF with the biocompatibility and flexibility of hydrogels, and are widely used in environmental governance, sensors, and biomedicine. In this review, we mainly summarize the synthesis methods, structural characteristics and mechanical properties of MOF‐based hydrogels, and the specific applications of MOF‐based hydrogels in different fields including adsorption of heavy metal ions and pollutant gases stress strain sensor and drug delivery. Finally, we analyze the existing problems, and provide suggestions for the development direction of MOF‐based hydrogels in the future. This paper aims to help readers quickly understand the current development of MOF‐based hydrogels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of watershed pollution governance necessitates the involvement of multiple stakeholders, with increasing emphasis on public participation. In response, China introduced the river chief system and gradually established civilian river chiefs and environmental supervisors as channels for public engagement. However, questions remain about how to effectively and sustainably engage the public while addressing watershed pollution. To explore this, we employed an action research approach, focusing on a case from Guiyang, which pioneered the "Dual River Chief System" and introduced civilian environmental supervisors, significantly mobilizing public involvement and controlling pollution. By analyzing the selection background, criteria, responsibilities, training, support mechanisms, and fieldwork of civilian environmental supervisors, we found that their primary tasks were monitoring watershed conditions and mobilizing broader public participation, with selection criteria focusing on interest in watershed governance and regional influence. At the same time, training and expert support were provided to enhance their investigative capabilities and ensure accurate results. This also fostered greater commitment and confidence among the supervisors, further promoting public participation in watershed governance. Despite its success, the approach relied heavily on the groundwork and local networks of civilian river chiefs and required significant time and effort in the early stages, posing certain limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to increasing calls for better consideration of social dimensions in Forest (and) Landscape Restoration (FLR), this systematic literature review identifies and synthesises relevant themes associated with critical social perspectives in FLR. Critical perspectives are methodologically diverse but generally share an intention to interrogate power and knowledge, challenge the ' status quo ' and 'taken-for-granted' assumptions, alongside promoting social justice. Critical perspectives therefore play a key role in illuminating complex social dimensions in global environmental governance. This review asks: What is the role of critical social perspectives within the academic discourse on FLR, and what key insights about FLR have these perspectives provided over the period 2000–2023? A total of 449 relevant academic papers were published during this period. An initial assessment of the abstracts, title and keywords found social dimensions were addressed in some way, even if only negligibly, in 211 of the 449 papers, and themes associated with critical social perspectives were evident in only 40 papers. These 40 papers were then read in full, and six key topic areas emerged: 1) Assumptions underpinning the links between FLR and human-wellbeing, particularly the tendency to measure human-wellbeing using simple economic indicators, were challenged as naïve and potentially misleading; 2) Tenure issues appear to be frequently under-appreciated, with serious consequences such as displacement of communities; 3) Top-down, technocratic models of governance are problematised for neglecting the socio-political contexts of FLR, which are laden with value and power asymmetries, as well as the implications of historical legacies (e.g., colonialism); 4) While there has been a proliferation of discursive intent to better 'engage local stakeholders', doing so remains opaque in principle and practice; 5) The heterogeneity of 'local stakeholders' emphasises the need to consider multiple intersections of social identities and diversity, and attend to gendered dimensions of FLR; 6) Accepting epistemological pluralism is considered fundamental to incorporating local and Indigenous Peoples' knowledges into more people-centred, locally-relevant FLR governance and practice. The review concludes that, if FLR is to genuinely pursue the imperative to enhance human-wellbeing alongside the goal of regaining ecological integrity, a recalibration of research priorities toward interdisciplinary social sciences, and better representation of locally-situated stakeholders, are required. This will involve deliberation between researchers, from both social and natural sciences, as well as practitioners; and making concerted efforts to steer away from simplistic framings of the issues, toward more nuanced understandings of and responses to the systemic complexities embedded in FLR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of ecological civilization necessitates the optimization of environmental governance modes. Rigid and flexible modes of environmental governance differ in their connotations and legalization pathways, but they serve complementary functions. Increasing the proportion of flexible environmental governance mechanisms within the Ecological and Environmental Code while shaping a dualistic pattern integrating both rigid and flexible environmental governance modes represents a necessary and legitimate strategy to meet the demands of ecological civilization construction. The integration of rigid and flexible environmental governance modes into the Ecological and Environmental Code has significant implications in multiple aspects: ① This integration leverages the advantages of rigid and flexible environmental governance, facilitates multi-stakeholder consensus building, maximizes environmental benefits, and promotes comprehensive societal transformation. ② It helps maintain the stability and openness of the internal structure of the Ecological and Environmental Code, reduces the conflict of governance norms, and meets the requirements for building a sound code system. ③ It balances the national and international features of such a Code while enhancing their global influence. The systematic configuration of rigid and flexible environmental governance modes in the Ecological and Environmental Code should follow a holistic overall approach. Each mode should adhere to the principle of ‘moderate codification,’ establish a ‘comprehensive-divisional’ logical framework, and distill and clarify subordinate legal guiding principles as well as an ‘institutional database.’ This process aims to form a ‘dispersed-integrated’ matching pattern for the implementation of the norms. Specific institutions should be assessed on the basis of 'fundamentality' and reasonably arranged in the ‘general provisions’ or sub-provisions, in accordance with the value orientation of each part of the code. The realization of the effectiveness of rigid and flexible environmental governance is the result of the sound operation of the governance institutions within the Ecological and Environmental Code. The safeguard measures for effectiveness realization are reflected in legislation, law enforcement, and judicial proceedings, specifically including: ① Laying the foundation for improved governance effectiveness through internal refinement of governance institutions and transformation of their external characteristics. ② Optimizing the exercise of administrative power, improving the intelligence and discretionary nature of the exercise of power, and facilitating collaboration among governance measures. ③ Identifying the nature of disputes arising in the course of the application of institutions and adopting corresponding dispute resolution procedures so as to effectively configure the responsibilities of the environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human and ecological values influence all aspects of governance and management processes and in doing so, contribute to environmental decisions and outcomes. However, there is an absence of coherent and well-developed guidance to assist understanding of how values influence the different aspects of environmental governance and management. This paper addresses the gap between environmental values theory and governance and management practice. With in the context of Government policy making and implementation we examine the meaning and influence of principle, contextual and relational values in connection to the normative, empirical, and applied aspects of environmental governance and management. We present a conceptual framework articulating the relationships between value types and their influence on governance and management processes, demonstrating that management actions (applied) are based on empirical understandings (contextual values) through a lens of normative judgments (principle values). In addition to clarifying the role of values in governance and management, the framework is envisaged as an analytical tool to assist management practitioners to: 1) elucidate the values operating in a given governance or management setting; 2) tease out how different values influence the aspects of governance and management (e.g. goal setting, assessment, and choosing and applying management strategies), and how those aspects interact to influence outcomes; and 3) to identify potential value conflicts or synergies to guide the integration of multiple environmental interests, priorities and knowledges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forests are vital for global biodiversity and climate stability, but the political economy of deforestation and land-use change constantly challenges their integrity. In this article, we analyse 50 years of policy development in the municipality Marqués de Comillas, located in Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico, to understand how development and conservation priorities have evolved, interacted, and shaped land-use in a tropical forest frontier. By analysing peer-reviewed literature and empirical data, we identify five phases of policy continuity and change that have produced diverse socio-environmental outcomes. We reveal a persistent state-led prioritisation of rural development over environmental concerns, pursued through policies promoting settlements and agricultural expansion and exacerbated by external market forces. This focus has caused substantial ecosystem degradation and deforestation without significant livelihood improvements. Recent conservation initiatives, such as payment for ecosystem services, show potential for challenging the status quo by offering alternative livelihood opportunities benefiting both people and ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental phenomena shed light on the fiction that inter-state borders constitute on some level, and the limitations of state-based environmental governance. Transboundary watersheds, in particular, flow across borders of different kinds, evincing the interdependence of water bodies, both human and nonhuman. The lack of cross-border comprehensive environmental governance imposes regional forms of inequity and inefficient forms of water protection. In Central America, to address such problems, citizens have created a legal prototype for how transboundary watersheds could be governed as a commons going forward. This endeavour has been led by Salvadorans, concerned as they are by their country's position as a lower co-riparian and their significant interdependence with transboundary water bodies. I argue that, in addition to destabilizing established approaches to environmental governance, the legal prototype opens avenues for forms of earthly politics and multispecies justice by placing the reproduction of life, human and nonhuman, side by side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Aarhus Convention' – regulating access to environmental information, public participation and justice in environmental decision−making – is a key international agreement with a long history and a considerable number of signatory countries. While implementation has been studied nationally, there is little comparative research at the transnational level. Based on ten criteria, we analysed national implementation reports of the 2014, 2017 and 2021 reporting cycles in terms of how 33 countries in Europe have implemented the access to information and public participation pillars, and identified obstacles they encountered. We also studied similarities and differences supra-nationally. Overall, countries are quite successfully fulfilling the obligations of the two pillars. Most obstacles reported concern four criteria: access to information, information provision, interaction, and trust. Implementation practices have changed little from 2014 to 2021. However, East- and South-European countries report more, and more persistent or repetitive obstacles, compared to Northern and Western European countries. The national democratic context seems to affect the quality of implementation. The Convention's compliance bodies and national agencies responsible for coordinating the implementation are encouraged to interact more closely, to account for the differences and leverage implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental governance requires both production-side and demand-side approaches. Previous literature has extensively studied environmental regulatory policies on the production side, while the role of demand side factors has often been neglected. This study constructs a staggered difference-in-difference model to investigate the impact of Green Public Procurement (GPP) on firms' pollution emissions taking the green procurement lists enacted by the Chinese government as a quasi-natural experiment. The results demonstrate that being selected into the green procurement lists significantly reduces firms' pollution emissions, and the findings still hold after endogeneity tests and a series of robustness tests. We identified the mechanisms responsible for this effect. The reduction in firms' pollution emissions mainly results from energy transition, enhanced technological innovation, and improved end-of-pipe treatment capacity. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the pollution reduction effect of GPP differs depending on the procurement implementation modalities and firm characteristics. Finally, we use China's domestic input-output table to calculate the indicators of upstream and downstream industry linkages and examine the production network spillover effects of GPP. The results show that GPP effectively reduces the pollution emissions of upstream and downstream firms through production network linkages. This study provides empirical evidence from China on the effectiveness of GPP as a demand-side policy in pollution reduction, and offers valuable policy insights for further improving the policy system of environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contestations around forests and lands have a long history in Sabah, Malaysia and the divergent interests of the ruling State, private business and indigenous and local peoples have played out in narratives shaping policies and debated in media since colonial times. Coalition building among actors is one avenue of influencing policy and securing benefits from policy outcomes. Here, we examine print media related to the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA), a controversial carbon trading proposal, to identify policy coalitions based on actors' narratives about development and forests. Relevant articles from October 2021 to January 2023 were coded to identify the media frames, actors, and their arguments. Using discourse network analyser (DNA), three coalitions were identified: 1) Local rights defenders; 2) NCA promoters; 3) Process sceptics. Actors for or against the NCA both emphasise the importance of managing forests and local development within Sabah, but closer examination of arguments reveal that coalitions have different visions of who is to be included in decision-making and who will benefit from it. NCA promoters use the same narratives that have been historically used to legitimise state control over forests and land, and frame the NCA as an effective "win–win" solution for climate change and local economic development. The coalitions of dissenters highlight lack of transparency and free, prior, informed consent, and inequities for local and indigenous people. Discourses on development and resource management in Sabah are not without contestation, even though alternative options for more just development are still absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major challenges facing agricultural and food systems today is the loss of agrobiodiversity. Considering the current impasse of preventing the worldwide loss of crop diversity, this paper highlights the possibility for a radical reorientation of current legal seed frameworks that could provide more space for alternative seed systems to evolve which centre on norms that support on-farm agrobiodiversity. Understanding the underlying norms that shape seed commons are important, since norms both delimit and contribute to what ultimately will constitute the seeds and who will ultimately have access to the seeds and thus to the extent to which agrobiodiversity is upheld and supported. This paper applies a commoning approach to explore the underpinning norms of a Swedish seed commons initiative and discusses the potential for furthering agrobiodiversity in the context of wider legal and authoritative discourses on seed enclosure. The paper shows how the seed commoning system is shaped and protected by a particular set of farming norms, which allows for sharing seeds among those who adhere to the norms but excludes those who will not. The paper further illustrates how farmers have been able to navigate fragile legal and economic pathways to collectively organize around landrace seeds, which function as an epistemic farming community, that maintain landraces from the past and shape new landraces for the present, adapted to diverse agro-ecological environments for low-input agriculture. The paper reveals how the ascribed norms to the seed commons in combination with the current seed laws set a certain limit to the extent to which agrobiodiversity is upheld and supported and discusses why prescriptions of "getting institutions right" for seed governance are difficult at best, when considering the shifting socio-nature of seeds. To further increase agrobiodiversity, the paper suggests future seed laws are redirected to the sustenance of a proliferation of protected seed commoning systems that can supply locally adapted plant material for diverse groups of farmers and farming systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipalities face challenges meeting environmental protection and conservation goals due to a lack of resources, capacity, and political will. As a result, grassroots environmental organizations often emerge to help meet these challenges by filling gaps in governmental operation and structure. At the watershed scale, environmental organizations and groups are critical for effective watershed governance, often helping with collaboration as well as providing municipalities with additional support and resources. Despite the vital role environmental organizations and groups can play, they continue to face challenges such as insufficient resources, inconsistent leadership, and lack of organizational structure, thus limiting the contributions they can deliver. In this manuscript, we present case study research on watershed groups exploring their capacity to meet their mission and goals. Drawing from a needs assessment study conducted in the Hudson River watershed in 2019–2021, we found that while watershed groups are generally in need of technical resources, participation, and funding, our research suggests capacity (such as internal structure, strategic planning, and leadership) is most important for successful and sustainable groups. Therefore, we argue that support for capacity is more likely to help sustain groups and their long-term beneficial impact. To make this argument we present qualitative interview and focus group data to articulate watershed group goals, challenges, and needs, with an emphasis on capacity-related themes that emerged around expertise, leadership, structure, and planning. We then conclude with recommendations that can be applied to other watershed groups in the United States, and likely beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is firmly committed to transitioning to a low‐carbon economy to address climate change. This research focuses on the role of innovation and governance in achieving carbon neutrality among Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2023, particularly in all carbon dioxide‐contributing sectors. Through multivariate statistics, regression modeling, and quantitative literature analysis, we provide robust evidence of the relationship among innovation, governance, and carbon neutrality. The findings highlight the importance of fostering a sustainability‐oriented culture to drive sustainable innovation and achieve carbon neutrality. We compared the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and governance to expand our scope. Its results underscore the significance of strong corporate governance in facilitating sustainable initiatives. A robustness test is included to finalize that the samples have avoided endogeneity. These findings demonstrate a positive outlook for Japan's future emissions reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locating the analysis in the context of the various shifts in Brazil’s development trajectory since 2003, this article problematises the dynamics underpinning processes of environmental governance. Adopting a critical institutionalist approach, the article analyses how evolving claims of sovereignty over natural resources are used to legitimise contested policy agendas for environmental governance of the Amazon region within Brazil’s coalition politics, and how bricolage processes (innovation, adaptation, and legitimisation) shape these agendas and their outcomes. In a context of territorial fragmentation and ideological differences between an expanding network of actors (federal, state, municipal and non-state) involved in the institutional bricolage of environmental policy-making, the analysis demonstrates that the coalition dynamics of each administration determines the extent to which environmental policies are implemented within Brazil as well as the social-environmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing concerns over environmental degradation and the demand for sustainable development, the Chinese government has implemented several fiscal incentive policies to enhance environmental governance. Taking the phased comprehensive demonstration cities of the Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policy (ESERFP) as an exogenous shock, this study uses a staggered difference-in-differences method to evaluate the impact of the fiscal incentive policy on pollution control using panel data from 268 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017. The results indicate that the industrial pollutant emissions in the demonstration cities significantly decreased compared with those in the non-demonstration cities under the influence of the ESERFP. Specifically, industrial wastewater discharges in the demonstration cities decreased by 15.5% while industrial sulfur dioxide emissions decreased by 19.5%. Moreover, promoting industrial structure upgrades and green technology innovations are the main mechanisms of the ESERFP in reducing industrial pollution emissions. Furthermore, the emission-reduction effect of the ESERFP is more significant in areas with more fiscal resources, lower promotion incentives based on local economic performance, greater emphasis on environmental protection, and those with no old industrial bases. Further analysis shows that the positive effect of the ESERFP on pollution control in the demonstration cities remains relatively effective after the demonstration period ends, and the policy does not sacrifice economic dividends. Overall, this study explores the impact of fiscal incentive policies designed to achieve environmental improvements via pollution control, offering valuable fiscal policy insights for China and other developing economies seeking solutions to environmental pollution, including fiscal incentive policy formulation and implementation, fiscal incentives to support regional green transformations, improving the differentiation and precision of fiscal incentives and enhancing environmental performance assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological compensation is a key mechanism for promoting ecological civilization, aiming to enforce ecological protection responsibilities and encourage participation from all parties. However, while the ecological compensation system is designed to balance the conflicting interests of economic development and ecological protection by fairly compensating those who make sacrifices for the environment, in practice, it often becomes a tool for government governance. This raises the question of whether governance is replacing compensation. This study analyzed 148 local legislative texts and normative documents on ecological compensation using textual analysis to examine the gap between the system's practical and expected functions. Policy analysis tools were then used to explain the underlying causes. Empirical analysis revealed that ecological compensation often served as a governance tool, manifesting primarily in three forms: administrative contracting, project-based systems, and target management responsibility systems. Consequently, the system shifted from compensating private entities to serving as a financial incentive between governments, leading to a scenario where governance overshadowed compensation. The discrepancy between the system's expected and practical functions fundamentally stemmed from policy adaptations that manifested as regulatory ambiguities within the system, creating room for local governments to substitute environmental governance under the guise of ecological compensation. On the contrary, this reflected the constrained choices that local governments had to make when faced with multiple policy objectives and limited financial resources. Since ecological compensation required substantial financial support, the central government tended to encourage local governments to explore improvements to the system. However, without sufficient financial incentives, local governments lacked the motivation to refine the ecological compensation mechanism, ultimately leading to its distortion into a governance tool. Therefore, it is imperative to clarify the content of the ecological compensation system by distinguishing governance from compensation, with support from central government fiscal measures and incentives. The nature, funding methods, and allocation of ecological compensation funds should align with the principle of matching responsibilities with expenditures. Moreover, gradually expanding the scope of ecological compensation and raising standards can provide valuable guidance for the implementation of the regulations governing ecological protection compensation and local practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving green growth requires that development projects with potential environmental impacts undergo a rigorous environmental impact assessment process to address negative consequences. The attainment of green growth, and consequently the Sustainable Development Goals, depends on an effective Environmental Impact Assessment regime. In Ghana, this regime must ensure that projects strictly adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Environmental Assessment Regulations, LI 1652, and LI 1703, before commencement. This research examines the effectiveness of Ghana's environmental assessment regulation in protecting the environment to achieve green growth. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental consultants, and environmental impact assessment proponents in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The findings from these engagements revealed several major challenges in Ghana's environmental assessment regulations that hinder full compliance before projects begin. These challenges include: 1) A shortage of local experts, 2) Insufficient logistics for the EPA's monitoring and evaluation department to conduct frequent inspections, 3) Lack of intervener funding, 4) Poor coordination among government agencies, and 5) Delays in the EIA process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Villagers play an important role in rural water environment governance. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this study adopts a multiple ordered logistic regression model to analyze the willingness of villagers' participation and its influential factors. The results show that rural villagers' willingness to participate in the rural water environment governance is relatively low, and villagers' willingness is significantly influenced by their environmental awareness, attitudes, governance activities, and individual characteristics. Meanwhile, the significantly positive effects of environmental awareness and attitude on villagers' willingness to participate in rural water environment governance are greater than other indicators. Thus, to improve villagers' participation performance, it is necessary to carry out diverse environmental publicity and education activities to improve villagers' environmental awareness and attitude, change current measures of rural water pollution treatment to mobilize multiple stakeholders to participate in rural environment governance, and develop targeted strategies based on villagers' individual characteristics to activate their participation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech whiteleg shrimp ponds (Litopenaeus vannamei) (intensive and superintensive) are rapidly developing. The rapid development is due to the increasing demand for world shrimp, the mastered cultivation technology, and the vast potential of land in Indonesia. The Indonesian government has even made various regulations to support increased sustainable shrimp production. However, the regulation is still sectoral and cannot be implemented by all stakeholders and investors in aquaculture. In addition, investors have not practiced several stages of activities to ensure environmental safety and the success of shrimp farming. As a result, production targets have not been achieved, and the threat of high potential waste is wasted on the aquatic environment. Therefore, a role model is needed to govern high-tech whiteleg shrimp pond development to ensure all shrimp production improvement system instruments can run well. Based on this, research has been conducted to create a role model for developing high-tech whiteleg shrimp ponds (Litopenaeus vannamei). The research used survey methods and group discussion forums (FGDs). The results showed that there are four main components that must exist and synergize in the role model of governance for the development of high-tech whiteleg shrimp ponds: land carrying capacity, cultivation facilities, pond management, and government regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how emission trading systems can diminish the ecological footprint in the European Union bloc by considering the contribution of eco-friendly technology and ecological governance through another market-based intervention (i.e., environmental tax). Using PQARDL in the 26 EU members for data during 2011–2021, the study demonstrates that carbon pricing emission trading systems successfully reduce emissions in medium and upper quantiles but have little influence on lower quantiles. As businesses and consumers face higher costs for carbon-intensive activities, they are encouraged to adopt cleaner technologies and more sustainable practices. Over time, this shift decreases overall carbon emissions and resource consumption, which helps lower ecological pressure. Additionally, Europe's robust regulatory framework and commitment to climate goals ensure that carbon pricing is enforced consistently, further amplifying its positive environmental impact. Eco-friendly technology innovation appears to be a powerful tool for achieving rapid environmental advantages, leading to a considerable reduction in environmental footprint across various levels. Climate-smart patents can significantly curb emissions within the ecosystem and help balance the economy and the environment. Environmental taxes work alongside carbon pricing and green patents to incentivize individuals and corporations to adopt more sustainable practices in the 26 EU members. By unraveling the multifaceted relationships underpinning emission trading systems, renewable energy, green patents, and environmental tax, this study provides actionable insights to guide strategic decisions and policy formulations to reduce the ecological footprint.Highlights: The paper investigates the impact of the emissions trading system on the ecological footprint in European Union countries from 2011 to 2021 using a panel ARDL approach. Results show that the emissions trading system reduces emissions in medium and upper quantiles but has little influence on lower quantiles. Eco-friendly technology innovation significantly reduces emissions in all quantiles. Environmental taxes work alongside carbon pricing and green patents to incentivize individuals and corporations to adopt more sustainable practices in the 26 European Union members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Among factors that threaten wild populations of African megafauna, wildlife trade has gained prominence as a global policy issue, with concerted international campaigns aiming to influence the trade of species such as elephants, rhinos and lions. Trade policy is strongly contested, confounding attempts to develop coherent approaches across jurisdictions and through international mechanisms such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This undermines conservation efforts. Understanding the drivers of such conflict may help to address this problem. Scholars of political science increasingly recognise the power of ideas as drivers within policy processes. Guided by this literature, we developed an analytical framework and conducted a thematic analysis to examine the ideas driving wildlife trade policy conflict. Our nested case study approach examined debates over trade policy toward African elephants, rhinos and lions at two levels: the international policy arena of CITES and within a single country, South Africa. Informed by earlier literature, we tracked the evolution of international trade policy debates over a 4‐year period (2016–2019) and analysed submissions to a national policy review process in South Africa that took place during 2020. During the study period, state and non‐state actors contributed to vigorous trade policy debates within seven key thematic issues across the case study species. Arguments were driven by both cognitive ideas, which specify cause‐and‐effect relationships, and normative ideas, which are values‐based and especially salient elements of anti‐trade stances. Fusing these cognitive and normative ideational elements, we identified three distinct overarching narratives relating to wildlife trade policy. These three narratives align with broader environmental policy and political narratives and elucidate inherent tensions within the CITES arena. They also reveal differing ethical interpretations and perceptions of risk and precaution. Policy implications. Wildlife trade policy conflict is driven at least in part by competing ideological visions, which may be entrenched by the CITES Appendix listing system. The structural role of CITES in perpetuating this polarisation—and the consequences thereof—warrants further research. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

By investigating the water environment in the Quanzhou Nanyi National High-tech Zone, whose environmental governance is an essential part of its construction, we found there were many black and odorous phenomena in the water body, which were caused by five main aspects: the intensification of urbanization, the abuse of agricultural chemicals, the discharge of livestock wastewater, the large-scale increase of industrial parks and the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems. To control water pollution, five strategies were proposed: the improvement of sewage networks, the upgrading of water sewage treatment, the ways of reducing water pollution, the restoration of water ecology and water diversion, and joint efforts to prevent water pollution. The implementation of the above measures would be conducive to promoting the water ecological construction and sustainable development of the Quanzhou Nanyi National High-tech Zone.

AbstractIn 2019, Japan’s Ministry of Environment (MoE), led by Koizumi Shinjirō, embarked on a quest to end the country’s ‘coal addiction’ against the coal industry’s interests, as represented by the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Against all expectations, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō sided with MoE and implemented restrictions. It initiated the end of Japan’s government support for ‘unabated’ coal-fired power plant exports despite their continued high demand from overseas. This article uses the Advocacy Coalition Framework to explain the importance of the MoE and Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjirō in shifting Abe’s posture towards the global energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pollution is one of the most serious environment problems that affect people′s life quality and sustainable economic development worldwide. The degradation capability of microorganisms endows them advantages in environmental pollutants elimination and water environments repairment, with the utilization of diverse bioremediation technologies. However, due to the complex situation of water pollution environment, traditional microbiological treatment methodology is restricted and limited. With the engineering principle Design-Build-Test-Learn in synthetic biology, the designed and modified synthetic microorganisms with efficient and broad-spectrum degradation ability for pollutants has attracted the researchers′ attention. The synthetic microorganisms could not only meet the wastewater treatment requirements within complex pollutants, but also could achieve the green, efficient circular treatment goal. Therefore, design and construction of synthetic microorganisms for water pollution control has becoming one of the future development and application direction of synthetic biology. Herein, we introduced the current situation of water pollution, the treatment technologies classically utilized, and the synthetic microorganisms′ application in water pollution control. This review focuses on different types of microbial chassis in synthetic biology and the merits of application of synthetic microorganisms in water pollution control. This review will facilitate the performance optimization of pollutant degradation and wastewater treatment via synthetic biology and provide reference for the efficient treatment of wastewater environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental governance occurs through and is shaped by communication. We propose a typology of public communication, classifying it by directionality (one-way or two-way) and objective (informational or operational). We then review how communication types influence individuals' conceptual frames, values, and environmental behaviors. Though one-way communication is common, its impact is often limited to influencing conceptual frames. Research on two-way informational communication demonstrates a greater ability to align conceptual frames and values among individuals, and research on two-way operational communication demonstrates the greatest impact on conceptual frames, values, and environmental behaviors. Factors that affect the impact of communication include the medium through which it occurs, trust, timing, and social-material context. Among these, our review considers new directions in public communication research that focus on the role of digital platforms, misinformation, and disinformation. We conclude by synthesizing research on deliberative communication, a case of communication among citizens guided by democratic ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel perspective on co-production of authoritative knowledge in environmental policy, shifting focus from perceived flaws in knowledge production to structural and governance challenges impeding knowledge uptake. It argues that these challenges, including diminishing support for public authority and widespread enthusiasm for collaboration, contribute to regulatory capacity deficits, which undermine knowledge claims' authority. This account is tested through case study analysis of policy stakeholders in Colorado, USA, who sought to co-produce a scientific assessment for biodiversity offsetting. Despite repeated efforts, industry stakeholders disengaged twice, leading to abandonment of the policy initiative. Analysis demonstrates regulatory capacity's crucial role in fostering co-production and integration of authoritative scientific knowledge in policymaking. By analyzing the failure to sustain stakeholder engagement in terms of interplay between regulatory capacity and co-production, this study contributes a critique of mainstream co-production and demonstrates the value of analyzing how institutional arrangements shape knowledge and policy integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]