Bibliography

711 publications found

• How carbon markets systematically undervalue tropical forests’ climate benefits

  Nick Nugent and Frances Seymour WRI (2023). Communication.
  https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-05/how-carbon-markets-systematically-undervalue-tropical-forests-climate-benefits.pdf?VersionId=yYAOP6XehL83TKbsC8shjjoM1Ljsotp

  Abstract

  In light of the critical role of tropical forests in stabilizing the global climate system through both carbon and noncarbon pathways, maintaining and increasing incentives for large-scale forest conservation is an essential component of climate action. Demand for carbon credits, one of the most promising mechanisms for funding large-scale forest conservation, has grown rapidly in recent years, with the voluntary carbon market seeing transactions worth almost US$2 billion in 2021. In 2022, however, the volume of transactions leveled off, at least in part due to concerns about reputational risk from corporate buyers afraid of greenwashing accusations.

  Nature-based solutions in generalClimate change mitigation

• NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO BUILD CLIMATE RESILIENCE IN INFORMAL AREAS

  Julie Greenwalt, Clara Bütow, Diana Carrillo Silva, Alex Francisco, Jeroen Klooster, Russ Dudley United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) (2023). Policy Brief.
  https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2023/07/strategy_paper_on_nature-based_solutions_to_build_climate_resilience_in_informal_areas.pdf

  Abstract

  The world is warming at an unprecedented pace and humaninduced climate change has already caused widespread adverse impacts on people and nature (IPCC, 2022e). There are already observed increases in frequency and intensity of climate and weather extremes in every inhabited region of the world, including heat waves, heavy precipitation events that cause flooding, drought and fire and this is expected to intensify (IPCC, 2022e). Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals has been inhibited and the most vulnerable people are disproportionately affected (IPCC, 2022e). This is only the beginning as global temperatures will continue to rise until at least the middle of the 21st century in all currently possible emission scenarios. If deep emission cuts do not occur, the temperature will rise at least 2.1°C to 3.5°C or even up to 5.7°C by the end of the century (IPCC, 2021).

  Nature-based solutions in generalHuman well-being & development

• Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries

  RICHARDSON et al. SCIENCE ADVANCES 13 Sep 2023 Vol 9, Issue 37 (2023). Review.
  DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh2458

  Abstract

  This planetary boundaries framework update finds that six of the nine boundaries are transgressed, suggesting that Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity. Ocean acidification is close to being breached, while aerosol loading regionally exceeds the boundary. Stratospheric ozone levels have slightly recovered. The transgression level has increased for all boundaries earlier identified as overstepped. As primary production drives Earth system biosphere functions, human appropriation of net primary production is proposed as a control variable for functional biosphere integrity. This boundary is also transgressed. Earth system modeling of different levels of the transgression of the climate and land system change boundaries illustrates that these anthropogenic impacts on Earth system must be considered in a systemic context.

  Not applicableEcosystem health

• Nature-based solutions implementation: barriers and enablers

  Nataša et al. NOVATECH 2023 (2023). Perspective.
  https://hal.science/hal-04187464v1/file/P03-04.pdf/

  Abstract

  In water sector, nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognized as solutions to address societal challenges, while simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. NBS contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation, to increase flooding resilience of cities, reduce pollution, support biodiversity restoration, and enable ecosystems services provision. However, the implementation of nature-based water management solutions remains slow for several reasons. First, NBS are still novel concept, relatively unknown for many water-related stakeholders, necessitating more insight efforts to generalize their adoption. Moreover, concerns exist over their reliability, cost-effectiveness, and their long-term performance. Alongside those concerns, financial and governance barriers to implementing NBS exist, exhibiting additional needs for further research. Least but not last, technical barriers can also represent impediments in NBS implementation. In this communication, we consolidate the NBS definition comparatively to related infrastructures, such as natural, green or hybrid systems and synthesize the knowledge related to research and operational outcomes from fullscale implementation of nature-based water management solutions with the aim to identify delivered benefits but also potential drawbacks and requirements for a successful implementation. At the end, the ways to overcome the identified barriers and research recommendations are presented with the aim to foster the NBS implementation within water governance and urban planning sectors.

  Infrastructure-related approachesHuman well-being & development

• A framework for understanding land control transfer in agricultural commodity frontiers

  Olivia del Giorgio Journal of Agrarian Change (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12560

  Abstract

  Across the globe, the expansion of large-scale commodity agriculture is occurring not into empty space but over existing social systems. An understanding of the dynamics of expansion and associated impacts of commodity agriculture thus fundamentally requires examining how existing control regimes are dissolved and, simultaneously, how novel ones are assembled in order to make way for the changes in resources use that characterize these transitional moments. With this in mind, in this article, I provide a broad review of the strategies used to secure control over land prospected for agricultural commodity production, distinguishing between the tactics that are applied by agro-interested actors in order to ‘break down’ forms of existing land control, those they apply in parallel to ‘build up’ new control structures, and those strategies that are applied by actors (often smallholders) wishing to ‘hold on to’ the control that they have. I then present a framework for examining the dynamics of control transfer that builds on this analytical structure of ‘breaking down’, ‘building up’, and ‘holding on to’ control.

  Food and water security

• A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action

  Gonzalez et al. Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023) (2023). Review.
  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02171-0

  Abstract

  The rate and extent of global biodiversity change is surpassing our ability to measure, monitor and forecast trends. We propose an interconnected worldwide system of observation networks — a global biodiversity observing system (GBiOS) — to coordinate monitoring worldwide and inform action to reach international biodiversity targets.

  Not applicableEcosystem health

• The Economics of Tropical Deforestation

  Clare Balboni, Aaron Berman, Robin Burgess, and Benjamin A. Olken Annual Review of Economics (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-090622-024705

  Abstract

  Two factors have elevated recent academic and policy interest in tropical deforestation: first, the realization that it is a major contributor to climate change; and second, a revolution in satellite-based measurement that has revealed that it is proceeding at a rapid rate. We begin by reviewing the methodological advances that have enabled measurement of forest loss at a fine spatial resolution across the globe. We then develop a simple benchmark model of deforestation based on classic models of natural resource extraction. Extending this approach to incorporate features that characterize deforestation in developing countries—pressure for land use change, significant local and global externalities, weak property rights, and political economy constraints—provides us with a framework for reviewing the fast-growing empirical literature on the economics of deforestation in the tropics. This combination of theory and empirics provides insights not only into the economic drivers and impacts of tropical deforestation but also into policies that may affect its progression. We conclude by identifying areas where more work is needed in this important body of research.

  Nature-based solutions in generalEcosystem healthForest

• Valuing the functionality of tropical ecosystems beyond carbon

  Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez et al. SCIENCE & SOCIETY (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.08.012

  Abstract

  Land-based carbon sequestration projects, such as tree planting, are a prominent strategy to offset carbon emissions. However, we risk reducing natural ecosystems to one metric – carbon. Emphasis on restoring ecosystems to balance ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and carbon sequestration is a more appropriate strategy to protect their functioning.

  Ecosystem-based mitigationClimate change mitigation

• Biodiversity and climate extremes: known interactions and research gaps

  Mahecha et al. ESS Open Archive (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.169462031.19744802/v1

  Abstract

  Climate extremes are on the rise. Impacts of extreme climate and weather events on ecosystem services and ultimately human well-being can be partially attenuated by the organismic, structural, and functional diversity of the affected land surface. However, the ongoing transformation of terrestrial ecosystems through intensified exploitation and management may put this buffering capacity at risk. Here, we summarise the evidence that reductions in biodiversity can destabilise the functioning of ecosystems facing climate extremes. We then explore if impaired ecosystem functioning could, in turn, exacerbate climate extremes. We argue that only a comprehensive approach, incorporating both ecological and hydrometeorological perspectives, enables to understand and predict the entire feedback system between altered biodiversity and climate extremes. This ambition, however, requires a reformulation of current research priorities to emphasise the bidirectional effects that link ecology and atmospheric processes.

  Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptation

• Woodland expansion in the presence of deer: 30 years of evidence from the Cairngorms Connect landscape restoration partnership

  Gullett et al. Journal of Applied Ecology (2023). Original Research.
  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14501

  Abstract

  Restoring native woodlands to areas where they have been lost is a key element for tackling the nature and climate crises. Natural regeneration offers the potential to achieve this cheaply and at scale, but browsing ungulates like deer can inhibit this or alter the pattern of regeneration. This issue is particularly pronounced in the Scottish Highlands, a heavily deforested region with high deer numbers.

  We describe the work of the 60,000 ha landscape restoration partnership, Cairngorms Connect, in speeding up natural woodland expansion. We use 30 years of regeneration monitoring to show a consistent, large-scale expansion of native woodland, largely through natural regeneration alongside deer culling, without the use of fences. This was achieved across the partnership, despite differing management histories and land-managing organisations (comprising two statutory agencies, one private landowner and one non-governmental organisation).

  During peak periods of woodland expansion, the area of new woodland (i.e. exceeding 100 trees per hectare) increased by 1.2%, 1.7%, 2.7% and 6.0% annually in the four landholdings’ regeneration zones, equating to a total of approximately 164 ha annually of new woodland.
  Natural regeneration is however patchy and hard to predict. Higher levels of management intervention may be needed to increase species that are rarer, more palatable or further from seed sources; we recommend long-term field trials to inform this, such as those underway in Cairngorms Connect. Further research should develop techniques for remote sensing of woodland expansion, verified against field data and combined with the development of process-based models to enable us to predict the outcomes of different management scenarios.

  Synthesis and applications. We show that collaborative deer management across multiple adjoining landholdings can achieve rapid landscape-scale native woodland expansion with minimal need for planting or fencing. Our results show the power of monitoring regeneration directly, to inform deer management for an area. We demonstrate that by uniting over a shared vision, organisations with differing management approaches and histories can build understanding alongside landscape-scale ecological restoration.

  Ecological restorationEcosystem healthForest

• Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

  Müller, J., Mitesser, O., Schaefer, H.M. et al. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 6191 (2023) (2023). Original Research.
  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41693-w

  Abstract

  Tropical forest recovery is fundamental to addressing the intertwined climate and biodiversity loss crises. While regenerating trees sequester carbon relatively quickly, the pace of biodiversity recovery remains contentious. Here, we use bioacoustics and metabarcoding to measure forest recovery post-agriculture in a global biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador. We show that the community composition, and not species richness, of vocalizing vertebrates identified by experts reflects the restoration gradient. Two automated measures – an acoustic index model and a bird community composition derived from an independently developed Convolutional Neural Network – correlated well with restoration (adj-R² = 0.62 and 0.69, respectively). Importantly, both measures reflected composition of non-vocalizing nocturnal insects identified via metabarcoding. We show that such automated monitoring tools, based on new technologies, can effectively monitor the success of forest recovery, using robust and reproducible data.

  Ecological restorationEcosystem healthForest

• Spatially targeted nature-based solutions can mitigate climate change and nature loss but require a systems approach

  Finch et al. One Earth Volume 6, Issue 10 (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.09.005

  Abstract

  Finite land is under pressure to provide food, timber, human infrastructure, climate change mitigation, and wildlife habitat. Given the inherent trade-offs associated with land-use choices, there is a need to assess how alternative land-use trajectories will impact the delivery of these benefits. Here, we develop nine exploratory, climate change mitigation-driven land-use scenarios for the UK. The scenario that maximized deployment of nature-based solutions reduced greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions from the land sector by >100% by 2050 but resulted in a 21% decline in food production.

  All mitigation scenarios delivered aggregate increases in habitat availability for 109 bird species (including 61 species of conservation concern), although farmland-associated species lost habitat. Our study reiterates the potential of nature-based solutions to address global climate and biodiversity challenges but also highlights risks to farmland wildlife and the importance of food system reform to mitigate potential reductions in primary food production.

  Ecosystem-based managementFood and water security

• Development banks must codify strict criteria for financing Big Livestock

  Divya Narain One Earth Volume 6, Issue 10 (2023). Communication.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.08.024

  Abstract

  With its whopping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enormous deforestation footprint, and massive waste lagoons (some visible even from space!), industrial animal agriculture is often dubbed the new fossil fuel. Dominated by a handful of mega-corporations, the livestock industry is already a major driver of the climate crisis.1 Given its projected growth, the industry is likely, by 2030, to use up 49% of the allowable budget for a relatively safe 1.5°C temperature rise.2 Yet, the climate commitments of big meat and dairy companies are little more than a cop-out. Their emissions reporting is inadequate at best, and fraught with greenwashing at worst. Despite this, between 2015 and 2020, 2,500 financial institutions ranging from high-street banks to pension funds and asset managers to universities shelled out over $478 billion USD to back meat and dairy operations globally.3 With stricter climate regulations on the horizon, these loans and investments run the risk of turning into “stranded assets,” suffering write-downs or devaluations.

  Nature-based agricultural systemsFood and water security

• Co-designing a toolkit for evidence-based decision making in conservation: Processes and lessons

  Smith et al. Ecological Solutions and Evidence (2023). Review.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12269

  Abstract

  Improving the effectiveness of conservation practice requires better use of evidence.
  Since 2004, researchers from the Conservation Evidence group (University of Cambridge) have engaged with over 1100 named practitioners, policymakers, funders and other academics from across the world to identify needs and develop a range of principles, tools and resources to embed evidence in decision making. The goal of this engagement (the Conservation Evidence Programme) was to deliver improved conservation practice leading to benefits for nature and society. Together, we developed a theory of change with five key strategies for delivering change, alongside a freely available Evidence Toolkit to support decision makers in achieving that change.

  The authors describe the toolkit, a collection of freely available tools and resources developed by the collaborative programme, and how co-design, employing different levels of partner engagement, enabled its development.

  Reflecting on our experiences highlighted a number of insights and recommendations, including the need to identify where deep engagement is a necessary condition for success; the importance of collective agreement of the roles of different partners; the need to consider how to facilitate uptake of new tools or practices, particularly where that requires changes to organisational practices or culture; and the importance of establishing processes/channels for ongoing engagement with stakeholders, with a willingness to be flexible and open to incorporating new suggestions and perspectives as needed.

  The Conservation Evidence Programme has enabled practitioners, funders and policymakers to become part of a network of forward-thinking organisations that is working collaboratively to help drive more effective conservation practice through improved evidence use.

  Nature-based solutions in generalHuman well-being & development

• The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate

  Spohn et al. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 6624 (2023) (2023). Original Research.

  Abstract

  Little is currently known about how climate modulates the relationship between plant diversity and soil organic carbon and the mechanisms involved. Yet, this knowledge is of crucial importance in times of climate change and biodiversity loss. Here, we show that plant diversity is positively correlated with soil carbon content and soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio across 84 grasslands on six continents that span wide climate gradients. The relationships between plant diversity and soil carbon as well as plant diversity and soil organic matter quality (carbon-to-nitrogen ratio) are particularly strong in warm and arid climates. While plant biomass is positively correlated with soil carbon, plant biomass is not significantly correlated with plant diversity. Our results indicate that plant diversity influences soil carbon storage not via the quantity of organic matter (plant biomass) inputs to soil, but through the quality of organic matter. The study implies that ecosystem management that restores plant diversity likely enhances soil carbon sequestration, particularly in warm and arid climates.

  Ecosystem-based adaptationEcosystem health

• Smallholder farmer resilience to extreme weather events in a global food value chain

  William J. Thompson et al. Springer Open Access (2023). Original Research.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03586-1

  Abstract

  Extreme weather events have severe impacts on food systems, especially for smallholders in global food value chains (GFVCs). There is an urgent need to understand (a) how climate shocks manifest in food systems, and (b) what strategies can enhance food system resilience. Integrating satellite, household and trade data, we investigate the cascading impacts after two consecutive hurricanes on smallholder banana farmers in Dominican Republic, and determinants of their recovery. We found that farmers experienced an ‘all-or-nothing’ pattern of damage, where 75% of flooded farmers lost > 90% of production. Recovery of regional production indicators took ca. 450 days. However, farm-level recovery times were highly variable, with both topographic and human capital factors determining recovery. Utilising this case study, we show that engaging in a GFVC impeded recovery via ‘double exposure’ of production loss and losing market access. Our results suggest that strategies to enhance resilience, with a particular focus on recovery, in GFVCs should promote trader loyalty, facilitate basin-scale collaboration and expand risk-targeted training.

  Nature-based agricultural systemsFood and water security