Blog

New Issue for Journal Nature Sustainability

Volume 4 Issue 9, September 2021

Iron and steel production emissions standards

Governments’ interventions to curb industrial emissions are rarely evaluated. Mi and colleagues have now developed hourly, facility-level emissions estimates to assess the effects of strengthened emissions standards on pollution from China’s iron and steel industry.

See Bo et al.

Image: Xin Bo, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China. Cover Design: Valentina Monaco.

Editorial

Editorial | 17 September 2021

The cow in the room

Our food system reflects and affects our values. Recognizing and understanding the power of those often unstated value systems is critical for avoiding a range of disasters.

Comment & Opinion

Q&A | 10 June 2021

The right to a sound environment

A Global Pact for the Environment is gathering pace to become a binding international agreement. Yann Aguila, Sciences Po, and Jorge Viñuales, University of Cambridge, talk to Nature Sustainability about its global significance and potential, and about the importance of social support to make it happen.

• Aiora Zabala

News & Views

News & Views | 17 June 2021

The hidden value of car ownership

Private cars are valued not just for their functionality but also for the freedom, autonomy or status they offer. New research quantifies the value individuals assign to car ownership and shows that more than half of it derives from non-use value.

• Sonja Haustein

News & Views | 24 June 2021

Closing the loop for perovskite solar modules

Perovskite solar cell modules are expected to enter the market in the near future, but their implications in terms of sustainability compared to other photovoltaic devices are still debated. Now a study lays the groundwork for their eco-design.

• Maria Laura Parisi
• Adalgisa Sinicropi

Reviews

Review Article | 24 June 2021

A global review of ecological fiscal transfers

The transfer of public funds between governments within a country based on ecological indicators is an emerging tool in environmental policy. A review of extant and proposed schemes identifies challenges and opportunities to expand the use of this instrument.

• Jonah Busch
• Irene Ring
• Kecen Zhou

Research

Brief Communication | 26 April 2021

Poultry and fish and aquatic invertebrates have not displaced other meat sources

Not all meat sources have equal climate and environmental impacts, leading to hopes that fish and chicken could ‘displace’ red meat. However, this analysis of five decades of international data casts doubt that such a substitution effect is happening, and that instead all meat consumption is rising.

• Richard York

Article | 17 June 2021

The value of car ownership and use in the United States

A choice experiment shows that perceived benefits of vehicle ownership, including non-use values such as schedule flexibility and status in addition to the transport value, are on average larger than their private costs.

• Joanna Moody
• Elizabeth Farr
• David R. Keith

Article | 31 May 2021

Environmental and socioeconomic footprints of the German bioeconomy

An analysis of the German bioeconomy between 2000 and 2015 finds that its environmental footprints are dominated by animal-based food consumption, and agricultural land use for consumption abroad is double the domestic one.

• Stefan Bringezu
• Martin Distelkamp
• Vincent Egenolf

Article | 07 June 2021

Massive soybean expansion in South America since 2000 and implications for conservation

Deforestation is often driven by land conversion for growing commodity crops. This study finds that, between 2000 and 2019, most soybean expansion in South America was on pastures converted originally for cattle production, especially in the Brazilian Amazon. More soy-driven deforestation occurred in the Brazilian Cerrado.

• Xiao-Peng Song
• Matthew C. Hansen
• Alexandra Tyukavina

Article | 13 May 2021

Acute riverine microplastic contamination due to avoidable releases of untreated wastewater

The authors show how untreated wastewater laced with microplastics and raw sewage is routinely discharged into UK river flows that are too low to disperse the microplastics downstream. This discharge creates acute microplastic contamination of river beds that threatens biodiversity and the quality of riverine habitats.

• Jamie Woodward
• Jiawei Li
• Rachel Hurley

Analysis | 28 June 2021

Scientific evidence for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction

Disaster risks are a critical area for research, but while the focus has been on man-made adaptation, this analysis of 529 studies compiles evidence for how ecosystems can mitigate hazard vulnerabilities.

• K. Sudmeier-Rieux
• T. Arce-Mojica
• Y. Walz

Analysis | 24 June 2021

Effect of strengthened standards on Chinese ironmaking and steelmaking emissions

The Chinese government’s interventions to curb emissions from iron and steel production have not been evaluated. This study develops hourly, facility-level emissions estimates to assess the effects of strengthened emissions standards on pollution from China’s iron and steel industry.

• Xin Bo
• Min Jia
• Steven J. Davis

Analysis | 24 June 2021

Life cycle assessment of recycling strategies for perovskite photovoltaic modules

Effective recycling of worn-out perovskite photovoltaic modules could improve their energy and environmental sustainability. The authors perform holistic life cycle assessments of selected solar cell architectures and provide guidelines for their future design.

• Xueyu Tian
• Samuel D. Stranks
• Fengqi You

Amendments & Corrections

Author Correction | 20 August 2021

Author Correction: A strong, biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulosic bioplastic

• Qinqin Xia
• Chaoji Chen
• Liangbing Hu