Cross-Scale Water and Land Impacts of Local Climate and Energy Policy—A Local Swedish Analysis of Selected SDG Interactions

Synergies and tradeoffs among Sustainable Development Goals across boundaries in a metacoupled world

Synergies and tradeoffs among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within specific locations have been widely studied. However, there is little understanding of SDG synergies and tradeoffs across spatial/administrative boundaries although the world is increasingly interconnected and the United Nations aims to achieve SDGs everywhere by 2030. To fill such an important gap, we introduce a new theoretical framework and develop a general procedure of applying the framework to empirically evaluate SDG synergies and tradeoffs within and across boundaries, based on the concept of metacoupling. We work through our framework using the examples of tourism and panda loans between the globally important Wolong Nature Reserve for panda conservation and the rest of the world to evaluate their effects on six SDGs in Wolong and the other 66 panda reserves. Our analyses uncover a total of 17 synergies and two tradeoffs, of which 10 synergies and one tradeoff are internal to Wolong, while seven synergies and one tradeoff occur across reserve boundaries. Given the first empirical evidence about cross-boundary synergies and tradeoffs, it is our hope that this study provides a foundation for further research to reveal more SDG synergies and tradeoffs across boundaries worldwide. The findings will be essential to enhance SDG synergies and reduce tradeoffs across boundaries for achieving SDGs everywhere.

Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis

Freshwater ecosystems provide irreplaceable services for both nature and society. The quality and quantity of freshwater affect biogeochemical processes and ecological dynamics that determine biodiversity, ecosystem productivity, and human health and welfare at local, regional and global scales. Freshwater ecosystems and their associated riparian habitats are amongst the most biologically diverse on Earth, and have inestimable economic, health, cultural, scientific and educational values. Yet human impacts to lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and groundwater are dramatically reducing biodiversity and robbing critical natural resources and services from current and future generations. Freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly on every continent and in every major river basin on Earth, and this degradation is occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial ecosystems. Currently, about one third of all global freshwater discharges pass through human agricultural, industrial or urban infrastructure. About one fifth of the Earth's arable land is now already equipped for irrigation, including all the most productive lands, and this proportion is projected to surpass one third by midcentury to feed the rapidly expanding populations of humans and commensal species, especially poultry and ruminant livestock. Less than one fifth of the world's preindustrial freshwater wetlands remain, and this proportion is projected to decline to under one tenth by midcentury, with imminent threats from water transfer megaprojects in Brazil and India, and coastal wetland drainage megaprojects in China. The Living Planet Index for freshwater vertebrate populations has declined to just one third that of 1970, and is projected to sink below one fifth by midcentury. A linear model of global economic expansion yields the chilling prediction that human utilization of critical freshwater resources will approach one half of the Earth's total capacity by midcentury. Although the magnitude and growth of the human freshwater footprint are greater than is generally understood by policy makers, the news media, or the general public, slowing and reversing dramatic losses of freshwater species and ecosystems is still possible. We recommend a set of urgent policy actions that promote clean water, conserve watershed services, and restore freshwater ecosystems and their vital services. Effective management of freshwater resources and ecosystems must be ranked amongst humanity's highest priorities.

Metacoupled Tourism and Wildlife Translocations Affect Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals across Spillover Systems

Synergies and trade-offs among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been hotly debated. Although the world is increasingly metacoupled (socioeconomic-environmental interactions within and across adjacent or distant systems), there is little understanding of the impacts of globally widespread and important flows on enhancing or compromising sustainability in different systems. Here, we used a new integrated framework to guide SDG synergy and trade-off analysis within and across systems, as influenced by cross-boundary tourism and wildlife translocations. The world’s terrestrial protected areas alone receive approximately 8 billion visits per year, generating a direct economic impact of US $600 billion. Globally, more than 5000 animal species and 29,000 plant species are traded across country borders, and the wildlife trade has arguably contributed to zoonotic disease worldwide, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We synthesized 22 cases of tourism and wildlife translocations across six continents and found 33 synergies and 14 trade-offs among 10 SDGs within focal systems and across spillover systems. Our study provides an empirical demonstration of SDG interactions across spillover systems and insights for holistic sustainability governance, contributing to fostering synergies and reducing trade-offs to achieve global sustainable development in the metacoupled Anthropocene.

A Literature Review to Propose a Systematic Procedure to Develop “Nexus Thinking” Considering the Water–Energy–Food Nexus

There is a growing interest in the literature on the theme of the water–energy–food nexus, as there is growing recognition that sectors that share natural resources have interdependent and interconnected systems. Despite the widespread popularity of nexus thinking, it still lacks standardized procedures and methodologies to assist in its development. Therefore, this paper proposes, from a literature review, a systematic procedure to assist in the development of management models based on nexus thinking. To this end, 304 papers were analyzed using the following criteria: nexus concept, type of approach, geographic scale, elements in the nexus system, application context, and types of assessment methods and tools. The results of the review served as the basis for determining the procedure, which consisted of four steps: (a) understanding nexus thinking, (b) identification of composing variables, (c) evaluation (diagnosis and prognosis), and (d) decision-making. In addition to the standardization of these steps, the main information used to compose the procedure was organized and synthesized with a mind map.