Natural capital approaches for the optimal design of policies for nature recovery

By embedding a spatially explicit ecosystem services modelling tool within a policy simulator we examine the insights that natural capital analysis can bring to the design of policies for nature recovery. Our study is illustrated through a case example of policies incentivising the establishment of new natural habitat in England. We find that a policy mirroring the current practice of offering payments per hectare of habitat creation fails to break even, delivering less value in improved flows of ecosystem services than public money spent and only 26% of that which is theoretically achievable. Using optimization methods, we discover that progressively more efficient outcomes are delivered by policies that optimally price activities (34%), quantities of environmental change (55%) and ecosystem service value flows (81%). Further, we show that additionally attaining targets for unmonetized ecosystem services (in our case, biodiversity) demands trade-offs in delivery of monetized services. For some policy instruments it is not even possible to achieve the targets. Finally, we establish that extending policy instruments to offer payments for unmonetized services delivers target-achieving and value-maximizing policy designs. Our findings reveal that policy design is of first-order importance in determining the efficiency and efficacy of programmes pursuing nature recovery. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'.

Does "National Civilized City" policy mitigate air pollution in China? A spatial Durbin difference-in-differences analysis

"National Civilized City" (NCC) is regarded as China's highest honorary title and most valuable city brand. To win and maintain the "golden city" title, municipal governments must pay close attention to various key appraisal indicators, mainly environmental ones. In this study we verify whether cities with the title are more likely to mitigate SO2 pollution. We adopt the spatial Durbin difference-in-differences (DID) model and use panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018 to analyze the local (direct) and spillover effects (indirect) of the NCC policy on SO2 pollution. We find that SO2 pollution in Chinese cities is not randomly distributed in geography, suggesting the existence of spatial spillovers and possible biased estimates. Our study treats the NCC policy as a quasi-experiment and incorporates spatial spillovers of NCC policy into a classical DID model to verify this assumption. Our findings show: (1) The spatial distribution of SO2 pollution represents strong spatial spillovers, with the most highly polluted regions mainly situated in the North China Plain. (2) The Moran's I test results confirms significant spatial autocorrelation. (3) Results of the spatial Durbin DID models reveal that the civilized cities have indeed significantly mitigated SO2 pollution, indicating that cities with the honorary title are acutely aware of the environment in their bid to maintain the golden city brand. As importantly, we notice that the spatial DID term is also significant and negative, implying that neighboring civilized cities have also mitigated their own SO2 pollution. Due to demonstration and competition effects, neighboring cities that won the title ostensibly motivates local officials to adopt stringent policies and measures for lowering SO2 pollution and protecting the environment in competition for the golden title. The spatial autoregressive coefficient was significant and positive, indicating that SO2 pollution of local cities has been deeply affected by neighbors. A series of robustness check tests also confirms our conclusions. Policy recommendations based on the findings for protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development are proposed.

Agri-environmental policies from 1960 to 2022

For both research and practice, it is paramount to understand what, where and when agri-environmental policies have been put in place. Here we present a database of 6,124 agri-environmental policies implemented between 1960 and 2022 in about 200 countries. The database comprises a wide range of policy types (including regulations and payment schemes) and goals (such as biodiversity conservation, safer pesticide use and reducing nutrient pollution). We illustrate the application of the database by exploring the association between economic development and agri-environmental policies and between the soil-related, agri-environmental policies of countries and their border discontinuities in cropland erosion. A strong, positive link between economic development and implemented agri-environmental policies is revealed, and it is found that 43% of all global border discontinuities in soil erosion between countries can be explained by differences in their policies.

European Technical Democracy? How Consumer Associations Did-or Did Not-Shape the 1980s Automotive Environmental Standards

Did the 1980s automotive standards reflect the European Economic Community's move toward a "technical democracy" or a broader democratic deficit? In the early 1980s, Europe's automotive sector faced multiple challenges: the European Commission's desire to harmonize technical standards and achieve greater European integration, intense competition between manufacturers, and environmental issues like acid rain. Debates on reducing air pollution focused on unleaded petrol and catalytic converters. Two associations representing civil society in Brussels responded to the increase in environmental concerns with a 1982 joint campaign. Despite a rich historiography on pollutant emission standards, highlighting the strategies of governments and companies, no study has dealt with the role nongovernmental organizations played. Based on public and private archives, particularly those of the European Bureau of Consumers' Unions, this article argues the new regulations did not result from the EU's consultation with civil society organizations like consumer groups but rather with the automotive industry.

Aligning climate scenarios to emissions inventories shifts global benchmarks

Taking stock of global progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement requires consistently measuring aggregate national actions and pledges against modelled mitigation pathways1. However, national greenhouse gas inventories (NGHGIs) and scientific assessments of anthropogenic emissions follow different accounting conventions for land-based carbon fluxes resulting in a large difference in the present emission estimates2,3, a gap that will evolve over time. Using state-of-the-art methodologies4 and a land carbon-cycle emulator5, we align the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-assessed mitigation pathways with the NGHGIs to make a comparison. We find that the key global mitigation benchmarks become harder to achieve when calculated using the NGHGI conventions, requiring both earlier net-zero CO2 timing and lower cumulative emissions. Furthermore, weakening natural carbon removal processes such as carbon fertilization can mask anthropogenic land-based removal efforts, with the result that land-based carbon fluxes in NGHGIs may ultimately become sources of emissions by 2100. Our results are important for the Global Stocktake6, suggesting that nations will need to increase the collective ambition of their climate targets to remain consistent with the global temperature goals.

Ending extreme poverty has a negligible impact on global greenhouse gas emissions

Growing consumption is both necessary to end extreme poverty1and one of the main drivers of greenhouse gas emissions2, creating a potential tension between alleviating poverty and limiting global warming. Most poverty reduction has historically occurred because of economic growth3-6, which means that reducing poverty entails increasing not only the consumption of people living in poverty but also the consumption of people with a higher income. Here we estimate the emissions associated with the economic growth needed to alleviate extreme poverty using the international poverty line of US $2.15 per day (ref. 7). Even with historical energy- and carbon-intensity patterns, the global emissions increase associated with alleviating extreme poverty is modest, at 2.37 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year or 4.9% of 2019 global emissions. Lower inequality, higher energy efficiency and decarbonization of energy can ease this tension further: assuming the best historical performance, the emissions for poverty alleviation in 2050 will be reduced by 90%. More ambitious poverty lines require more economic growth in more countries, which leads to notably higher emissions. The challenge to align the development and climate objectives of the world is not in reconciling extreme poverty alleviation with climate objectives but in providing sustainable middle-income standards of living.

The Model State Indoor Air Quality Act

This Viewpoint discusses how poor indoor air quality can affect health and examines the Model State Indoor Air Quality Act, which provides science-based regulatory standards aimed at ensuring public indoor environments provide healthy air.

The contribution of wildfire to PM2.5 trends in the USA

Steady improvements in ambient air quality in the USA over the past several decades, in part a result of public policy1,2, have led to public health benefits1-4. However, recent trends in ambient concentrations of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act1, have stagnated or begun to reverse throughout much of the USA5. Here we use a combination of ground- and satellite-based air pollution data from 2000 to 2022 to quantify the contribution of wildfire smoke to these PM2.5 trends. We find that since at least 2016, wildfire smoke has influenced trends in average annual PM2.5 concentrations in nearly three-quarters of states in the contiguous USA, eroding about 25% of previous multi-decadal progress in reducing PM2.5 concentrations on average in those states, equivalent to 4 years of air quality progress, and more than 50% in many western states. Smoke influence on trends in the number of days with extreme PM2.5 concentrations is detectable by 2011, but the influence can be detected primarily in western and mid-western states. Wildfire-driven increases in ambient PM2.5 concentrations are unregulated under current air pollution law6 and, in the absence of further interventions, we show that the contribution of wildfire to regional and national air quality trends is likely to grow as the climate continues to warm.

Increased Amazon carbon emissions mainly from decline in law enforcement

The Amazon forest carbon sink is declining, mainly as a result of land-use and climate change1-4. Here we investigate how changes in law enforcement of environmental protection policies may have affected the Amazonian carbon balance between 2010 and 2018 compared with 2019 and 2020, based on atmospheric CO2 vertical profiles5,6, deforestation7 and fire data8, as well as infraction notices related to illegal deforestation9. We estimate that Amazonia carbon emissions increased from a mean of 0.24 ± 0.08 PgC year-1 in 2010-2018 to 0.44 ± 0.10 PgC year-1 in 2019 and 0.52 ± 0.10 PgC year-1 in 2020 (± uncertainty). The observed increases in deforestation were 82% and 77% (94% accuracy) and burned area were 14% and 42% in 2019 and 2020 compared with the 2010-2018 mean, respectively. We find that the numbers of notifications of infractions against flora decreased by 30% and 54% and fines paid by 74% and 89% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Carbon losses during 2019-2020 were comparable with those of the record warm El Niño (2015-2016) without an extreme drought event. Statistical tests show that the observed differences between the 2010-2018 mean and 2019-2020 are unlikely to have arisen by chance. The changes in the carbon budget of Amazonia during 2019-2020 were mainly because of western Amazonia becoming a carbon source. Our results indicate that a decline in law enforcement led to increases in deforestation, biomass burning and forest degradation, which increased carbon emissions and enhanced drying and warming of the Amazon forests.

Digital finance and regional green innovation: the perspective of environmental regulation

The relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation has been partially confirmed, yet the role of environmental regulation in it remains unexplored. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of digital finance on regional green innovation and tests the moderating role of environmental regulation using Chinese city-level data from 2011 to 2019 as a research sample. The results show that digital finance can significantly promote regional green innovation by alleviating regional financing constraints and increasing regional R&D investment. Besides, digital finance has apparent regional difference effects (the contribution of digital finance to regional green innovation is greater in eastern China than in western China, and the development of digital finance in neighbouring regions has a negative transmission effect on local green innovation). Finally, environmental regulation positively moderates the relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation. This paper explores the relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation from the perspective of environmental regulation, providing empirical evidence to promote regional green innovation.

Hope-hype of green innovation, corporate governance index, and impact on firm financial performance: a comparative study of Southeast Asian countries

The current production and conception have impacted the environmental hazards. Green innovation (GI) is the ideal solution for sustainable production, consumption, and ecological conservation. The objective of the study is to compare comprehensive green innovation (green product, process, service, and organization) impact on firm financial performance in Malaysia and Indonesia, along with the first study to measure the moderation role of the corporate governance index. This study has addressed the gap by developing the green innovation and corporate governance index. Collected panel data from the top 188 publicly listed firms for 3 years and analyzed it using the general least square method. The empirical evidence demonstrates that the green innovation practice is better in Malaysia, and the outcome also shows that the significance level is higher in Indonesia. This study also provides empirical evidence that board composition has a positive moderation relationship betwixt GI and business performance in Malaysia but is insignificant in Indonesia. This comparative study provides new insights to the policymakers and practitioners of both countries to monitor and manage green innovation practices.

Does the Emission Trading Scheme achieve the dual dividend of reducing pollution and improving energy efficiency? Micro evidence from China

Resolving the negative externality of environmental pollution has always been a concern in both the theoretical and practical space. To stimulate enterprises to participate in environmental governance actively, China has implemented a series of environmental regulation policies. The Emission Trading Pilot Scheme (ETPS) is an example of such policies implemented to ensure the gradual transition toward marketization. From a micro-enterprise perspective, the study examines how this policy achieves the dual effects of reducing emissions and promoting energy efficiency. We further explore potential channels through which this policy influences the dual effects. We empirically find ETPS to reduce the pollution emissions of enterprises significantly. However, the pollution reduction effect is mainly achieved by encouraging enterprises to strengthen cleaner production rather than through end governance. In addition to bringing environmental dividends, we observe ETPS to improve fossil energy efficiency by about 7.5% indirectly. We conclude by urging policy makers and participants to optimize energy structures and adjust intermediate input as they serve as significant pathways through which ETPS can affect fossil energy efficiency. The ETPS can encourage enterprises to actively step out of their "comfort zone" of environmental governance to be viewed as an effective environmental regulation policy.

A function-based typology for Earth's ecosystems

As the United Nations develops a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity, attention is focusing on how new goals and targets for ecosystem conservation might serve its vision of 'living in harmony with nature'1,2. Advancing dual imperatives to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services requires reliable and resilient generalizations and predictions about ecosystem responses to environmental change and management3. Ecosystems vary in their biota4, service provision5 and relative exposure to risks6, yet there is no globally consistent classification of ecosystems that reflects functional responses to change and management. This hampers progress on developing conservation targets and sustainability goals. Here we present the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Ecosystem Typology, a conceptually robust, scalable, spatially explicit approach for generalizations and predictions about functions, biota, risks and management remedies across the entire biosphere. The outcome of a major cross-disciplinary collaboration, this novel framework places all of Earth's ecosystems into a unifying theoretical context to guide the transformation of ecosystem policy and management from global to local scales. This new information infrastructure will support knowledge transfer for ecosystem-specific management and restoration, globally standardized ecosystem risk assessments, natural capital accounting and progress on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

West Oakland's Experience in Building Community Power to Confront Environmental Injustice Through California's Assembly Bill 617

We explored how air quality management processes associated with Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617) in West Oakland, California, represent a shift in power relationships between government agencies and communities toward the goal of addressing legacies of environmental injustice. We drew from a statewide assessment of community engagement in AB 617's first year, and an analysis of the West Oakland AB 617 process. The first comprised 2 statewide surveys (n = 102 and n = 106), 70 key informant interviews, observation of all AB 617 first-year sites, and analysis of related planning documents. The second comprised 2 rounds of interviews (n = 22 and n = 23, with a total of 19 individuals) and extensive participant observation. Several factors are necessary for pursuing environmental justice: (1) invest in community partnerships and collaborations, (2) honor community knowledge and data, (3) ensure that community constituents share power in environmental governance, and (4) adopt explicit racial justice frameworks. Although still a work in progress, AB 617 offers important lessons for community and policy organizations nationwide engaged in environmental justice. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(2):262-270. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306592).

Federal Statutes and Environmental Justice in the Navajo Nation: The Case of Fracking in the Greater Chaco Region

Arguing for the importance of robust public participation and meaningful Tribal consultation to address the cumulative impacts of federal projects, we bridge interdisciplinary perspectives across law, public health, and Indigenous studies. We focus on openings in existing federal law to involve Tribes and publics more meaningfully in resource management planning, while recognizing the limits of this involvement when only the federal government dictates the terms of participation and analysis. We first discuss challenges and opportunities for addressing cumulative impacts and environmental justice through 2 US federal statutes: the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Focusing on a major federal planning process involving fracking in the Greater Chaco region of northwestern New Mexico, we examine how the Department of the Interior attempted Tribal consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also highlight local efforts to monitor Diné health and well-being. For Diné people, human health is inseparable from the health of the land. But in applying the primary legal tools for analyzing the effects of extraction across the Greater Chaco region, federal agencies fragment categories of impact that Diné people view holistically. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):116-123. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306562).

Green credit, environmental protection investment and debt financing for heavily polluting enterprises

The paper takes listed companies in the heavily polluting industry from 2009–2017 as a research sample to explore whether heavy pollution enterprises’ environmental protection investment helps their debt financing under the institutional background of China’s continuous implementation of green credit policy. It is found that, in general, the environmental protection investment of heavy pollution enterprises helps them to obtain more and relatively long-term new loans; in terms of time, this effect is more evident after the release of China’s Green Credit Guidelines in 2012; in addition, the level of regional environmental pollution, the level of financial development and the green fiscal policy also have a moderating effect on this. This paper enriches the study of the economic consequences of corporate environmental protection investment from the perspective of debt financing. It examines the effects of the implementation of China’s green credit policy and other institutional factors to provide a reference for the heavy pollution enterprises’ environmental protection investment and the implementation of green credit policy by local governments in China.

Impact of the implementation of carbon emission trading on corporate financial performance: Evidence from listed companies in China

With the development of ecological paradigm coupled with the relentless implementation of myriad environmental policies in China, the rapid development of carbon emission trading and carbon trading market has had a vital impact on the financial performance of enterprises at the microlevel. This study has sampled the A-share listed companies in China, from 2009 to 2018, and adopted the difference-in-difference (DID) method to investigate the effect of the carbon emission trading on corporate financial performance from the microlevel. Evidence showed that the implementation of carbon emission trading effectively improved the total asset-liability ratio of enterprises, though it reduced the value of the current capital market. Moreover, in the regions under strict legal environment, the enhancement effect of the total asset-liability ratio was more obvious, whereas in the regions under loose legal environment, the reduction effect of the value of the capital market was more obvious. Further analysis showed that the implementation of carbon emission trading could not promote Chinese enterprises to increase R&D investment. Hence the implementation of carbon emission trading has improved the level of non-business income of enterprises incorporated into the trading system, but its impact on the investment income of enterprises was not significant.

Can China's industrial policies enhance the green competitiveness of the manufacturing industry?

This study innovatively uses local government regulations related to manufacturing to quantitatively identify industrial policies. The degree of influence and functional mechanism of China’s industrial policies on the green competitiveness of the manufacturing industry are empirically examined using the provincial and regional panel data. Additionally, the synergistic complementary effect between industrial policy power and market forces and the fiscal decentralization’s role in influencing industrial policies are investigated. The results reveal that the promulgation and implementation of industrial policies have significantly promoted the green competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. Regarding functional mechanisms, environmental governance has played a positive role in promoting the green competitiveness of the manufacturing industry supported by industrial policies, resource allocation, and innovation incentives. Meanwhile, industrial policies on green competitiveness in manufacturing depend on marketization and fiscal decentralization in local governments. The above findings demonstrate that the local governments in China, a developing economy, can play the role of development-oriented governments. Based on conforming to market deepening and system optimization, they can formulate and implement industrial policies in a rational manner and achieve green development and upgrade the manufacturing industry.

Emission impacts of China's solid waste import ban and COVID-19 in the copper supply chain

Climate change will increase the frequency and severity of supply chain disruptions and large-scale economic crises, also prompting environmentally protective local policies. Here we use econometric time series analysis, inventory-driven price formation, dynamic material flow analysis, and life cycle assessment to model each copper supply chain actor's response to China's solid waste import ban and the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that the economic changes associated with China's solid waste import ban increase primary refining within China, offsetting the environmental benefits of decreased copper scrap refining and generating a cumulative increase in CO2-equivalent emissions of up to 13 Mt by 2040. Increasing China's refined copper imports reverses this trend, decreasing CO2e emissions in China (up to 180 Mt by 2040) and globally (up to 20 Mt). We test sensitivity to supply chain disruptions using GDP, mining, and refining shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, showing the results translate onto disruption effects.

Financial disclosure quality and sustainability disclosure quality. A case in China

This paper empirically examines whether there is an association between financial reporting disclosure quality and sustainability disclosure quality of the top 100 socially reputed Chinese listed firms. The paper computed financial disclosure quality by empirically combining earning qualities of accrual, persistence, predictability, and smoothness. Using content analysis and survey questionnaire research methods, it calculated sustainability quality by combining disclosure quantity (through quantitative weightings), disclosure type (through qualitative weightings), and disclosure item importance (through qualitative weightings) of economic, social, and environmental disclosures made in annual and sustainability reports, ascertained using the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability framework. The study finds that sustainability disclosure in the current period is sufficiently associated with financial disclosure quality of the current period and future period. Consistent with stakeholder theory, firms with a social reputation are perceived as trustworthy by stakeholders and shareholders. The findings lead to a cultural stakeholder theory where underlying values of societal culture create a condition supporting mutual stakeholder relationships between firm and various stakeholders. Demonstrating trustworthiness through disclosures can help boost consumer confidence and foreign trade relations for Chinese firms. The Chinese government can design innovative schemes to reward and promote trustworthiness in firms, such as regulating base-point reductions in interest rates on borrowing or raising funds.

COVID-19, a critical juncture in China's wildlife protection?

The COVID-19 crisis has called into question the utilitarianism-oriented human-wildlife relations and the legitimacy of wildlife protection regime in China. The pandemic has triggered significant, swift, and encompassing changes in policies. Drawing on insights from historical institutionalism, we argue that COVID-19 constitutes a critical juncture in China's wildlife protection policy.

Regulatory developments and their impacts to the nano-industry: A case study for nano-additives in 3D printing

Nanotechnology has increasing applications in numerous markets, particularly in additive processing (3D printing) and manufacturing, which is important for consumer products, medical devices, construction, and general research and development across many other industries. Nanomaterials are desirable in many products due to their unique properties, but those same properties have made evaluating the risk and regulation of these materials challenging. For risk-based regulations, new applications and nanomaterials should be assessed for both human and environmental hazards and exposure to ensure protection. In general, many risk assessments to date have focused on the non-nano versions of chemicals. The lack of guidance on assessing the hazard and exposure of nanomaterials in 3D printing is apparent, and these areas of assessment are actively being evaluated. Industry in most cases will now need to provide specific additional information for assessing the risk of nanomaterials in 3D printing. This review paper focuses on the use of nanomaterials in 3D printing for industrial and manufacturing applications, summarizes the current literature on human health and safety related to 3D printing and inhalation exposure, and the regulations relating to 3D printing in the U.S., Canada, and Europe for this industry.

The Natural Environment as an Object of Public Health Law: Addressing Health Outcomes of Climate Change through Intersections with Environmental and Agricultural Law

The power to change the natural environment has received relatively little attention in public health law, yet is a core concern within environmental and agricultural law. Examples from environmental and agricultural law may inform efforts to change the natural environment in order to reduce the health impacts of climate change. Public health lawyers who attend to the natural environment may succeed in elevating health concerns within the environmental and agricultural law spheres, while gaining new tools for their public health law toolbox.