Climate Change Impact on the Biosphere, Biodiversity and Food-Water-Energy Nexus

Although tourism is considered a vehicle for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and facilitate social inclusion, limited empirical work has assessed the engagement of tourism literature with the associated 2030 Agenda. Water, both fresh and salt, is directly or indirectly implicated throughout the SDGs, and tourism both depends on clean water and exacerbates water problems. However, there has been limited discourse that maps water-centric knowledge and its relationship to the SDGs within the sustainable tourism literature. This bibliometric analysis, consequently, draws on a database of 220 relevant journal articles to identify affiliated themes and assess their relationship to the SDGs. Findings categorise the knowledge base into three first order themes, with water situated respectively as resource, attraction and hazard. This literature indirectly supports the Agenda through specific SDGs of poverty eradication (#1), sustainable economic growth (#8), and sustainable consumption (#12). Direct links occur between the themes and specific SDGs, as with resource (#6, sustainable management of water for all), attraction (#14, life beneath the sea) and hazard (#13, climate change action). Future research in the tourism and water nexus should consider deeper engagement with priorities as outlined in the SDGs.

Environmental Assessment (EA) is an environmental protection, generic environmental governance and good governance tool by which the consequences of natural processes and human activities on the environment are predicted and evaluated, to minimise adverse consequences of proposed development project-proposals and maximise positive consequences of the proposals, in order to ensure qualitative environment and social equity, so as to achieve Sustainable Development (SD). Thus, by its inherent nature, EA promotes beneficial environment, by protecting and managing the environment, and contributing to SD and thus the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) in sovereign states, especially developing countries like Nigeria, which are richly endowed with major natural resources but plagued by the resource-curse. Particularly, based on life-cycle assessment and strategic environmental assessment, EA, has the potential to address the ongoing global problem and challenge of climate change, by contributing to improved environmental protection and management of life-cycle development projects, especially major natural resources extractive industrial development projects, in resources-rich global states like Nigeria. This paper demonstrates how EA in the form of life-cycle development projects-level assessment (Environmental Impact Assessment) and Strategic Environmental Assessment in Nigeria can promote the objectives of the EA process and practice, towards achieving informed environmental decision-making, high environmental quality and social equity and high-profile benchmarked business responsibility and sustainability practices, in the effort towards SD and thus the achievement of UNSDGs, particularly Goals 13 and 17 of the UNSDGs (respectively captioned ‘Climate Action’ and ‘Partnerships for the Goals’) in the country. Keywords: Environmental Assessment (EA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Extractive Industrial Operations (EIOs), Petroleum Development Projects, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Government Social Responsibility (GSR), Good Environmental Governance (GEG), Sustainable Development (SD) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/92-07 Publication date: December 31 st 2019

Post-2020 aspirations for biodiversity

Imagine a world where businesses thrive by regenerating resources, fostering equity, and prioritizing innovation to protect the planet. This vision is made possible by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework of 17 global targets addressing challenges like poverty, inequality, and climate change. The SDGs urge businesses to move beyond profit as a sole measure of success, embracing environmental stewardship, social inclusion, and ethical governance. This study examines two key aspects: how businesses are transforming their ecosystems by adopting sustainable models aligned with SDG 8 (Decent Work), SDG 9 (Innovation & Infrastructure), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption), and SDG 13 (Climate Action); and the role of innovation and collaboration in these efforts. These goals guide businesses to balance profitability with positive global impact, demonstrating that sustainability is not a cost but an investment in long-term success for businesses, communities, and the planet.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted on 25th September, 2015 aimed to end hunger, assure gender equity, and build a life of dignity for all over the world. It gave a clarion call of a new framework of “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The SDGs composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years. The SDGs are indeed visionary in character and an ideal framework in which all nations need to work out its actionable plans. Because of varying inter-country deficit on actionable areas of sovereign nations, SDGs have not gone into country-specific road-map for action. It is for this reason that SDGs did not mention any constraints in its overall approach to realise its visionary goals. However, constraints do exist in achieving SDGs just as it had existed under MDGs. Two of the top most goals under SDGs is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere (Goal 1) and end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition (Goal 2). SDGs also aim at promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (Goal 8). An under-populated country can proceed to reach these goals easily; a country having stable population or optimum population can also move in that direction rather comfortably. But for a country, like India, where TFR is less than replacement level, where there is alarming high order density of population and high quotient of BPL population, where there exits shocking levels of unemployment, under-employment and adverse nutritional standard and relatively poor HDI, the quantum jump at on go to a SDGs level destination is rather a very difficult task. The huge size population and its incremental addition is responsible for this sordid state of affairs. It will be a gigantic task to implement the Goal 12 to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns for a runaway population of more than 1.21 billion population for such over-populated country.

Rapid urban expansion and changing land use in Dormaa Central Municipality, Ghana, pose challenges to sustainable development and agricultural preservation. Using GIS and Satellite Remote Sensing, this study analyzed urban changes and land use from 2001 to 2021. The findings revealed a 10% annual increase in urbanization, expanding the urban area by 20% (67,392.196 hectares) over two decades. Urgent, sustainable management and planning aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are crucial. Balancing urbanization with agriculture ensures food security (SDG 2) and biodiversity preservation (SDG 15). GIS and satellite sensing aid decision-making, contributing to resilient cities and communities (SDG 11). Efficient urban planning supports SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by mitigating environmental impacts. Promoting equitable access to resources reduces inequalities (SDG 10) and fosters inclusive, sustainable economic growth (SDG 8). The study highlights GIS and remote sensing as essential tools to monitor urban changes and advance sustainable urban development in line with the SDGs. By integrating sustainability, policymakers can create liveable, inclusive, and resilient cities in Dormaa Central Municipality while safeguarding agriculture and natural resources.

Subject. Every 8-10 years, the global economy faces financial crises that slow down and drive back its development. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals were announced as one of the ways to smooth the cycles. Most countries are actively involved in the fulfilment of this global project. An important precondition for the transition to a sustainable development path is the participation of the corporate sector. However, under capitalism, solving such a problem is not an easy task since many items within the UN's Sustainable Development Goals are not profitable for corporations and do not contribute directly to capitalisation. In this regard, the study and search for opportunities to introduce the UN's Sustainable Development Goals into corporate practices is a very important issue which corresponds to the modern global agenda of economic development. The purpose of the study is to analyse the involvement of major Russian corporations with the achievement of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals using open data based on corporate reports. The methods of the study included the analysis and synthesis of publicly reported data, grouping and expert assessment of published information related to the topic of the UN's SDGs in the annual reports of Russian corporations. Conclusions. The study revealed positive dynamics related to the involvement of companies with the achievement of the UN's SDGs. It is more pronounced in the areas where the UN's SDGs intersect the economic interests of corporations. It was shown that there is no uniform form for information disclosure, significant differences in the volume and quality of information presented in the companies’ reporting, and no common understanding of a number of goals by corporations. According to the results, most of the work aimed at fulfilling the UN's SDGs is carried out by Russian export companies with a predominance of private investors within the structure of business ownership. State-owned companies and companies focused on the domestic market are lagging behind in their development in this direction by all indications. As a recommendation, it was proposed to develop public reporting formats and better disclose the processes related to the fulfilment of the UN's SDGs.

<p>In the Mediterranean region climate and other environmental changes have become major threats to both ecosystems and human wellbeing. Climate change is expected to be the most important threat to biodiversity in the Mediterranean over the next 10 years, followed by habitat degradation, exploitation, pollution, eutrophication and invasion of species and the loss of biodiversity. Climate change interacts with other environmental problems in the Mediterranean Basin, resulting from land use, pollution and biodiversity loss. The nature of the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea implies unique physiographic and ecological features. The Mediterranean Sea is considered as one of the hotspots of global biodiversity where the impact of climate change associated with other anthropogenic pressures could be the most destructive. Although it represents only 0.8% of the world's ocean surface, it is home to between 4 and 18% of the world's marine species.</p><p>The Mediterranean region is particularly vulnerable because it cumulates environmental risks, including strong warming and drying, accelerating sea-level, rapid urbanization, increasing pollution of the air and the water, and the impacts of mass tourism. Ecosystems suffer from land degradation including the loss of half of the wetlands, overfishing (20% of fish species are at risk of extinction by 2050), non-sustainable agriculture, wildfires (burnt area may double by 2100) and the invasion of non-indigenous species (‘tropicalization’). These factors strongly impact water resources, biodiversity on land and in the ocean, human health and security.</p><p>The effects of climate change in the Mediterranean basin are asymmetric. In the northern and western part of the Mediterranean, situation is heterogeneous, but historical responsibility of greenhouse emissions since industrial revolution is objectively higher than in southern and eastern part. The EU counties are facing impacts of climate change but societies are less vulnerable.  Most countries located in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean suffer the consequences of climate change with greater effects. Climate change can be an added challenge, when a country is already facing structural issues of poverty rate, weakness of infrastructure and social services, critical demographic changes, high unemployment, economic informality and emigration, political instability, corruption and spatial inequality with fast urbanization. All Mediterranean countries are nevertheless facing cross-cutting common issues, such as biodiversity preservation, sustainable development of tourism, commercial links related to food production and consumption, stock of fishes, blue carbon, energy production, political stability, migrations and security. Their interests are linked, because their share a common resource.</p><p>The adaptive capacity of ecosystems and humans is expected to be progressively challenged due to the effects of droughts, heat waves, sea-level rise and ocean warming and acidification. Progress towards achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals differs strongly between Mediterranean sub-regions, with north-western countries having stronger resilience than southern and eastern countries.</p><p>Our objective is to present the threats and vulnerabilities of the Mediterranean region. Then we will see the impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors and human well-being. Finally, we will present the different adaptation options, their limits and climate-resilient development pathways. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Disclaimer :</strong> the content of IPCC reports are pre-decisional and confidential until they are formally accepted by member governments.</p><p> </p>

Climate change and the right to health of people with disabilities

India has the second largest population in the world and is characterized by a broad diversity in climate, topography, flora, fauna, land use, and socioeconomic conditions. To help ensure food security in the future, agricultural systems will have to respond to global change drivers such as population growth, changing dietary habits, and climate change. However, alterations of how food is produced in the future may conflict with other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the protection of land resources and climate change mitigation. It is crucial for decision‐makers to understand potential trade‐offs between these goals to find a balance of human needs and environmental impacts. In this paper, we analyze pathways of agricultural productivity, land use, and land‐cover changes in India until 2030 and their impacts on terrestrial biodiversity and carbon storage. The results show that in order to meet future food production demands, agricultural lands are likely to expand, and existing farmlands need to be intensified. However, both processes will result in biodiversity losses. At the same time, the projections reveal carbon stock increases due to intensification processes and decreases due to conversions of natural land into agriculture. On balance, we find that carbon stocks increase with the scenarios of future agricultural productivity as modeled here. In conclusion, we regard further agricultural intensification as a crucial element to help ensure food security and to slow down the expansion of cropland and pasture. At the same time, policies are required to implement this intensification in a way that minimizes biodiversity losses.

This study reviews the global increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), alongside the accelerated climatic change and its slow onset effects (or events) between 1992 and 2021. The establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and the simultaneous UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, generated the international efforts to tackle climatic change. Over the years, the UNFCCC-Conference of the Parties (COP) has led the efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation, with many sequential meetings across the world. Three decades later, at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in 2021, it is evident that climate change impacts have substantially worsened. Despite some uncertainties, it seems that over the last three decades, the climate change slow onset events, including 1) increasing temperatures, 2) glacial retreat, 3) sea level rise, 4) ocean acidification, 5) soil salinization, 6) land and forest degradation, 7) loss of biodiversity, and 8) desertification, have substantially exacerbated. Simultaneously, other (non-GHGs related) anthropogenic impacts, including habitat fragmentation, land-use and sea-use change and misuse, species overexploitation, environmental pollution, infrastructure constructions, and urbanization, have considerably increased. With the aim of achieving the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways 1.9 (SSP1-1.9) or SSP1-2.6 ultimate goals—keeping global warming in 2,100 below 1.5°C or 2.0°C, respectively, compared to preindustrial levels—it may still be possible to avoid climate change’s irreversible tipping points. To reach this target, policymaking must become more decisive and proactive, with continuous risks assessment, frequent monitoring of outcomes and their compatibility to goals, implementing practical legislation tools, and assigning specific financial instruments, aimed at effectively tackling climate change slow onset events and related environmental issues. Substantial efforts should be invested in boosting climate change mitigation, while simultaneously targeting effective climatic change adaptation measures and promoting environmental conservation and restoration. Relying on tools such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will sustain provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services, thus improving water-, food-, environmental-, energy-, economic-, health-, and governance-security, while lessening the risks of social unrest, violent conflicts, mass migration, and other humanitarian catastrophes.

This paper presents an overview of the meat supply chain in the perspective of main UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). To perform this overview, meat supply chain was presented with five main stakeholders (livestock farmers, slaughterhouses, meat processors, retailers and consumers). As this chain is specific, four SDGs have been revealed as most important, as follows: SDG6 — Clean water and sanitation; SDG7 — Affordable and clean energy; SDG12 — Sustainable consumption and production; SDG13 — Climate action. Discussion and literature review was performed for each of the four UN SDGs. In addition, other UN SDGs of interest for this supply chain have been briefly presented.

Given the multitude of challenges Earth is facing, sustainability science is of key importance to our continued existence. Evolution is the fundamental biological process underlying the origin of all biodiversity. This phylogenetic diversity fosters the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change, and provides numerous resources to society, and options for the future. Genetic diversity within species is also key to the ability of populations to evolve and adapt to environmental change. Yet, the value of evolutionary processes and the consequences of their impairment have not generally been considered in sustainability research. We argue that biological evolution is important for sustainability and that the concepts, theory, data, and methodological approaches used in evolutionary biology can, in crucial ways, contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We discuss how evolutionary principles are relevant to understanding, maintaining, and improving Nature Contributions to People (NCP) and how they contribute to the SDGs. We highlight specific applications of evolution, evolutionary theory, and evolutionary biology's diverse toolbox, grouped into four major routes through which evolution and evolutionary insights can impact sustainability. We argue that information on both within-species evolutionary potential and among-species phylogenetic diversity is necessary to predict population, community, and ecosystem responses to global change and to make informed decisions on sustainable production, health, and well-being. We provide examples of how evolutionary insights and the tools developed by evolutionary biology can not only inspire and enhance progress on the trajectory to sustainability, but also highlight some obstacles that hitherto seem to have impeded an efficient uptake of evolutionary insights in sustainability research and actions to sustain SDGs. We call for enhanced collaboration between sustainability science and evolutionary biology to understand how integrating these disciplines can help achieve the sustainable future envisioned by the UN SDGs.

Formulation of the problem. This study aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 13 – Climate Action – by addressing key climate-related challenges impacting sustainable development in Ukraine. It focuses on analyzing the dynamics of temperature-dependent natural resource indicators in the North-western Black Sea region, a vital industrial-agricultural area. Understanding the thermal regime is essential for adapting socio-economic sectors to climate change. The research supports planning and resilience in southern Ukraine under changing climate conditions. It is part of projects at the Faculty of Hydrometeorology and Ecology, Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University, including: 'Forecasting hazardous meteorological phenomena over the southern regions of Ukraine' (No. DR 00115U006532); 'Comprehensive probabilistic-forecasting modeling of extreme hydrological events on the rivers of southern Ukraine to ensure sustainable water use under climate change conditions' (No. DR 0121U010964); 'Zoning of Ukraine's territory based on vulnerability to climate change and selection of optimal adaptation pathways.' This work fills critical gaps in the study of regional climate dynamics. Analysis of previous research it proves the importance of studying the climatic indicators of the temperature regime of the North-Western Black Sea region, which is a leading highly developed industrial-agricultural region of Ukraine. The underestimation of certain aspects of the dynamics of climatic characteristics of the regional climate in the context of global climate change has led to these aspects being still insufficiently studied today. The purpose. This article aims (using the Odessa station as an example) to present the results of a physical-statistical approach to determining regional responses in the main indicators of the temperature regime of the North-Western Black Sea region to the changes occurring in the climate system of the present period. Research methods. The implementation of the physical-statistical approach was conducted using classical methods of statistical and graphical analysis. Presentation of the main research material. Based on long-term empirical data, it was determined that during the period from 2013 to 2023, compared to the standard climatic period (1961-1990), the average number of days with maximum air temperature above 0°C increased in all winter months. For the studied area, January remains the coldest winter month, with an average of 23,5 days with a minimum air temperature of 0°C or lower. The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by warmer winter conditions (compared to the period 1961-1990), which has led to a decrease in the number of days with low air temperature. Over the last eleven years (2013-2023), 65 thaw periods were registered. They most frequently occurred in January, in December and in February. Research results and Practical value. The obtained results provide a basis for analyzing the dynamics of regional climate changes in the context of global climate change. The rational and timely application of the climate information presented in this article will contribute to the development of effective adaptation pathways, which, in turn, will make a significant contribution to ensuring the sustainable development of Ukraine. Future tasks will focus on researching the thermal regime indicators of other stations in the North-Western Black Sea region, involving additional empirical data.

Effective global collaboration is crucial to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It requires an understanding of the needs of individual countries and their expectations related to bioeconomy. With the aim to explore the prospective developments in the global bioeconomy over the next 20 years, the German Bioeconomy Council, an independent advisory body to the German Federal Government, commissioned BIOCOM-AG to invite experts from around the globe to share their insights in a global expert survey. The survey was conducted online in autumn 2017. 345 experts from 46 countries completed the questionnaire about future developments and strategies in the global bioeconomy. As claimed by the experts, the upcoming bioeconomy must primarily meet humanity’s needs in the energy, agriculture, and food sectors. Moreover, innovative products based on renewable resources are anticipated to be of great importance. Even though all UN SDGs will be affected by future bioeconomy success stories, five SDGs stood out within the sample: SDG 12: ‘responsible consumption and production’; SDG 9: ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’; SDG 13: ‘climate action’; SDG 7: ‘affordable and clean energy’; and SDG 11: ‘sustainable cities and communities’. About three quarters of the experts emphasized the need to specifically address three conflicting goals in any future bioeconomy strategy: non-food uses of arable land, use of crop land to produce feedstock for meat, milk and egg production and, finally, the conversion of virgin forests into agricultural land. Most experts stated that reducing food loss and waste is crucial to eradicating the world hunger problem. The proposed solutions relied greatly on innovation and technological development. Bioeconomy expertise and know-how should be shared in close cooperation between developed and developing economies to reach UN SDGs. A supportive political framework would be the ultimate goal towards furthering the progress of a future bioeconomy all over the world.