Consequences Of Climate Change Research Articles

Local Climate Change Adaptation under the Lenses of Public Health: A Case Study from Porto, Portugal

Introduction: Climate change is a pressing public health issue. Urban populations, especially in coastal areas, are highly vulnerable. As climate change progresses, local adaptation becomes increasingly important. We present a case study about the inclusion of public health concerns in local climate change adaptation in Porto (Portugal). Methods: We analysed two local adaptation plans using qualitative content analysis and conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 6 key stakeholders with different profiles. We did a qualitative content analysis of the respective transcripts. Results: Porto is undergoing health-relevant consequences of climate change, which are expected to worsen further in the future. Porto’s geographical and demographic characteristics and urban environment make its population highly vulnerable to climate change-related health risks. Public health is recognized as a central element in local adaptation efforts. Drivers for integrating health concerns include growing climate change awareness, a sense of urgency, social capital, institutional networks, access to resources, and political commitment. Nevertheless, challenges like data limitations, resource constraints, climate knowledge gaps, communication issues, and political cycles hinder both local adaptation and the integration of health considerations. Discussion/Conclusion: In Porto, health seems both a powerful mobilizing issue and a central topic concerning local adaptation. However, the complex and long-term nature of climate change and the associated uncertainty hinder adaptation efforts. High-quality data about both the local climate and population health are thus essential. The transversal nature of risk is recognized and multi-sectorial approaches, public participation, mainstreaming, and policy integration are necessary to prevent imbalances. Local adaptation efforts, including health-related efforts, are shaped by the international (belonging to the European Union), national, and local contexts. Successful local adaptation and inclusion of health aspects require mainstreaming and policy integration across different areas and involvement of multiple stakeholders, including the population, in order to maximize resources and avoid undesired trade-offs.

An indigenous microalgal pool containing Klebsormidium sp. K39 as a stable and efficacious biotechnological strategy for Escherichia coli removal in urban wastewater treatment

AbstractBACKGROUNDIn recent decades the demand for freshwater has drastically increased as a consequence of population growth, economic development, climate change and pollution. Therefore, any strategy for wastewater treatment can play a role in alleviating the pressure on freshwater sources.RESULTSIn the present study an autochthonous microalgal pool (MP), isolated from a constructed wetland, was proposed as an alternative to the secondary treatment of an urban wastewater treatment system. The MP removal efficacy was compared to those obtained using Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus quadricauda, against E. coli. Results exhibited a comparable removal efficacy and after 2 days, in samples inoculated with E. coli at lower density, S. quadricauda and C. vulgaris induced a decrease of 2.0 units Log and the autochthonous MP of 1.8 units Log, whereas in samples with E. coli at higher density the bacteria were reduced 2.8, 3.4 and 2.0 units Log by S. quadricauda, C. vulgaris and the autochthonous MP, respectively. Moreover, the identification of microalgal strains isolated from the MP revealed the presence of Klebsormidium sp. K39, C. vulgaris, Tetradesmus obliquus and S. quadricauda. Although the MP composition remained quite constant, at the end of the treatment, a different distribution among the microalgal species was observed with Klebsormidium sp. K39 found as dominant.CONCLUSIONThe microalgal‐based wastewater treatment appears as a valuable alternative, although further investigations, based on ‘omics’ approaches, could be applied to better explore any fluctuation within the MP species composition in an in situ trial. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Impact of climate change risks on equity capital: Evidence-based on Chinese markets

The economic consequences of climate change at the enterprise level have received considerable attention. This study examines the positive effects of climate change risk on equity capital costs, which are realized through firms' operational risk, financial constraints, and the government's service environment. A higher corporate ESG rating enhances the positive effect of climate change risk on equity capital costs. We also find that the Paris Agreement has a benign policy effect on equity capital costs. Finally, expanding upon this groundwork, a thorough heterogeneity analysis has been conducted, encompassing three distinct dimensions—enterprise risk system, industry environmental attributes, and operational ecosystem.

The more the better? Synergies of prosocial interventions and effects on behavioural spillovers

Incentivising prosocial and pro-environmental behaviours is a sensitive endeavour. While behavioural change is urgently needed to mitigate the consequences of climate change, monetary interventions often have negative side effects. Such interventions are prone to motivation crowding, which can impede lasting positive behavioural change and stimulate negative temporal spillovers to other prosocial behaviours. In this study, we investigate whether implementing monetary interventions as part of policy mixes can mitigate these negative side effects. In an online experiment involving 3782 participants, we test whether the use of nudges that make personal and social norms salient can counteract the motivation-crowding effect and explore the effects of such policy mixes on temporal spillovers. We find that policy mixes of norm-based nudges and monetary incentives are more effective at stimulating engagement in targeted prosocial behaviour than no intervention when controlling for sample characteristics. Analysing the temporal spillover effects of these interventions reveals that policy mixes can alleviate the tendency of monetary incentives to negatively affect subsequent prosocial behaviour. This indicates that norm-based nudges are suitable complements to monetary interventions, facilitating long-lasting positive effects.

Examining the (non-linear) relationships between climate change anxiety, information seeking, and pro-environmental behavioral intentions

Climate change anxiety—overwhelming feelings of distress about climate change—is increasingly recognized as an important mental health consequence of climate change. A growing body of literature has documented positive associations between climate change anxiety, information seeking/avoidance, and pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Recent speculation exists about the possibility of non-linear associations between climate anxiety and other outcomes; for example, among people with very high climate anxiety, information seeking might be lower— because it is too distressing —than among those with moderate anxiety. Similarly, very high levels of climate anxiety might result in lower behavioral intentions. The present research aimed to replicate and extend findings concerning relations between climate anxiety, information seeking/avoidance, and pro-environmental behavioral intentions by correlating these variables and testing for possible non-linearities in the relationships. Results confirmed that climate anxiety was positively correlated with information seeking, avoidance, and a measure of hypothetical behavioral intentions. Quadratic regression models yielded mixed evidence for the presence of non-linearities, with non-linearity present for some variables (e.g., information avoidance and hypothetical behavioral intentions) but not for others (e.g., seeking out data about climate change). We consider implications of our results and discuss directions for future research to bolster understanding of how climate anxiety relates to information seeking, avoidance, and behavior.

Identifying urban prone areas to flash floods: The case of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Floods are the natural hazard that causes the largest annual losses in the world Urban expansion and population growth have made cities the most hazardous areas, mainly due to poor planning, occupation of the drainage network and soil sealing. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is one of the many cities worldwide threatened by this phenomenon. Its typically Mediterranean rainfall pattern, characterized by extreme precipitation events in short periods of time, together with its orography of steep ravines, short length and width, as well as its disorderly growth, make it a space prone to the occurrence of flash floods. In addition, the increase in torrential rainfall as a consequence of climate change and the tendency towards greater irregularity in precipitation is considerably intensifying the problem. This paper studies the characteristics of these episodes and the black spots inventoried in its General Management Plan (PGO for its initials in Spanish). On the other hand, flood modeling is carried out based on the rainfall characterization, whose maximum flows, in total, range between 500 and 1600 m3/s. Finally, a methodology that allows integrating both analyses to obtain a detailed hazard map is proposed as an alternative to the more traditional flood hazard analyses. A design storm of 288 mm is applied and the data is validated against the largest rainfall event on record, March 31, 2002. It has been shown that in an urban drainage network, the main watercourses and those that have disappeared due to urbanization represent areas susceptible to flooding and are the sectors that should be emphasized during the implementation of risk reduction measures. Finally, emphasis is placed on the need to integrate future climate projections of precipitation to better define the maximum flood flows.

Core Competencies of the Public Health Workforce in Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: A Scoping Review.

Climate change poses a significant threat to public health and safety, necessitating an urgent, coordinated response. Public health officials must be well-trained to effectively prepare for, respond to, and recover from extreme weather events. Despite emerging frameworks, a gap remains in their systematic application, risking future unpreparedness. This review aimed to identify the necessary competencies for public health professionals to manage climate change and the best methods to teach these skills. An academic librarian helped develop a keyword chain for a PubMed search, which included original articles and reviews concerning our research questions published in English or French between 1 January 2013 and 31 January 2024. Out of 255 potential articles, 31 were included in this scoping review. The results aligned with our objectives, revealing three main themes: core competencies, training and pedagogy strategies, and assessment approaches for public health professionals' preparedness, responses, and recovery in the context of climate change and extreme weather events. This scoping review enabled us to provide a set of clear recommendations for future research and practice in training the public health workforce for managing extreme weather events and climate change.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND REGIONAL RESPONSES

The issue of environmental problems is particularly important today. The relevance is determined by the fact that global challenges arise every day, and global warming causes serious climate change and threatens the disappearance of the ecosystem. The purpose of the article is to analyze current trends and consequences of global and regional climate change. Methodology. A set of general scientific methods (analytical and synthetic hermeneutic, pragmatic, and generalization techniques) was employed to achieve the research goal and ensure the scientific reliability of the results. Scientific novelty. The study reveals the main problems of nature management and changes in nature caused by anthropogenic activities. The importance of the population's counteraction to negative impacts on the planet’s ecosystem is emphasized. The study examines the main causes of climate change and substantiates the global risks associated with this phenomenon. The impact of climate change on the economic sector is analyzed. Special attention is paid to the terms “climate crisis” and “global climate change”. It is found that modern environmental problems include an increase in the number of wars, ocean pollution, global warming, resource shortages, and others. Each of these problems poses a serious threat to the development of any state. It is proved that in the context of political instability, Ukraine does not have the full potential to implement scientifically based balanced measures. The absence of an effective state policy on sustainable environmental management poses a threat to the economy and environment of Ukraine. It is necessary to find ways to solve the identified problems and consider promising areas for improving the factors that affect the environment and the environmental situation in general. Improving the environmental situation will allow Ukraine to rise to a new level in the global ranking. The conclusions state that climate change threatens not only the economic and environmental security of the state, but also national security in general.

Employing automated electrical resistivity tomography for detecting short- and long-term changes in permafrost and active-layer dynamics in the maritime Antarctic

Abstract. Repeated electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys can substantially advance the understanding of spatial and temporal freeze–thaw dynamics in remote regions, such as Antarctica, where the evolution of permafrost has been poorly investigated. To enable time-lapse ERT surveys in Antarctica, an automated ERT (A-ERT) system is required, as regular site visits are not feasible. In this context, we developed a robust A-ERT prototype and installed it at the Crater Lake CALM-S site on Deception Island, Antarctica, to collect quasi-continuous ERT measurements. We developed an automated data processing workflow to efficiently filter and invert the A-ERT datasets and extract the key information required for a detailed investigation of permafrost and active-layer dynamics. In this paper, we report on the results of two complete year-round A-ERT datasets collected in 2010 and 2019 at the Crater Lake CALM-S site and compare them with available climate and borehole data. The A-ERT profile has a length of 9.5 m with an electrode spacing of 0.5 m, enabling a maximum investigation depth of approximately 2 m. Our detailed investigation of the A-ERT data and inverted results shows that the A-ERT system can detect the active-layer freezing and thawing events with high temporal resolution. The resistivity of the permafrost zone in 2019 is very similar to the values found in 2010, suggesting the stability of the permafrost over almost 1 decade at this site. The evolution of thaw depth exhibits a similar pattern in both years, with the active-layer thickness fluctuating between 0.20–0.35 m. However, a slight thinning of the active layer is evident in early 2019, compared to the equivalent period in 2010. These findings show that A-ERT datasets, combined with the new processing workflow that we developed, are an effective tool for studying permafrost and active-layer dynamics with very high resolution and minimal environmental disturbance. The ability of the A-ERT setup to monitor the spatiotemporal progression of thaw depth in two dimensions, and potentially in three dimensions, and to detect brief surficial refreezing and thawing of the active layer reveals the significance of the automatic ERT monitoring system to record continuous resistivity changes. An A-ERT monitoring setup with a longer profile length can investigate greater depths, offering effective monitoring at sites where boreholes are costly and invasive techniques are unsuitable. This shows that the A-ERT setup described in this paper can be a significant addition to the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) and the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) networks to further investigate the impact of fast-changing climate and extreme meteorological events on the upper soil horizons and to work towards establishing an early warning system for the consequences of climate change.

Sustainability risk in insurance companies: A machine learning analysis

AbstractSustainable development constitutes a global challenge today, and the sustainable development goals (Agenda 2030) will probably set the course for the coming decades. This paper discusses sustainability in insurance companies by combining two aspects: a social approach (the environmental impact) and a business approach (the prediction of claims due to climate change). Our objective is to analyse the impact of physical risk in a home insurance portfolio and to measure in economic terms the effect of climate change in the future, by applying machine learning methodologies. Two data sources are used: a Spanish insurance portfolio with 31,998 policies and claims from 2017 to 2022, and daily meteorological variables from 290 Spanish weather stations from 2000 to 2022. Two climate scenarios are considered: RCP 4.5 (medium impact) and RCP 8.5 (high impact). On average for the period 2023–2052, the results reveal that claims will increase by 105% for the 4.5 scenario and by 129% for the 8.5 scenario. Our paper makes a clear contribution to sustainability by analysing climate risks and their impact on an insurance portfolio. It shows the grave consequences of climate change for the insurance sector's solvency and the political implications for the financial system in general.

Laying the foundations for negative emissions technologies: insights from a workshop

Abstract Pre-empting the worst consequences of climate change requires both mitigation of emissions from the global energy system and carbon dioxide removal through negative emissions technologies. Despite their nascence, negative emissions technologies are being incorporated into nationally determined contributions to achieve ambitious targets. It is therefore urgent to build a scaffolding that enables their expansion. Here, we report results from a workshop that brought together 34 prominent stakeholders, including scientists, engineers, energy system analysts, economists, experts in public policy, and policy makers. Participants discussed the likely cost and performance of these technologies; elucidated the opportunities and risks facing deployment; and envisioned how nations might build the necessary scaffolding for expansion. The majority narrative is that negative emissions technologies will have a bridging role in decarbonizing existing assets. Different models of deployment were proposed. Reaching the scale of deployment necessary to meet emissions targets is lengthy and expensive. Financial and regulatory risks are seen as greater barriers to deployment at scale than technological risk. Greater certainty regarding carbon pricing, production tax credits, and support for geological characterization and trunkline construction could reduce the former. Critical to expansion is a large-scale increase in low-carbon power production; the implementation of regulatory frameworks that remove uncertainty surrounding investment decisions; and prudent societal engagement.

Exploring the relationship between climate change events and migration decisions: Evidence from a choice experiment in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low-lying deltaic nation with high vulnerability to climate-related hazards. Hatiya Island is located in Southern Bangladesh, and residents rely significantly on fishing and agriculture for their livelihoods. However, the island's primary production systems face a threat from intense and frequent sudden onset environmental hazards such as river erosion, cyclones, and flooding, as well as slow onset environmental hazards like saline intrusion, tidal inundation, and rising temperatures. Little is known about the effect sudden onset and slow onset hazards have on the migration patterns of Hatiya's residents. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between climatic events and the migration decisions of residents on Hatiya Island. To explore this link, we collected empirical data from 337 respondents on Hatiya Island using a choice experiment survey. The five attributes were used to construct migration scenarios, including climate events at Hatiya Island, the distance of migration, the migration type, the social network at the potential destination, and the difference in income between Hatiya Island and the potential destination. The findings from the mixed logit model indicated that climate events at Hatiya, migration distance, and income gap affected residents' migration decisions. Extreme slow onset change and extreme sudden onset change were less likely to induce migration compared to the moderate level of slow and sudden onset change. However, residents were more likely to migrate as the income difference between Hatiya and the prospective destination increased. Residents were willing to migrate at a 9.4 % increase in income for extreme sudden onset change, while residents required a 14.19 % increase in income to migrate in response to extreme slow onset change. As such, policies are needed to support migrants in receiving areas through improved social protection systems, to support migrant-sending households' transformative adaptation in origin areas, and to bolster community-driven adaptation initiatives in Hatiya. The findings from this study can contribute to the existing literature on the relationship between environmental hazards and mobility and inform policymakers on how to design policies that support vulnerable populations.

Seasonal and annual variations of sediment trapping and particulate organic carbon burial in Yellow River reservoirs

The Yellow River is distinguished by the highest sediment load in mainland China and significant siltation in artificial reservoirs along its main channel, reducing water availability, sediment trapping, and carbon burial in the hydrological project. Since 2002, the Water Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS) has been progressively implemented as a hydraulic management strategy to mitigate reservoir sedimentation in the middle-lower basin reservoirs. However, this substantial release of sediment and water has also affected river morphology, carbon burial, and sediment trapping.This research assesses the evolution of particulate organic carbon burial and sediment trapping in eight Yellow River reservoirs from 2002 to 2018, covering the upper and middle-lower basins and two reservoirs in the Yiluo River sub-basin. We calculated the annual and seasonal variations using hydrological data from 11 stations along the Yellow River. A hydrological framework was developed to calculate sediment trapping, and a Monte Carlo analysis was performed to estimate particulate organic carbon burial across all the evaluated reservoirs.We found that sediment trapping and carbon burial in upper basin reservoirs are most influenced by shifts in the precipitation regime, particularly by natural events such as severe droughts or heavy rainfall. A strong correlation was observed between annual precipitation variations and sediment load. In middle-lower basin reservoirs, the major artificial sediment regulation is strongly linked to a significant reduction in sediment trapping and particulate organic carbon burial. This impact is especially notable in the Yiluo River Sub-basin reservoirs, which have experienced a >90 % reduction compared to levels before the WSRS implementation.Finally, we highlight the consequences of climate change and artificial water management strategies in reservoirs, demonstrating how both affect their capacity for sediment trapping and impact their role as significant carbon sinks.

The focus on addressing vegetation risks in China should shift from the western past to the eastern future

Actively addressing the negative effects of global climate change on vegetation has always been a hot topic of academic concern. How to accurately and comprehensively assess the vegetation risk due to climate change has been rarely reported. By comprehensively considering three dimensions—species structure (species richness), carbon sequestration function (Net Primary Production, NPP), and physiological processes (transpiration)—and based on the prediction of the future distribution characteristics of 3,370 plant species in China, this study quantified the vegetation risk and its driving mechanisms under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. The composite index of vegetation risk decreased to the west of the Hu Huanyong Line (NT and QTP regions) but increased to the east (NE and ST regions), with the magnitude of increase growing with the intensification of emission scenarios. In the 2070 s, the proportion of high risk and extremely high-risk areas in the east increased from 14.5 % under SSP126 to 50.0 % under SSP585. NPP and transpiration generally show an increasing trend, and species richness changes similarly to vegetation risk. In the 2070 s under SSP585, 39.2 % of QTP areas see a species richness increase over 50 %, while 33.0 % of ST areas experience a decrease over 30 %. The increase in vegetation risk in the NE region is driven by increased soil moisture, while in the ST region, it is mainly due to decreased runoff and SPEI. Therefore, China should actively respond to the risk of vegetation degradation in the east due to future climate change.

Mediterranean octocoral populations exposed to marine heatwaves are less resilient to disturbances.

The effects of climate change are now more pervasive than ever. Marine ecosystems have been particularly impacted by climate change, with marine heatwaves (MHWs) being a strong driver of mass mortality events. Even in the most optimistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios, MHWs will continue to increase in frequency, intensity and duration. For this reason, understanding the resilience of marine species to the increase of MHWs is crucial to predicting their viability under future climatic conditions. In this study, we explored the consequences of MHWs on the resilience (the ability of a population to resist and recover after a disturbance) of a Mediterranean key octocoral species, Paramuricea clavata, to further disturbances to their population structure. To quantify P. clavata's capacity to resist and recover from future disturbances, we used demographic information collected from 1999 to 2022, from two different sites in the NW Mediterranean Sea to calculate the transient dynamics of their populations. Our results showed that the differences in the dynamics of populations exposed and those not exposed to MHWs were driven mostly by differences in mean survivorship and growth. We also showed that after MHWs P. clavata populations had lower resistance and slower rates of recovery than those not exposed to MHWs. Populations exposed to MHWs had lower resistance elasticity to most demographic processes compared to unexposed populations. In contrast, the only demographic process showing some differences when comparing the speed of recovery elasticity values between populations exposed and unexposed to MHWs was stasis. Finally, under scenarios of increasing frequency of MHWs, the extinction of P. clavata populations will accelerate and their capacity to resist and recover after further disturbances will be hampered. Overall, these findings confirm that future climatic conditions will make octocoral populations even more vulnerable to further disturbances. These results highlight the importance of limiting local impacts on marine ecosystems to dampen the consequences of climate change.

Transcriptome analysis reveals activation of detoxification and defense mechanisms in smoke-exposed Merlot grape (Vitis vinifera) berries

A significant consequence of climate change is the rising incidence of wildfires. When wildfires occur close to wine grape (Vitis vinifera) production areas, smoke-derived volatile phenolic compounds can be taken up by the grape berries, negatively affecting the flavor and aroma profile of the resulting wine and compromising the production value of entire vineyards. Evidence for the permeation of smoke-associated compounds into grape berries has been provided through metabolomics; however, the basis for grapevines’ response to smoke at the gene expression level has not been investigated in detail. To address this knowledge gap, we employed time-course RNA sequencing to observe gene expression-level changes in grape berries in response to smoke exposure. Significant increases in gene expression (and enrichment of gene ontologies) associated with detoxification of reactive compounds, maintenance of redox homeostasis, and cell wall fortification were observed in response to smoke. These findings suggest that the accumulation of volatile phenols from smoke exposure activates mechanisms that render smoke-derived compounds less reactive while simultaneously fortifying intracellular defense mechanisms. The results of this work lend a better understanding of the molecular basis for grapevines’ response to smoke and provide insight into the origins of smoke-taint-associated flavor and aroma attributes in wine produced from smoke-exposed grapes.

Can the court bridge the gap? Public perception of economic vs. generational inequalities in climate change mitigation policies

Abstract Climate change and most climate policies affect and reinforce different forms of inequalities. For instance, climate change policies that aim to change consumer behavior by increasing the price tag of goods and services that cause carbon emissions often carry a disproportionately higher burden (in terms of financial cost) to those with lower incomes. They can thereby either exacerbate existing income inequalities or contribute to generating new ones. Meanwhile, refraining from engaging with climate mitigation policies will incur other detrimental societal costs: the financial burden and the harmful consequences of climate change that future generations will have to bear if nothing is done. In this paper, we examine how the immediate economic inequality citizens face from climate mitigation policies (regarding carbon taxation) weighs against the long-term generational inequalities future generations will experience. We study how both types of inequality relate to policy support for climate change mitigation policies in the context of Germany. The German case is of special interest because a recent court ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court allows us to test whether making people aware of a new legal reality can bridge the gap between the economic and generational inequality. Our findings using a between-subjects survey experiment fielded among German citizens (N = 6,319) in 2022 show that immediate economic concerns trump future generational concerns, generally making citizens less supportive of the policy. This negative support is however somewhat mitigated by the supportive signal from the court ruling.

Towards Energy Equity: Understanding and Addressing Multifaceted Energy Inequality

Given the pressing necessity to mitigate the consequences of climate change, it is of the utmost importance to establish a carbon-neutral society. Nevertheless, sustainability is significantly impeded by energy inequality. It is the term used to describe the unequal distribution, access, and utilization of energy resources among demographic groups, which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic and geopolitical tensions. This research aims to conceptualize and quantify energy inequality in Lithuania and compare it with EU data in order to bolster the ambitious objective of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. This article elucidates the intricacy of energy inequality by utilizing a Lithuanian population survey and a literature review, which are supplemented by an EU macroeconomic analysis. The findings underline the necessity of locally tailored solutions and underscore the significant disparities in energy access between Lithuanian regions and demographic groups. Targeted policy measures are necessary to overcome economic, technological, and socio-political obstacles that impede progress toward a climate-neutral society. The necessity of a multidimensional approach and global cooperation is underscored by a comparative analysis of EU statistics, which reveals variable progress in addressing energy inequality. Theis research is a pertinent contribution to the discourse on sustainability and social justice, and it offers policy-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders guidance for a more inclusive and sustainable energy future.

The Function of Civil Engineers in Mitigating the Effects of Environmental and Social Changes in the Philippines

This examines how climate change is affecting the Philippines' harsh weather, rising sea levels, agricultural losses, and migratory pressures. Despite having low global per capita emissions, the people living in these Southeast Asian coastal or archipelago nations still face a few of the worst consequences of global climate change. The ethical issue is also addressed at the local level. It seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the contradictions of extra measures resulting from climate damage and explain how they should live their lives regardless of climate rules.

Navigating Climate Change and Sustainability Solutions: Nigeria's Role in International Environmental Law

Over the past three decades, the world has witnessed multidimensional impacts of climate change, thus emphasizing the critical urgency for climate action, and promoting sustainability. Africa is reported to disproportionately suffer the consequences of climate change. These consequences such as flooding; droughts and rising temperatures require the adoption of an environmental foreign policy to foster environmental sustainability and cross-sectoral climate resilience. As Africa’s most populous nation and second-largest oil producer significant to global oil supply, Nigeria occupies a unique and distinct position in the global climate discourse. However, despite credibly being a signatory to international bodies such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nigeria needs an effective environmental foreign policy to attain the globally desired sustainability and climate resilience. Therefore, this paper delves into Nigeria’s commitment to international environmental law of key international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, in response to the threatening climate change crisis. The paper recognizes Nigeria as a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Africa, driving it to develop some national environmental policies that support renewable energy production and sustainability. However, most of the policies seem ineffective. This is because the country needs help with challenges ranging from political interference, corruption, unrealistic emission targets, overreliance on fossil fuels, and other socioeconomic factors. The study highlights the potential of Nigeria, the giant of Africa, in leading regional climate negotiations by localizing international environmental foreign policy and developing a strengthened legal framework to guide the African continent to sustainable development. The perspective of this paper is to encourage Nigeria to meet its sustainability objectives while fulfilling its international environmental obligations by exploring its abundant renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and hydropower