Climate Issues Research Articles

Environmental identity-based therapies for climate distress: applying cognitive behavioural approaches

Abstract This paper describes an interdisciplinary integration of the concept of environmental identity into cognitive behavioural approaches to facilitate psychotherapy interventions for climate distress. Environmental identity encompasses one’s sense of self in relation to the natural world and other species, and is an important sub-identity analogous to gender, sexual and other forms of self and social identity recognized in psychotherapy. We provide a background on the construct of environmental identity as developed in social and environmental psychology and share culturally responsive methods for mental health practitioners and the public to evoke and explore their own environmental identity. We then discuss steps to create environmental identity-based therapy interventions using cognitive and behavioural approaches for climate distress. We highlight the potential for acceptance and commitment therapy to foster mindfulness and values-based action, dialectical behaviour therapy to support emotional regulation, and radically open dialectical behaviour therapy to mitigate perfectionism and over-controlled coping styles. We also describe a composite case study of environmental identity-based cognitive behavioural therapy for an LGBTQ+ client. Key learning aims (1) The paper presents new opportunities and techniques for adapting cognitive behavioural interventions in a climate conscious manner, with insights and observations from the authors based on clinical practice, which informs research into psychotherapy best practices in the context of environmental and climate issues. (2) Readers will become familiar with the empirical basis of environmental identity drawn from theory and research in social and environmental psychology; how environmental experiences and values intersect with other forms of personal and social identity addressed in mental health practice; and culturally responsive ways to elicit environmental identity on the part of practitioners and those they serve. (3) Readers are guided through examples of environmental identity-based cognitive and behavioural interventions including (1) promoting values-based action using acceptance and commitment therapy, (2) addressing emotional dysregulation using dialectical behaviour therapy, and (3) modifying over-controlled or perfectionistic coping styles using radically open dialectical behaviour therapy. (4) A composite case study provides an example of environmental identity-based cognitive behavioural therapy for a 20-year-old LGBTQ+ person experiencing climate distress.

Green Soft Power? Checking in on China as a Responsible Stakeholder

By assuming a proactive role in international environmental regimes and extending the ‘green’ dimensions of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has been seeking to promote itself as a leader and responsible stakeholder in global environmental governance. This article examines this development concerning the notion of China’s ‘soft power’ and, more specifically, the notion of ‘green soft power’ – which aims to bridge the traditional concept of soft power with a state’s behavior on environmental and climate issues. China presents an interesting case since it has accrued a considerable amount of green soft power through its multilateral environmental diplomacy practiced at the Conferences of the Parties (COPs), the high-profile annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences, but its patchy deployment of environmental standards in the bilateral engagements under the BRI highlights the contradictions in referring to China as a green soft power. With these ideas in mind, this article holds that in the search to understand the evolving nature of China’s responsible stakeholder role, attention should be given to exploring the notion of green soft power.

Design of floating wind turbine gearboxes using Gaidai risk assessment method

Generating renewable energy sources, rather than relying on world’s finite natural resources, becoming now increasingly crucial as world agenda focuses on climate issues. System’s high-dimensionality, along with nonlinear cross-correlations between various floating wind turbine mechanical parts, subjected to environmental wind and wave-induced loads, are not always easily handled by traditional risk assessment approaches, dealing with complex environmental energy systems. Empirical bending moments of drivetrain, have been produced using SIMPACK (Multibody Simulation Method), based on in situ wind loads. The aim of this study was to benchmark novel lifetime assessment approach for green energy systems.

ESG agenda in the context of economic security of agricultural enterprises

The article discusses the concept of sustainable development and ESG principles in relation to enterprises of the agro-industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as the agro-industrial complex). Sustainable development has become one of the main trends, as the world community understands that economic growth is closely related to the solution of environmental, climate, and social issues. It underlies the assessment of an organization's non-financial performance, taking into account the fact that investors and other stakeholders are increasingly paying attention to the compliance of economic entities with ESG principles, i.e. responsible attitude towards the environment, creating favorable social conditions, ensuring high quality corporate governance. The authors of the work carried out a critical analysis of international and domestic regulations on the topic of research, and formed, based on industry characteristics, a list and content of indicators for the sustainable development of agricultural enterprises. When preparing public non-financial reporting, they can be additional to the legally established basic indicators, and they can be used in the development of industry standards for the sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex.

(Two) Wheels on the Bus: Road User Perceptions of a Bike Bus and How This Links to Addressing Global Health Challenges.

Excessive car use hampers progress toward tackling global health challenges, including climate and sustainability issues, and is linked to lower physical activity. Local communities have been developing solutions through bike buses. This paper, one of the first on bike buses, explores how a bike bus is perceived by other road and place users. An interdisciplinary survey instrument with dialogic-style questions was distributed on flyers to road and place users on 1 bike bus route including when the bike bus was passing. Responses were thematically analyzed using analytic framing to identify themes and subthemes. This paper focuses on 2 domains related to physical activity's link to the global health challenges of climate change and sustainability issues of excess car traffic: climate actions and community-level activism. Overall, 172 responses were received from 542 distributed flyers (31.8%). The climate actions domain identified a bike bus as a solution that creates a transport mode shift, reduces emissions, and improves air quality. Themes associated with community-level activism domain include perception that a bike bus is a form of activism or a protest and that it is a disruption to the status quo on the roads. Our findings indicate that this active mobility practice goes beyond the utility of getting children to school and being a way to promote physical activity. A bike bus is seen as local community action that could create a transport mode shift, draw attention to road space allocation, and help tackle global health challenges.

Framing vulnerability: An ecolinguistic analysis of gender and climate change discourse

This study examines how climate change organizations employ discourse strategies to highlight the vulnerability of women to climate change. It also explores how these strategies disrupt the conventional climate change narrative by integrating gender issues and emphasizing women's social and cultural experiences. The study utilizes the framework of ecolinguistics to examine narratives woven into the textual discourse. The research, based on 40 tweets from organizations such as the UN Environment Program and UN Women, offers insights into how these organizations utilize ecolinguistic techniques in communicating climate issues. The findings of the study revealed that gender intersections with other social identities determine vulnerabilities to environmental changes, as the research highlights the disproportionate impacts on women, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. This study contributes to the existing literature in terms of exploring the depiction of this issue in the Twitter discourse of international organizations.

A data-driven approach to assessing climate issues in coastal cities

This paper addresses the critical issue of climate change, a subject of considerable debate over recent decades. To provide a clear and unbiased perspective, we have developed an innovative model to forecast the future impacts of global warming. Utilizing datasets exclusively sourced from official government records ensures the integrity and neutrality of our data. Various modeling techniques were employed to optimize the fit and enhance the accuracy of our predictions. By analyzing temperature and sea-level data, we applied regression techniques to predict future values. We focused on preprocessing the data using MATLAB, and developed a function capable of forecasting both temperature and sea level changes. The findings indicate a grim future, particularly for coastal cities, which are expected to experience severe consequences.

Farmers’ resilience to climate change through the circular economy and sustainable agriculture: a review from developed and developing countries

Abstract Farmers struggle to combat uncertain climate issues while encountering pressure on conventional farming practices that lead to carbon emissions, water and soil pollution, and other environmental harms. A growing body of literature investigated circular economy and sustainable practices to support environmental-friendly agriculture activities while providing opportunities for farmers to improve their farm income. Therefore, a study synthesizing previous literature while identifying actual policy to boost farmers’ implementation of sustainable agriculture is worthwhile. Using the Systematic Literature Review analysis, this paper aims to identify farmers’ views on climate change adaptation and mitigation, challenges in implementing circular economy and sustainable practices, and policies to support farmers’ transition toward sustainable agriculture in developed and developing countries. We found that (1) farmers’ awareness of climate change, knowledge and skills are prominent for adapting and mitigating climate change in both types of countries, (2) farmland size, risks of income loss, and training and extension services influenced farmers’ adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change in developing countries, (3) farmers in both types of countries experienced uncertainty in economic profits and legislative issues when adopting sustainable practices, while farmers in developing countries issued significant up-front expenses to acquire technology to adopt sustainable practices, (4) financial access and incentives through policy can be valuable to develop sustainable livelihoods, especially for farm households.

Solution processing of crystalline porous material based membranes for CO2 separation.

The carbon emission problem is a significant challenge in today's society, which has led to severe global climate issues. Membrane-based separation technology has gained considerable interest in CO2 separation due to its simplicity, environmental friendliness, and energy efficiency. Crystalline porous materials (CPMs), such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks, and porous organic cages, hold great promise for advanced CO2 separation membranes because of their ordered and customizable pore structures. However, the preparation of defect-free and large-area crystalline porous material (CPM)-based membranes remains challenging, limiting their practical use in CO2 separation. To address this challenge, the solution-processing method, commonly employed in commercial polymer preparation, has been adapted for CPM membranes in recent years. Nanosheets, spheres, molecular cages, and even organic monomers, depending on the CPM type, are dissolved in suitable solvents and processed into continuous membranes for CO2 separation. This feature article provides an overview of the recent advancements in the solution processing of CPM membranes. It summarizes the differences among the solution-processing methods used for forming various CPM membranes, highlighting the key factors for achieving continuous membranes. The article also summarizes and discusses the CO2 separation performance of these membranes. Furthermore, it addresses the current issues and proposes future research directions in this field. Overall, this feature article aims to shed light on the development of solution-processing techniques for CPM membranes, facilitating their practical application in CO2 separation.

Климатические проблемы в условиях геополитических изменений

The changing geopolitical situation demands new approaches to solving climatic problems, and their reflection in the frame of strategic decisions. The formulation of such approaches acquires even greater significance regarding possible prospects for the future development of Russia. It has been shown that the concept of energy transition in tackling climate change can be considered as a foundational platform for the emergence of a new technological order. The technological standards worked out together with rules of conduct are to consolidate the dominant position of the leading countries in the emerging market. Therefore, however uncertain the contemporary geopolitical situation may be, Russia cannot afford to withdraw from solving the present climate issues. It has been substantiated that the implementation of the “green” (climate) agenda ought to be one of the drivers facilitating Russia’s economy modernization with the involvement of innovative solutions. The corresponding measures are intended to increase the energy efficiency in order to better employ the interplay in the “innovation – energy efficiency – decarbonization” triad. The study is aimed at devising scientific approaches to adapting the system of strategic planning for the development of the Russian economy in relation to tackling climate change in the context of geopolitical changes. Initial requirements for such adaptation have already been formed. Considerable attention has been paid to the need to create analytical tools for well-founded decisions made at various management levels. A special place here has been given to the methodological foundations for developing a mechanism to synchronize climate change with indicators of socio-economic development. Creating the procedure for those indicators to achieve the relevant targets will complement the proposed approach with more capabilities, thus increasing its analytical potential. The solution of climatic problems predetermines the need to make serious adjustments to the existing system of public administration in order to address the issues of scientific, technological, industrial and geopolitical development.

Analysis and management of risks related to TDG in Morocco using the FMEAC approach

Road transport of dangerous goods is the most accidental mode of transport, which can have an impact on the environment, including air pollution, global climate issues of concern, noise pollution, water pollution, accidents, land use and habitat fragmentation. The objective of this study is to manage the risks associated with Moroccan road transport from an environmental point of view while taking into account the collaborative aspect at the level of a logistics chain. In this regard, the use of a problem-solving approach such as FMECA to identify anomalies and malfunctions that may lead to failure. It consists in analysing the failure modes, their effects and their criticality. This approach is based on four main criteria: severity, frequency, non-detection and criticality.

Comparison of Engine Performance and Emissions for W20 and P20 Methyl Ester Blends as Fuel

Demand for energy in transportation, industrial and other energy sectors has led to the huge consumption of fossil fuels. This has directly affected on climatic issues, global warming as well as financial status of a country. In order to reduce these problems biofuels have been used in the engines. The present work reports the performance and emission studies conducted on an engine for W20 (waste cooking oil methyl ester 20% + diesel 80%) blend and P20 (pongamia methyl ester 20% + diesel 80%) blends on volume basis tested on a single cylinder 4-stroke water cooled compression ignition direct injection engine. At 2.2kW engine loading Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) for W20 and P20 blends are 2.11% and 5.92% lesser than that of diesel fuel. Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) for W20 and P20 blends are 2.386% and 0.198% higher than that of diesel respectively. Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) for W20 and P20 blends are 6.89% and 3.44% greater than that of diesel respectively. Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions for W20 and P20 blends are 0.046%, 0.04% lower, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions for W20 and P20 blends are 0.33% and 0.18% higher than that of diesel respectively. Hydro Carbon (HC) emissions for W20 blend is 56% higher and P20 blend is 12% lower when compared with diesel. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) for W20 and P20 blends are 18.87% and 1.72% larger than that of diesel. Therefore, P20 blend fuel is good when compared to W20 blend fuel.

Does ESG privilege climate action over social and governance issues? A content analysis of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s annual letters

Milton Friedman famously argued that the social responsibility of business is to maximize shareholder wealth. Friedman’s view is challenged by the proponents of corporate social responsibility who suggest that firms should consider the interests of all stakeholders, and not just shareholders. Following the stakeholder approach, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink has made the case that firms should use the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) metric to evaluate their performance as opposed to short-term profit maximization. Fink employs his annual “Dear CEO” letters as a platform to outline his views on ESG. While these letters focus on all three ESG dimensions, the media tends to portray Fink as a climate advocate. We examined the texts of the ten letters Fink has published since 2012 to assess the extent to which Fink focused on climate issues. We found that Fink emphasized the climate dimension over social and governance dimensions only in two letters (2020 and 2022), which suggests that the thrust of Fink’s letters differs from how the media frames them. Broadly, our paper suggests that norm advocates sometimes cannot fully control how their advocated norm is interpreted and framed. Limiting ESG to climate issues has implications for its business acceptability. Specifically, this framing links business incentives to adopt ESG to the policy salience of climate issues as well as the fortunes of both the fossil fuel industry and the renewable energy sector. Second, if businesses face a legitimacy crisis from governance shortfalls or inadequate social performance, ESG will serve as a less effective tool in alleviating stakeholder concerns.

The Sustainability of Carbon Markets for Climate-Smart Agriculture among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda

This study assesses the sustainability of Uganda's carbon markets in the context of climate-smart agricultural practices with the aim of aligning them with sustainable development goals. The research emphasizes integrating dimensions of sustainable development to proactively address food security and climate issues. Climate-smart agricultural practices that support the efficiency of small-scale farming enable farmers to generate income through the sale of carbon-related environmental services such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration. While these practices contribute to the resilience of smallholder farmers' livelihoods, challenges arise from large project volumes with low transaction costs, resulting in insufficient carbon revenues for local communities. Furthermore, limited methods and complex procedures hinder progress. The study recommends involving national or international organizations to bridge the gap between farmer groups and the carbon market, with a focus on government policy and private sector collaboration to incentivize environmental services. In summary, establishing sustainable, climate-smart agricultural links to the carbon market can bring co-benefits including income diversification, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.

Scalable and Flexible Multi-Layer Prismatic Photonic Metamaterial Film for Efficient Daytime Radiative Cooling.

To maintain a comfortable indoor living environment in low latitude or tropical regions, humans consume significant amounts of electrical energy in air conditioning, leading to substantial CO2 emissions. Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) allows objects to cool down during the daytime without any energy consumption by dissipating heat through the atmospheric transparency window (8-13µm) to outer space, which has garnered significant attention. However, the practical applications of common PDRC materials are hindered by their poor optical selectivity and high-reflective silver backing. Additionally, the availability of artificial photon emitters with complex structures and excellent performance is also limited by their high cost. Herein, a novel multilayer prismatic photonic metamaterial film without any silver reflector, easily scalable and produced by a roll-to-roll method is demonstrated, which exhibits ≈96.4% sunlight reflectance (0.3-2.5µm) and ≈97.2% emissivity in mid-infrared (IR) (8-13µm). At an average solar intensity of ≈920Wm-2, it is on average 6.8°C below ambient temperature during the day and theoretically yields a radiative cooling power of 88.9Wm-2. Furthermore, the film exhibits excellent hydrophobicity, superior flexibility, and robust mechanical strength, providing an attractive and viable pathway for practical applications addressing the pressing challenges of climate and energy issues.

The Impact of Manufacturing Digitization on Embodied Carbon Intensity: A Global Value Chain Perspective

Climate issues have become one of the most important topics for the sustainable development of the global economy. Balancing trade gains with carbon emissions has become a strategic objective for each economy. Based on cross-country panel data from 2006-2018, this essay comprehends the relationship between manufacturing digitization and export embodied carbon intensity at the theoretical level and tests the theoretical arguments using panel models. In addition, the findings show that the digitization of manufacturing can reduce the export embodied carbon intensity through two paths: the deepening of the forward embeddedness and the improvement of the division of labor position in GVCs.

Greening the Future: Islamic Finance's Pivotal Role in Combating Climate Change

This study investigates the relationship between Islamic finance and climate change nexus through the lens of the existing literature review articles published in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Our methodical literature review unveils the full potential of Islamic finance in tackling climate change challenges and contributing to global sustainability endeavors through the creation of Shariah-compliant climate instruments, the promotion of green investments, the establishment of standards for socially responsible investments, the cultivation of cooperation and alliances, the evaluation and disclosure of climate risk, the incorporation of vulnerable communities via Islamic microfinance, and the establishment of a framework for monitoring and assessment. By grasping the potential contribution of Islamic finance to climate change mitigation and adaptation, we can harness its principles and practices to spawn a more sustainable financial system. Islamic finance has the capacity to bolster sustainable development goals by advocating for environmental protection, reducing vulnerability, and facilitating the development of sustainable infrastructure. The paper concludes with important policy implications. Originality/Value: Islamic finance expands in the worldwide financial industry, boasting its distinct principles and values. Nonetheless, a research gap persists in comprehending the nexus between Islamic finance and climate change. While myriad studies have delved into the societal and economic facets of Islamic finance, research on its capacity to combat climate change and foster sustainability remains scarce. Addressing this research gap assumes paramount significance due to the urgency of the climate change predicament faced by humanity. To bridge this gap, we scrutinized the role of Islamic finance in climate issues by examining literature review articles published in the Web of Science and Scopus databases.

Probing the Dynamic Na Metal/Nasicon Interface in Sodium-Ion Batteries

Interest in solid-state sodium-ion batteries (SSIBs) have resurged remarkably as a means of diversification in energy storage devices to address climate issues and further propelled by the movement of ‘Beyond-Li’. State of the art SSIBs not only offer energy security and sustainability but also comparable power and energy densities to their counter-parts. Yet to fully capitalise on the technology, the fundamental processes taking place between the anode and interface or ‘point of contact’ needs to be understood. Previous iterations of SSIBs have employed various solid-electrolyte candidates – most notable being beta-alumina – however with the recent advancements in synthesis and dopants more prominent solid-electrolytes have become interesting, one in particular being NaSICON (Sodium Super Ionic Conductor). NaSICON has several advantages, one of which is the reduction in operating temperatures of SSIBs due to its inherent fast sodium-ion transport1. This would broaden the potential applications of SSIBs, making the technology more accessible to a wider range of markets.Current perspectives on NaSICON solid-electrolytes have focused on optimising conductivity through means of additive dopants2 and synthesis procedures3. Yet at present, the understanding of the fundamentals of interfacial inhomogeneities that affect the performance of these materials in SSIBs is limited. With consideration of the direct implications on performance that surface chemistry has, understanding of this is paramount.Evaluation of the chemical evolution of the Na metal/NaSICON interface has been achieved through assessing the changes of the chemical landscape that take place at the surface and near-surface, through surface characterisation techniques that probe the area of interest at varying depths – X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). This has been conducted on samples that have been electrochemically cycled and comparison made to samples in pristine condition. The compositions used to conduct this investigation are Na3Zr2Si2PO12 and Na3.4Zr2Si2.4P0.6O12 – the latter of which has been shown to have one of the highest room temperature sodium-ion conductivity4. Through this, the electronic structure, and hence chemical state, can be deduced alongside a 3D chemical map that will correlate surface chemical changes with electrochemical performance. Thus, a preliminary means of understanding the fundamentals of chemical evolution can be established. References Lu, G. Xia, J. P. Lemmon, Z. Yang, ‘Advanced materials for sodium-beta alumina batteries: Status, challenges and perspectives’, Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195, p. 2431-2442, 2010. Samiee, B. Radhakrishnan, Z. Rice, Z. Deng, Y. Meng, S. Ong, J. Luo, ‘Divalent-doped Na3Zr2Si2PO12 natrium superionic conductor: Improving the ionic conductivity via simultaneously optimizing the phase and chemistry of the primary and secondary phases’, Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 347, p. 229-237, 2017. Jalalian-Khakshour, C. Phillips, L. Jackson, T. Dunlop, S. Margadonna, D. Deganello, ‘Solid-state synthesis of NASICON (Na3Zr2Si2PO12) using nanoparticle precursors for optimisation of ionic conductivity’, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 55, 2020. Ma, C-L. Tsai, X-K. Wei, M. Heggen, F. Tietz, J. T. S. Irvine, ‘Room temperature demonstration of a sodium superionic conductor with grain conductivity in excess of 0.01 S cm−1 and its primary applications in symmetric battery cells’ J. Mater. Chem. A, Vol. 7, p. 7766-7776, 2019.

Spatial association network of carbon emission performance: Formation mechanism and structural characteristics

To enhance regional carbon emission performance (CEP), understanding the spatial association characteristics of CEPs in cities has emerged as a pivotal strategy for the Chinese government to address climate issues. In this study, the formation mechanism of the CEP spatial network is illustrated and a super-efficient SBM model used to measure the CEP of each city in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2003 to 2018. Subsequently, the structural characteristics and influencing factors of the CEP network were explored using a macro-micro-individual analysis framework. The results showed that the CEP of regional cities exhibited clear network structural characteristics, with a continuous strengthening of spatial association. The motif structure type with reciprocity and agglomeration played a decisive role in the network. The low-carbon development of the YRD mainly depended on the driving effect of the core cities; however, there was a noticeable disparity in individual centrality between the core cities and the others. Geographic proximity and differences in economic agglomeration, open policy, and transportation had a significant positive impact on the CEP network. Conversely, disparities in industrial structure, population agglomeration, and technological innovation were not conducive to network formation. Based on these findings, policies to promote the low-carbon transition in the YRD have been proposed.

Экологические проекты инициативного бюджетирования

Ecological projects of initiative budgeting are considered in the article as a form of involving citizens in the ecological agenda. The classification of ecological projects initiated by citizens was compiled by the authors. These are projects of organizing the collection of solid waste and garbage, projects in the field of fire safety, projects to provide settlements with clean drinking water. Based on the database of the All-Russian contest of the best projects of initiative budgeting, numerical indicators on the implementation of ecological projects (number, cost, beneficiaries) were selected. The foreign experience of involving citizens in the environmental agenda – green participatory budgeting – was presented. The unique experience of involving schoolchildren and youth in climate and environmental issues in some foreign countries was described. A review of Russian initiative projects in the field of ecology was carried out. It is concluded that there is the emergence of a trend to involve citizens in the ecological agenda. Initiative budgeting projects serve as indicators of the actual requests and needs of citizens. It is also noted that it is reasonable to use the database of the All-Russian competition of initiative budgeting projects as a unique information resource about the practices of civic engagement.