Global Environmental Security Research Articles

Synergistic enhancement for energy-saving, emission reduction and profit improvement in iron and steel manufacturing system: Strategies for parameter regulation and technologies integration

The steel industry, characterized by high energy consumption and carbon emission, poses a significant threat to global energy and environmental security. In response to the energy conservation and dual-carbon targets, the steel industry must urgently find sustainable pathways for transformation and development. Steel production structure optimization and the application of cutting-edge technologies have been proven to be highly effective. However, the complexity and variability of actual production conditions highlight the absence of a methodology capable of adapting to real production scenarios, elucidating influencing principles across multiple factors, analyzing synergistic mechanisms of multiple indicators, and proposing collaborative control strategies. Furthermore, the potential for technology applications that are closely integrated with the company’s resource endowment remains uncertain, leading to an unclear overall strategy for energy saving and carbon reduction. This study develops a multi-scale optimization and evaluation model for ISMP, incorporating interconnected and matching processes, as well as nested multi-indicators, in response to the context. Subsequently, the disturbance mechanisms of various factors are accurately identified and a multi-indicator synergistic control strategy and framework are proposed. Following optimization, the exergy loss, energy consumption, carbon emission intensity, cost, and pollutant emissions of ISMP per tonne of steel are reduced by 1418.70 MJ, 42.93 kgce, 154.79 kg, 171.21 CNY, and 0.0168 kg, respectively. Additionally, measures such as reducing moisture content in coking coal can effectively regulate multiple indicators. Based on the proposed sensitivity quantification method, the temperature of hot blast is identified as the most effective controllable factor. Technologies like hydrogen-rich fuel injection, integrated waste heat recovery, and solar photovoltaic & energy storage have shown favorable prospects, according to analysis conducted from various angles regarding economic viability and potential for energy-saving and carbon reduction. However, the application of aforementioned technologies may be limited by financial consideration, necessitating cautious and judicious investment choices.

Evaluating trends in groundwater quality of coastal alluvial aquifers of Eastern India for sustainable groundwater management.

Groundwater is a precious natural element which ensures global water, food, and environmental security in the twenty-first century. Systematic monitoring, sustainable utilization, preservation and remediation are critical aspects of efficient groundwater resource management. This study deals with the analysis of spatial variability and trend in groundwater chemistry as well as identification of possible contamination sources in a coastal alluvial basin of eastern India. Pre-monsoon season data of 14 groundwater-quality variables measured in 'leaky confined' and 'confined' aquifers were analyzed for ten years (2012-2021). Mann-Kendall (M-K) test with the Sen's Slope Estimator, Spearman Rank Order Correlation (SROC) and Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) tests were employed to assess decadal (2012-2021) trends. The analysis of the results indicated that the 'critical' water-quality parameters exceeding the acceptable limits for drinking are TDS, EC, TH, pH, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Fe2+, HCO3-, Cl- and NO3-. Weak negative correlations between rainfall and groundwater elevation for both the aquifers reveal poor rainfall recharge into the aquifers. Therefore, a reduction in groundwater abstraction and augmentation of groundwater recharge is recommended. Trend analysis results indicated that the concentrations of TH, Mg2+ and Fe2+ exhibit significant increasing trends in the 'leaky confined aquifer'. In contrast, significant rising trends in TH, Mg2+, Na+, Fe2+, HCO3- and NO3- concentrations are identified in the 'confined aquifer'. Further, the SROC test could not detect the trends in groundwater quality in most blocks and for many parameters. On the other hand, the ITA test revealed significant trends in most of the parameters of the two aquifers in almost all the blocks. Trend magnitudes of the groundwater-quality parameters based on the Sen's Slope Estimator and the ITA test vary from -63.7 to 58.65mg/L/year for TDS, -14 to 39.07mg/L/year for TH, -1.49 to 4.83mg/L/year for Mg2+, -7.14 to 22.96mg/L/year for Na+, -0.32 to 0.44mg/L/year for Fe2+, -8.33 to 20.75mg/L/year for HCO3-, -26.52 to 31.01mg/L/year for Cl- and 1.29 to 3.76mg/L/year for NO3- over the study area. The results of M-K and ITA tests were found in agreement in all the blocks for both the aquifers. Groundwater contamination in both the aquifers can be attributed to weathering, geogenic processes, mineral dissolution, seawater intrusion, poor recharge pattern and injudicious anthropogenic activities. It is strongly recommended that concerned authorities urgently formulate efficient strategies for managing groundwater quality in the 'leaky confined' and 'confined' aquifers which serve as vital sources of drinking and irrigationwater suppliesin the study area.

The role of the United Nations in reducing climate change and its impact on global environmental security

برزت التغيرات المناخية كإحدى القضايا العالمية التي تتطلب تعاملا خاصا يتماشى مع حجم التهديدات التي تشكلها على مسار التنمية، هذا ما استدعى عرضها بشكل رسمي خلال مؤتمر المناخ العالمي الأول المنعقد في عام 1979 بمشاركة كل من المنظمة العالمية للأرصاد الجوية، برنامج الأمم المتحدة للبيئَة، منظمة الصحة العالمية، منظمة الأغذية والزراعة، يشكل تغير المناخ تهديداً شديداً للبشرية أجيال الحاضر والمستقبل، وقد أكد اتفاق باريس حول التغيرات المناخية عام 2015 على ضرورة الحد من تلك التغيرات المناخية كما أكده أيضا مؤتمر الأطراف في اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة الإطارية بشأن تغير المناخ إذ حذر من أن تغير المناخ يشكل تهديدا وشيك الوقوع بإمكانه أن يكون غير قابل للزوال، وأن استمرارية انبعاثات الغازات الدفيئة سيؤدي إلى تضاعف الاحترار والتغيرات في كل مكونات النظام المناخي، وأن وضع حد لتغير المناخ يقتضي خفضاً كبيراً ومتواصلا لانبعاثات الغازات الدفيئة. ويشكل تغير المناخ كذلك خطرا معقدا وهذا ما أكدته العديد من الوثائق الدولية منها تقرير التنمية البشرية 2007-2008 الذي اعتبر تغير المناخ خطرا عندما يتجاوز 2 درجة مئوية. وهذه الخطورة لآثار التغير المناخ وعدم الاحتراز من قبل الدول في تقليل من تلك الانبعاثات برغم ما توفره الهيئة الحكومية الدولية المعنية بتغير المناخ من جهود في هذا الشأن، وبرغم وجود العديد من الدراسات العلمية، وتبعا لهذه الخطورة أصبح تغير المناخ من أكبر التحديات البيئية التي يواجهها العالم حالياً.

Food shortage driven crop residue burning and health risk

Ending global hunger is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces. The second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2), Zero Hunger, seeks to simultaneously address global environmental sustainability and food security challenges. However, ending hunger and food shortage would lead to the increase of agricultural activities and crop yields, which in turn might rise crop residue biomass burning, leading to adverse environmental and health consequences. This study estimated the health risk using modeled airborne benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a common indicator of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) released from crop residue biomass burning, and demonstrated the dependence of incremental lifetime lung cancer risk (ILCR) on the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU). Results showed that 10.4% of the global population are exposed to BaP concentration levels exceeding the EU target value (1 ng/m3) due to crop residue burning. The dependence of ILCR on PoU was attributed to increasing post-harvest crop residue biomass burning consequent to growing crop yield motivated by food shortage. Although global mean ILCR from crop residue burning BaP emission was positively correlated with the mean PoU at a correlation coefficient of r = 0.87 (p < 0.0001), positive and negative associations between PoU and ILCR were found among different less-developed countries. Eighty-nine less-developed countries were clustered into five groups, and the response of each group's ILCR to their respective PoU was assessed, which was interpreted by a human development index (HDI) that measured key dimensions of human development. Results also revealed that sustainable agriculture and implementation of air emission control measures play key roles in the association between hunger and ILCR.

New Developments in Geopolitics: A Reassessment of Theories after 2023

The scope of this article is to make a synthesis of the theory of geopolitics with new trends and characteristics of the new global environment. Traditional geopolitical theories are established on the basis of sovereign states. The starting point of many theories is for sovereign states to compete for world hegemony, or to gain an advantage in competition with their opponents. Geopolitical research also mostly starts from the interests of the country. However, as global environmental changes, transnational crimes, terrorism, information security, and other non-traditional security threats have become common threats to human society, their impact also crosses borders and has global characteristics, which also means solving geopolitical issues. Thinking needs to change from a national perspective to a global perspective. On the other hand, as the international community pays more and more attention to human rights, the challenge of human rights to sovereignty has become an unavoidable reality in current international politics. With the progress of the times, the protection and respect of civil rights has become the basic consensus of the international community. Nowadays, the issue of virtual rights such as carbon emission rights have also been included in the geopolitics theory, creating a strong shift of paradigm towards a renewed theory.

The Impact of the Russian-Ukrainian War on Global Food and Environmental Security

The global war has disrupted trade, production, and consumption, leading to increased commodity prices and a threat to global food security. The article examines the long-term consequences of the war on global food and environmental security, focusing on disruptions in food markets and infrastructure destruction. The study utilizes the FAOSTAT database and food security indicators to assess the state of food security in Russia and Ukraine from 2010 to 2021. The results reveal numerous negative direct and indirect effects on food and environmental security, with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) being among the most affected regions. Prior to the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was a major grain exporter to the MENA region. However, the war caused extreme volatility in food insecurity. Among the key consequences of the war, it should be mentioned about the decrease in the volume of production of agricultural products in Ukraine due to the reduction of cultivated areas as a result of blockades and destruction, which led to export restrictions, and loss of producers’ income. The countries of the Global South are most vulnerable to the food crisis (Turkey, Egypt, Georgia, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya), given the significant import dependence on Ukraine and the significant increase in product prices. The war has also resulted in pollution of water and land resources, air contamination, supply and sewage problems, and deteriorating sanitary conditions.

The impact of renewable energy on economic growth in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP)

ABSTRACT The past decade has seen an increase in renewable energy sources in the energy mix due to global environmental and supply security concerns. This paper aimed to investigate renewable energy effects on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). The investigation is from 1988 to 2018, using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), Nonlinear ARDL (NARDL), and fully modified OLS (FMOL) techniques. Based on empirical analyses of ARDL and FMOLS, it was found that both renewable and nonrenewable energies have a positive impact on economic growth in the Southern African power pool. However, the NARDL estimation indicates that neither renewable nor nonrenewable energy has a significant effect on economic growth in Southern African power pool. Therefore, based on the findings from both ARDL and FMOLS, the growth hypothesis is supported regarding the connection between renewable energy and economic growth in the Southern Africa power pool. Centered on the results, some policy implications were drawn for SAPP for sustainable economic growth, which includes measures to increase renewable energy in the energy mix, and also to encourage the optimization of cross-border connections where energy production from countries within SAPP that are not restricted by natural resources can be relied on to export sustainable energy. Additionally, building a more sustainable integrated power system in the region will assist SAPP with sustainable energy access and reduce the dependence on nonrenewable energy within the interconnected countries soon.

Towards net zero in agriculture: Future challenges and opportunities for arable, livestock and protected cropping systems in the UK

The agricultural sector faces multiple challenges linked to increased climate uncertainty, causing severe shocks including increased frequency of extreme weather events, new pest and disease risks, soil degradation, and pre and postharvest food losses. This situation is further exacerbated by geopolitical instability and volatility in energy prices impacting on fertiliser supplies and production costs. Net zero strategies are vital to achieve both food security and address negative environmental impacts. This perspective paper reviews and assesses the most viable options (actions) to achieve net zero with a focus on the arable/livestock and protected cropping sectors in the UK. The methodology was based on a synthesis of relevant literature, coupled with expert opinions using the holistic PESTLE (Political, Environmental, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) approach to categorise actions, leading to formulation of a roadmap to achieve net zero. The PESTLE analysis indicated that there are technically and economically viable actions available which need to be prioritised depending on the ease of their implementation within the two crop sectors investigated. These actions include (i) policy changes that are better aligned to net zero; (ii) circular economy approaches; (iii) connectivity and accessibility of information; (iv) increased resilience to shocks; (v) changing diets, nutrition and lifestyles; (vi) target setting and attainment; and (vii) farm economics and livelihoods. The outputs can be used by stakeholders and decision makers to inform policy and drive meaningful changes in global food and environmental security.

Climate Change and Environmental Security in Bangladesh

Climate change is a major non-traditional Security (NTS) issue which poses a massive threat to global environmental security. Climate change is still occurring, manifested in rising temperatures, increased river and coastal flooding and erosion, rising sea levels, increasing salinity, and more frequent, severe weather events. It is evident that men and women are affected differently by the environmental consequences of climate change. Women become more vulnerable to climate change impacts and environmental disasters. The paper aims to show the interrelationship of climate change, environmental security and gender in Bangladesh. Moreover, the paper examines the impacts of climate change in environmental security from the gender perspective exploring the condition of women during disasters and their vulnerabilities under climate change scenario in Bangladesh. Secondary data have been used and analyzed to identify the overall condition of women during hazardous situations in Bangladesh. Available data reveal that a number of climate-induced hazards are already affecting many women especially in the coastal zone, low-lying areas and north- west part of the country. The paper finds that climate change has disproportionate impacts on women in Bangladesh affecting their food security, water security, health security, economic livelihood as well as internal migration. Finally, the paper provides policy recommendations dealing with the gender differentiated climate change vulnerabilities experienced by Bangladesh.

Global Dependence Analysis on Indonesian Palm Oil Production and Its Effect on Environmental Security Using the Copenhagen School Approach

Increasing international demand is related to global dependency on Indonesian palm oil, forcing Indonesia to increase its palm oil production, resulting in environmental concern. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods with the Copenhagen School approach is used. On average from 2010-2020, Indonesia exported palm oil to Asia (64.72%), the EU (16.29%), Africa (13.59%), America (5.30%), and Oceania (0.07%). According to the Copenhagen School perspective, there are potential environmental security threats to the international world. One aspect of the environment that is suffering is forested due to deforestation, related fires, damage to ecosystems, and species that are essential contributors to global climate change and loss of biodiversity, as well as poor local and regional air quality. Involvement in the human rights sector, terrorist activities, smuggling, and tax evasion are also evident. Indonesian palm oil production provides economic benefits through international trade and at the same time threatens global environmental security.

ECOLOGICAL SAFETY AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PEOPLE SECURITY

The article substantiates the importance of finding and studying methods of restructuring of consciousness in relation to nature, the development of new priorities of interaction between society and the environment as a fundamentally different path of development of civilization. The main characteristics of environmental education as one of the main social aspects of environmental safety at the present stage are given. The essence and assessment of ecological competence as an important integral indicator of learning achievements are defined. It is shown, what features are characterized by global ecological safety and on what the safety of human stay both in the workplace and in the environment is based. The authors show a set of environmental standards, which are important to ensure environmental safety. The problems of environmental security, as well as methods of scientific study of environmental factors are presented. It is shown what impact anthropogenic environmental security has on global environmental security. An analysis of the requirements that should be observed in the construction process, such as planning and development of territories, so that it is not a threat to the environmental safety of the environment in general and individuals in particular is carried out. The basic hygienic principle of the planning organization of the territory of new areas of human habitation as well as reconstruction of old territories is presented. It is shown that to ensure human ecological safety around industrial enterprises and facilities with technological processes it is necessary to create special protections, sanitary and protection zones.

Urban rainwater utilization: A review of management modes and harvesting systems

Due to the impact of climate change and rapid urbanization, issues around global urban flood control and water environment security have emerged as major global concerns. As a practical way to address these issues, exploitation of urban rainwater resources has become a worldwide hotspot for research and application. This paper 1) briefly examined the evolution of rainwater utilization management modes in advanced countries, 2) classified urban rainwater utilization measures from the utilization stages into three categories—source control, medium transmission, and terminal treatment, 3) summarized the advantages, disadvantages, and scope of the application of these measures, 4) reviewed the benefits, drawbacks, and application areas of these measures, and 5) conducted a quantitative analysis of their impact on rainwater pollution and flood control.

Nitrogen balance is a predictor of farm business performance in the English Farm Business Survey

Global environmental sustainability and food security are fundamental societal issues, and most crop production relies upon inputs from organic or inorganic nitrogen sources. Previous research in the Global North has demonstrated a typical over application of nitrogen across global agriculture with substantial negative impacts on the environment. The objective of this work was to draw on English Farm Business Survey (FBS) data of non-organic General Cropping and Cereal farms to explore the relationship between farm gate nitrogen balance, fertilizer application advice and farm business performance. A mixed effects generalized modeling approach was used to partition the variance into random (such as year, or farm ID) and fixed effects (those of interest). Whilst the financial performance of farm businesses is subject to high variance and multiple drivers, a negative relationship was detected between business performance and farm gate nitrogen balance, we demonstrate that nitrogen lost to the environment of &amp;gt;60 kg per hectare is associated with a significant negative impact on farm performance. Supplier-provided fertilizer advice was also associated with reduced farm performance. These results imply a positive effect on farm performance of enhancing on-farm understanding of crop nutrient requirements through the provision of accredited fertilizer advice. Within the stated bounds our model demonstrates good predictivity on randomly subsetted data, and is presented as a tool for use in scenario modeling of interventions such as agri-environment schemes, Natural Capital and Ecosystems Assessment, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Environmental Security Policies of the Russian Federation

Since the earliest times of history, humanity has been known to be fighting an existential war against nature. Although man’s struggle against his natural environment has not caused severe damage to nature for centuries, human-induced natural environmental degradation has begun to be seen with modernization, the effect of which was experienced to a great extent in the 20th century. With both population growth and technological developments, humanity has achieved significant gains in its struggle for survival against nature, but these gains have turned against humanity itself with the irreversible deterioration of nature. This degradation, which started with environmental pollution in the past and resulted in climate changes today, has been taken care of by modern states, which have significant power in the governance of people. These modern states, which previously had a security perspective through their relations, have started to take steps as environmental problems harm their legitimacy and citizens. States had to come together to solve this common problem no matter how different they were in government type and ideology. Since the day it left the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has not refrained from taking national steps toward the global environmental security regime. Although like many states, the fight against environmental problems has made mistakes and shortcomings, it has cooperated internationally for various reasons. The most important reason is that the Russian Federation is at the top of the list of states polluting nature. But apart from this, environmental security has been the area of interest of the Kremlin administration due to its geopolitical and geostrategic interests in the international system. Therefore, it has set targets on environmental security in documents such as foreign policy and security concepts adopted since the early 1990s. This study aims to examine the national and international environmental policies of the Russian Federation on global climate change. For this reason, firstly, a brief introduction to the subject of environmental security will be made, and the documents containing the political and security perspective of the Russian Federation will be discussed in the next section. In the last part, it will try to summarize what kind of international contribution and cooperation the Russian Federation has made in solving environmental problems.

Methodology for the assessment of damage and economic losses from harm to forest ecosystems as a result of armed aggression

Abstract Significant changes in the environment have caused awareness of the strategic importance of forests as a factor in global environmental security, and socio-economic development of territories. Evidence of this are many international acts, including the provisions of the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030. However, in areas where hostilities are taking place, forests are being destroyed en masse, leading to systemic losses, the restoration of which will require large investments, efforts, and a long period of time. Therefore, it is important to improve the mechanisms for recovering compensation from the aggressor country, whose actions have led to losses from loss or damage to forest ecosystems. In this case, justification of the amount of compensation plays a significant role, and therefore there is a need to develop methodological approaches to their definition. Based on the summary of international practices, guidelines of international organizations, regulations of Ukraine, and scientific publications on the assessment and compensation of environmental damage, the author used a systematic approach that combines the assessment of damage from loss or damage to forest ecosystems and the cost of their restoration. The methodology involves taking into account the degree of damage in determining losses, lost profits, and costs of restoration of forest ecosystems in the context of forest ecosystem services – Provisioning Services, Regulating Services, Supporting Services, or other ecosystem maintenance services; Cultural Services, such as educational, aesthetic, and cultural heritage values, recreation, and tourism. The author proposes relevant methods for each component of the assessment and the relevant indicators. In determining the sets of indicators the author used those that can be calculated based on objective data, or that have an international practice of their calculation. The choice of data sources for the calculation of damage and losses from losses or damage to forest ecosystems and objects within them, caused to Ukraine as a result of hostilities, is stipulated.

REDUCING CLIMATE IMPACTS ON WATER RESOURCES AS THE LEGAL AND ECONOMIC BASIS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY IN THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF UKRAINE

As climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, the legal and economic issues of global environmental security deserve high praise. In the area of industrial competitiveness, where the negative effects of global climate change include floods and droughts, forest fires, and rising sea levels, climate change is highly problematic. Climate impacts affect public and private agricultural infrastructure (including the coastal zone), resulting in lost productivity and increased costs for agriculture. The article applies climate change on a global scale in the form of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to determine how the mixtures and emissions of any one entity affect other areas (e.g., individual, community, company or country emissions). Exploring the theoretical and practical premises of climate change as a complex phenomenon, the novelty of this article is that it examines the current framework of the environmental-legal concept, not just the political implications of the legal framework. The research aim of the article lies in two dimensions: the European Union's current climate change policy framework (the climate and energy package, a set of climate change strategies and related policies targeting EU candidate countries); recent environmental operations in Ukraine as an EU candidate country under extraordinary conditions. This article examines recent changes in climate legislation and climate policy in EU member and candidate countries, as well as other highly developed countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and China. Focusing on the impact of the EU Climate and Energy Package (2020 and 2030), this article examines the main implications of EU climate legislation regulating the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and promoting the role of renewable energy in global energy consumption and energy efficiency in general. As a result of this study, this analysis offers multifaceted conclusions based on the interaction of a number of current administrative acts on climate change and environmental policy on a global scale.

The Assessment of Environmental Terrorism in The Context of “Security”: Lesson from Eastern Black Sea Region

20. yüzyılın son çeyreği yerel ve bölgesel ekolojik sorunlarının sınır ötesi etkilerinin küresel bir tehdit olarak kabul edilmeye başlandığı yıllara tekabül etmektedir. Ekolojik sorunların sınır ötesi etkileri yanı sıra karşılıklı bağımlılık, karmaşıklık ve belirsizlik ihtiva etmesi gibi özelliklere sahip olması sebebiyle yerelden küresele uzanan yeni bir güvenlik anlayışını (çevresel güvenlik) zaruri kılmıştır. Kaynak kıtlığı ya da bolluğu durumunun güvenlik ile ilişkilendirilmesinde “çevre” ve “güvenlik” kavramlarını bütünleşik olarak tahlil edilmeden rasyonel çıkarımların yapılaması zordur. Diğer taraftan çevresel terör ve terörizm olguları geçmiş dönemlerde olduğu gibi günümüzde de akademik ve politik alanlarda tartışılan güvenlik konuları arasında değerlendirilmektedir. Bu kapsamda güvenlik çalışmalarının odak noktasını oluşturan terör ve terörizm olgularının çevreye ilişkin boyutlarının kapsamlı olarak değerlendirilmesini mümkün kılan sentez çalışmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu konuda yapılmış çalışmalar çevresel terörizm ve güvenlik konularının kesişim alanlarını aydınlatması bakımından son derece yetersizdir. Pratik açıdan ise çevresel terörizme karşı alınan önlemler yeni bir bakış açısı ile etkin bir politik ve hukuki formulasyonunu gerekli kılmaktadır. Bu kapsamda çalışmanın temel amacı çevresel terörizmin güvenlik açısından izdüşümlerini “Doğu Karadeniz Bölgesi” özelinde incelemektir. Çalışma bu amacı iki farklı aşamada gerçekleştirmektedir. İlk aşamada çevrenin güvenlik ve terörizm olgular ile ilişkisinin düşünsel ve kavramsal olarak aydınlatılması ile gerçekleşmektedir. İkinci aşamada ise çevresel terörizmin güvenlik anlayışı içerisinde nerde ve nasıl konumlandırılacağına ilişkin değerlendirmeler yer almaktadır. Çalışma sonuçları erişilebilmesi kolay ve az maliyetli olan çevresel unsurlarının, etkili ve kalıcı sonuçları oluşturabilen bir araç ya da hedefe dönüşme potansiyeline sahip olması sebebiyle güvenlik anlayışının son aşamada düğümlendiği “insan güvenliği”nden “ekolojik güvenlik”e doğru yeni bir boyut kazandığını ortaya koymaktadır.

A Model between Near-Surface Air Temperature Change and Dynamic Influencing Factors in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Climate change, characterized by global warming, is profoundly affecting the global environment, politics, economy, and social security. Finding the main causes of climate change and determining their quantitative contributions are key points to making climate decisions on responses to climate change. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is sensitive to global climate change. Taking the 100 km buffer zones of 45 meteorological stations in the eastern TP as research objects, we conducted an experimental study on temperature change and its influencing factors. Using the least squares multivariate statistical analysis method, a model between the annual and seasonal standardized temperature change and its dynamic influencing factors in the past 20 years was established. The results showed that, in the eastern TP, temperature change was affected by different factors in different periods. Vegetation cover and snow cover were the most correlated factors to temperature change. The influence of carbon dioxide, vegetation cover, and water cover was subject to seasonal changes. Urban cover and bare land cover did not pass the t-test. This research not only provides a theoretical basis for the analysis of temperature change over the TP, but also points out the direction for the analysis of temperature change causes in three polar regions.

Legal Support of Environmental Safety under the Influence of External Economic Sanctions

The authors of the paper proceed from the premise that environmental problems have long gone beyond national borders and have become an object of not only domestic, but also world politics. Despite the fact that a feature of this policy is the need for ever closer cooperation between states, integrating them into solving environmental problems, improving the mechanism of multilateral management of global environmental security, the United States and the EU countries are pursuing a tough sanctions policy against Russia. The paper examines the impact of economic sanctions on ensuring the environmental security of Russia. It is shown that the next block of problematic areas of the sanctions policy in relation to the country’s environmental security relates directly to the application of effective economic mechanisms for environmental protection and nature management. The authors substantiate specific proposals in the field of legal regulation of ensuring environmental safety in the context of economic sanctions. Among other things, it seems necessary to the authors to rethink the existence and benefits of countless new regulatory legal acts, the practice of adopting dozens of changes in existing environmental laws.

Concept of sustainable development in the system of international environmental law

The essence of the concept of sustainable development and its significance for environmental protection by means of international law are analyzed. For this purpose, foreign and domestic scientific literature is researched, as well as legal documents, which formulate the goals of sustainable development. It is proved, that the concept of sustainable development should be considered in the system of international law in general, and in International Environmental Law in particular. This approach is due to the consequences of the global economic crisis, COVID-19 and Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. Since the maintenance of international order depends on sustainable development, the main goals of sustainable development are listed, the implementation of which guarantees stability in the world, which should be the basis of international law. Implementing the goals of sustainable development, restoring balance in nature and international relations are expected to be provided by individuals, so understanding the essence of global social processes is extremely important, which indicates the relevance of the study. The development trends of such an international organization as the World Trade Organization, which intensified its activities after the Russian invasion of the sovereign territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, are analyzed separately, in particular on issues, such as food security. At the same time, the necessity of using legal, in particular judicial, methods of resolving disputes between WTO members along with diplomatic ones was argued. In general, this work is based on the statement about the importance of implementing the concept of sustainable development to minimize risks, in particular in the field of nuclear safety. It is the priority of stable development of the states that ensure the operation of nuclear power plants that will guarantee global environmental security, which determines the essence of international environmental law, the content and direction of the legal norms that shape it