Elsevier B.V.

This paper re-examines Agenda 21 for lessons to improve SDG implementation and contribute to discussions on the post-2030 sustainable development agenda. The SDGs' roots in Agenda 21 have been almost forgotten, as analyses of the SDGs' creation and structure highlighted “governance through goals” as a core feature and presented SDGs as the MDGs'...

Net primary productivity (NPP) reflects the carbon sequestration capacity of terrestrial ecosystems, serving as a crucial indicator of ecosystem health. Arid and semiarid regions, which are ecologically fragile, respond strongly to climate change and human activities, necessitating adequate NPP monitoring. However, large-scale NPP studies for...

Urban green spaces (UGS) significantly influence the distribution of surface heat and play a crucial role in regulating surface temperature. However, the quantitative relationship between UGS and surface temperature remains unclear, necessitating further research. This study aims to predict surface temperature based on green space information from...

Integration of solar photovoltaics on croplands (“agrivoltaics”) has been promoted as an environmentally-friendly approach for solar energy deployment. Past studies, however, have not considered that these croplands could alternatively be used as sites for expanding agroforestry, a practice which provides important ecosystem services to the...

National monitoring of forests is essential for tracking progress towards various global environmental goals, including those of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. Inconsistent national definitions of “forest”, however, can complicate the tracking of global progress towards achieving these goals. The FAO’s...

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are non-material benefits that are indispensable for the health and well-being of communities. CES are often spatially explicit and fluctuate according to the knowledge, beliefs, and perception of users of the location. Therefore, understanding the spatial patterns of CES perceived by people from different...

There is limited knowledge on the potential impacts of electric vehicle (EV) deployment in developing countries to date. India is a rapidly industrializing country with a national policy to promote EVs, but does not have the waste management infrastructure to process battery waste. Through a model analysis for India, we projected that the sale of...

The response of land surface phenology (LSP) to the urban heat island effect (UHI) is a useful biological indicator for understanding how vegetated ecosystems will be affected by future climate warming. However, vegetation cover in rural areas is often dominated by cultivated land, whose phenological timing is considerably influenced by...

More than 90 systematic reviews have been conducted on the topic of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation (NBS-CCA). These prior reviews, however, are scattered across more than 45 different peer-reviewed journals and gray literature sources, making it difficult to follow all of the knowledge generated and remaining research gaps. In...

Aq’Qala county has been categorized as a high flood-prone area in Iran, and faced many major flood events in last two decades (e.g. in 2001, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2019). The main aim of the current study is to produce and validate flood vulnerability rate (FVR) maps of this area relying on geospatial data. Vulnerability criteria were...