Peer-reviewed publications

Terrestrial ecosystems could contribute to climate mitigation through nature-based climate solutions (NbCS), which aim to reduce ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase ecosystem carbon storage. Forests have the largest potential for NbCS, aligned with broader sustainability benefits, but—unfortunately—a broad body of literature has revealed widespread problems in forest NbCS projects and protocols that undermine the climate mitigation of forest carbon credits and hamper efforts to reach global net zero. Therefore, there is a need to bring better science and policy to improve NbCS climate mitigation outcomes going forward. Here we synthesize challenges to crediting forest NbCS and offer guidance and key next steps to make improvements in the implementation of these strategies immediately and in the near-term. We structure our Perspective around four key components of rigorous forest NbCS, illuminating key science and policy considerations and providing solutions to improve rigour. Finally, we outline a ‘contribution approach’ to support rigorous forest NbCS that is an alternative funding mechanism that disallows compensation or offsetting claims.

Implementing ecological connectivity conservation in large landscapes requires cutting-edge science combined with consideration of ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that collectively shape the outcomes of conservation efforts. We outline a theory of change (ToC) for connectivity conservation to improve the ecological condition of landscapes and biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which humans depend. We review connectivity conservation efforts on four continents in large landscapes that span gradients of latitude, fragmentation, biodiversity value, socioeconomic characteristics, and the richness of data used to assess connectivity and target action. We share the substantial but variable progress made in each landscape and outline specific challenges to achieving conservation goals. Opportunities and challenges in public and private sectors can further leverage the potential of large-scale connectivity conservation to reduce isolation and improve gene flow in functional landscapes worldwide.

Pandemics pose a global threat to human wellbeing, justice, economies, and ecosystems and are comparable with other planetary crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss in terms of urgency and impact. The global community would benefit from a dedicated scientific synthesis body to assess pandemic risks and solutions. In this Personal View, we explore proposals for an Intergovernmental Panel on Pandemics and assess potential pathways to its creation. Learning lessons from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) might help national governments and international organisations to chart a course through important decisions about format, governance, operations, scientific scope and process, and ability to recommend policies that make the world safer.

This article reviews a wide range of models that integrate ecological and economic systems, presenting Earth-Economy (EE) modeling as a general approach for sustainable management in these contexts. EE models combine global, general equilibrium economic models with high-resolution Earth system models and include two-way linkages between Earth systems and the economy, enabling data-focused decision support for sustainability. We conduct a systematic review of models related to this domain, create a typology of relevant models, and discuss the interconnections between them. We include a detailed definition of EE modeling and discuss how the relevant models can be integrated and extended to improve the comprehensiveness with which we model sustainability. This review shows both the importance of and associated challenges, but also the high demand, for this type of model.

Large areas of forest are allocated to commercial logging concessions, some of which are eco-certified. Theoretically, both holding concessions' rights to log and being eco-certified can increase or decrease forest loss. Impact estimates are sparse and unsurprisingly mixed for these interventions (that aim to affect forest outcomes, if not always for conservation). We ask if adding different forest sensors, forest outcomes, and variations in forest contexts sheds new light upon the forest impacts of uncertified concessions and eco-certifications. Using new global data, which include forest degradation, we estimate the forest impacts of these interventions within the Peruvian Amazon, disaggregating across timber regions to allow for heterogeneity in impacts across distinct contexts. Our results confirm that, when averaging across the regions, uncertified logging concessions do not increase deforestation (relative to unintervened forest), consistent with previous findings. Yet, separating regions adds insight for policy and external validity: uncertified concessions yield larger reductions in deforestation rates within the more highly pressured of these three core logging regions. Degradation data provide further insights: uncertified concessions did not shift transitions from forest to degraded status, yet reduced transitions from degraded status to deforested. Eco-certifications did not reduce deforestation or degradation across contexts or outcomes.

None provided

This Perspective describes the various dimensions of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) durability and interprets them in the context of current policy making. Durability – together with scalability and sustainability – is an essential condition of CDR. It depends on (i) the duration of CO2 storage and (ii) the risk of reversing such storage. The risk profile of durability varies widely across CDR methods. Because engineered, novel CDR methods involve more stable forms of CO2 storage than nature-based CDR, these methods are often promoted as a priority for CDR mitigation investments. However, shorter-term CDR plays an essential role in balancing sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century. Decision makers must also consider CDR policies in a larger context that takes into account readiness and feasibility, policy alignment and co-benefits of different CDR methods. They must also address durability in CDR policies and contracts, which tend to span much shorter timeframes than those contemplated by science when discussing durability. We argue that nature-based conventional CDR and novel engineered CDR that show complementary timing and risk profiles can be deployed in synergistic CDR portfoliosto balance the conditions of durability, feasibility and social and environmental sustainability.

In recognition of the importance of inland waters, numerous datasets mapping their extents, types, or changes have been created using sources ranging from historical wetland maps to real-time satellite remote sensing. However, differences in definitions and methods have led to spatial and typological inconsistencies among individual data sources, confounding their complementary use and integration. The Global Lakes and Wetlands Database (GLWD), published in 2004, with its globally seamless depiction of 12 major vegetated and non-vegetated wetland classes at 1 km grid cell resolution, has emerged over the last few decades as a foundational reference map that has advanced research and conservation planning addressing freshwater biodiversity, ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions, land surface processes, hydrology, and human health. Here, we present a new iteration of this map, termed GLWD version 2, generated by harmonizing the latest ground- and satellite-based data products into one single database. Following the same design principle as its predecessor, GLWD v2 aims to avoid double counting of overlapping surface water features while differentiating between natural and non-natural lakes, rivers of multiple sizes, and several other wetland types. The classification of GLWD v2 incorporates information on seasonality (i.e., permanent vs. intermittent vs. ephemeral); inundation vs. saturation (i.e., flooding vs. waterlogged soils), vegetation cover (e.g., forested swamps vs. non-forested marshes), salinity (e.g., salt pans), natural vs. non-natural origins (e.g., rice paddies), and stratification of landscape position and water source (e.g., riverine, lacustrine, palustrine, coastal/marine). GLWD v2 represents 33 wetland classes and – including all intermittent classes – depicts a maximum of 18.2 ×106 km2 of wetlands (13.4 % of the global land area excluding Antarctica). The spatial extent of each class is provided as the fractional coverage within each grid cell at a resolution of 15 arcsec (approximately 500 m at the Equator), with cell fractions derived from input data at resolutions as small as 10 m. The upgraded GLWD v2 offers an improved representation of inland surface water extents and their classification for contemporary conditions (∼ 1984–2020). Despite being a static map, it includes classes that denote intrinsic temporal dynamics. GLWD v2 is designed to facilitate large-scale hydrological, ecological, biogeochemical, and conservation applications, aiming to support the study and protection of wetland ecosystems around the world. The GLWD v2 database is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28519994 (Lehner et al., 2025).

Traditional approaches to maritime security focus on state and economic perspectives. We suggest that a more holistic approach to maritime security is needed that encompasses state, economic, human and environmental security to make maritime security more equitable, sustainable and responsive to contemporary social and environmental challenges. Adopting a normative human and eco-centric approach to maritime security, which revolves around the needs of coastal communities and the imperative of ocean sustainability, can be guided by four principles: participation and pluralism, autonomy and agency, equity and justice, and coherence and coordination.

The billfish industry in the Western Indian Ocean is multi-sectoral, involving artisanal, commercial and recreational sectors, exploiting billfish for food, income, sports and cultural values. However, billfish catches in the region have been declining with a number of species considered overexploited. To address gaps in sustainable billfish fisheries management, and maximize socioeconomic benefits, we explained the flow of billfish artisanal supply chain in Kenya using a mixed methods approach comprising qualitative and quantitative data. Our aim was to understand the profile of the key players, the supply chain, strengths, challenges and opportunities. Our findings revealed that the socio-demographics of actors varied by age, gender and level of formal education. Whereas different value addition processes were recorded, billfish unit prices were influenced by the type of actors, seasonality and place. Additionally, limited capital, inadequate storage facilities, vessel and fishing equipment were major constraints. These constraints could be tackled through interventions such as financing and provision of advanced infrastructure to improve the supply chain and support livelihoods. Results from this study contribute to our understanding of billfish artisanal fisheries and provide critical insights on the supply chain that are beneficial in achieving equitable and sustainable billfish fisheries in line with national and regional conservation and fisheries management plans.