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Earth & Environment
Environmental Policy
This curated collection brings together policy perspectives and policy-relevant research from across PLOS’ environmental journals: PLOS Climate, PLOS Sustainability & Transformation, and PLOS Water. This diverse collection spans a wide range of environmental topics, and shines a light on research findings of special relevance to policy-making, the impact of specific policy interventions, opportunities for innovation in policy design, and the need for further targeted research to inform evidence-based decision-making processes.
Image Credit: Silas Baisch by Unsplash
PLOS Climate
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Image creditPile of Folders by Pixabay, Pixabay License
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PLOS Climate Urban climate-health governance: Charting the role of public health in large global city adaptation plans
Over the last decade many large world cities have scaled up efforts at climate adaptation, a primary focus of which is protecting…
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PLOS Climate Understanding perceptions of climate vulnerability to inform more effective adaptation in coastal communities
Coastal social-ecological systems are vulnerable to climate change with impacts distributed unequally amongst human communities.…
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Image creditHorse on Field by Pixabay, Pixabay License
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PLOS Climate Leaders or laggards in climate action? Assessing GHG trends and mitigation targets of global megacities
Urban areas account for between 71% and 76% of CO2 emissions from global final energy use and between 67–76% of global energy use. The…
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Image creditAgriculture Atmosphere Biology by Pixabay, Pixabay License
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PLOS Climate Emission reduction targets and outcomes of the Clean Development Mechanism (2005–2020)
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows developing countries to earn carbon credit units by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here…
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PLOS Climate Capitalizing on the global financial interest in blue carbon
Natural climate solutions are crucial interventions to help countries and companies achieve their net-zero carbon emissions ambitions.…
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Image creditSilhouette of Trees by Pixabay, Pixabay License
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PLOS Climate Identifying priority areas to manage mobile bottom fishing on seabed carbon in the UK
Mobile bottom fishing using trawls and dredges may cause significant reductions in seabed sediment organic carbon stores, limiting the…
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PLOS Climate Have renewable energy leaders announced aggressive emission reduction goals? Examining variations in the stringency of country-level net-zero emission pledges
The 2015 Paris Agreement outlined the goal to limit temperature increases below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C. In response, several countries…
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Four economic principles of just sustainability transition
Equitable income distribution is desirable for moral, economic, and social reasons. Recent studies, however, indicate that improved income…
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Prioritizing sustainable use in the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Actions needed to achieve ambitious objectives of net gains in natural ecosystem area by 2030 and beyond
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Setting ambitious international restoration objectives for terrestrial ecosystems for 2030 and beyond
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Realizing UN decade on ecosystem restoration through a nature-based approach: A case review of management of biological invasions in protected areas
As the influx of different invasive species and their spread to new areas increases, there is a need for a rigorous and relevant…
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Investment needs to achieve SDGs: An overview
Estimating the investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is key to mobilising the financial resources to…
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Reconceptualizing conservation
Early definitions of conservation focused largely on the end goals of protection or restoration of nature, and the various disciplinary…
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PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Lost in translation: Challenges in creating new transformative innovation policy practices
The purpose of this paper is to identify key challenges that national policymakers face in trying to translate transformative innovation…
PLOS Water
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Image creditFlag of different countries UN members by Mathias Reding, Pixabay License
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PLOS Water The water industry and the decarbonisation of cities: A comprehensive review in the context of Cop26
The urban water industry is a very energy intensive industry. Higher water quality standards are driving a level of energy growth that is…
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PLOS Water Barriers to water infrastructure investment: Findings from a survey of U.S. local elected officials
Investment in U.S. drinking water infrastructure is not keeping pace with need, contributing to water service failures that threaten…
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PLOS Water Cultivating effective utility-regulator relationships around innovation: Lessons from four case studies in the U.S. municipal wastewater sector
Regulation is critical for protecting public and environmental health but is often perceived as a barrier to innovation in the U.S.…
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PLOS Water Water remains a blind spot in climate change policies
For the first time in the latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water has been the focus of…