Dependable supplies of clean water, as provided by springs, have attracted human settlements inducing the emergence of local institutions to protect water sources as a common good, often along with surrounding forests or tree cover. Instrumental values of nature as a source of clean water used to be embedded in relational values of sacred forests that implied norms of behavior and sanctions to be feared. The balance between private, communal, and public rights and obligations with regard to clean water access has shifted along with historical development across the world. The mechanistic understanding of springs as part of the full hydrological cycle shifted emphasis from springs as such toward source areas and belowground flows in the wider landscape. Rediscovered relational values of respect for the natural water cycle can synergize with the instrumental values of minimizing negative human impact on water cycles, as part of a bold water action agenda.

Agroecology (AE) has been proposed as a transformative approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation that reduces climate risk while supporting long-term productivity and resilience of food systems by applying ecological and humanistic principles. Agroecology is a holistic systems approach to producing food, which incorporates social, economic, and political dimensions. Agroecological practices include landscape and farm diversification, intercropping, crop and pasture rotation, adding organic amendments, cover crops, and minimizing or avoiding synthetic inputs. Social dimensions of agroecology include co-creation of knowledge with farmers, participatory processes, nonwage labor relations, collective property and management of resources, and addressing social inequities. This paper reviews the recent evidence and potential for agroecology as a transformative approach, both as climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy as well as to meet key societal goals such as healthy ecosystems, food security, and nutrition.

We examine common Indigenous and local knowledge-based adaptive responses to climate change from the sustainability perspective among Indigenous and local communities globally. We draw upon an assessment of 98 peer-reviewed articles to access how local-level responses interact with the broader sustainability dimensions of social, economic, and environmental. We focus on five adaptive responses: 1) community-based adaptation, 2) diversification, 3) local governance and conflict resolution schemes, 4) land, soil, and water management, and 5) traditional weather forecast. Using sustainability framing, we illustrate how these adaptive responses can be both resilient and vulnerable. We argue that long-term successful adaptation to climate change should aim to avoid any increase in, and instead should decrease, vulnerability related to the social (e.g. loss of social bonds and mutual support), economic (e.g. insecure income), and environmental (e.g. soil contamination) dimensions. There is an urgent need to discuss successful adaptation to climate change from a holistic approach that includes long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects.

Small-scale Moored Fish Aggregating Device (MFAD) fisheries in the insular Caribbean are steadily growing, but they are doing so in a relatively unregulated and data-poor context, raising concerns about their long-term socioeconomic and biological sustainability. This study uses a survey of small-scale fisheries practitioners across 21 locations in the wider Caribbean region to identify what they perceive as most important challenges in their MFAD fisheries. Inadequate regulation and enforcement and lack of fishery management plans, coupled with fishing of juveniles, were respectively the most pressing governance and biological challenges identified. High fuel consumption and insufficient reduction of fishing pressure on coastal resources were respectively the most pressing socioeconomic and ecosystem challenges identified, supporting that expected benefits of MFAD fisheries will not be achieved without improved governance and management frameworks. The survey results are further discussed in the context of the current state of knowledge on MFAD fisheries in the region.

Transformative adaptation of cropping systems requires adjustments that are significant in magnitude and sensitive to changes in climate drivers. Crop models are a key tool used to assess the potential of adaptation options and to identify their sensitivity to climate. However, the decision on which options to include in modelling studies is often driven by data availability, rather than an assessment of which options are most likely to be transformative. The ability of agricultural models to assess a wider range of options has improved in recent years, but the application of crop models in assessing adaptation effectiveness remains limited with some of the most effective options underrepresented (e.g. agroforestry or climate services). Here, we call for agricultural modelling studies to include a broader range of adaptation options (inclusive of agronomic, nature-based, technological and financial adjustments) and outline solutions that would allow for better representation of these options within integrated agricultural models.

Simultaneous crop failures in multiple major producing regions (breadbaskets) threaten both local and global food security. Evidence of their frequency and impact has recently become more available. We conducted a systematic literature search and identified 30 articles published between 2019 and 2022. Historically, synchronized crop-production losses have led to a global production deficit of as much as 20% and have often been associated with large-scale sea-surface temperature oscillations. Increasingly strong evidence suggests that the frequency of these impacts will increase with global warming. Simultaneous breadbasket failures increase local and global food prices and undermine food security, particularly in import-dependent low-income regions. Closely monitoring exposure to hazards, vulnerability, and impacts on food availability, access, and utilization in exporters and importers at regional and global levels will help identify vulnerable regions and processes. Seasonal forecasting of yield anomalies based on climate indices can provide a means of early warning.

Theoretical and policy debates on the responses to address violent extremism (VE) have evolved from countering violent extremism concepts, characterized by coercion and over-securitization, to a broader understanding that incorporates prevention and risk reduction on multiple levels. While the preventing violent extremism agenda emphasizes non-coercive methods, such as education, empowerment, and participation, both approaches are also used interchangeably in preventing and countering violent extremism programs. In many regions, including Africa and the Middle East, hard-security approaches are the primary response to VE. This article discusses alternative holistic approaches that link resilience, peacebuilding, and community-based prevention in fragile contexts, enabling local communities to effectively address peace and security threats that will likely persist or reappear over time.

Rising sea levels are projected to affect millions of coastal inhabitants, as climate change is threatening livelihoods all over the world. Those in charge of policy in affected areas will have to weigh the costs and benefits of moving people and communities out of harm's way (retreat) versus accommodating and protecting them in situ (resist). Decision-making solely based on direct material benefits of a location neglects other value types that are crucial to accurately reflect the actual valuation of the land. Relational values arise from the human-nature relationship and have recently been recognized as an important source of valuation for land beyond material benefits. However, since relational values are difficult to determine, incorporating them in the decision-making presents a challenge. Our contention is that the implementation of deliberative and inclusive approaches, such as citizens' assemblies, can serve as an effective means of developing adaptation policies that incorporate relational values.

As is becoming increasingly evident by extreme weather events and disasters triggered or exacerbated by climate change, the coming decade will not only be immensely crucial in terms of climate change mitigation. The extent of loss to lives and assets will also depend to a significant degree on whether or not climate change adaptation can be intensified and expanded to constituencies thus far not engaged in it. To date, tangible progress with climate change adaptation at the municipal scale is mostly limited to metropolises and large cities. The majority of small- and medium-sized municipalities (SMMs) are either stalling at the stage of developing adaptation plans or are not yet engaged in adaptation at all. Not only confronted with the consequences of climate change but also with limited resources and capacities for adaptation, SMMs face structural as well as political obstacles to the coming decade’s imperative of expanding adaptation. This paper takes stock of adaptation in SMMs and reviews known barriers as well as enabling factors across different geographic and thematic areas. The analysis of documented cases highlights a research bias toward organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries and, thematically, on multilevel governance challenges for SMM adaptation. Recent trends as part of a ‘second phase’ of adaptation that extends to SMM are a move from adaptation planning to implementation. In scoping out knowledge gaps requiring further research, the review explores areas of opportunity and mechanisms for supporting and upscaling SMM adaptation efforts in the near future.

Scientists and decision-makers recognise artificial intelligence (AI) as a potential tool to solve sustainability issues. However, AI solutions can be leveraged for different ends and through different means. This paper presupposes that this process is contingent upon overarching environmental security discourses. It reviews how the use of AI as presented in the literature fits into national, international, human and ecological security perspectives [1]. A national climate security discourse could emphasise military uses of AI and its role in propaganda and misinformation. The international security discourse suggests that international organisations can take advantage of AI to conduct their mission. However, transnational companies can also benefit from AI, with potential negative outcomes on consumption and resource extraction. Public–private collaboration for military AI grants transnational companies and states tools to hinder environmental movements. A human security discourse emphasises the role of AI in reaching the sustainable development goals but should consider potential power imbalances to prevent inequalities. Finally, an ecological understanding of climate security emphasises the role of algorithms in shaping our vision of the environment, and how it potentially estranges us from other cosmologies and the environmental impact of AI. This reflection opens avenues to explore the interplay between AI, geopolitics and environmental protection.

‘Collective adaptation’ has recently become a widely used concept in climate change science and advocacy work. Yet, the current engagement with collective adaptation suffers from a few shortcomings: While the debate has been normative for the largest part, a coherent conceptual framing and theoretical engagement have been underdeveloped, hampering the empirical assessment of the extent and patterns of collective adaptation as well as the factors that foster or hinder it. In addition, the majority of emerging empirical assessments are concerned with rather homogenous sociocultural communities, while collective adaptation in heterogeneous settings such as urban melting pots has been far less in the focus — even though the most heterogeneous neighborhoods are often those with the highest vulnerability, least resources and gravest lack of formal adaptation. Sociocultural diversity has the potential to foster resilience through integrating a multitude of perspectives but, at the same time, presents a challenge for trust-building and collaboration. The paper develops and illustrates a heuristic conceptual framework on different types of collective adaptation and their formation as well as mobilization in socioculturally diverse settings. It is meant to help guide future research and inform policy debates in what is a critical decade for climate change adaptation, particularly in an increasingly diverse world.

Space infrastructure is highly interconnected with systems on Earth and is critical for many human activities. The rapidly progressing digitalization of our society, with massive growth of Internet traffic and connected devices, and new applications of artificial intelligence, will further accelerate the development of new space infrastructure and make it even more vital. However, this infrastructure is at risk because of increased congestion. As a byproduct of space activities, space debris causes a collision risk for operational spacecraft. Without intensified action to reduce this risk, future costs related to space debris could become enormous. Properly managing near-Earth orbital space is becoming crucial to enabling new benefits from space and protecting critical infrastructure. Based on a review of the current literature, we argue that market-based instruments could incentivize both space debris mitigation and remediation, and help bypass obstacles to a formal international apportionment of responsibility for the current debris population.

Water governance is facing rapid transformations as cyber-physical systems (CPS) are deployed across water-related sectors and river basins. These CPS — often considered as artificial intelligence-enabled, automated or ‘smart’ technological systems — are promoted for improving monitoring, management and governance of hydrological systems. We review recent applications of CPS, highlighting their diverse functions across the water cycle, including in rural, urban and coastal settings. We then focus on how smart technologies connect to people, policy and ecosystems. Key to our argument is that integrating the social and ecosystem dimensions into CPS research and design will be vital for sustainable transformations in water management and governance, as per a cybernetic approach. This includes consideration of social data requirements, end-user experience, sociopolitical and environmental impacts, as well as acceptability, of CPS.

Some values affected by expected social and environmental impacts of decisions are considered important and are taken into account, others not. These latter, known as ‘decision externalities’, are of two types: unforeseen effects and foreseen impacts beyond the group decision-makers care about. One way to internalize externalities is by altering the financial consequences of impacts expected on those beyond the inner circle of decision-making (the ‘in-group’). Externalities can also be internalized by setting rules (while compensating for opportunities skipped), by co-investment in environmental stewardship, or by accepting moral/ethical accountability as relational rationality, widening the ‘inner circle’ itself. Following up on the hypothesis that instrumental and relational modes of decision-making interface with value types and shape opportunities for internalizing environmental externalities, we reviewed five ways to internalize externalities that coexist across scales, using examples from Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Food systems, which are complex, including everything from production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste, and involve many different groups and institutions, are under increasing pressure to adapt to climate change. Maladaptation, which has been increasingly observed and documented in the scientific literature, is defined as an action that 1) generates or increases climate risk, 2) exacerbates vulnerability, 3) erodes sustainable development, or 4) contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Maladaptive actions can occur to those implementing the action, or transfer negative effects on those not considered by the actual intervention, including at the global scale. In this paper, I review the current literature on maladaptation in food systems, provide examples from the literature of different types of maladaptive outcomes in food systems, and the literature on how to prevent maladaptation.

Environmental sustainability and inclusive engagement have had numerous interpretations over the past decades, with small island states being at the forefront of seeking and applying multiple approaches. This short review selects key peer-reviewed papers from 2020 to mid-2022 on the topic of inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability in small island states. It particularly focuses on and presents different approaches to and representations of inclusive engagement, environmental sustainability and their intersection. Much is obscured through complicated jargon and processes, in terms of knowledge systems valued, wordings expressed and underlying assumptions. Nonetheless, many of the papers selected provide important and beneficial contributions to support depth in and action for key aspects that have not always been fully recognised or applied in science or in practice.

Agroforests exist in many forms, for example, across Indonesia, but are largely absent from policy documents. Development planners have long seen them as backward, but agroforests, or domesticated forests, with high (agro) biodiversity, reconcile instrumental (goal-oriented) and relational (harmony-oriented) values of nature for various stakeholders. Agroforests combine farmer-managed, remnant, and tolerated spontaneously established trees; they blend market demands and local needs in labor-efficient, nature-based land use. Could explicit recognition of agroforests, interfacing with these values, help achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework? In the local cultural context, men and women may express appreciation for agroforest structure and function differently. The scarcity of the remaining natural forests increases agroforests’ role as diverse reservoirs. Agroforests are under threat of publicly subsidized conversion to monoculture tree crop plantations, exposing farmers to economic and ecological risk. Reimagining biodiversity conservation solutions where agroforests remain part of the landscape is an opportunity not to be missed.

The potential for operations research (OR) with farmer-supplied data coupled with machine learning (ML) to improve crop management is explored through a series of case studies from developing countries. The information provided by the farmers ranged from solely yield to a description of the management of the crop and some details of the growth environment. The climate or weather conditions of the georeferenced farms were estimated from publicly available databases. Two principal analytical approaches were used. The first benchmarks crop performance against farmers' practices and the second establishes relatively homogenous environmental conditions (HECs) in which the variation in crop response is due to variation in management practices and not to spatiotemporal variation in biophysical factors. Both approaches depend on large amounts of data that can only realistically be obtained from records of on-farm experiences using an OR focus. ML effectively defined HECs for crops with limited prior knowledge on the biophysical factors that influence crop response. The definition of HECs facilitated the identification of either individual farmers who managed their crops well within individual HECs or combinations of management practices well suited to the specific spatiotemporal environmental conditions. This opens the way for farmers to learn better agricultural practices from others in the same HEC. Variation in yield and fertilizer response was associated with variation in the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns up to 24 months before the harvest: this offers the opportunity for farmers to minimize risk, based on ENSO predictions, even when they have no information on how ENSO influences their weather patterns. Despite concerns about the quality of farmer data, the consistency of the analyses suggests that even relatively crude production data from individual farms analyzed with ML can provide useful guidelines for crop management. Limited variation in management on farmers’ fields may limit the ability to identify optimal practices, however, this constraint can be partially obviated by superimposing varied management practices on farmers’ fields. The use of OR combined with ML complements, rather than replaces, traditional research methodologies. Furthermore, the approach must be used carefully with emphasis on the dangers of extrapolation to circumstances that are not encompassed by the original datasets.

The concept of the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) Nexus, also known as the Triple Nexus, developed in response to 21st century realities of climate change, protracted displacement, and the challenge of sustainable development in conflict environments. The HDP Nexus signals a change in the way international assistance is planned and funded, highlighting the need for simultaneously addressing humanitarian assistance, development, and activities that promote peace rather than addressing and conducting them separately or in an iterative fashion. This article is an overview of current thinking on the HDP Nexus and draws attention to its applicability in humanitarian projects occurring in ecologically fragile settings. Since so many humanitarian projects occur in environmentally sensitive areas, many of which are suffering the effects of climate change, addressing natural resources and their protection is a necessary part of the HDP Nexus.

The current magnitude of ocean extreme events already exceeds the end-of-the-decade scenario estimates, and therefore incremental adaptation measures will render insufficient for seafood-dependent livelihoods. Nevertheless, transformational change is deemed promising, but uncertainties remain as to what activates such processes and how maladaptation outcomes can be avoided. While the science on extreme events is advancing fast, little is known about livelihood adaptation and transformation processes in the context of single or compound ocean extreme events. We identify a set of research priorities: 1) the identification of hotspot areas for coastal compound extreme events, 2) the development of bottom-up case study analysis of adaptation to extreme events, 3) the identification of constrainers and enablers to livelihood adaptation and transformation under abrupt change, and 4) directing research to contribute to climate-change policy. An effort addressing these key gaps will inform seafood-dependent livelihood adaptation policies for the 2030 Agenda and beyond.