Environmental Science & Policy最新文献

{"title":"Pragmatic muddling as an enabler for coastal adaptation? Implementation of seawalls as protection against sea-level rise in Aceh, Indonesia","authors":"Leslie Mabon,&nbsp;David McGovern,&nbsp;Ella Meilianda,&nbsp;Dedy Alfian,&nbsp;Niki Soleimani Amiri","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is growing scholarly interest in pragmatic approaches to local-level implementation of climate change adaptation. However, hard coastal protection arguably requires a coordinated approach across time and space, and a high level of technical knowledge. Our objective is therefore to assess the extent to which pragmatic approaches can enable effective local adaptation to sea-level rise through hard coastal protection, with a specific focus on seawalls. We use the analytical framework of pragmatic muddling to evaluate how local government officials in Aceh, Indonesia realise the construction of seawalls within a complex governance landscape, drawing on data collected from interview and site visit methods. Our principal findings are that local officials in Aceh do indeed draw on aspects of pragmatic muddling to support seawall implementation, especially by framing projects differently to draw down multiple funding sources; but that the scale and complexity of coastal change can exceed the level of protection that can be realised through local-level pragmatic approaches. The key implications of our findings are: reduce complexity in adaptation governance through better coordination mechanisms, so that local officials can use their context-specific knowledge within a wider programme of interventions; support the development, resourcing and retention of capable personnel at local levels of government who know what the challenges are and what needs to be done; and strengthen mechanisms for systematic evaluation of interventions, including those undertaken on a piecemeal or pragmatic basis, to create a pathway from pragmatic muddling to more transformative adaptation outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 104529"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149363622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating the shift from waste management to circular economy and bioeconomy, between confrontation, arrangement and territorialization","authors":"Clarisse Cazals,&nbsp;Sylvain Le Berre","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the early 2010s, both the OECD and the European Commission have prioritized the circular and bioeconomies in their transition agendas. This special issue examines the concrete changes taking place and, in particular, how this transition agenda is transforming socio-economic models. The articles offer a multidisciplinary analysis of strategies and arrangements between different stakeholders, the socio-political and socio-economic construction of challenges and compromises, and the scope for choice within the specific institutional contexts of change. This introductory article begins by situating our perspective within institutionalist approaches to the diversity of forms and the transformation of capitalism. This allows us to present our own interpretation in terms of socio-economic models and trajectories. The third section focuses on the undeniable emergence of hybrid models through the reconfiguration of territorial governance models and situated socio-technical trajectories. Section four shows how linear models adapt to, and resist, the changes in practice required by the bioeconomy and the circular economy. Section five focuses on the restructuring of waste geography and the resulting new environmental inequalities, while section six explores the resurgence of social and solidarity economy models. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of a research programme that addresses the need to review public policies at a systemic level, and to grasp the profound upheavals in the international geography of waste, as well as the growing economic, political, and environmental disparities engendered by this global phenomenon.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 104519"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149363620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Local and Indigenous knowledge and scientific evidence: The importance of navigating between assimilation, squeezing out, and isolation","authors":"Johannes Persson,&nbsp;Anna Kvist","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104533","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104533","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>How can the relationship between science, local knowledge, and Indigenous knowledge be understood in ways that support well-informed decision-making, both now and in the future? This paper addresses this question by comparing contemporary and historical discussions of knowledge exchange between science, local knowledge, and Indigenous knowledge with evolving conceptions of local and Indigenous knowledge systems. We examine the implications and tensions arising from different understandings of these systems, focusing on the risks of assimilation, squeezing out, and isolation. We argue that, because science fundamentally involves personal experience and practical skills—qualities often associated with local and Indigenous knowledge—a strict separation between these forms of knowledge is neither viable nor productive. To illustrate these dynamics, we analyze selected cases, including the introduction of real-time GPS collars in reindeer husbandry. Drawing on the problem-feeding model, these examples demonstrate that meaningful knowledge exchange and communication between knowledge systems rarely occur without deliberate effort. Finally, we contend that some interpretations of local and Indigenous knowledge, particularly those inspired by Berkes, may impede knowledge exchange and contribute to isolation or exclusion. Such outcomes are problematic both for informed decision-making and for the long-term development of knowledge systems, regardless of whether they are local, Indigenous, or scientific.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 104533"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149363623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reparative soil science: Soil, colonialism, and environmental justice between scientific knowledge and local cultures","authors":"Gian Franco Capra,&nbsp;Thiago Assis Rodrigues Nogueira,&nbsp;Cassio Hamilton Abreu–Junior,&nbsp;Arun Dilipkumar Jani,&nbsp;Eleonora Grilli,&nbsp;Antonio Ganga","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil is a repository for historical accounts of power, dispossession, and cultural continuity. This paper proposes the development of “reparative soil science,” a new paradigm that combines soil remediation with theories of environmental justice, decolonization, and multi-knowledge systems. We define it as an orientation within soil science that treats the discipline’s own concepts, classifications, and survey conventions as historical products, and that couples the biophysical repair of degraded soils with repair of the rights, relations, and forms of knowledge that colonial land regimes displaced. By analyzing examples from around the world, the paper shows how colonialism and postcolonial land governance have resulted in the devaluation of local epistemologies and the transformation of socioecological systems. Results indicate that successful integration of scientific and Indigenous knowledge requires mutual legitimacy, long-term trust-building, and equitable sharing of decision-making authority and benefits. It is argued that reparative soil science should extend beyond the purely technical rehabilitation of degraded soils to challenge existing structural inequalities and help restore cultural and ecological relationships between humans and the land. Soil is our entry point, but the same reasoning extends to land, territory, and natural resources more broadly. The perspective positions soil science within global agreements such as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Land Degradation Neutrality, and argues for a pluralistic, participatory, and politically aware practice serving both ecological resilience and social repair.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 104536"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149363621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From least cost to more just: Exploring the ability of optimisation models to represent energy justice considerations in low-carbon transitions","authors":"Erik Laes,&nbsp;Léa Tatry,&nbsp;Aarthi Meenakshi Sundaram,&nbsp;Yilin Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104514","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104514","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy system optimisation models increasingly inform low-carbon energy transition strategies, but conventional least-cost, central-planner formulations raise questions about who bears transition costs, whose perspectives shape scenarios, or which actors remain poorly represented. This paper examines how distributive, procedural and recognition justice enter – or fail to enter – TIMES-based modelling; what enables or constrains their treatment; and how pathway analysis could become more justice-responsive. We conduct a theory-sensitising single-case study at VITO (Belgium) covering two models, TIMES-Be and TIB3R. As the TIMES framework is widely used for whole energy system planning, this policy-facing case exposes broader tensions between aggregate system efficiency and plural justice claims. Eight semi-structured interviews with experienced modellers were analysed using a hybrid deductive–inductive thematic approach. Findings indicate that justice rarely served as an explicit organising principle. Instead, it entered tacitly and unevenly through scenario framing, discounting, constraints, stakeholder engagement and post-processing. Aggregate affordability and acceptability were emphasised over analysis of differentiated costs and spatial burdens; industry actors had greater influence than households or the public; and heterogeneous household capacities and motivations so far remained weakly represented. These patterns arose from interactions among TIMES architecture, organisational conditions and modeller agency. Conceptually, the study relocates justice from a possible model add-on to a concern spanning the modelling lifecycle. For practice, it supports treating least cost as a reference rather than as a definition of fairness, combining TIMES with near-optimal, multi-criteria, behavioural, spatial and financial analyses, and strengthening participation and responsible transparency. Although not representative of the TIMES community, the case identifies testable propositions for comparative research across organisations and modelling traditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 104514"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149349477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Institutional betrayal in climate action: Youth experiences and future pathways","authors":"Grace Nosek,&nbsp;Laura Tozer,&nbsp;John Pierre Craig,&nbsp;Michael Classens,&nbsp;Aden Fisher,&nbsp;Ibtesaam Mohamed Afroz Moosa,&nbsp;Erum Naqvi,&nbsp;Zoha Sojoudi,&nbsp;Ayesha Ali,&nbsp;Imara Ajani Rolston,&nbsp;Eve Tuck","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104497","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104497","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a growing gap between youth and institutions on climate change, evidenced by the significant number of young people around the world who report feeling deeply betrayed by institutional inaction on climate. Young people disproportionately bear the mental and physical consequences of a warming world. They are also disproportionately on the frontlines of pushing for the transformational social, political, and economic change necessary to mitigate the most catastrophic climate harms. Thus, there are compelling moral and practical reasons for centering young people in institutional climate action. Drawing from community-engaged research projects with 93 youth, we use thematic analysis to add rich new qualitative insights into how youth are experiencing institutional betrayal around climate change and how, in turn, that impacts their engagement with institutional climate decision-making. We show that youth feelings of institutional betrayal are broader than previously documented—both in the number and engagement level of youth who feel betrayed and in the range of institutions that provoke feelings of betrayal and skepticism. We argue that this betrayal is driven in part by a gap in language and visions of climate action between youth and institutions. Youth perceive a profound disconnect between their expansive vision for climate justice and institutions’ narrow, technical, and often profit-driven responses, which they see as centering already-privileged publics. We offer strategies institutions might adopt to avoid deepening mistrust and instead build authentic partnerships with young people, particularly through a focus on local, tangible, climate action framed by deep commitment to systemic change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 104497"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149142095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating socioeconomic considerations into the air quality standard revisions: Evidence from policy review and meta-analysis","authors":"Jianxun Yang,&nbsp;Yifan Chen,&nbsp;Zhan Zhao,&nbsp;Miaomiao Liu,&nbsp;Wen Fang,&nbsp;Zongwei Ma,&nbsp;Jun Bi","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104506","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Air quality standards continue to tighten globally, yet their revision is shaped not only by scientific evidence but also by economic capacity and institutional readiness. This study integrates an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) assessment, cross-national policy review, and a meta-analysis of 57 empirical studies to evaluate how socioeconomic factors influence PM_2.5 standard-setting and pollution control outcomes. We find that most economies begin strengthening standards once per capita GDP exceeds USD 20,000, suggesting a transition from growth-driven pollution to regulation-driven improvement. Case comparisons suggest that revising PM_2.5 standards is a multi-dimensional decision that balances public-health benefits with compliance cost, industrial restructuring needs, employment concerns, and global competitiveness. Economies with well-developed institutions handle these trade-offs more effectively, maintaining policy continuity and demonstrating higher regulatory resilience. Meta-analysis further shows that air pollution policies generally increase GDP, whereas the evidence on employment is mixed, with negative estimates being more prevalent. Market-based instruments are more likely to deliver simultaneous economic and labor benefits. These findings together highlight the need for embedding socioeconomic evaluation within standard-setting, particularly in developing countries where regulation must accompany industrial restructuring and institutional capacity building. The study offers evidence-based insights for designing cleaner-air pathways that are economically viable and socially adaptive.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 104506"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149142096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate justice and environmental racism: Emissions, impacts, and global inequality","authors":"Antonín Hořčica,&nbsp;Eva Cudlínová","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global climate change reflects inequality between historical emissions responsibility and climate impact, raising questions about climate justice and global environmental racism, which is characterised by unequal exposure of vulnerable populations to environmental risks. No systematic classification framework capturing historical emissions responsibility, climate impacts, and development capacity exists. This study addresses this gap by proposing and validating a 3 × 2 emissions–impacts classification of 172 countries to identify the country groups facing the greatest mismatch between responsibility and vulnerability, test links to lower human development, and derive implications for global climate governance. Historical responsibility is measured by cumulative CO₂ emissions (1750–2023) grouped A/B/C by the modified Pareto rule 80–15–5, while impacts are measured by the Global Climate Risk Index (GCRI, 1993–2022) and divided binarily into high and low using a value-weighted 80/20 threshold. The Human Development Index (HDI, 2023) serves as an interpretative indicator of adaptive capacity. Results confirm a persistent asymmetry: 55 C-High countries with minimal responsibility and highest impacts show the lowest HDI scores, while 7 largest-emitters (A-Low group) and 22 medium-emitters (B-Low group) combine higher historical responsibility with low impacts. HDI differences are significant (C-High vs. A+B: p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.526), and the model is stable across seven threshold specifications. The findings support targeting Loss and Damage Fund resources at disadvantaged countries, directing mitigation obligations towards high-responsibility economies, and moving climate policy beyond the growth paradigm towards postgrowth alternatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 104501"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149142094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Limits and barriers to climate adaptation among Indigenous women: Insights from Vedda communities in Sri Lanka","authors":"Hannah E. Garbutt,&nbsp;Eranga K. Galappaththi,&nbsp;Sithuni M. Jayasekara,&nbsp;Shannon Elizabeth Bell,&nbsp;Thomas W. Crawford","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104478","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104478","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous communities, yet the gendered dimensions of these impacts, including the ways Indigenous women experience and respond, remain underexplored. This study examines how Indigenous Vedda women in Sri Lanka experience climate change, the strategies they employ in response, and the limits and barriers that constrain their adaptive capacity. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and field journaling conducted across four Vedda communities, the study adopts an intersectional and community-engaged approach to center women’s lived experiences. Findings reveal that Vedda women experience climate change primarily through declining agricultural productivity, food insecurity, water scarcity, and emerging health challenges, driven by drought, precipitation variability, and extreme heat. In response, women employ strategies spanning coping (e.g. manually watering plants), adaptive (e.g. collective resource-sharing), and transformative actions (e.g. increased reliance on daily wage jobs and Western medicine). Yet, these responses are often constrained by intersecting financial, institutional, and social/cultural barriers. Limited access to income, inadequate government support, gendered restrictions on mobility, and unequal access to Indigenous knowledge systems restrict women’s ability to move beyond short-term coping strategies. The study further identifies emerging limits to adaptation, where environmental change and structural inequalities together undermine the viability of traditional livelihood practices and knowledge systems. By foregrounding Indigenous women’s perspectives, this research advances an understanding of how intersecting social and ecological factors shape adaptation. Findings highlight the need for climate adaptation policies that are gender-responsive, context-specific, and grounded in Indigenous knowledge, while addressing structural inequalities that constrain adaptive capacity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 104478"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148952370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reflecting on the politics and power dynamics of contested climate technologies","authors":"Livia Fritz,&nbsp;Lucilla Losi,&nbsp;Chad M. Baum,&nbsp;Sean Low,&nbsp;Benjamin K. Sovacool","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104448","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104448","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"182 ","pages":"Article 104448"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148636914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}