Environmental Science & Policy最新文献

{"title":"The afterlife of a ghost-written paper: How corporate authorship shaped two decades of glyphosate safety discourse","authors":"Alexander A. Kaurov ,&nbsp;Naomi Oreskes","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104160","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104160","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporate ghost-writing is a form of scientific fraud: a paper is falsely presented as the work of people other than its actual authors. When such papers circulate, they undermine the integrity of scientific research and policy decisions based wholly or in part on that research. This paper examines the impact of a single ghost-written study, Williams, Kroes, and Munro (2000) (WKM2000), published in <em>Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology</em>. The paper was crafted by Monsanto to support claims of the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Despite revelations of its ghostwritten nature in the Monsanto Papers, the paper has not been retracted and continues to be cited. Using a case study approach, we trace the impact of WKM2000 across three domains. We find that WKM2000 has exerted considerable influence over two decades, shaping public understanding, scientific discourse, and policy decisions. WKM2000 has been frequently cited on Wikipedia to support the safety of glyphosate; attempts to contextualize its ghostwritten origins have been repeatedly reversed or removed, illustrating how corporate-sponsored science infiltrates public knowledge platforms. An analysis of policy and governance documents citing WKM2000 revealed that the vast majority referenced it uncritically. In academic literature, WKM2000 is in the top 0.1 % by citation count among papers discussing glyphosate, indicating broad uptake, with minimal acknowledgment of conflict of interest. Our findings underscore the need for stricter journal policies to screen and retract ghostwritten papers, in order to safeguard science integrity, as well as public health and safety.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104160"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144656583","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":"What’s the concern about persistent chemicals? Insights from a Delphi study","authors":"Karen Thiele ,&nbsp;Hilde Tobi ,&nbsp;Silke Gabbert","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104109","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104109","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Persistent chemicals are in the focus of regulators owing to their potential for long-term impacts on the environment and on human health. Since these impacts are difficult to predict and empirical data on their risks and effects is scarce, expert knowledge is a source of information that can facilitate a prioritisation of persistent chemicals for regulatory action. This Delphi study explored experts’ opinions on what kind of information is considered to be relevant to specify the concern associated with persistent chemicals. In addition, we asked experts to rate the importance of different factors of persistent chemicals to characterise the concern. Results show that experts considered a wide range of factors important, with factors related to the temporal and spatial scale of pollution as well as related to the severity of potential impacts receiving the highest ratings. The agreement among experts was relatively low, which may partly result from their different professional backgrounds, including different affiliations and geographic regions. When asked about recently emerging topics in the risk management of persistent chemicals, the majority of participants considered PMT chemicals to be of equal concern as PBT/vPvB chemicals. Also, they supported that ‘extreme persistence’ needs to be distinguished from the current regulatory definitions of ‘persistent’ and ‘very persistent’. Overall, the results of this Delphi study imply that for the effective risk management of persistent chemicals regulators should base their decisions on a broader range of information than exclusively focussing on a limited set of hazard criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104109"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633155","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":"Social vulnerability in regional climate adaptation planning in Europe – Conceptions, operationalisations and shared challenges","authors":"Mette Juhl Jessen ,&nbsp;Christian Fertner ,&nbsp;Ole Fryd","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104161","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104161","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Attention to social vulnerability in relation to climate change has grown, but its incorporation into adaptation planning practice remains underexplored. This study examines how social vulnerability is conceptualised and operationalised in regional climate adaptation planning across 12 European regions, and analyses interregional challenges to inform a socially just transition. Empirically, the study gathers data from stakeholders across 12 European regions, within partner institutions involved in the EU Horizon project Regions4Climate. The study follows a three-phase approach: (1) a written survey (2) 12 semi-structured focus group interviews with stakeholders (planners, government officials, researchers and consultants), and (3) a thematic analysis. This study articulates the perspectives of planners, government officials, researchers and consultants from within planning processes, to bridge the gap between index-oriented theoretical contributions and the planning practices. Findings show that while social vulnerability is gaining attention, it remains a novel and ambiguous concept in the climate adaptation planning process, with varying definitions, foci and indicators employed. There are tendencies to disassociate climate adaptation planning and social vulnerability concerns and limited formalised approaches to identification and involvement of socially vulnerable groups. Shared challenges related to involvement in regional climate adaptation processes generally, and of socially vulnerable groups specifically, are found across the regions. Key questions to advance social vulnerability considerations in regional climate adaptation planning are formulated. These address: Contextual understandings; explicit articulation of social vulnerability concerns; representation in plans and planning processes; structures and resources; cross-sectoral collaboration; and mediation of involvement in abstract, long-term and large-scale regional climate adaptation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104161"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144632476","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":"Interdisciplinary solutions to enable nature-based solutions for coastal protection achieve ecological and engineering outcomes","authors":"Alice J. Twomey ,&nbsp;Katherine Erickson ,&nbsp;Melanie J. Bishop ,&nbsp;Kris Boody ,&nbsp;David P. Callaghan ,&nbsp;Toni Cannard ,&nbsp;Catherine E. Lovelock ,&nbsp;Mariana Mayer-Pinto ,&nbsp;Rebecca L. Morris ,&nbsp;Andrew W.M. Pomeroy ,&nbsp;Megan I. Saunders ,&nbsp;Andy Steven ,&nbsp;Nathan J. Waltham ,&nbsp;Ana Bugnot","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104157","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104157","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nature-based solutions (NbS) present a promising approach to coastal protection, leveraging the natural capacity of coastal ecosystems to mitigate hazards. Despite their potential, the practical implementation of NbS faces obstacles, including a lack of clear guidance for design and implementation. In this study, we conducted interviews with 34 practitioners involved in NbS projects for coastal protection to (1) identify key perceived barriers and suggested/or realised solutions and (2) assess how these varied among practitioner groups, spanning Coastal Engineers, Coastal Engineering Scientists, Ecologists, and/or Project Managers. During the interviews, practitioners identified 34 distinct challenges to NbS implementation, falling into 14 categories and 345 solutions into 15 categories. Both challenges and solutions varied between practitioner groups. While all groups identified unfamiliarity with NbS as a key challenge, Coastal Engineers and Coastal Engineering Scientists had more design-focused views about NbS challenges (e.g. risk, technical guidelines and data deficits) and solutions (e.g. hybrid solutions). In contrast, Ecologists and Project Managers typically had more implementation-focused challenges (e.g. cost/lack of funding) and opportunity-driven solutions (e.g. community acceptance and education). The solutions most suggested by Coastal Engineers were for hybrid solutions, whereas Coastal Engineering Scientists suggested interdisciplinary teams. The anthropocentric-ecocentric gap between engineers and ecologists highlights the need for NbS teams to be interdisciplinary and utilise standardised language. Overcoming challenges to NbS will also require advocacy for government support and policy reform, along with early, meaningful engagement and capacity building with Indigenous people, which was identified as a crucial solution to current NbS challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104157"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144614846","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":"Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge with sustainable development goals in lithium mining impact assessment for a fair energy transition","authors":"Andrea E. Izquierdo ,&nbsp;Marina Mautner ,&nbsp;Romina Díaz Gomez ,&nbsp;Florencia Nieva ,&nbsp;Lucrecia Estigarribia ,&nbsp;Laura Forni","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy has accelerated the extraction of minerals critical to energy transmission and storage, including lithium—raising pressing questions of socio-environmental justice, particularly for Indigenous and local communities. While global frameworks for impact assessment exist to work towards sustainable development, they fail to reflect the values, priorities, and knowledge systems of these communities. This study foregrounds Indigenous and local knowledge to identify socio-environmental impacts of lithium mining in the Argentinian High Andean Plateau and to propose locally grounded indicators aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve this, we 1) identify and classify the socio-environmental impacts of lithium extraction in the region reported in scientific literature; 2) explore local and Indigenous knowledge regarding these impacts; and 3) identify local indicators of these impacts aligned with the UN SDGs to inform policy decisions. The literature review identified 15 impacts of lithium mining, which were then verified through a survey of four local and indigenous communities. Through the specific local impacts reported, we propose potential indicators to measure them. By analyzing these locally relevant indicators against the UN SDGs, we found that the local indicators contribute to all but one of the UN SDGs. However, there were some local indicators that did not have corresponding global goals, revealing that local knowledge is not necessarily represented in global policies. Overall, this research consists of an iterative process to contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, and fair energy transition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104155"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144581374","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":"Conceptualizing the state of the art of social license to operate: A visualization-based word frequency analysis","authors":"Yu Chen ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Luo ,&nbsp;Min Xu ,&nbsp;Bo Xia ,&nbsp;Yongjian Ke ,&nbsp;Martin Skitmore ,&nbsp;Yong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104163","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104163","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Social license to operate (SLO) has emerged as a key concept in understanding the relationships between communities, businesses, and governments, particularly in industries with significant social and environmental impacts. This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine the status quo, trends, and gaps in research into SLO. A systematic process involving a two-phase word frequency analysis and search of research topics helps to identify core research clusters and reduced subjectivity in hotspot detection. The analysis revealed four major thematic areas: SLO measures, Factors affecting SLO, access mechanisms to SLO, and Spatio-temporal dynamic evolution. Findings highlight clear disparities in SLO knowledge production between the Global North and the Global South, with SLO-related research concentrated in developed Western countries represented by Australia, Canada, Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Based on the above discussion, this study proposes four directions for future research, and these insights offer a roadmap for advancing the theoretical and practical understanding of SLO across diverse contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104163"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144581373","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: A view from the Latin American context","authors":"Gabriela Guevara-Cue","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate justice critically integrates ethical, social, and political dimensions into climate change discourse, recognizing its disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations and intensifying pre-existing inequalities. This article argues that operationalizing climate justice in Latin America requires fundamentally decentering Global North frameworks, rigorously addressing socio-historical injustices, prioritizing Indigenous knowledge, and fostering inclusive institutional arrangements. Latin America's unique context, marked by colonialism, extractives’, and deep-seated social inequality, fundamentally shapes its understanding of justice and creates distinct vulnerabilities. Implementing climate justice faces significant challenges, including weak regulatory frameworks, economic dependencies perpetuating extractives’ practices, and the marginalization of Indigenous knowledge systems. These issues necessitate a political redefinition of justice beyond compensation, challenging structural power asymmetries that benefit extractive industries at the expense of local communities. Effective strategies must embrace a multifaceted approach, emphasizing procedural and cognitive justice through participatory governance and integrating diverse epistemologies. Ultimately, achieving genuine climate justice in Latin America demands a paradigm shift towards development models prioritizing socio-ecological well-being, confronting systemic inequalities, and ensuring that climate action leads to truly equitable outcomes rather than exacerbating historical injustices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104156"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144571901","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":"Challenge accepted – identifying barriers and facilitating climate change adaptation in spatial development across planning boundaries, sectors and planning levels","authors":"M. Juschten ,&nbsp;F. Reinwald ,&nbsp;A. Jiricka-Pürrer","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spatial planning influences diverse sectors, including housing, industry, forestry, agriculture, tourism, and nature conservation. Accordingly, climate change adaptation (CCA) strategies stress the need to integrate climate considerations into spatial plans, programs, and response strategies. However, prior studies highlight gaps in cooperation across planning levels, sectors and borders, as well as insufficient integration of sectoral data. Therefore, this paper (i) identifies and classifies challenges arising from existing CCA efforts across planning areas, levels, and sectors; (ii) investigates structural mechanisms underlying key cooperation barriers; and (iii) outlines leverage points to promote integrated spatial planning for climate resilience. Empirical findings from qualitative interviews and workshops using backcasting methods with case studies enable comparison across governance levels and federal states, shedding light on vertical and horizontal collaboration and disciplinary perspectives.</div><div>Results show that transparent communication of trade-offs and co-development of synergistic solutions remain rare, largely driven by individual initiative rather than institutional practices or frameworks. This poses a challenge given spatial planning’s coordinating role. Nonetheless, the analysis results reveal growing interest from sectors such as water management, forestry, green space planning, and geology to formally engage with spatial planners. A key barrier is the diversity of planning instruments across governance levels and the limited capacity to interpret them cross-sectorally, reflecting broader issues around institutional and individual capacity, resources, and knowledge. This paper contributes to the discourse on enabling transformative change, identifying leverage points for a strategic, integrated spatial planning approach that incorporates CCA, informed by sectoral expertise and applicable across planning hierarchies and boundaries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104152"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144569958","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":"Does democratic regression threaten biodiversity conservation and climate action? Exploring the relationships, implications, and opportunities for democratization as a conservation strategy","authors":"Brian Pentz ,&nbsp;Palash Sanyal ,&nbsp;Zachary Simek ,&nbsp;Phil Loring","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104151","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104151","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A global democratic recession is underway, but its repercussions for the pursuit of progress on the joint crises of climate change and biodiversity loss remains unclear. In this paper we explore two questions: (1) what is the evidence of a relationship between the strength of a state’s democracy and its performance on environmental issues?; and (2) to what extent does ongoing democratic regression overlap with conservation actors and biodiversity hotspots? Using a series of datasets and biodiversity proxies (including state actors, intergovernmental organizations, civil society actors, and 36 biodiversity hotspots), we produce three central findings: (a) we find support for the hypothesis that there is a strong positive relationship between the strength of democratic institutions and a state’s environmental performance. We (b) find that the positive relationship between democracy and environmental performance appears to coalesce in ‘hybrid regimes’ and continues in ‘flawed democracies’ and ‘full democracies.’ This relationship does not hold true for authoritarian regimes. Finally, we (c) find that democratic regression has substantial overlap with important biodiversity actors and hotspots, which suggests it may pose a critical risk to conservation success. The recent turn towards democratic approaches such as collaboration, co-production, and centering of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in environmental governance requires that more attention be paid to the risks that democratic regression creates, and that democratization be pursued as a conservation strategy alongside prominent conservation approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104151"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144569959","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":"From control to care: Trans-hegemonic approaches to just-sustainability transformations","authors":"Valerie Nelson","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainability transformations are the subject of increasing academic and policy attention, but definitions and practice remain contested. This paper provides a comparative analysis of four meta-reviews of sustainability transformation theorisation to identify new insights on transformative change. The overarching analysis compares four interpretive framings of sustainability transformation theory, in terms of their features and mutual critiques, evolution of the field involving a broadening of disciplines and perspectives toward greater attention to critical and relational social sciences, overlaps and continuing tensions. This article proposes a new interpretive clustering, that foregrounds relational, more-than-human, feminist political ecology, Indigenous and decolonial theorisation in sustainability discourse, and calls for their exploration in future research and action. This is in support of unlearning and unmaking invisible common sense formations that are the underlying common causes (although differentiated in manifestations) of unsustainabilities and which prevent transformative change from occurring. The article goes on to identify principles, practices and capacities for action, especially transdisciplinary action research, offered as non-exhaustive, polythetic dimensions of trans-hegemonic sustainability transformations. The paper concludes with an exploration of justice in relation to sustainability transformations, involving the advancement of shifts from control-based imaginaries to pluriversal, care-based futures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 104115"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144524031","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}