Proposed revisions to a Mozambican land law threaten environmental sustainability and poverty reduction
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Mobilizing power quality and reliability measurements for electricity equity and justice in Africa
In sub-Saharan Africa, urban electricity inequities manifesting as poor power quality and reliability (PQR) are prevalent. Yet, granular PQR data and frameworks for assessing PQR inequities and guiding equitable electricity interventions remain sparse. To address this gap, we present a conceptual framework that leverages energy justice, capability and multidimensional poverty theories alongside concepts relating to power systems to quantify PQR inequities in sub-Saharan Africa. To demonstrate our framework and using 1 year’s worth of remotely sensed PQR data from Accra, Ghana, we assessed the distributive scale of PQR inequities, explored how multidimensional poverty exacerbates these inequities and examined the impact of PQR on households’ domestic capabilities. We found wider patterns of PQR inequities and a link between poor PQR and neighbourhoods with higher multidimensional poverty. We conclude that using remotely sensed data combined with justice and capability frameworks offers a powerful method for revealing PQR inequities and driving sustainable energy transitions.
Land use conversion increases network complexity and stability of soil microbial communities in a temperate grassland
Soils harbor highly diverse microbial communities that are critical to soil health, but agriculture has caused extensive land use conversion resulting in negative effects on critical ecosystem processes. However, the responses and adaptations of microbial communities to land use conversion have not yet been understood. Here, we examined the effects of land conversion for long-term crop use on the network complexity and stability of soil microbial communities over 19 months. Despite reduced microbial biodiversity in comparison with native tallgrass prairie, conventionally tilled (CT) cropland significantly increased network complexity such as connectivity, connectance, average clustering coefficient, relative modularity, and the number of species acting at network hubs and connectors as well as resulted in greater temporal variation of complexity indices. Molecular ecological networks under CT cropland became significantly more robust and less vulnerable, overall increasing network stability. The relationship between network complexity and stability was also substantially strengthened due to land use conversion. Lastly, CT cropland decreased the number of relationships between network structure and environmental properties instead being strongly correlated to management disturbances. These results indicate that agricultural disturbance generally increases the complexity and stability of species “interactions”, possibly as a trade-off for biodiversity loss to support ecosystem function when faced with frequent agricultural disturbance.
Exploring corporate social responsibility practices in the telecommunications, broadcasting and courier sectors: a comparative industry analysis
This study aims to dissect and understand the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) endeavours of organisations within Malaysia’s telecommunications, broadcasting, postal and courier services sectors, particularly those holding licenses from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). These sectors were chosen for this study due to their crucial role in Malaysia’s economy and society, their notable environmental influence, the regulatory and public attention they receive as well as the distinct challenges and opportunities they face in implementing CSR. Employing a qualitative methodology, the study utilises a semi-structured interview protocol to gather rich, detailed insights from top management across eight listed and non-listed companies. This approach ensures a comprehensive exploration of CSR types, practices and their implementation within the target sectors. Purposive sampling was adopted to select informants with specific expertise, ensuring that the data collected was relevant and insightful. The findings of this study underscore that while telecommunications firms actively participate in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, their efforts predominantly benefit the broader society, with less emphasis placed on shareholders. Additionally, it was observed that environmental issues receive relatively minimal attention from these organisations. This diversity highlights the necessity for a more equitable CSR approach that caters equally to the needs of all stakeholders, including the environment. Such a strategy is crucial for cultivating a sustainable and ethically sound business environment. The implications of this research are manifold. For companies, it emphasises the critical nature of adopting an all-encompassing CSR strategy that fosters competitive advantage while promoting sustainable development. The study advocates for a paradigm shift towards CSR practices that are not only philanthropic but also prioritise environmental stewardship and value creation.
Urban inequality, the housing crisis and deteriorating water access in US cities
The housing unaffordability and cost-of-living crisis is affecting millions of people in US cities, yet the implications for urban dwellers’ well-being and social reproduction remain less clear. This Article presents a longitudinal analysis of household access to running water—a vital component of social infrastructure—in the 50 largest US cities since 1970. The results indicate that water access has worsened in an increasing number and typology of US cities since the 2008 global financial crash, disproportionately affecting households of color in 12 of the 15 largest cities. We provide evidence to suggest that a ‘reproductive squeeze’—systemic, compounding pressures on households’ capacity to reproduce themselves on a daily and societal basis—is forcing urban households into more precarious living arrangements, including housing without running water. We analyze the case study of Portland (Oregon) to illustrate the racialized nature of the reproductive squeeze under a housing crisis. Our insights reveal that plumbing poverty—a lack of household running water—is expanding in scope and severity to a broader array of US cities, raising doubts about equitable progress towards Sustainable Development Goals for clean water and sanitation for all (SDG 6) and sustainable cities (SDG 11) in an increasingly urbanized United States.
Co-benefit of forestation on ozone air quality and carbon storage in South China
Substantial forestation-induced greening has occurred over South China, affecting the terrestrial carbon storage and atmospheric chemistry. However, these effects have not been systematically quantified due to complex biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Here we integrate satellite observations, forestry statistics, and an improved atmospheric chemistry model to investigate the impacts of forestation on both carbon storage and ozone air quality. We find that forestation alleviates surface ozone via enhanced dry deposition and suppressed turbulence mixing, outweighing the effect of enhanced biogenic emissions. The 2005-2019 greening mitigated the growing season mean surface ozone by 1.4 ± 2.3 ppbv, alleviated vegetation exposure by 15%-41% (depending on ozone metrics) in forests over South China, and increased Chinese forest carbon storage by 1.8 (1.6-2.1) Pg C. Future forestation may enhance carbon storage by 4.3 (3.8-4.8) Pg C and mitigate surface ozone over South China by 1.4 ± 1.2 ppbv in 2050. Air quality management should consider such co-benefits as forestation becomes necessary for carbon neutrality.
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