Global decadal assessment of life below water and on land

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

International treaties have mostly failed to produce their intended effects

Steven J. Hoffman et al.

Summary: There are over 250,000 international treaties that aim to foster global cooperation, but most of them have failed to produce their intended effects. However, treaties governing international trade and finance consistently achieved their intended effects. Impactful treaties achieve their effects through socialization and normative processes rather than longer-term legal processes. Enforcement mechanisms are the only modifiable treaty design choice that can improve the effectiveness of treaties governing environmental, human rights, humanitarian, maritime, and security policy domains.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2022)

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Article Food Science & Technology

International food trade benefits biodiversity and food security in low-income countries

Min Gon Chung et al.

Summary: Understanding the interrelationships between food security and biodiversity is crucial for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A study using datasets from 2000 to 2018 found that high-income countries export more food to low-income countries than they import. Many low-income countries, especially those with biodiversity hotspots, are becoming net importers, suggesting that imports from high-income countries can benefit biodiversity in low-income countries. Low-income countries without hotspots have significantly increased their food exports to hotspot countries, which may help reduce negative impacts on biodiversity. Innovative approaches are needed to minimize the negative effects of global food production and trade on biodiversity in countries with and without biodiversity hotspots.

NATURE FOOD (2022)

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Editorial Material Ecology

Improve forest restoration initiatives to meet Sustainable Development Goal 15

Junze Zhang et al.

Summary: Monoculture plantations are not effectively restoring biodiversity. To improve forest restoration policies, more innovative incentive policies are needed to focus on enhancing biodiversity rather than just increasing forest area.

NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2021)

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Article Engineering, Environmental

Global Plastic Pollution Observation System to Aid Policy

Michael S. Bank et al.

Summary: The urgent need for an integrated, global monitoring system for plastic pollution to provide comprehensive, harmonized data for environmental, societal, and economic assessments is emphasized in this article. The proposed earth-system-level plastic observation system aims to collect and assess the scale and impacts of plastic pollution across various ecosystems, including air, land, water, and biota. It strives to integrate new information, identify pollution hotspots, and expand monitoring from marine environments to encompass all ecosystem types in order to support public policy and corporate contributions to relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2021)

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Article Multidisciplinary Sciences