While initiatives to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases are abundant, there has been limited guidance on how ports and container terminals can implement a NetZero strategy. This study investigates the experiences of a global terminal operator transitioning from a high-level NetZero target toward concrete decarbonization strategies. Through action-based research, local decarbonization roadmaps were developed across eight sites. Key elements of the roadmaps, such as a standard process, toolbox, and stakeholder engagement overview, are outlined to facilitate replication. This study provides lessons on how decarbonization differs from other transformations and offers a practical guide for multi-site companies to activate their NetZero strategies. It also advances Green Port and business sustainability literature by presenting empirical insights into a global terminal operator’s efforts to mature its sustainability practices through decarbonization.

The forest sector's climate change mitigation depends on forest carbon sequestration, storing carbon in wood products, and avoidance of fossil greenhouse gas emissions by replacing more emission intensive products or energy sources, i.e., the substitution effect. In addition, market responses to changes in wood supply following altered forest management by one region induce climate relevant changes in form of compensatory roundwood harvest outside the region, and thus forest carbon leakage. This study presents a global climate change mitigation assessment of the forest sector, accounting for market-effects leakage. We use a global forest sector model, wood flow analysis and life cycle inventory data to assess the impact of forest management changes on climate change mitigation, with a focus on Sweden. Results suggest decreased wood harvesting causes global net climate change mitigation until 2070, despite forest carbon leakage, forgone wood product carbon storage and forgone substitution effect potentials. Increasing domestic wood removals induces global additional emissions until 2100. Additional domestic wood product consumption is climate beneficial which however depends on substitution effects actually materializing. Roundwood harvest leakage ranges from 40 % to 60 % and forest carbon leakage from 50 % to 80 %. Leakage effects occur mainly in North America and Asia, with a gradual shift towards Latin America over time. To further the climate benefit, drivers of growing demand should be addressed and measures be implemented which promote more efficient and sustainable use of wood as a resource. Only concerted global forest policy cooperation would avoid leakage and with that result in improved global climate change mitigation.

1. Conservation performance payments are becoming an increasingly popular instrument to tackle human–wildlife conflicts. In Sweden, Sámi communities practicing reindeer husbandry receive performance payments as compensation for reindeer losses caused by lynxes and wolverines. This study examines the challenges and conflicts associated with the Conservation Performance payment scheme and aims to understand its effectiveness.

2. We carried out a thematic analysis of challenges and conflicts using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders associated with the payment scheme as the main source of evidence, supported by literature identified in a systematic review.

3. The results reveal a wicked conflict setting with a broad range of direct and indirect conflicts. Direct conflicts revolve around the following themes: (1) Uncertainty and mistrust regarding the annual number of lynx and wolverine family groups and the extent of reindeer losses caused by these predators; (2) Payments being too small to cover losses; (3) Large numbers of reindeer lost to predators in many communities and the related hunting regulations. Indirect conflicts are linked to cumulative effects, such as the negative effects of forestry and mining projects on reindeer husbandry, a lack of comprehensive environmental policies, and the perceived lack of respect for reindeer herding as a culturally significant livelihood.

4. We argue that conflicts regarding uncertainties in predator and reindeer loss numbers in particular rather mask broader underlying conflicts.

5. Policy implications: We suggest that high predator-caused reindeer losses in combination with indirect conflicts hampers the successful implementation of the program. Nevertheless, all interviewees appreciated the basic design of the program and its potential. However, realizing this potential requires acknowledging the wickedness of human–wildlife conflicts and adequately addressing long-standing ecological and socio-cultural root conflicts by developing comprehensive, cross-sectoral, and inclusive conservation policies.

The Nam Theun 2 dam is an influential case of applying safeguards to mitigate social and environmental impacts from hydropower, being used as a model for large dams globally. However, these safeguards have produced mixed results. We examine the role of safeguards in hydropower, and how stakeholders have discussed its use. Based on a literature review and stakeholder interviews, we conduct a discourse analysis of narratives used to frame hydropower. We find four discourses being used for different purposes: Green Neoliberalism to legitimize, Ecological Modernization to operationalize, Green Radicalism to criticize, and Radical Incrementalism to repurpose hydropower. Whereas green radicalism in high-income countries challenges over-consumption, we find that green radicalism in low-income countries highlights environmental justice and shortcomings of conventional development models. We argue for a broader understanding of discourses to include Radical Incrementalism as one strategy for change of careful and considered actions over time.

Quantifying fair national shares of the remaining global carbon budget has proven challenging. Here, we propose an indicator—additional carbon accountability—that quantifies countries’ responsibility for mitigation and CO₂ removal in addition to achieving their own targets. Considering carbon debts since 1990 and future claims based on countries’ emission pathways, the indicator uses an equal cumulative per capita emissions approach to allocate accountability for closing the mitigation gap among countries with a positive total excessive carbon claim. The carbon budget is exceeded by 576 Gigatonnes of fossil CO₂ when limiting warming below 1.5 °C (50% probability). Additional carbon accountability is highest for the United States and China, and highest per capita for the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Assumptions on carbon debts strongly impact the results for most countries. The ability to pay for this accountability is challenging for Iran, Kazakhstan and several BRICS+ members, in contrast to the G7 members.

Values play a significant role in decision-making, especially regarding nature. Decisions impact people and nature in complex ways and understanding which values are prioritised, and which are left out is an important task for improving the equity and effectiveness of decision-making. Based on work done for the IPBES Values Assessment, this paper develops a framework to support analyses of how decision-making influences nature as well as whose values get prioritised. The framework is used to analyse key areas of environmental policy: a) the present model for nature protection in market economies, b) the role of valuation in bringing nature values into decisions, and c) values embedded in environmental policy instruments, exemplified by protected areas for nature conservation and payments for ecosystem services. The analyses show that environmental policies have been established as mere additions to decision-making structures that foster economic expansion, which undermines a wide range of nature's values. Moreover, environmental policies themselves are also focused on a limited set of nature's diverse values.

The Anthropocene is characterized by accelerating change and global challenges of increasing complexity. Inspired by what some have called a polycrisis, we explore whether the human trajectory of increasing complexity and influence on the Earth system could become a form of trap for humanity. Based on an adaptation of the evolutionary traps concept to a global human context, we present results from a participatory mapping. We identify 14 traps and categorize them as either global, technology or structural traps. An assessment reveals that 12 traps (86%) could be in an advanced phase of trapping with high risk of hard-to-reverse lock-ins and growing risks of negative impacts on human well-being. Ten traps (71%) currently see growing trends in their indicators. Revealing the systemic nature of the polycrisis, we assess that Anthropocene traps often interact reinforcingly (45% of pairwise interactions), and rarely in a dampening fashion (3%). We end by discussing capacities that will be important for navigating these systemic challenges in pursuit of global sustainability. Doing so, we introduce evolvability as a unifying concept for such research between the sustainability and evolutionary sciences.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies have been insufficient in achieving rapid and profound reductions of energy-related greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, energy sufficiency has gained attention as a complementary strategy over the past two decades. Yet, most research on energy sufficiency has been theoretical and its implementation in policy limited. This study draws on the growing sufficiency literature to examine the presence of sufficiency as a strategy for reducing energy-related GHG emissions in Sweden, a country often regarded as a climate-progressive country. By conducting a keyword and content analysis of energy policies and parliamentary debates during four governmental terms of office (2006-2022), this research explores the extent to which sufficiency is integrated into Swedish energy policy, as well as potential barriers to its adoption. The analyses revealed a scarcity of sufficiency elements. Although some policies could potentially result in energy savings, they are infrequent and overshadowed by the prevailing emphasis on efficiency and renewable energy. Furthermore, Sweden lacks a target for sufficiency or absolute energy reductions. The main impediments to sufficiency implementation include the disregard of scientific evidence in the policy-making process and the perceived contradiction between sufficiency and industrial competitiveness. This study thus concludes that sufficiency at best remains at the periphery of Swedish energy policy. Given the reinforced ambitions within the European Union, this raises questions regarding the validity of Sweden's reputation as a climate-progressive country.

Recently two distinctly different conceptualisations of insurance value of biodiversity/ ecosystems have been developed. The ecosystem framing addresses the full resilience value without singling out subjective risk pref-erences. Conversely, the economic framing focuses exactly on this subjective value of risk aversion, implying that the insurance value is zero for risk neutral persons. Here we analyse the differences conceptually and empirically, and relate this to the broader socio-cultural dimensions of social-ecological resilience. The uncertainty of the Anthropocene blurs the distinction between subjective/objective. We show that the economic framing has been operationalised only in specific cases while the broader literature on resilience, disaster risk reduction, and nature-based solutions tend to address the full value of resilience. Yet, the empirical literature that relates to insurance value of biodiversity is hardly consistent with resilience theory because the slow underlying variables defining resilience are rarely addressed. We suggest how the empirical literature on insurance value can be better aligned with resilience theory. Since the ecosystem framing of insurance value captures the essence of the resilience, we propose using the concept resilience value as it may reduce the present ambiguity in terminology and conceptualisation of insurance value of biodiversity.

Humanity is at a crossroads inaddressingbiodiversity loss. Several assessments have reported on the weak compliance with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). To address this lack of compliance, the challenges in implementing and enforcingCBDobligations must be understood. Key implementation challenges of the CBD are identified through a content analysis of policy documents, multi-stakeholder interviews, and participant observation at the recent CBD Conference of the Parties. Building on this analysis, the article explores the extent to which the review mechanisms of international human rights law, with their various strategies for eliciting compliance, can help to improve CBDmechanisms. The findings of this article reveal insights that the CBD can draw from international human rights law to address these compliance challenges, such as facilitating the participation of civil society organizations to provide specific input, and engaging independent biodiversity experts to assess implementation. The article concludes that insights fromhuman rights review mechanisms are useful for improving the emerging peer reviewmechanismof the CBD, which is important for strengthening accountability within the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.