Elsevier,
Smart Technologies for Sustainable Smallholder Agriculture, Chapter 15, 2017, Pages 295–306
This chapter considers the developments in agricultural technology required to fully achieve SDG 2 (zero hunger) can sometimes be detrimental to the environment. Climate smart technologies are needed.
Elsevier,
Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Public Transportation, Chapter 7, 2017, Pages 95–107
Green innovations will be significant in reducing climate change impacts and contributing to goals 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 13 (climate action). This chapter considers a number of sustainable and innovative transport and infrastructure options to support these goals.
The Blueprint for Business Leadership on the SDGs aims to inspire all business — regardless of size, sector or geography — to take leading action in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It illustrates how the five leadership qualities of Ambition, Collaboration, Accountability, Consistency, and Intentional can be applied to a business' strategy, business model, products, supply chain, partnerships, and operations to raise the bar and create impact at scale. The Blueprint is a tool for any business that is ready to advance its principled approach to SDG action to become a leader. This chapter relates specifically to SDG 13.
Polluted air was responsible in 2015 for 6·4 million deaths worldwide. Can walking or cycling in polluted cities negate the health benefits of exercise by increasing exposure to airborne pollutants? This systematic review in The Lancet Public Health by Magda Cepeda and colleagues provides a clear answer to this question: it compares exposure to carbon monoxide, black carbon, nitrogen dioxide, and fine and coarse particles between commuters using active and motorised transport. The study provides important insights to support target SDG 3.9 to substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air.
This paper uses ‘Medieval’ drought conditions from the 12th Century to simulate the implications of severe and persistent drought for the future of water resource management in metropolitan Phoenix, one of the largest and fastest growing urban areas in the southwestern USA. Anticipatory models enable long-term policy analysis for climate change. Mega-drought results in unsustainable groundwater use between 2000 and 2060. Aggressive drought management policies can produce sustainable yield. The time to manage droughts is before they occur. This relates to SDG 6, SDG 11 and SDG 13.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is vital for advancing the SDGs. This paper looks at transformative learning that prepares students for societal change. The discussion is grounded both in theories about hope from disparate scientific disciplines and in empirical research about young people’s hope concerning global climate change. These insights particularly inform SDG 4.7 to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, as well as SDGs 3, 11 and 13.
Landmark emissions targets were outlined at the COP21 meeting in Paris in 2015 and the chemical industry will play an important role in achieving them. The support of the chemical industry is vital for advancing SDG 13.2 to integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. This report also emphasises the opportunities that climate action brings to the chemical industry.
The role of agriculture in flood risk mitigation has been largely overlooked in the UK government’s national flood resilience review. Farm leaders are concerned that the review contains little mention of agriculture, rural communities or food security. This highlights the need to address flood risk mitigation holistically to support SDG 13.1 to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters, and SDG 2.4 to implement resilient agricultural practices that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, including flooding.
Constructing and maintaining transportation infrastructure is very resource intensive and can have negative impacts on the environment. Reviewing geotechnical engineering in transport infrastructure highlights the transformation in the past twenty years to using more sophisticated technologies integrating sustainability principles. SDG target 11.2 aims to provide sustainable transport systems, which this article focuses on, in particular activities relevant to sustainable earthwork construction aimed at minimising the use of energy and production of CO2.
Energy geotechnics involves the use of geotechnical principles to understand and engineer the coupled thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical processes encountered in collecting, exchanging, storing, and protecting energy resources in the subsurface. In addition to research on these fundamental coupled processes and characterization of relevant material properties, applied research is being performed to develop analytical tools for the design and analysis of different geo-energy applications. This paper summarizes some of the major research and practical developments in the emerging area of energy geotechnics which relates to SDG 7, 11 and 13.
