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From Data to Action: Empowering local communities and public authorities to shape smart, sustainable cities together
Get PDFAnalyzing Spanish-Language YouTube Discourse During the 2025 Iberian Peninsula Blackout
Get PDFThis study investigates Spanish-language public discourse on YouTube following the unprecedented Iberian Peninsula blackout of 28 April 2025. Leveraging comments extracted via the YouTube Data API and analyzed with the OpenAI GPT-4o-mini model, it systematically examined 76,398 comments from 360 of the most relevant videos posted on the day of the event. The analysis explored emotional responses, sentiment trends, misinformation prevalence, civic engagement, and attributions of blame within the immediate aftermath of the blackout. The results reveal a discourse dominated by negativity and anger, with 43% of comments classified as angry and an overall negative sentiment trend. Misinformation was pervasive, present in 46% of comments, with most falsehoods going unchallenged. The majority of users attributed the blackout to government or political failures rather than technical causes, reflecting a profound distrust in institutions. Notably, while one in five comments included a call to action, only a minority offered constructive solutions, focusing mainly on infrastructure and energy reform. These findings highlight the crucial role of multilingual, real-time crisis communication and the unique information needs of Spanish-speaking populations during emergencies. By illuminating how rumors, emotions, and calls for accountability manifest in digital spaces, this study contributes to the literature on crisis informatics, digital resilience, and inclusive sustainability policy
Group discussions improve reliability and validity of rated categories based on qualitative data from systematic review
Get PDFThe number of literature reviews in the fields of ecology and conservation has increased dramatically in recent years. Scientists conduct systematic literature reviews with the aim of drawing conclusions based on the content of a representative sample of publications. This requires subjective judgments on qualitative content, including interpretations and deductions. However, subjective judgments can differ substantially even between highly trained experts that are faced with the same evidence. Because classification of content into codes by one individual rater is prone to subjectivity and error, general guidelines recommend checking the produced data for consistency and reliability. Metrics on agreement between multiple people exist to assess the rate of agreement (consistency). These metrics do not account for mistakes or allow for their correction, while group discussions about codes that have been derived from classification of qualitative data have shown to improve reliability and accuracy. Here, we describe a pragmatic approach to reliability testing that gives insights into the error rate of multiple raters. Five independent raters rated and discussed categories for 23 variables within 21 peer-reviewed publications on conservation management plans. Mistakes, including overlooking information in the text, were the most common source of disagreement, followed by differences in interpretation and ambiguity around categories. Discussions could resolve most differences in ratings. We recommend our approach as a significant improvement on current review and synthesis approaches that lack assessment of misclassification
Health driven cost-benefit analysis of provincial decarbonization pathways for China's cement sector
No full textThe Chinese cement sector, contributing approximately 13 % of national COQ emissions and a significant share of air pollutants, is pivotal for achieving carbon neutrality. However, the question of how to develop cost-effective provincial decarbonization pathways and integrate the social cost of carbon via health burden into policy decisions remains insufficiently addressed. To address these issues, we develop an integrated assessment framework that includes dynamic material flow analysis, a provincial bottom-up energy system model, and air quality-health impact evaluation. Results indicate a projected 28 % decline in national cement demand from 2020 to 2060, with production shifting from eastern to central-southern regions. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will dominate decarbonization efforts, accounting for over 80 % of total transition costs. However, its economic feasibility varies significantly across provinces, with net cost per ton of CO2 abated ranging from 164 to 581 CNY. Provincial-specific scenario analysis estimates cumulative transition costs at 412.9 billion CNY by 2060, equivalent to only 0.5 % of projected national investments for climate mitigation and adaptation during 2024-2030 and 0.15 % for 2031-2060. Notably, incorporating externality cost of carbon through health burden could offset net abatement costs by over 20 % in heavily polluted provinces like Henan and Shandong, and up to 45 % when combined with declining CCS costs. These findings highlight the need for region-specific strategies aligned with provincial demand and technological capacity, and for integrating health co-benefits and CCS cost dynamics into cement-sector policy to support an efficient and equitable net-zero transition
The warming effect of black carbon must be reassessed in light of observational constraints
Get PDFAnthropogenic emissions of black carbon (BC) aerosols are generally thought to warm the climate. However, the magnitude of this warming remains highly uncertain due to limited knowledge of BC sources; optical properties; and atmospheric processes such as transport, removal, and cloud interactions. Here, we assess and constrain estimates of the historical warming influence of BC using recent observations and emission inventories. Based on simulations from four climate models, we show that the current global mean surface temperature change from anthropogenic BC due to aerosol-radiation interaction spans a factor of three—from +0.02 ± 0.02 K to +0.06 ± 0.05 K. Rapid atmospheric adjustments reduce the instantaneous radiative forcing by nearly 50% (multi-model mean), substantially lowering the net warming. Yet, recent satellite constraints suggest a stronger effect, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive reassessment of BC’s climate influence
The importance of distinguishing between natural and managed tree cover gains in the moist tropics
Get PDFNaturally regenerated forests and managed tree systems provide different levels of carbon, biodiversity, and livelihood benefits. Here, we show that tree cover gains in the moist tropics during 1982–2015 were 56% ± 3% naturally regenerated forests and 27% ± 2.6% managed tree systems, with these differences in forest type, not only natural conditions (climate, soil, and topography), driving observed carbon recovery rates. The remaining 17% ± 3% likely represents small, unmanaged tree patches within non-forest cover types. Achieving global forest restoration goals requires robust monitoring, reporting, and verification of forest types established by restoration initiatives
From Vision to Action: Co-identifying a Safe Water Operating Space for the Danube basin
Get PDFAs water-related challenges intensify under the combined pressures of climate change, land use change, and competing water demands, the SOS-Water project seeks to define a Safe Operating Space (SOS) for water resources that ensure sustainable, equitable, and resilient water systems. Supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme, SOS-Water applies a transdisciplinary methodology—integrating modeling, monitoring, and participatory stakeholder engagement—across four diverse case studies in Europe and beyond, including the ecologically and socio-economically complex Danube River Basin.
The second stakeholder workshop for the Danube case study, held in Vienna on 5 March 2025, brought together key stakeholders from across the basin to evaluate and refine a common objectives framework and to explore scenario-based adaptation pathways. Building on the results of the first workshop, participants provided detailed feedback on indicators and thresholds representing various water functions—such as state, regulatory, productive, supply, and chemical carrier functions. Discussions highlighted the importance of robust data, contextual definitions, and system-specific thresholds, as well as cross-cutting challenges such as connectivity, habitat degradation, and water quality.
In the second half of the workshop, stakeholders examined three global socio-economic scenarios and co-designed adaptation strategies tailored to the Danube Basin. Using participatory mapping and structured discussion, they identified risks, opportunities, and viable adaptation options to maintain water system resilience across a range of plausible futures.
This workshop marks an important step in the co-creation of the Danube Basin’s Safe Operating Space by integrating scientific insights with local knowledge and stakeholder perspectives. The results will inform the refinement of indicators, threshold setting, and the development of scenario-specific adaptation pathways in the next phases of the SOS-Water project
Capturing community(-building) effects of citizen science activities in agri-food using Social Network Analysis
Get PDFMaximising the Benefits of Energy Action for Good Health, Gender Equality and Decent Work to Leave No one Behind: SDG7 Policy Briefs in Support of the High-Level Political Forum
Get PDFAchieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 presents a tremendous opportunity for people, the planet and prosperity. In today’s uncertain geopolitical landscape, marked by conflicts, disruptions and growing inequalities, access to clean, affordable and reliable energy is more critical than ever. The clean energy transition can deliver major gains in terms of economic resilience, energy security and human well-being, while also accelerating progress on the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In line with the focus of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2025, this year’s SDG7 Policy Briefs highlight energy’s vital interlinkages with health (SDG3), gender equality (SDG5), decent work and economic growth (SDG8). They also highlight the urgent needs of least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS)