Environmental risks present the greatest deterioration in the findings of the Global Risks Perception Survey 2024-2025, which captures insights from over 900 experts worldwide.  Extreme weather events are anticipated to become even more of a concern, with this risk ranked #1 in the 10-year risk list.  Biodiversity loss ...

The misconception that stringent climate policies are too costly is widespread among political decision-makers and the public and an often-used argument by governments for sluggish policy making.  However, the cost argument ignores the long-term economic benefits of policy changes and is build on the decomposition of e ...

Catastrophic losses from extreme weather events are on the rise across the world, severely testing the capital reserves and claims-paying capability of many insurers.  The total damage and economic loss from the Los Angeles fires alone is now estimated to be between $250 billion and $275 billion.  Of this, insurers are ...

In 2015, the international community committed to a shared global vision towards sustainable development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and identifies the areas where the most resources are most needed.  The greatest potential for achieving the SDGs lies in aligning public and private resources w ...

Gujarat, an economically developed state of India, is under severe threat of water scarcity. Rapid urbanization, prolific industrialization and multiple cropping practice have increased the water demand and consumption over the years. At the same time, frequency of heatwaves and intensity of droughts have increased resu ...

India is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It has long been a key player in international climate negotiations and has begun implementing a diverse portfolio of policies nationally and within individual states to improve energy efficiency, develop clean energy sources, and prepare for the impacts of a c ...

Climate change is accelerating the sea level rise in India and globally.  In December 2023, sea level was 104 mm above 1993’s measure, which reveals the unprecedented rate at which the sea level is currently rising.  This is the result of a two-fold effect, attributed to both the thermal expansion of seawater and melti ...

In Bhavnagar district, the overall groundwater is moderately developed (68.04%), but the quality is limited in the coastal areas and the yield is low in the hard rock areas inland. Rapid urbanization and simultaneous industrial activities have recently affected the hydrogeological system of the area. The district recei ...

Klima, Kultur, kritische Medien, NGOs und demokratische Institutionen sind in unmittelbarer Gefahr.  Nachdem Herbert Kickl den Auftrag zur Regierungsbildung erhalten hat, steht einer blau-schwarzen Bundesregierung nichts mehr im Wege.  Die Koalitionsverhandlungen haben nun begonnen.  Dass die ÖVP die Kanzlerschaft der ...

As a points-based green certification, LEED assigns 110 points – the highest level, platinum (80 + points), accredits only 3 out of a total of 110 points directly to embodied emissions. In BREEAM, 12 points (8%) are directly related to material selection, of which 5 points (3%) are based on life cycle assessment (LCA). ...

Sustainability postpones social, environmental and economic disasters in attempt to meet present economic growth while minimizing the impacts of current socioeconomic development for future generations.  Although sustainability is widely considered a positive concept, it has numerous weaknesses that make it unsustainab ...

This paper provides tools that solve procurement problems in construction, where sustainability indicators were divided into social (governance), economic, and environmental groups.  It identifies sustainability indicators for examining the supply chains of construction companies, allowing construction project managers ...

This is a framework for cities and other government bodies to develop a strategy, action plan, and policies in response to the climate emergency.  It is a manual and blueprint to dramatically reduce embodied carbon from the manufacture, transport, use, and life-cycle end of construction material.  It helps cities in re ...

SDGs are the most commonly used framework for the sustainability reporting of the top patent holders.  The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a globally agreed and accepted framework of practices with clearly defined indicators and goal-oriented recommendations that enable criteria-unbiased sustainability asse ...

Despite research that has been conducted elsewhere, little is known, to-date, about land cover dynamics and their impacts on land surface temperature (LST) in fast growing mega cities of developing countries. Landsat satellite images of 1989, 1999, and 2009 of Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP) area were used for analysis. The s ...