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Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 17231

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Tsegaye T. Gatiso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Agricultural sciences, University of Bonn, 53012 Bonn, Germany
Interests: environmental policy analysis; bbehavioral implications of conservation policies; biodiversity conservation; food security and poverty reduction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on sustainability and examines different approaches to enhancing synergies between environmental conservation and economic development goals of sustainability or reducing trade-offs between the two goals. Currently, the world is facing a sustainability crisis. On the one hand, biodiversity has been declining globally; on the other, food insecurity and poverty have been on the rise. These problems are coupled with the climate crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. As the world economic system is on the verge of recession, it is time to ask if it is possible to simultaneously achieve the two seemingly opposing objectives of sustainability (environmental conservation and economic development) or whether a trade-off between the two goals is inevitable.

Research has shown that the expansion of protected areas around the globe has been playing a vital role in promoting both conservation and economic development goals. Moreover, climate activism and awareness of climate change and its consequences have been increasing, and consequently, the international community’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions has been improving (e.g., Paris agreement on climate (COP 21), EU’s green deal and/or fit-for-55 package). However, it remains to be verified whether these efforts are sufficient to counter the multifaceted challenges that humanity is currently facing.

The main purpose of this Special Issue will be to enhance our knowledge of sustainability and ways of enhancing synergies between the two important objectives of sustainability. Further, the Special Issue will support informed policy making by providing empirical evidence on the possibility of synergies and/or trade-offs between environmental conservation and economic development.

This Special Issue covers theoretical, empirical, and review articles, and the potential topics include (but are not limited to):

  • The role of protected areas in promoting sustainability;
  • The effectiveness of different pollution control instruments and their impact on economic welfare;
  • The role of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental conservation and economic development goals;
  • Policy options to promote synergies between conservation and economic development (at different scales);
  • Progress toward sustainability: is the world becoming more sustainable?

Dr. Tsegaye T. Gatiso
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental conservation
  • economic development
  • sustainability
  • pollution control
  • climate change
  • protected areas
  • economic welfare

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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29 pages, 4812 KiB  
Article
The New Prediction Methodology for CO2 Emission to Ensure Energy Sustainability with the Hybrid Artificial Neural Network Approach
by İnayet Özge Aksu and Tuğçe Demirdelen
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15595; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315595 - 23 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1560
Abstract
Energy is one of the most fundamental elements of today’s economy. It is becoming more important day by day with technological developments. In order to plan the energy policies of the countries and to prevent the climate change crisis, CO2 emissions must [...] Read more.
Energy is one of the most fundamental elements of today’s economy. It is becoming more important day by day with technological developments. In order to plan the energy policies of the countries and to prevent the climate change crisis, CO2 emissions must be under control. For this reason, the estimation of CO2 emissions has become an important factor for researchers and scientists. In this study, a new hybrid method was developed using optimization methods. The Shuffled Frog-Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) algorithm has recently become the preferred method for solving many optimization problems. SFLA, a swarm-based heuristic method, was developed in this study using the Levy flight method. Thus, the speed of reaching the optimum result of the algorithm has been improved. This method, which was developed later, was used in a hybrid structure of the Firefly Algorithm (FA). In the next step, a new Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based estimation method is proposed using the hybrid optimization method. The method was used to estimate the amount of CO2 emissions in Türkiye. The proposed hybrid model had the RMSE error 5.1107 and the R2 0.9904 for a testing dataset, respectively. In the last stage, Türkiye’s future CO2 emission estimation is examined in three different scenarios. The obtained results show that the proposed estimation method can be successfully applied in areas requiring future estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?)
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21 pages, 11697 KiB  
Article
Environmental Contamination of a Biodiversity Hotspot—Action Needed for Nature Conservation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria
by Christabel Edena Ansah, Itohan-Osa Abu, Janina Kleemann, Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud and Michael Thiel
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14256; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114256 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 8646
Abstract
The Niger Delta belongs to the largest swamp and mangrove forests in the world hosting many endemic and endangered species. Therefore, its conservation should be of highest priority. However, the Niger Delta is confronted with overexploitation, deforestation and pollution to a large extent. [...] Read more.
The Niger Delta belongs to the largest swamp and mangrove forests in the world hosting many endemic and endangered species. Therefore, its conservation should be of highest priority. However, the Niger Delta is confronted with overexploitation, deforestation and pollution to a large extent. In particular, oil spills threaten the biodiversity, ecosystem services, and local people. Remote sensing can support the detection of spills and their potential impact when accessibility on site is difficult. We tested different vegetation indices to assess the impact of oil spills on the land cover as well as to detect accumulations (hotspots) of oil spills. We further identified which species, land cover types, and protected areas could be threatened in the Niger Delta due to oil spills. The results showed that the Enhanced Vegetation Index, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index were more sensitive to the effects of oil spills on different vegetation cover than other tested vegetation indices. Forest cover was the most affected land-cover type and oil spills also occurred in protected areas. Threatened species are inhabiting the Niger Delta Swamp Forest and the Central African Mangroves that were mainly affected by oil spills and, therefore, strong conservation measures are needed even though security issues hamper the monitoring and control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?)
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Review

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26 pages, 6030 KiB  
Review
Is Africa Left behind in the Global Climate Finance Architecture: Redefining Climate Vulnerability and Revamping the Climate Finance Landscape—A Comprehensive Review
by Phemelo Tamasiga, Malesela Molala, Malebogo Bakwena, Hugue Nkoutchou and Helen Onyeaka
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13036; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713036 - 29 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2303
Abstract
African countries contribute less than 4% of global carbon emissions and are susceptible to the repercussions of climate change due to pre-existing challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. The Paris Agreement underscores the need for climate finance to support resilience and [...] Read more.
African countries contribute less than 4% of global carbon emissions and are susceptible to the repercussions of climate change due to pre-existing challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. The Paris Agreement underscores the need for climate finance to support resilience and low-carbon investments. However, African nations struggle to access adequate funds, hindering effective adaptation and mitigation. Against this background, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on climate finance literature for the period 2007–2023 in order to explore the publication trends, emerging themes, and future research directions. Merging 91 documents from Web of Science and 94 from Scopus yielded a dataset of 139 records. Web of Science experienced a 10.58% publication growth rate, while Scopus had a higher publication growth rate of 13.18%. The merged dataset’s publication growth rate was 13.88%, reflecting consistent contributions. The surge in publications from 2019 to 2023 points to intensified discussions on climate change and associated policies. International collaboration between authors is evident, with Web of Science at 37.76%, Scopus at 28.7%, and the merged dataset at 26.62%. Temporally, 2007–2023 saw escalating interest, especially post-2012, reflecting the evolution of climate change and renewable energy policies. Authors were ranked based on article count and fractionalized ranks, with Chirambo D being the lead author in the field of climate finance in Africa. Key articles advocated for supplementary fund integration into government budgets. The UK, USA, and Germany topped in citations, reflecting the availability of research funding, expertise, and collaborations. Leading sources included Climate Policy and Climate and Development. Keyword co-occurrence identified five emerging thematic trends, contributing to an in-depth understanding of climate finance literature’s dynamics and future directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?)
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18 pages, 2368 KiB  
Review
Bibliometric Analysis and Benchmarking of Life Cycle Assessment of Higher Education Institutions
by Denner Deda, Helena Gervásio and Margarida J. Quina
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4319; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054319 - 28 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2603
Abstract
Higher Education Institutions (HEI), such as Universities and Institutes worldwide, are making efforts and setting goals to assess and minimise their environmental impacts, and to become more sustainable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been considered a powerful approach to deal with environmental impacts [...] Read more.
Higher Education Institutions (HEI), such as Universities and Institutes worldwide, are making efforts and setting goals to assess and minimise their environmental impacts, and to become more sustainable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been considered a powerful approach to deal with environmental impacts of products and services. Thus, in this paper, a bibliometric analysis was carried out to benchmark the sustainability of HEI in terms of key areas, impacts, and barriers. Results indicate that, although some HEI are concerned with sustainability, LCA has not been systematically adopted in their assessments, and the main focus is on the calculation of carbon emissions. The lack of available internal information and managing commitment are the main barriers to adopting LCA in HEI. In the few cases where LCA was considered, it was observed that differences in scopes, functional units, intensities, and data reliability hamper comparisons, and lead to biased conclusions. In the end of the paper, the results of some Portuguese HEI are provided and discussed, showing the need for a better understanding of environmental assessment results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?)
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Other

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10 pages, 2006 KiB  
Hypothesis
Trade-Offs in Ecosystem Services: Clarifying Concepts and Measuring Severity within the Production Possibility Frontier Framework
by Renats Trubins
Sustainability 2023, 15(24), 16763; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416763 - 12 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1487
Abstract
Production possibility frontier (PPF) in economics denotes the set of all efficient combinations of the amounts of two or more goods that can be produced from the given resources and within the given technology. In the ecosystem services context, it corresponds to all [...] Read more.
Production possibility frontier (PPF) in economics denotes the set of all efficient combinations of the amounts of two or more goods that can be produced from the given resources and within the given technology. In the ecosystem services context, it corresponds to all efficient combinations of the amounts of two or more ecosystem services that can be obtained from the given land area within the given management framework. PPF thus captures the conflict, or trade-off, between the production of different goods or services. However, there is a lack of an agreed understanding of what precisely in a PPF expresses the degree of that conflict. This lack of clarity may greatly confound the discussions on trade-offs. This paper tries to answer the two following questions: (1) what exactly is trade-off in the PPF context? (2) how to effectively measure and compare trade-offs across PPFs? In response to the second question, a quantitative generic measure of trade-off severity is proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability: Is a Trade-Off between Environmental Conservation and Economic Development Inevitable?)
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