scholarly journals National mitigation potential from natural climate solutions in the tropics

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1794) ◽  
pp. 20190126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronson W. Griscom ◽  
Jonah Busch ◽  
Susan C. Cook-Patton ◽  
Peter W. Ellis ◽  
Jason Funk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Tropical Country ◽  
Tropical Countries ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Land Stewardship ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Natural Climate

Better land stewardship is needed to achieve the Paris Agreement's temperature goal, particularly in the tropics, where greenhouse gas emissions from the destruction of ecosystems are largest, and where the potential for additional land carbon storage is greatest. As countries enhance their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, confusion persists about the potential contribution of better land stewardship to meeting the Agreement's goal to hold global warming below 2°C. We assess cost-effective tropical country-level potential of natural climate solutions (NCS)—protection, improved management and restoration of ecosystems—to deliver climate mitigation linked with sustainable development goals (SDGs). We identify groups of countries with distinctive NCS portfolios, and we explore factors (governance, financial capacity) influencing the feasibility of unlocking national NCS potential. Cost-effective tropical NCS offers globally significant climate mitigation in the coming decades (6.56 Pg CO 2 e yr −1 at less than 100 US$ per Mg CO 2 e). In half of the tropical countries, cost-effective NCS could mitigate over half of national emissions. In more than a quarter of tropical countries, cost-effective NCS potential is greater than national emissions. We identify countries where, with international financing and political will, NCS can cost-effectively deliver the majority of enhanced NDCs while transforming national economies and contributing to SDGs. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.

scholarly journals Natural climate solutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (44) ◽  
pp. 11645-11650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronson W. Griscom ◽  
Justin Adams ◽  
Peter W. Ellis ◽  
Richard A. Houghton ◽  
Guy Lomax ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Action ◽  
Paris Climate Agreement ◽  
Natural Climate

Better stewardship of land is needed to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of holding warming to below 2 °C; however, confusion persists about the specific set of land stewardship options available and their mitigation potential. To address this, we identify and quantify “natural climate solutions” (NCS): 20 conservation, restoration, and improved land management actions that increase carbon storage and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across global forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. We find that the maximum potential of NCS—when constrained by food security, fiber security, and biodiversity conservation—is 23.8 petagrams of CO2 equivalent (PgCO2e) y−1 (95% CI 20.3–37.4). This is ≥30% higher than prior estimates, which did not include the full range of options and safeguards considered here. About half of this maximum (11.3 PgCO2e y−1) represents cost-effective climate mitigation, assuming the social cost of CO2 pollution is ≥100 USD MgCO2e−1 by 2030. Natural climate solutions can provide 37% of cost-effective CO2 mitigation needed through 2030 for a >66% chance of holding warming to below 2 °C. One-third of this cost-effective NCS mitigation can be delivered at or below 10 USD MgCO2−1. Most NCS actions—if effectively implemented—also offer water filtration, flood buffering, soil health, biodiversity habitat, and enhanced climate resilience. Work remains to better constrain uncertainty of NCS mitigation estimates. Nevertheless, existing knowledge reported here provides a robust basis for immediate global action to improve ecosystem stewardship as a major solution to climate change.

scholarly journals Implementation of podiatry telephone appointments for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Palmer ◽  
H. J. Siddle ◽  
A. C. Redmond ◽  
B. Alcacer-Pitarch
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Diseases ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Foot Health ◽  
Telephone Consultation ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Initial Intervention

Abstract Background Foot health problems are common in the general population, and particularly so in people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders (RMD). Several clinical guidelines state that people with RMDs should have access to foot health services, although service capacity is often limited. The current COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for alternative ways to provide patient care. The aim of this clinical audit was to review a newly implemented telephone follow-up appointment service conducted within the Rheumatology Podiatry Department in Leeds, UK. Methods Fifty-eight patients attending the Rheumatology Podiatry Department at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were contacted by telephone approximately 6–8 weeks following initial intervention. During the telephone consultation, all patients were asked pre-defined questions relating to their symptoms, intervention efficacy, the need for further appointments and their preference for the type of consultation. To assess the cost of the telephone consultation the number of attempts needed in order to make successful contact, the duration of the call and the number of telephone follow-up appointments completed in a working day were also recorded. Results Twenty-five patients (43%) were successfully contacted within the 6–8 weeks stipulated time frame and were included in the analysis. Of the 25 contacted, twelve (48%) patients were successfully contacted on the first attempt. Ten (40%) were successfully contacted on the second attempt. The remaining three patients (12%) required 3 or more attempts to make successful contact. Telephone consultations were estimated not to last longer than 10 min, including notes screening and documentation. Eleven patients (44%) reported an improvement in their symptoms, thirteen (52%) reported no change and one patient (4%) reported their symptoms to be worse. Conclusion Telephone follow-up consultations may be a potentially cost-effective alternative to face-to-face appointments when implemented in a Rheumatology Podiatry Department, and provide an alternative way of providing care, especially when capacity for face-to-face contact is limited. The potential cost saving and efficiency benefits of this service are likely to be enhanced when telephone consultations are pre-arranged with patients.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Protected Areas in the Pan-Tropics and International Aid for Conservation

Geomatics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-346
Author(s):  
Do-Hyung Kim ◽  
Anupam Anand
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
International Aid ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Average Effect ◽  
Tropical Countries ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
The Tropics

Evaluation of the effectiveness of protected areas is critical for forest conservation policies and priorities. We used 30 m resolution forest cover change data from 1990 to 2010 for ~4000 protected areas to evaluate their effectiveness. Our results show that protected areas in the tropics avoided 83,500 ± 21,200 km2 of deforestation during the 2000s. Brazil’s protected areas have the largest amount of avoided deforestation at 50,000 km2. We also show the amount of international aid received by tropical countries compared to the effectiveness of protected areas. Thirty-four tropical countries received USD 42 billion during the 1990s and USD 62 billion during the 2000s in international aid for biodiversity conservation. The effectiveness of international aid was highest in Latin America, with 4.3 m2/USD, led by Brazil, while tropical Asian countries showed the lowest average effect of international aid, reaching only 0.17 m2/USD.

scholarly journals Natural climate solutions for Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (23) ◽  
pp. eabd6034
Author(s):  
C. Ronnie Drever ◽  
Susan C. Cook-Patton ◽  
Fardausi Akhter ◽  
Pascal H. Badiou ◽  
Gail L. Chmura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Mitigation Potential ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Natural Climate ◽  
Fossil Fuel Emissions

Alongside the steep reductions needed in fossil fuel emissions, natural climate solutions (NCS) represent readily deployable options that can contribute to Canada’s goals for emission reductions. We estimate the mitigation potential of 24 NCS related to the protection, management, and restoration of natural systems that can also deliver numerous co-benefits, such as enhanced soil productivity, clean air and water, and biodiversity conservation. NCS can provide up to 78.2 (41.0 to 115.1) Tg CO2e/year (95% CI) of mitigation annually in 2030 and 394.4 (173.2 to 612.4) Tg CO2e cumulatively between 2021 and 2030, with 34% available at ≤CAD 50/Mg CO2e. Avoided conversion of grassland, avoided peatland disturbance, cover crops, and improved forest management offer the largest mitigation opportunities. The mitigation identified here represents an important potential contribution to the Paris Agreement, such that NCS combined with existing mitigation plans could help Canada to meet or exceed its climate goals.

scholarly journals Self-fill oxygen technology: benefits for patients, healthcare providers and the environment

Breathe ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis Murphie ◽  
Nick Hex ◽  
Jo Setters ◽  
Stuart Little
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
List Type ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Unlimited Supply ◽  
Technology Benefits

“Non-delivery” home oxygen technologies that allow self-filling of ambulatory oxygen cylinders are emerging. They can offer a relatively unlimited supply of ambulatory oxygen in suitably assessed people who require long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), providing they can use these systems safely and effectively. This allows users to be self-sufficient and facilitates longer periods of time away from home. The evolution and evidence base of this technology is reported with the experience of a national service review in Scotland (UK). Given that domiciliary oxygen services represent a significant cost to healthcare providers globally, these systems offer potential cost savings, are appealing to remote and rural regions due to the avoidance of cylinder delivery and have additional lower environmental impact due to reduced fossil fuel consumption and subsequently reduced carbon emissions. Evidence is emerging that self-fill/non-delivery oxygen systems can meet the ambulatory oxygen needs of many patients using LTOT and can have a positive impact on quality of life, increase time spent away from home and offer significant financial savings to healthcare providers.Educational aimsProvide update for oxygen prescribers on options for home oxygen provision.Provide update on the evidence base for available self-fill oxygen technologies.Provide and update for healthcare commissioners on the potential cost-effective and environmental benefits of increased utilisation of self-fill oxygen systems.

A virtual multi-disciplinary meeting is a cost-effective method of triaging referrals to a regional musculoskeletal oncology service

2021 ◽  
pp. 003693302110085
Author(s):  
Omer MHF Alanie ◽  
Ashish Mahendra ◽  
Mairi Mackinnon ◽  
Mark McCleery ◽  
Christopher Nicholas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Screening Tool ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Patient Journey ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
Diagnosis Of Cancer ◽  
Musculoskeletal Oncology ◽  
Prospective Database

Background and aims In 2010, a virtual sarcoma referral model was implemented, which aims to provide a centralised multidisciplinary team (MDT) to provide rapid advice, avoiding unnecessary appointments and providing a streamlined service. The aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of this screening tool in reducing the service burden and expediting patient journey. Methods and results All referrals made to a single tertiary referral sarcoma unit from January 2010 to December 2018 were extracted from a prospective database. Only 26.0% events discussed required review directly. 30.3% were discharged back to referrer. 16.5% required further investigations. 22.5% required a biopsy prior to review. There was a reduction in the rate of patients reviewed at the sarcoma clinic, and a higher discharge rate from the MDT in 2018 versus 2010 (p < 0.001). This gives a potential cost saving of 670,700 GBP over the 9 year period. Conclusion An MDT meeting which triages referrals is cost-effective at reducing unnecessary referrals. This can limit unnecessary exposure of patients who may have an underlying diagnosis of cancer to a high-risk environment, and reduces burden on services as it copes with increasing demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Brazilian Mangroves: Blue Carbon Hotspots of National and Global Relevance to Natural Climate Solutions

2022 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre S. Rovai ◽  
Robert R. Twilley ◽  
Thomas A. Worthington ◽  
Pablo Riul
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
National Level ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Woody Biomass ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Blue Carbon ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
Natural Climate

Mangroves are known for large carbon stocks and high sequestration rates in biomass and soils, making these intertidal wetlands a cost-effective strategy for some nations to compensate for a portion of their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, few countries have the national-level inventories required to support the inclusion of mangroves into national carbon credit markets. This is the case for Brazil, home of the second largest mangrove area in the world but lacking an integrated mangrove carbon inventory that captures the diversity of coastline types and climatic zones in which mangroves are present. Here we reviewed published datasets to derive the first integrated assessment of carbon stocks, carbon sequestration rates and potential CO2eq emissions across Brazilian mangroves. We found that Brazilian mangroves hold 8.5% of the global mangrove carbon stocks (biomass and soils combined). When compared to other Brazilian vegetated biomes, mangroves store up to 4.3 times more carbon in the top meter of soil and are second in biomass carbon stocks only to the Amazon forest. Moreover, organic carbon sequestration rates in Brazilian mangroves soils are 15–30% higher than recent global estimates; and integrated over the country’s area, they account for 13.5% of the carbon buried in world’s mangroves annually. Carbon sequestration in Brazilian mangroves woody biomass is 10% of carbon accumulation in mangrove woody biomass globally. Our study identifies Brazilian mangroves as a major global blue carbon hotspot and suggest that their loss could potentially release substantial amounts of CO2. This research provides a robust baseline for the consideration of mangroves into strategies to meet Brazil’s intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

scholarly journals Using plants to remediate or manage metal-polluted soils: an overview on the current state of phytotechnologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. e58283
Author(s):  
Clístenes Williams Araújo do Nascimento ◽  
Caroline Miranda Biondi ◽  
Fernando Bruno Vieira da Silva ◽  
Luiz Henrique Vieira Lima
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Contaminated Site ◽  
Polluted Soils ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Current State ◽  
Remedial Actions ◽  
The Tropics

Soil contamination by metals threatens both the environment and human health and hence requires remedial actions. The conventional approach of removing polluted soils and replacing them with clean soils (excavation) is very costly for low-value sites and not feasible on a large scale. In this scenario, phytoremediation emerged as a promising cost-effective and environmentally-friendly technology to render metals less bioavailable (phytostabilization) or clean up metal-polluted soils (phytoextraction). Phytostabilization has demonstrable successes in mining sites and brownfields. On the other hand, phytoextraction still has few examples of successful applications. Either by using hyperaccumulating plants or high biomass plants induced to accumulate metals through chelator addition to the soil, major phytoextraction bottlenecks remain, mainly the extended time frame to remediation and lack of revenue from the land during the process. Due to these drawbacks, phytomanagement has been proposed to provide economic, environmental, and social benefits until the contaminated site returns to productive usage. Here, we review the evolution, promises, and limitations of these phytotechnologies. Despite the lack of commercial phytoextraction operations, there have been significant advances in understanding phytotechnologies' main constraints. Further investigation on new plant species, especially in the tropics, and soil amendments can potentially provide the basis to transform phytoextraction into an operational metal clean-up technology in the future. However, at the current state of the art, phytotechnology is moving the focus from remediation technologies to pollution attenuation and palliative cares.

Use of EcoTILLING to identify natural allelic variants of rice candidate genes involved in salinity tolerance

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Negrão ◽  
C. Almadanim ◽  
I. Pires ◽  
K. L. McNally ◽  
M. M. Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Salinity Tolerance ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Allelic Variants ◽  
Small Indels ◽  
Stress Signal

Rice is a salt-sensitive species with enormous genetic variation for salt tolerance hidden in its germplasm pool. The EcoTILLING technique allows us to assign haplotypes, thus reducing the number of accessions to be sequenced, becoming a cost-effective, time-saving and high-throughput method, ideal to be used in laboratories with limited financial resources. Aiming to find alleles associated with salinity tolerance, we are currently using the EcoTILLING technique to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and small indels across 375 germplasm accessions representing the diversity available in domesticated rice. We are targeting several genes known to be involved in salt stress signal transduction (OsCPK17) or tolerance mechanisms (SalT). So far, we found a total of 15 and 23 representative SNPs or indels in OsCPK17 and SalT, respectively. These natural allelic variants are mostly located in 3′-untranslated region, thus opening a new path for studying their potential contribution to the regulation of gene expression and possible role in salt tolerance.

scholarly journals Landslide risk reduction measures: A review of practices and challenges for the tropics

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Maes ◽  
Matthieu Kervyn ◽  
Astrid de Hontheim ◽  
Olivier Dewitte ◽  
Liesbet Jacobs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Publication Output ◽  
Landslide Risk ◽  
Population Number ◽  
Tropical Countries ◽  
Risk Reduction Measures ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Landslide Risk Reduction

The overall objective of this review is to gain insights into landslide risk reduction measures that are applied or recommended in tropical landslide-prone countries, and the challenges at play. More specifically, this review aims to (i) presenting an overview of recent studies on landslides and landslide risk reduction in these countries, (ii) exploring the factors controlling the publication output on landslides and landslide risk reduction, (iii) reviewing the various landslide risk reduction measures recommended and implemented, and (iv) identifying the bottlenecks for the implementation of these strategies. A compilation of recommended and implemented landslide risk reduction measures in 99 landslide-prone tropical countries was made, based on an extensive review of scientific literature (382 publications). The documented measures are analysed using a scheme of risk reduction measures that combines classifications of the Hyogo Framework for Action and the SafeLand project. Our literature review shows that the factors influencing the number of publications on landslides and landslide risk reduction per country are (in order of importance) the absolute physical exposure of people to landslides, the population number and the Human Development Index of a country. The ratio of publications on landslide risk reduction versus publications on landslides for landslide-prone tropical countries does not vary much between these countries (average: 0.28). A significant fraction (0.30) of all known landslide hazard reduction measures are neither implemented nor recommended according to our review. The most recommended landslide risk reduction component is ‘risk management and vulnerability reduction’ (0.38). However, the most implemented component is ‘risk assessment’ (0.57). Overall, the ratio of implemented versus recommended landslide risk reduction measures in the tropics is low (<0.50) for most landslide risk reduction components, except for ‘risk assessment’ (3.01). The most cited bottlenecks for implementing landslide risk reduction measures are scientific (0.30) and political (0.29) in nature.

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