The Equity Dimension of Climate Change: Perspectives From the Global North and South

The articles in this thematic issue represent a variety of perspectives on the challenges for equity that are attributable to climate change. Contributions explore an emerging and important issue for communities in the Global North and Global South: the implications for urban social equity associated with the impacts caused by climate change. While much is known about the technical, policy, and financial tools and strategies that can be applied to mitigate or adapt to climate change in communities, we are only now thinking about who is affected by climate change, and how. Is it too little, too late? Or better now than never? The articles in this thematic issue demonstrate that the local impacts of climate change are experienced differently by socio-economic groups in communities. This is especially the case for the disadvantaged and marginalized—i.e., the poor, the very young, the aged, the disabled, and women. Ideally, climate action planning interventions should enhance quality of life, health and well-being, and sustainability, rather than exacerbate existing problems experienced by the disadvantaged. This is the challenge for planners and anyone working to adapt to climate change in our communities.

Communities’ Reflections on Oil Companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility Activities in Utqiaġvik, Alaska

This paper explores the reflections of Utqiaġvik community members on oil companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities within the region of North Slope, Alaska. The research question is: how have the people of Utqiaġvik responded to the CSR activities of oil companies whose oil extractive industry operations impact the region’s social, economic, and environmental welfare? In particular, this paper seeks to understand why CSR activities sometimes fail to achieve their purported goals. By interviewing residents from the community of Utqiaġvik, this paper obtained perspectives on the impacts of oil development on the local environment and community, bringing to light the limits of current CSR activities, such that this research might provide recommendations for rectifying CSR shortfalls. The argument is: while oil companies’ profit motives tend to restrict the potential of CSR activities, local people should be able to influence the types of CSR activities corporations pursue, given that they experience the local impacts of the industry. The paper concludes by offering recommendations to the oil companies regarding the nature and desired impacts of their CSR activities.

At-Sensor Radiometric Correction of a Multispectral Camera (RedEdge) for sUAS Vegetation Mapping

Rapid advancement of drone technology enables small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for quantitative applications in public and private sectors. The drone-mounted 5-band MicaSense RedEdge cameras, for example, have been popularly adopted in the agroindustry for assessment of crop healthiness. The camera extracts surface reflectance by referring to a pre-calibrated reflectance panel (CRP). This study tests the performance of a Matrace100/RedEdge-M camera in extracting surface reflectance orthoimages. Exploring multiple flights and field experiments, an at-sensor radiometric correction model was developed that integrated the default CRP and a Downwelling Light Sensor (DLS). Results at three vegetated sites reveal that the current CRP-only RedEdge-M correction procedure works fine except the NIR band, and the performance is less stable on cloudy days affected by sun diurnal, weather, and ground variations. The proposed radiometric correction model effectively reduces these local impacts to the extracted surface reflectance. Results also reveal that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the RedEdge orthoimage is prone to overestimation and saturation in vegetated fields. Taking advantage of the camera’s red edge band centered at 717 nm, this study proposes a red edge NDVI (ReNDVI). The non-vegetation can be easily excluded with ReNDVI < 0.1. For vegetation, the ReNDVI provides reasonable values in a wider histogram than NDVI. It could be better applied to assess vegetation healthiness across the site.

Using Structural Topic Modeling to Explore the Role of Framing in Shaping the Debate on Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals in Oregon

The drastic increase in domestic production of natural gas due to the fracking boom prompted efforts to develop a robust infrastructure in the U.S. to export natural gas. Given environmental concerns over increased fossil fuel development, significant opposition mobilized to “keep it [fossil fuels] in the ground” by acting to prevent not only natural gas production but also its transportation via pipelines and shipping via export terminals. Our analysis focuses on the latter component, specifically examining the long history of proposed liquefied natural gas infrastructure in two coastal communities in Oregon. Members of the public engaged in the formal siting processes and mobilized both opposition and support. We examine their use of collective action frames in both comments at public hearings and letters to the editor in local newspapers ( N = 4618) over the 16 years that these proposals were under consideration, quantifying the dynamic nature of framing using computational text analysis. We find that both groups vary their use of framing over time and by venue, reacting to exogenous events (e.g., September 11th, Fukushima) and tailor their messages to the context (e.g., an in-person hearing or a letter to the editor). Opponents concentrated on potential threats, initially emphasizing local impacts like tanker and pipeline safety but eventually focusing on climate concerns. Supporters, meanwhile, stressed the economic benefits of the projects but alternated their specific framing based on venue—focusing on employment when talking to regulatory agencies and community economic benefits in letters. While this juxtaposition of economic benefits and environmental threats was a key part of public discourse, opponents also expanded their framing to questions of local sovereignty and governance, allowing a broader coalition to develop and ultimately succeeding in defeating the proposals.

Book review: Anil Kumar Vaddiraju, Federalism and Local Government in India and Anil Kumar Vaddiraju, Satyanarayana Sangita and Kala Seetharam Sridhar (Ed.), Urban Governance in Karnataka and Bengaluru: Global Changes and Local Impacts

Anil Kumar Vaddiraju, Federalism and Local Government in India. Delhi: Studium Press (India) Pvt Ltd., 2017, XVII + 232 pp., ₹1092. ISBN: 93-85046-10-1 ( Hardcover). Anil Kumar Vaddiraju, Satyanarayana Sangita and Kala Seetharam Sridhar (Ed.), Urban Governance in Karnataka and Bengaluru: Global Changes and Local Impacts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, 240 pp., £61.99. ISBN-10: 1443801259; ISBN-13: 978-1443801256 ( Hardcover).

Life cycle assessment of aquaculture bivalve shellfish production — a critical review of methodological trends

Purpose The increase of shellfish production has raised environmental concerns, i.e., enrichment and redistribution of nutrients and energy consumption. Efforts assessing the environmental burdens arising from the expansion of shellfish production have been made using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Although LCA has been extensively applied and reviewed in aquaculture systems, shellfish production remains scarcely studied. The objective of this review is to identify methodological trends, highlight gaps and limitations, and provide guidelines for future studies. Methods A systematic literature review was applied to scientific studies published up to 2021. A total of 13 documents were shorted by abstract and full text-screening. Literature meeting the inclusion criteria were further analyzed in six different aspects of a LCA (functional unit, system boundaries, data and data quality, allocation, impact assessment methods, interpretation methods). Discussion and guidelines are provided for each reviewed aspect. Results and discussions Shellfish LCAs differ considerably from other aquaculture studies mainly because shellfish avoids the allocation of impacts derived from the production of fishmeal. Co-products are present when the shellfish is processed, e.g., in canned products. Furthermore, shellfish studies do not take into account the positive credits from the removal of nutrients from the ecosystems and from the valorization of the shellfish waste (shell and organic remains). Limited information was found for countries outside Europe and species different from mussels. Despite the variability on goals and scopes of the studies, methodological trends were found. The local impacts of the shellfish with the farming area and the impacts on biodiversity have not been included into the studies. Conclusions and recommendations Effort should be made in providing the data associated with the fore-background system within the studies in order to improve transparency and to allow the reproduction of the results. Information regarding the natural condition of the cultivation area should be provided as the shellfish production depends mainly on non-anthropogenic conditions. Application of biodiversity assessment methodologies should be encouraged, despite their limitations.

Designing a Flood Storage Option on Agricultural Land: What Can Flood Risk Managers Learn from Drought Management?

The increasing probability of loss and damage to floods is a global concern. Countries are united by an urgent need to reduce flood risk to households, businesses, agricultural land, and infrastructure. As natural and engineered protection erodes with climate change and development pressures, new approaches to flood risk management delivered at the catchment scale that work with nature hold promise. One nature-based solution that aligns with this Special Issue on river flooding is the temporary storage of floodwaters on the floodplain. In many countries, this would involve controlled flooding inland low-lying agricultural land. Designing schemes that farmers and irrigation districts will adopt is essential. To inform future floodplain storage options, we review farm-centred drought management, specifically, agreements that transfer agricultural water to municipalities through fallowing in California, USA and an Australian farm exit scheme. These initiatives reveal underpinning principles around the need to: balance the multiple objectives of the parties, share the benefits and responsibilities, address local impacts and practical guidance on incentive design including the consideration of conditional participation requirements and responding to farmer and public preferences. In terms of funding there is opportunity for blended financing with flood-prone communities, insurers, and conservation charities.