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The growing concern on global warming has pushed to set ambitious targets of carbon neutrality or net zero at the water sector. Meanwhile, poor data availability has been reported to restrict the national assessment of climate impacts and mitigation strategies in water sector. In national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, water sector is embedded in other sectors' emissions making it difficult to monitor separately. This study presents a national scale evaluation of climate change impacts for water sector in Finland based on life cycle analysis (LCA). In addition, the effectiveness of currently available emission reduction measures is evaluated by scenario analysis until the year 2035. According to the results, the life cycle climate change impacts from the Finnish municipal water sector were 0,67 (0,46-0,88) million tonnes CO2-eq./year (142.8 (98.9-187.1) kg CO2-eq./person/year). Drinking water services accounted for 12.5-13.9 % and wastewater services 86.1-87.4 % of the total emissions. With currently feasible emission reduction measures, the climate change impacts could be reduced approximately 14-30 % in total by 2035. The aim of carbon neutrality in the water sector was found to be unrealistic to achieve with existing and currently feasible measures for Finland and thus significant new emission mitigation measures are needed. The vague definition of carbon neutrality and system boundary of water sector as well as the uncertainties related to the assessment of direct emissions, undermine the credibility of the ambitiously set target. Prioritizing emission offsets to reach the target may inadvertently lead to unintended negative consequences due to the limitations and incompleteness of offset methods.

ABSTRACTThe concept of “blue carbon” is, in this study, critically evaluated with respect to its definitions, measuring approaches, and time scales. Blue carbon deposited in ocean sediments can only counteract anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if stored on a long‐term basis. The focus here is on the coastal blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), mangrove forests, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows due to their high primary production and large carbon stocks. Blue carbon sequestration in BCEs is typically estimated using either: 1. sediment carbon inventories combined with accretion rates or 2. carbon mass balance between input to and output from the sediment. The inventory approach is compromised by a lack of accurate accretion estimates over extended time periods. Hence, short‐term sedimentation assays cannot be reliably extrapolated to long timescales. The use of long‐term tracers like 210Pb, on the other hand, is invalid in most BCEs due to sediment mobility by bioturbation and other physical disturbances. While the mass balance approach provides reasonable short‐term (months) estimates, it often fails when extrapolated over longer time periods (> 100 years) due to climatic variations. Furthermore, many published budgets based on mass balance do not include all relevant carbon sources and sinks. Simulations of long‐term decomposition of mangrove, saltmarsh (Spartina sp.), and eelgrass (Zostera sp.) litter using a 3‐G exponential model indicate that current estimates of carbon sequestration based on the inventory and mass balance approaches are 3–18 times too high. Most published estimates of carbon sequestration in BCEs must therefore be considered overestimates. The climate mitigation potential of blue carbon in BCEs is also challenged by excess emissions of the GHG methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from biogenic structures in mangrove forests and saltmarsh sediments. Thus, in many cases, carbon sequestration into BCE sediments cannot keep pace with the simultaneous GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents.

An overview of high-entropy strategies for batteries is provided, emphasizing their unique structural/compositional attributes and positive effects on stability and performance, alongside a discussion of key challenges and future research directions.

ABSTRACTLitter decomposition is essential in linking aboveground and belowground carbon, nutrient cycles, and energy flows within ecosystems. This process has been profoundly impacted by global change, particularly in drylands, which are highly susceptible to both anthropogenic and natural disturbances. However, a significant knowledge gap remains concerning the extent and drivers of litter decomposition across different dryland ecosystems, limiting our understanding of its role in ecosystem metabolism. Using the ARIDEC data collection and published literature, a global database on litter decomposition and corresponding environmental conditions in drylands was developed, comprising 2204 observations from 158 sites. Decomposition rates varied across the four dryland subregions, with the highest rates in the dry‐subhumid region (3.24% month−1), followed by semi‐arid (3.15% month−1), arid (2.62% month−1), and hyper‐arid (2.35% month−1) regions. Notably, the dry‐subhumid region exhibited the greatest variability. Anthropogenic systems, such as cropland (5.52% month−1) and urban ecosystems (7.88% month−1), demonstrated higher decomposition rates than natural systems (averaging 3.07% month−1). Across drylands, the decomposition rate followed an exponential function of decomposition duration (), influenced by litter quality, climate, and soil properties. Beyond decomposition duration, three boosted regression tree models were developed to identify the primary factors influencing early (R2 = 0.92), mid (R2 = 0.71), and late (R2 = 0.80) decomposition stages. In the early‐ and mid‐stages, precipitation, atmospheric temperature, and soil moisture were critical factors, while the UV index and initial nitrogen content of litter played significant roles in the early and mid‐phases, respectively. In the late phase, soil total nitrogen, soil organic carbon, and the initial C/N ratio of litter were the primary factors. Our findings reveal consistent temporal patterns in decomposition rates and the mechanisms underlying them in global dryland ecosystems. These insights can enhance the accuracy of biogeochemical models in drylands and improve predictions of their feedback to the climate system.

PurposeThis study aims to deepen the understanding of what stakeholders talk about when it comes to sustainable fashion on social media and how. Sustainable fashion is a broad umbrella term, which can distract attention from the differences between the individual subtopics and the sentiments ascribed to them. However, little systematic research exists on how the stakeholder activity and dominant sentiments vary across different sustainable fashion topics.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a social media analysis of 19,179 tweets authored by 1,819 distinct stakeholders on Twitter (now “X”) from 2007 to 2022. A large language model, a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on understanding and generating human language, is used to conduct a sentiment analysis of six stakeholder groups and 81 keywords linked to sustainable fashion. Two case examples are used to highlight the differences in stakeholder perceptions of sustainable fashion.FindingsThe social media analysis demonstrates how subcategories of sustainable fashion significantly differ in terms of stakeholder interest, activity and sentiments. For instance, tweets on circular economy and relevant subcategories (closed loop, recycling, upcycling, etc.) are popular, whereas issues linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) and due diligence receive little attention on social media. While sentiments toward sustainable fashion are in general positive, discussions on topics such as labor rights issues are consistently associated with negative sentiments across most stakeholder groups.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how stakeholders and sentiments vary across different topics linked to sustainable fashion on social media, which has become one of the main channels for communicating sustainability content. The findings thereby shed new light on dominant stakeholder positions regarding a wide variety of sustainable fashion topics.