Energy Use Efficiency

Energy is one of the most important factors of production. Its efficient use is crucial for ensuring production and environmental quality. Unlike normal goods with supply management, energy is demand managed. Efficient energy use—or energy efficiency—aims to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. Energy use efficiency can be achieved in situations such as housing, offices, industrial production, transport and agriculture as well as in public lighting and services. The use of energy can be reduced by using technology that is energy saving. This Special Issue is a collection of research on energy use efficiency

Forests as Nature-Based Solutions: Ecosystem Services, Multiple Benefits and Trade-Offs

The concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is becoming increasingly relevant in international and European policy frameworks. In March 2022, the fifth session of the United Nations Assembly for the Environment (UNEA-5) adopted a formal “Resolution on Nature-based Solutions NbS for Supporting Sustainable Development”, in which an agreed definition of NbS was given, recognizing their important role in the global response to climate change and its social, economic, and environmental effects. Forest ecosystems, including natural forests, managed forests, agroforestry systems, and urban and peri-urban forests, can be considered as multifunctional NbS, delivering key ecosystem services to people and supporting biodiversity. However, for the effective implementation and mainstreaming of forests as NbS, several research gaps still need to be addressed.This collection of papers presents relevant results from scientific researchers about the ecosystem services provided by forests in natural and urban contexts, encompassing not only providing services, but also regulation and maintenance services, such as carbon and air pollution sink, as well as recreational services. The impacts of environmental changes on forest multifunctionality and services provision are also investigated. Case studies for monetary valuation, willingness to pay for ecosystem services, and cost/benefit analyses are presented. The potential trade-offs and synergies between services, which might result from different stakeholders’ perspective and management strategies, are identified and critically discussed, adopting a science–policy interface approach

Agricultural Innovation and Sustainable Development

This book deals with sustainable agriculture at a time of climate change. It seeks to identify a number of solutions to deal with the agricultural stresses caused by climate change. These range from the identification and cultivation of appropriate crop varieties and the adoption of climate adaptive agricultural practices. Significant sustainable agricultural innovation is required to deal with these challenges. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) may be of crucial importance for modern agriculture. They serve to make R&D in agriculture attractive, by encouraging investment in new technologies and generating tradeable assets. A number of the chapters of this book refer to the principal IPRs relevant to agricultural innovation, namely: (i) patents, which protect inventions; (ii) plant variety rights, which protect the breeding of new and distinct plant varieties; and (iii) trademarks and geographical indications, which facilitate the marketing of products by providing protection for the symbols of their manufacturing or geographic origin. The United Nations Climate Change Panel has urged the consideration of the agricultural practices of traditional communities and some of these practices particularly involving rice, banana, and brassica cultivation are explored in the book. This book is essential reading for officials of governments and international organizations concerned with sustainability, as well as scholars and students concerned with these subject