How an accounting tool can help us move beyond environment, social, and governance reporting (ESG) to action

Environment, social, and governance reporting (ESG) has failed to produce a reduction in the negative impacts of business activity. Companies produce reports, but reporting has become a goal in itself—not addressing the issues. Harpinder Sandhu writes that for the goal to shift to “action for sustainable development”, companies must incorporate the true cost accounting (TCA) tool, which includes a dollar value of all negative impacts in the balance sheet

Bottom-up transformation of agriculture and food systems

The global agenda for sustainable development includes the alleviation of poverty and hunger by developing sustainable agriculture and food systems. Intensive farming systems and its variations, such as sustainable intensification or ecological intensification, are currently being pro-moted as technologies that can improve agricultural productivity and reduce environmental im-pacts. However, these are focused only on per-hectare productivity with growing negative impacts on local culture and the environment. This study identifies the negative impacts of crop-and live-stock-based farming systems on the Indo-Gangetic plains, as well as in the USA, China, and South America as an example of key challenges in global agriculture. These impacts are classified into environmental, social, economic, and health impacts. An alternative paradigm is proposed to over-come some of the shortcomings of current global agriculture. This new bottom-up paradigm is based on three indicators that are fundamental to achieve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. These are divided into technical, geographic, and social indicators and have been analysed for four farming systems—low-input, high-input, organic, and desired farming systems. Seven global geographic regions have been analysed in terms of their socio-economic indicators and status of agriculture in order to develop pathways for the implementation of the new paradigm. The pathway for change suggested in this paper includes a focus on research and training, policy and institutional changes, and an evaluation of the costs and benefits, and changes in production models that consider scale and sustainability metrics and include inno-vations in consultation with all stakeholders. This new paradigm has the potential to direct global efforts towards more local and regional solutions, which are community driven and constitute a ‘bottom-up’ approach. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Quantifying psychopathology in rapid readmissions

Psychiatric readmissions contribute to a significant cost and healthcare burden to physicians, hospitals, and the healthcare system as an entity. Furthermore, as part of the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began to reduce financial coverage to hospitals with overwhelming rehospitalization rates. The purpose of this study was to do a systematic analysis on inpatient psychiatric readmission data and identify co-morbidities and risk factors that lead to high readmission rates. The data collection includes 163 patients with a total of 348 readmissions over the span of 90 days at one inner-city hospital in the Chicagoland area. Study findings suggest that higher rates of readmission are linked to cocaine abuse in both male and female populations. Diagnosis of bipolar in females and schizoaffective disorder in male populations were the among the highest for readmission. Key social factors such as homelessness and low socioeconomic status were identified to contribute to a large proportion of psychiatric readmission burden. However, an overwhelming amount of information was missing due to unobtained labs and lack of current patient social history. By using this data as well as data from electronic medical records (EMRs) to further investigate and identify other features of at-risk patients, hospitals can potentially address these markers to lower readmission rates. Ultimately, a higher understanding of the patients' needs can be understood and can help develop standardized plans of care for prevalent psychiatric illnesses in these populations

True cost accounting of food using farm level metrics : a new framework

The application of true cost accounting (TCA) at farm level requires a common framework and metric for measuring, capturing and valuing sustainability. We propose such a framework and farm metric that build on the four capitals—natural, social, human and produced—that are essential for sustainability. The framework is developed by reviewing the scientific and technical literature on various approaches and tools that have been used to measure farm sustainability. We use quantifiable aspects of sustainability in the farm metrics. The farm sustainability metrics comprise four capitals with 11 categories and 33 indicators. These indicators can be assessed using bio-physical assessment, descriptive or quantitative methods. Once this information is compiled for a farm, then some of the categories can be monetised to reflect all the costs and benefits of using state-of-the-art TCA. There is a need to establish benchmarks and standards for each of the four types of capitals and indicators for the comparison of food systems. We believe the use of this comprehensive framework and farm metrics will help to correct several deficiencies of the current food system. We conclude by highlighting the benefits and limitations in the use of farm metrics. Measuring all positive and negative externalities at farm level can shift global food systems towards sustainability. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Quantifying the economic value of ecosystem services in oil palm dominated landscapes in Riau Province in Sumatra, Indonesia

Ecosystem services in oil palm plantations owned by smallholders in four villages in the Riau Province, Indonesia were identified and valued. Nine provisioning, three regulating and maintenance, one cultural ecosystem service, and a single ecosystem dis-service, were identified from interviews with 62 farming households. Direct and indirect market valuation methods were used to estimate the total economic value (TEV) of these services, which averaged USD 6520 ha-1 year-1 (range = USD 2970-7729 ha-1 year-1). The values of provisioning services were USD 4331 ha-1 year-1 (range = USD 2263-5489 ha-1 year-1), regulating and maintenance services were valued at USD 1880 ha-1 year-1 (range of USD 707-3110 ha-1 year-1), and cultural services were USD 309 ha-1 year-1. We conclude that identifying and valuing ecosystem services offers an opportunity to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of smallholders in oil palm landscapes in Indonesia. © 2020 by the authors

Integrating cultural ecosystem services valuation into coastal wetlands restoration : a case study from South Australia

Elaborating the benefits humans receive from coastal wetlands using a Cultural Ecosystem Services assessment is an emergent and important field linking human wellbeing to ecosystem function. Translating these benefits into useable concepts for environmental policymakers, and managers is challenging yet important for supporting landscape restoration projects. This study responds to the call for Cultural Ecosystem Services case studies beyond the northern hemisphere. A household survey of residents adjacent to a peri-urban coastal wetland in South Australia and an online survey of interest groups were administered to identify co-benefits associated with a coastal restoration project in the region. A dynamic/relational cultural values framework guided the analysis. Findings reveal that visitation has a positive influence; people valued most the places with which they were familiar. The analysis confirms a mutual connection between: ‘doing’ (undertaking an activity), environmental awareness and appreciation, the formation of attachment to place, and having positive experiences. The analysis also points out that the naturalness of this coastline is highly valued. The findings here diverge from previous coastal landscape assessments based singularly on scenic value. The implication is that localised, place-based landscape assessments which include cultural values, offer a more deliberative approach to policy development and planning and will more likely incorporate what matters most to people. © 2020 The Author(s

Agricultural Land Fragmentation at Urban Fringes: An Application of Urban-To-Rural Gradient Analysis in Adelaide

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).One of the major consequences of expansive urban growth is the degradation and loss of productive agricultural land and agroecosystem functions. Four landscape metrics—Percentage of Land (PLAND), Mean Parcel Size (MPS), Parcel Density (PD), and Modified Simpson’s Diversity Index (MSDI)—were calculated for 1 km × 1 km cells along three 50 km-long transects that extend out from the Adelaide CBD, in order to analyze variations in landscape structures. Each transect has different land uses beyond the built-up area, and they differ in topography, soils, and rates of urban expansion. Our new findings are that zones of agricultural land fragmentation can be identified by the relationships between MPS and PD, that these occur in areas where PD ranges from 7 and 35, and that these occur regardless of distance along the transect, land use, topography, soils, or rates of urban growth. This suggests a geometry of fragmentation that may be consistent, and indicates that quantification of both land use and land-use change in zones of fragmentation is potentially important in planning

Relationship between C:N/C:O stoichiometry and ecosystem services in managed production systems

Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue that forest/agroforestry production systems are characterized by relatively higher C:O/C:N and ES value compared to arable production systems. Field investigations on C:N/C:O and 15 ES were determined in three diverse production systems: wheat monoculture (Cwheat), a combined food and energy system (CFE) and a beech forest in Denmark. The C:N/C:O ratios were 194.1/1.68, 94.1/1.57 and 59.5/1.45 for beech forest, CFE and Cwheat, respectively. The economic value of the non-marketed ES was also highest in beech forest (US$1089 ha(-1) yr(-1)) followed by CFE (US$ 800 ha(-1) yr(-1)) and Cwheat (US$339 ha(-1) yr(-1)). The combined economic value was highest in the CFE (US$ 3143 ha(-1) yr(-1)) as compared to the Cwheat (US$2767 ha(-1) yr(-1)) and beech forest (US$ 2365 ha(-1) yr(-1)). We argue that C:N/C:O can be used as a proxy of ES, particularly for the non-marketed ES, such as regulating, supporting and cultural services. These ES play a vital role in the sustainable production of food and energy. Therefore, they should be considered in decision making and developing appropriate policy responses for land use management

The future of farming: the value of ecosystem services in conventional and organic arable land. An experimental approach.

In the current work, a novel, experimental ‘bottom-up’ approach is used to quantify the economic value of ecosystem services (ES) associated with highly modified arable landscapes in Canterbury, New Zealand. First, the role of land management practices in the maintenance and enhancement of ES in agricultural land was investigated by quantifying the economic value of ES at the field level under organic and conventional arable systems. This quantification was based on an experimental approach in contrast with the earlier value transfer methods. Total annual economic value of ES in organic fields ranged from US $1610 to US$19,420 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and that of conventional fields from US $1270 to US$14,570 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The non-market value of ES in organic fields ranged from US $460 to US$5240 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The range of non-market values of ES in conventional fields was US $50 – 1240 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. There were significant differences between organic and conventional fields for the economic values of some ES. Next, this economic information was used to extrapolate and to calculate the total and non- market value of ES in Canterbury arable land. The total annual economic and non-market values of ES for the conventional arable area in Canterbury (125,000 ha) were US$332 million and US $71 million, respectively. If half the arable area under conventional farming shifted to organic practices, the total economic value of ES would be US$192 million and US $166 million annually for organic and conventional arable area, respectively. In this case, the non-market value of ES for the organic area was US$65 million and that of conventional area was US $35 million annually. This study demonstrated that arable farming provides a range of ES which can be measured using field experiments based on ecological principles by incorporating a ‘bottom-up’ approach. The work also showed that conventional New Zealand arable farming practices can severely reduce the financial contribution of some of these services in agriculture whereas organic agriculture practices enhance their economic value