Water-scarce island regions increasingly rely on alternative water resources such as reclaimed wastewater, rainwater harvesting, and desalination. Yet the economic implications of expanding these sources—especially the forward-linkage effects on regional production systems—remain underexamined in the literature, which has focused predominantly on the losses associated with water shortages or supply disruptions. This study addresses this gap by focusing on the forward-linkage economic implications of expanding alternative water availability in a water-constrained island system. Using a supply-driven input–output (IO) model combined with Structural Path Analysis (SPA), we evaluate the resulting economic ripple effects in Jeju Island, South Korea. This framework enables the identification of both the magnitude of supply-induced effects and their transmission across local and interregional production networks. The results indicate that the modeled effects of additional water supply are concentrated in three Jeju sectors: Food services and accommodation; Medical and health care services; and Public administration, defense, and social security services. In contrast, spillover effects in the rest of Korea are more modest but spread across wholesale, trade, manufacturing, and professional services, reflecting the structure of interregional linkages. SPA shows that 86.9 percent of the total forward influence accumulates through Tier 2 (Tiers 0–2), indicating early-tier concentration alongside higher-order and interregional pathways. These findings suggest that expanding alternative water resources can enhance regional economic stability while supporting sustainable development in water-stressed island regions and offer an analytical basis for integrating reclaimed water into long-term resource-management and regional-planning strategies.
This study investigates the causal effects of environmental enforcement on the composition of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sources in the Brazilian Amazon. Using a balanced panel of 708 municipalities from 2003 to 2019 and a staggered difference-in-differences design, we estimate the effects of environmental enforcement—proxied by the first observed environmental infraction—on emissions from land-use change, agriculture, and agricultural inputs, namely urea and limestone. The results show that environmental enforcement substantially reduces emissions associated with land-use change while increasing emissions from agriculture (including ranching) and agricultural inputs. Dynamic estimates indicate that reductions in land-use change emissions emerge earlier and become progressively stronger with exposure to enforcement, whereas increases in agricultural emissions develop more gradually. Evidence from agricultural productivity further supports an intensification mechanism, with enforcement associated with higher soybean and maize yields. The results highlight the importance of integrating forest-conservation policies with strategies for low-emission agricultural intensification when evaluating the broader climate consequences of environmental enforcement.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognised for their cost-effectiveness, multi-functionality and potential for addressing sustainability challenges. Despite their potential they remain understudied in low- and middle-income countries facing multiple compounding environmental and social challenges. Our study analyzes critical dimensions of NbS implementation using a Biodiversity-Climate-Society Nexus lens. We focus on Mongolia, which recently embarked in NbS implementation and policy integration, through explicit NbS and implicit NbS-aligned actions. We unravel the critical aspects of NbS implementation in Mongolia through institutional analysis and semi-structured expert interviews (n = 27) with representatives from the main organizations engaged in NbS activities in the country. We directly elicit from the interviews diverse perceived drivers (n = 4), potential impacts (n = 10), challenges (n = 6), and opportunities (n = 4). Through an interpretive synthesis of interview responses we identify stressors that could push social-ecological systems towards tipping points (n = 2), as well as leverage points (n = 5) for NbS implementation. Our results suggest (a) the centrality of climate change in the national NbS discourse, (b) the systemic role of financing, which acts as both a constraint and catalyst for NbS implementation, and (c) a fragmented yet amenable institutional landscape that offers opportunities for transformative change. The leverage points point to five priority areas for policy and practice for NbS uptake and implementation, namely: (a) introducing gradually and explicitlyand eventually mainstreaming the NbS concept, (b) enhancing intersectoral coordination, (c) enhancing public/stakeholder awareness and participation, (d) strengthening human and technical capacity, (e) mobilizing sustainable financing mechanisms.
Groundwater is vital for sustaining life, yet its invisibility, delayed feedbacks, and systemic uncertainty pose ethical challenges that are insufficiently addressed in existing water governance frameworks. We argue that groundwater calls for a relational ethics that acknowledges its roles as a resource, an ecosystem, and a cultural practice. We propose an ethical framework inspired by recent developments in water ethics and the Japanese concepts of Satoyama, Satoumi, and Satomizu, the symbiotic relationship between village and water. We suggest this can be operationalized through five governance commitments: making hidden relations visible, practicing reciprocity across the groundwater basin, exercising temporal accountability, legitimizing plural knowledge and institutionalizing adaptive repair. This framework is intended to complement, rather than replace, rights-based or utilitarian approaches to address the uncertainties, connectivity and cultural embeddedness associated with groundwater.
Habitat fragmentation in the South Chilean biodiversity hotspot threatens endemic species and ecosystem functionality, requiring a shift from isolated protected areas to integrated connectivity networks under Chile's SBAP Law (No. 21,600). This study develops a replicable framework to parameterize landscape resistance through a multispecies hybrid approach, integrating habitat suitability modeling for six focal species, systematized expert knowledge, and weighted uncertainty metrics. Property density is incorporated as a viability variable alongside high-resolution land cover characterization, distinguishing preservation from restoration priorities. Results reveal strong spatial convergence between empirical models and expert knowledge, identifying a 178-km corridor network supported by convergent modeling evidence. This study provides a regional-scale operational framework to support the implementation of ecological corridors under the SBAP Law, offering a transferable approach for allocating financial and regulatory instruments toward strategic properties and translating connectivity theory into an institutionally applicable planning tool.
