Comment

The leather industry is at a pivotal moment on its path towards sustainability. Although many bio-based leather alternatives can reduce environmental impact, we need clear definitions of such alternatives to guide materials innovations that truly bring them into the mainstream, sustainable market, as highlighted in a recent court ruling.

Climate change creates multiple pathways of water contamination. Here we call for defining climate change-driven contaminants as a distinct class and explore their implications.

Although researchers try to understand the physical and chemical impacts of fibre-shaped microscopic pollution, use of inconsistent terminology hinders collective progress. Here we call for a unified language as the essential foundation for coordinated research across disciplines and effective mitigation.

Increasing autocratization globally threatens academic freedoms and scientific integrity, undermining core assumptions of sustainability science and environmental policymaking. To stay relevant, sustainability scientists and environmentalists must change how we work and ally with those defending academic freedom.

Understanding the intersections between Indigenous Peoples and the One Health approach demands a fundamental reorientation of how translational work is conceptualized, enacted and evaluated. Partnership between systems may be possible with a clear recognition by the One Health community of Indigenous rights and Indigenous knowledge systems.

Although catalytic processes offer a low-cost, low-energy alternative to traditional water treatment methods, they still face a lack of industrial adoption. Here we recommend standardized rigorous practices on the catalyst testing to bridge the gap between laboratory research and practical application.

Lack of transparency and standardization in experimental design and performance evaluation hinders the real-world applications of advanced oxidation processes — critical technologies in wastewater treatment. Here, we highlight the common pitfalls in advanced oxidation process research and propose practices to guide future studies.

Nature-based climate solutions tend to overlook Africa’s diverse contexts and development priorities. We propose six guiding principles centred on the aspirations of African peoples, recognizing the cultural connection of communities to their environments and the role of biodiversity in sustaining livelihoods and identities.

Oil drilling has been proposed at the mouth of the Amazon River in one of the most protected states in the Brazilian Amazon, Amapá. If the pending project is approved, drilling is likely to go ahead in 19 other oil blocks in this region, where biodiversity and the socio-economic well-being of local populations could be at risk.

It is becoming increasingly clear that animal cultures have intrinsic, irreplaceable value, and yet they are not adequately protected by preserving habitat. The time has come for UNESCO to explicitly protect non-human cultural heritage alongside human heritage.

Businesses increasingly experiment with monetary impact valuation to assess their sustainability impacts, raising both promise and concern. We propose a scientific approach — grounded in eight principles — to ensure valuation serves sustainability rather than distorts it.

Mediterranean olive groves, which have long been symbols of tradition and culinary heritage, now reveal warning signs of rapidly declining soil health across Europe’s agricultural landscapes. Driven by intensive farming, climate pressures and policy gaps, accelerating soil loss threatens both ecosystem health and rural livelihoods, signalling a critical need for sustainable soil management and adaptive strategies.

Systemic barriers to sustained academic participation in the activities of international science–policy organizations undermine equitable knowledge co-production — a collaborative multi-actor creation of knowledge. We outline institutional reforms to tackle such barriers to the benefit of researchers, organizations and society at large.

The fifth negotiation round for a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution concluded without an agreed text and will resume at INC-5.2 in August 2025. Scientific evidence and inputs remain vital in informing the final stage of negotiations and ensuring the final treaty is robust and effective.

Climate science and national emissions reporting communities have historically used different definitions and methods for anthropogenic land-based carbon removals. As the mitigation agenda accelerates, reconciling these differences for comparability and moving towards integration is crucial for enhancing confidence in land-use emission estimates.

At a time when the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions precipitously, artificial intelligence (AI) brings large opportunities and large risks. To address its uncertain environmental impact, we propose the ‘Earth alignment’ principle to guide AI development and deployment towards planetary stability.

Dramatic improvements in soil health are necessary to increase agricultural production and reduce crop failures. We provide recommendations for scaling of soil health and fertility management in Africa through practical approaches to prioritization, evidence-based policy and effective extension.

The goal to achieve urban water sustainability is likely to be hindered by current regulations in China. Setting holistic, flexible and ecologically benign pollutant discharge standards can help China’s efforts to shape a more sustainable wastewater management approach.

Sustainable coexistence with wildfire requires overcoming vicious cycles that trap socio-ecological systems in maladaptive states. A carefully coordinated programme of innovation, education and governance, the ‘wildfire adaptation triad’, is essential for escaping maladaptation across national, community and individual scales.

Urban soils are often overlooked in climate resilience planning and policy. We advocate for a broader framing of urban soils within an equity-centred social ecological framework that acknowledges the role of soils as essential infrastructure and enhances investment to maximize their benefits towards resilient urban futures.