Reviews & Analysis

Climate change may shift where crops can grow, but it will not determine who farms the land. A modelling study suggests that shrinking agricultural workforces could leave climatically suitable large areas practically unavailable for cultivation.

This Review shifts the focus of research on perovskite solar cells from efficiency to industrial reliability, scalability and circularity, providing a strategic roadmap for sustainable manufacturing by analysing life-cycle impacts and fail-safe scaling strategies.

Greater household dependence on forest resources is associated with lower tree species diversity in tropical forests, highlighting the interconnected dynamics of poverty and biodiversity in multifunctional landscapes. Forest policies that aim to conserve biodiversity must consider the interconnected dynamics of poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation to achieve multiple sustainability goals.

The fabrication of silk materials typically requires large amounts of solvents. Now, a simple thermomechanical strategy enables natural silk fibres to be directly fused into strong, multifunctional materials without solution processing. By preserving silk’s hierarchical structure, this approach, which is amenable to scale-up, offers a sustainable route towards high-performance bio-derived materials.

For decades, phosphorus recovery from wastewater has largely relied on organic carbon supplementation, which affects the sustainability of the recovery process. Research has now found a methanotrophic polyphosphate-accumulating organism capable of low-carbon phosphorus recovery.

Legal systems can either enable or constrain shifts to sustainability. Here the authors bridge computational network analysis with qualitative legal expertise to develop a conceptual framework that can help identify and target changes to existing laws that can trigger system-wide effects.

Climate change-induced sea-level rise poses a significant societal challenge, but the extent of potential inundation remains uncertain. Looking at the recent geologic past and at prehistoric human adaptation provides valuable insights into possible new coastlines and strategies to help inform the future of modern coastal communities.

Creating scalable and cost-effective smart windows that modulate solar radiation has long been a challenge. A simple electrochromic organogel can effectively tune solar radiation entering indoor space through the dynamic aggregation of polyoxometalate clusters, enabling large-area, low-cost glazing for energy-efficient buildings and vehicles.

Wastewater utilities use anaerobic digestion and biogas utilization to reduce energy costs and emissions, but methane leakage can undermine both the climate benefits and project economics of these systems, especially as power grids decarbonize. Safeguarding climate integrity will require performance-based methane policies that pair robust monitoring with enforceable leakage thresholds and targeted leak detection and repair.

Enacting the social and environmental change needed to address the most pressing sustainability challenges can prove unwieldy. However, identifying positive tipping points that accelerate positive feedback cycles may be the key to large-scale natural recovery.

Ubiquitous mobility data from traffic cameras and mobile phones enable large-scale, fine-grained, near-real-time estimation of traffic emissions. Our analysis reveals systematic biases in conventional urban emission inventories and shows that Manhattan’s congestion pricing programme led to a 16–22% reduction in traffic emissions in the 8 weeks after its implementation.

Electrochemical processes enable the efficient removal of persistent water pollutants, yet real-world applications are hindered by electrolyte addition and low overall energy efficiency. A device design now addresses these challenges, enabling electrolyte-free operation while coupling cathodic and anodic processes to improve treatment and energy efficiencies.

Massive hydropower expansion in the global south repeats unsustainable past social and environmental harms, raising questions about how to govern these projects effectively. This Review highlights shifting and evolving global dynamics, and identifies opportunities for more just and strategic hydropower governance.

High temperatures disrupt sleep worldwide, with disproportionate impacts on older adults, women and populations in lower-income countries. A study uses climate change simulations to project future global sleep erosion and, in turn, the decline in childhood general cognitive ability and associated socioeconomic costs.

Soft robots inspired by living organisms hold the promise of gentle, adaptable interactions with the natural world, but leave behind persistent waste. Now scientists show a fully compostable robotic system that addresses this limitation by offering durable performance and decomposing safely into the soil at the end of its life.

Growing demand for nuclear fuel is accelerating the need for sustainable uranium resources that ensure long-term supply and mitigate environmental risks. A study now presents an intriguing self-powered methodology that utilizes the motion of falling water droplets to drive uranium recovery from salt lakes.

The planetary boundaries framework has emerged as a powerful tool for assessing the sustainable habitability of our planet. Reassessing these boundaries from a flow-based perspective demonstrates the critical threat posed by climate change relative to other biogeochemical risks.

Reusing materials from spent lithium-ion batteries is a key strategy for developing a sustainable supply chain, but we need to deepen our understanding of the associated environmental impacts. Now, a model-based analysis shows that pretreating end-of-life batteries is critical for enhancing the sustainability of recycling.

Coral reefs are at a planetary tipping point, widely threatened by ocean acidification. Preserving and promoting coastal ecosystems can align with existing nature-based solutions to bolster blue carbon reservoirs to increase ocean alkalinity and support coral reef restoration.

The growing demand for therapeutic peptides has intensified concerns about the sustainability of current synthetic processes, which typically rely on excess reagents and, most critically, large volumes of solvents. In the pursuit of more sustainable practices, scientists now report a water-based synthetic protocol.