Dynamics of the eco-environmental quality in response to land use changes in rapidly urbanizing areas: A case study of Wuhan, China from 2000 to 2018

The dramatic land use changes that occur in rapidly urbanized areas are important inducement to changes in the eco-environmental quality.Investigating urban land use changes and their eco-environmental quality responses can provide theoretical support and a decision-making basis for sustainable and high-quality development in rapidly urbanizing areas.Taking Wuhan,China,as the study area,this paper extracts land use information using Landsat satellite remote sensing images and a support vector machine classification.Based on this,a remote sensing-based ecological index evaluation model including humidity,greenness,dryness and heat is constructed to explore the changes in land use and their eco-environmental quality responses from 2000 to 2018.The results show that(1)the structure,extent and spatial layout of land use in Wuhan from 2000 to 2018 have undergone tremendous changes under rapid urbanization,and the change of construction land is the greatest among all land use types;(2)the overall quality of eco-environment in Wuhan continues to improve as the scale of the improved eco-environment areas is greater than that of the deteriorated areas.The direction and magnitude of the impact of each indicator on the eco-environmental quality are different;(3)the improvement or deterioration of eco-environmental quality is closely related to the changes of different land use types within the study area.The eco-environmental quality shows significant spatial heterogeneity,especially between the main urban areas and the suburban areas.This paper argues that reasonably adjusting the land use structure can serve to maintain or even improve the quality of the regional eco-environment.Finally,this study puts forward suggestions for the coordinated development of land use and the eco-environment in rapidly urbanizing areas.

Technology innovation for infectious diseases in the developing world

Enabling innovation and access to health technologies remains a key strategy in combating infectious diseases in low-and middle-income countries(LMICs).However,a gulf between paying markets and the endemicity of such diseases has contributed to the dearth of R&D in meeting these public health needs.While the pharmaceutical industry views emerging economies as potential new markets,most of the world’s poorest bottom billion now reside in middle-income countries-a fact that has complicated tiered access arrangements.However,product development partnerships-particularly those involving academic institutions and small firms-find commercial opportunities in pursuing even neglected diseases;and a growing pharmaceutical sector in BRICS countries offers hope for an indigenous base of innovation.Such innovation will be shaped by 1)access to building blocks of knowledge;2)strategic use of intellectual property and innovative financing to meet public health goals;3)collaborative norms of open innovation;and 4)alternative business models,some with a double bottom line.Facing such resource constraints,LMICs are poised to develop a new,more resource-effective model of innovation that holds exciting promise in meeting the needs of global health.

Cooking-energy transition in Nepal: trend review

Clean-cooking energy is key to meeting climate-mitigation goals and a range of development objectives,especially for improving the well-being of women and children.Inefficient burning of solid biomass for cooking releases household air pollution that is hazardous to health,while putting pressure on forest resources.This paper provides an overview of the household-cooking-energy transition in Nepal to date.Despite numerous efforts by the government and other actors to speed this transition,energy data spanning the years 2000-18 reveal that~69%of households nationwide still rely on solid fuels for cooking today.The proportion of solid-fuel users is especially high in rural regions,reaching>80%.Moreover,if the current rate of progress is not accelerated,the use of solid fuels will remain high even in 2030,preventing the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal(SDG)7.Cooking-fuel choices are heavily constrained by accessibility,demographic and socio-economic factors.Thus,this paper recommends that evidence-based and integrated policies and strategies be urgently deployed to foster a more effective and rapid transition towards clean energy,which is critical to achieving SDG 7.

Greenhouse Gas(GHG)Emission Mitigation and Ecosystem Adaptation along Belt and Road Initiative

Since its launch in 2013,the Chinese Road and Belt Innitiative(BRI)has grown into a platform for any countries and regions that wish to participate,with global connectivity as the orienting goal.However,since its inception,concerns over the BRI’s potential impacts on ecology,environment and resilience,as well as its implications for global climate change and sustainability,have gathered force.As this thematic issue goes to press,these already complex BRI issues have been compounded by challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.Whether and how the BRI can meet these challenges are questions worthy of deep exploration.This emerging BRI scholarship studied various aspects of BRI activities.However,major knowledge gaps remain regarding BRI impacts on GHG emission and on climate adaptation and sustainable resource management more broadly.To this end,this thematic issue aims to contribute to deeper understandings of climate and environmental changes along the BRI by bringing together state-of-art research and views on climate change patterns,trends,risks,impacts and adaptation.