Climate change during the COVID-19 outbreak: scoping future perspectives

The role of green financing to enhance tourism growth by mitigating carbon emission in China

The tourism industry has undergone rapid inquiry in modern times. Based on climatic importance, current research intends to inquire about the role of green financing in enhancing tourism growth by mitigating carbon emissions in China. The study used Data Envelopment Analysis to infer the efficiency of the study model in the study context based on research topicality. Our findings highlighted that China's local tourism destination, renowned for its health and wellness tourism, indicated tourist inspiration to visit climate-supporting visit stations. Study results extended that using green financing for climate change mitigation in a Chinese tourist destination is essential. Empirical results confirmed that green funding directly mitigated climate change and enhanced tourism growth in Chinese settings by solving related issues. On such findings, the study yielded the practical implications for green financing institutions, climate change policymakers and Chinese officials for tourism development.

COVID-19, travel restrictions and environmental consequences

The component of human life that has been most significantly altered by the COVID-19 epidemic is travel. Due to the upheaval produced by the pandemic breakout, countries are becoming increasingly avaricious and are scrambling to stockpile vaccines. The world has been locked down to reduce/control the pandemic outbreak, driving countries to shut their doors to other people from countries. The recent pandemic has had a short-term, positive effect on the environment, but travel restrictions have caused problems for the common person and are expected to deteriorate more soon, necessitating longer quarantines, vaccination requirements, vaccine passports, and immunization certificates required by countries for safe travel. Thus, this study has three objectives. First, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 on travel and the environment, as well as the role that tourists play in the transmission of the virus. Second, we examine how countries are handling COVID-19 vaccines. Finally, we pinpoint differences in vaccination coverage.

COVID-19 response in Africa: impacts and lessons for environmental management and climate change adaptation

The COVID-19 pandemic adds pressure on Africa; the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts, threatening the realization of most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The continent is witnessing an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and environmental change. The COVID-19 was managed relatively well across in the continent, providing lessons and impetus for environmental management and addressing climate change. This work examines the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and climate change, analyses its management and draws lessons from it for climate change response in Africa. The data, findings and lessons are drawn from peer reviewed articles and credible grey literature on COVID-19 in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly, causing loss of lives and stagnation of the global economy, overshadowing the current climate crisis. The pandemic was managed through swift response by the top political leadership, research and innovations across Africa providing possible solutions to COVID-19 challenges, and redirection of funds to manage the pandemic. The well-coordinated COVID-19 containment strategy under the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased sharing of resources including data was a success in limiting the spread of the virus. These strategies, among others, proved effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19. The findings provide lessons that stakeholders and policy-makers can leverage in the management of the environment and address climate change. These approaches require solid commitment and practical-oriented leadership.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-023-02956-0.

Novel effective bioprocess for optimal CO2 fixation via microalgae-based biomineralization under semi-continuous culture

In this study, the effects of microalgae-based biomineralization in a semi-continuous process (M-BSP) on biomass productivity and CO2 fixation rate were investigated. M-BSP significantly improved biomass production and CO2 fixation rate at the second stage of induction by sustaining relatively high photosynthetic rate without exposure to toxic substances (e.g., chlorellin) from aging cells using the microalgae Chlorella HS2. In conventional systems, cells do not receive irradiated light evenly, and many cells age and burst because of the long culture period. In contrast, in the M-BSP, the photosynthesis efficiency increases and biomass production is not inhibited because most of the cells can be harvested during shorter culture period. The accumulated biomass production and CO2 fixation rate of the HS2 cells cultured under M-BSP increased by 4.67- (25 ± 1.09 g/L) and 10.9-fold (30.29 ± 1.79 g/L day-1), respectively, compared to those cultured without the CaCl2 treatment.

Climate change and COVID-19: Interdisciplinary perspectives from two global crises

The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change - two major current global crises - are far-reaching, the parallels between the two are striking, and their influence on one another are significant. Based on the wealth of evidence that has emerged from the scientific literature during the first two years of the pandemic, this study argues that these two global crises require holistic multisectoral mitigation strategies. Despite being different in nature, neither crisis can be effectively mitigated without considering their interdependencies. Herein, significant interactions between these two crises are highlighted and discussed. Major implications related to the economy, energy, technology, environment, food systems and agriculture sector, health systems, policy, management, and communities are detailed via a review of existing joint literature. Based on these outcomes, practical recommendations for future research and management are provided. While the joint timing of these crises has created a global conundrum, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated opportunities and lessons for devising sustainable recovery plans in relation to the climate crisis. The findings indicated that governments should work collaboratively to develop durable and adjustable strategies in line with long-term, global decarbonisation targets, promote renewable energy resources, integrate climate change into environmental policies, prioritise climate-smart agriculture and local food systems, and ensure public and ecosystem health. Further, differences in geographic distributions of climate change and COVID-19 related death cases revealed that these crises pose different threats to different parts of the world. These learnings provide insights to address the climate emergency - and potential future global problems with similar characteristics - if international countries act urgently and collectively.

Does the COVID-19 pandemic derail US-China collaboration on carbon neutrality research? A survey

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted scientific research activities, especially international cooperation in scientific research. Using bibliometric methods and scientific knowledge graph software, and by calculating collaboration indicators such as international collaboration rates, this work conducts a comprehensive review of carbon neutrality publications in the Web of Science database before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to explore whether the COVID-19 pandemic derail China-U.S. collaboration on carbon neutrality research. The results show that (i) During the COVID-19 pandemic, more extensive research on carbon neutrality was carried out around the world, with China and the United States leading the way in carbon neutrality scientific output. (ii) Following the outbreak of the COVID-19, the global center of global carbon neutrality shifted from the United States to China. (iii) During the COVID-19 pandemic, research ties between China and the United States strengthened. The number of joint publications on carbon neutrality between China and the United States has greatly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those before. (iv) The proportion of China-U.S. cooperation in China's international cooperation has decreased, while it is the opposite for the United States. At the end of the article, we put forward relevant suggestions for realizing the sustainable development goals of climate change in the post-epidemic era for policymakers' reference. This paper provides important insights into the theoretical research of scholars in the carbon neutrality field.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution: a global research framework, challenges, and future perspectives

As a result of extreme modifications in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the status of air quality has recently been improved. This bibliometric study was conducted on a global scale to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution, identify the emerging challenges, and discuss the future perspectives during the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For this, we have estimated the scientific production trends between 2020 and 2021 and investigated the contributions of countries, institutions, authors, and most prominent journals metrics network analysis on the topic of COVID-19 combined with air pollution research spanning the period between January 01, 2020, and June 21, 2021. The search strategy retrieved a wide range of 2003 studies published in scientific journals from the Web of Sciences Core Collection (WoSCC). The findings indicated that (1) publications on COVID-19 pandemic and air pollution were 990 (research articles) in 2021 with 1870 citations; however, the year 2020 witnessed only 830 research articles with a large number 16,600 of citations. (2) China ranked first in the number of publications (n = 365; 18.22% of the global output) and was the main country in international cooperation network, followed by the USA (n = 278; 13.87% of the global output) and India (n = 216; 10.78 of the total articles). (3) By exploring the co-occurrence and links strengths of keywords "COVID-19" (1075; 1092), "air pollution" (286; 771), "SARS-COV-2" (252; 1986). (4) The lessons deduced from the COVID-19 pandemic provide defined measures to reduce air pollution globally. The outcomes of the present study also provide useful guidelines for future research programs and constitute a baseline for researchers in the domain of environmental and health sciences to estimate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution.

From the COVID-19 pandemic to corrupt practices: a tale of two evils

Emergencies and corruption go hand in hand in times of crisis. We are currently living in a pandemic phase, and corruption is even more damaging during these times of crisis that the world is experiencing with COVID-19. Vaccination is the only survival option that we have. The development of a nation will soon be measured by the criteria of who owns more vaccines. This study has four objectives. The first is to explore the most recent relevant literature. Moreover, we also investigate the unique trilogy of corruption, the environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The second is to identify adequate channels for distributing the COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines should be dispersed based on the categories of age, gender, ethnicity, profession, and health conditions. Third, we explored the factors that are causing corruption in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings show that unequal distribution, theft and black markets, weaponization of vaccines, logistical challenges, and substandard and falsified vaccines are the factors that potentially lead to corruption. The fourth objective is to investigate solutions for mitigating corruption. We revealed that blockchain, awareness, well-planned distribution channels, and prioritization of vulnerable groups are the steps that could effectively reduce corruption.

Constructed Wetlands as Nature-Based Solutions in the Post-COVID Agri-Food Supply Chain: Challenges and Opportunities

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the interchangeable link between human and nature. The health and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 are directly or indirectly linked to the natural environment and to the way that agri-food systems interact with nature. Although the pandemic continues to evolve and there are still many uncertainties, important issues about the future of the agri-food sector and the need for a sustainable and environmentally friendly reformation are beginning to arise in society. Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) encompass a broad range of practices that can be introduced in the agri-food supply chain and address multiple environmental challenges of the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 era while providing economic and societal benefits. In this perspective, the design and establishment of multifunctional constructed wetlands as NbSs opens a portfolio of eco-innovative options throughout the agri-food supply chain, offering a realistic and promising way towards the green regeneration of the post-COVID-19 economy and the welfare of society. The aim of this work is to explore the potential role of constructed wetlands as Nature-based Solutions in the agri-food supply chain of the forthcoming post-COVID-19 era. More specifically, this work aims to reveal application opportunities of constructed wetlands in the different segments of the agri-food supply chain, identify linkages with societal challenges and EU policies, and discuss their potential limitations, future challenges, and perspectives.

Difference and Cluster Analysis on the Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China During COVID-19 Lockdown via a Complex Network Model

The continuous increase of carbon emissions is a serious challenge all over the world, and many countries are striving to solve this problem. Since 2020, a widespread lockdown in the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19 escalated, severely restricting the movement of people and unnecessary economic activities, which unexpectedly reduced carbon emissions. This paper aims to analyze the carbon emissions data of 30 provinces in the 2020 and provide references for reducing emissions with epidemic lockdown measures. Based on the method of time series visualization, we transform the time series data into complex networks to find out the hidden information in these data. We found that the lockdown would bring about a short-term decrease in carbon emissions, and most provinces have a short time point of impact, which is closely related to the level of economic development and industrial structure. The current results provide some insights into the evolution of carbon emissions under COVID-19 blockade measures and valuable insights into energy conservation and response to the energy crisis in the post-epidemic era.

Sustainable Consumption in Consumer Behavior in the Time of COVID-19: Topic Modeling on Twitter Data Using LDA

By using text mining techniques, this study identifies the topics of sustainable consumption that are important during the COVID-19 pandemic. An Application Programming Interface (API) streaming method was used to extract the data from Twitter. A total of 14,591 tweets were collected using Twitter streaming API. However, after data cleaning, 13,635 tweets were considered for analysis. The objectives of the study are to identify (1) the topics users tweet about sustainable consumption and (2) to detect the emotion-based sentiments in the tweets. The study used Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm for topic modeling and the Louvain algorithm for semantic network clustering. NRC emotion lexicon was used for sentiment analysis. The LDA model discovers six topics: organic food consumption, food waste, vegan food, sustainable tourism, sustainable transport, and sustainable energy consumption. While the Louvain algorithm detects four clusters—lifestyle and climate change, responsible consumption, energy consumption, and renewable energy, sentiment analysis results show more positive emotions among the users than the negative ones. The study contributes to existing literature by providing a fresh perspective on various interconnected topics of sustainable consumption that bring global consumption to a sustainable level.