Natural Resources Defense Council

Governments and economic blocs are recognising that the world faces a biodiversity crisis. The restoration of biodiversity to the levels prior to widespread human induced damage has been incorporated as a crucial component of conservation in the Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention of Biological Diversity. The Nature Restoration Law (NRL) forms part of the European Union's response and after its adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, it has formally become the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR). The NRL aims to play a role in restoring ecosystems, habitats and species but does not expressly include genetic diversity, the third biodiversity component. Considering genetic diversity in strategic biodiversity planning is important to help nature adapt to rapid anthropogenic change. We have reviewed the text of the NRL and note opportunities to incorporate genetic diversity in National Restoration Plans to augment its implementation. In particular, genetic diversity assessments are well aligned with the NRL's aspiration to enhance connectivity, and genetic indicators can assess the effectiveness of its implementation. Here we give examples where restoration has incorporated genetic diversity to ensure long term wide-reaching success. This is of relevance beyond the NRL and applies generally to policy for nature restoration efforts globally, especially those related to the Global Biodiversity Framework. • Nature Restoration Law (NRL) will shape biodiversity conservation in Europe. • Genetic diversity is not mentioned in the NRL core text but is key to implementation. • Connectivity is a key part of the NRL and is central to protecting genetic diversity. • Genetic diversity is easily monitored and could be incorporated in NRL reporting. • Genetic conservation can be incorporated in National Restoration Plans.

Climate change is already affecting the environment and people around the world. We have seen changes in the air, in water, and in plants and animals. These impacts include things like warmer temperatures, sea-level rise, heavy rainfall and more intense storms. Hundreds of plants and animals on the land and in the ocean have been lost because of very hot temperatures. Climate change has also made it more difficult for many people to access food or water, and has caused some people to lose their ways of earning a living. Unfortunately, people who have contributed the least to climate change are experiencing the worst effects. This shows that the effects of climate change are not fair and that there are uneven impacts on different people and places. It is important for us to understand the impacts of climate change on the environment and people so that we can find ways to solve these problems.

This chapter of the New York City Panel on Climate Change 4 (NPCC4) report considers climate health risks, vulnerabilities, and resilience strategies in New York City's unique urban context. It updates evidence since the last health assessment in 2015 as part of NPCC2 and addresses climate health risks and vulnerabilities that have emerged as especially salient to NYC since 2015. Climate health risks from heat and flooding are emphasized. In addition, other climate-sensitive exposures harmful to human health are considered, including outdoor and indoor air pollution, including aeroallergens; insect vectors of human illness; waterborne infectious and chemical contaminants; and compounding of climate health risks with other public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence-informed strategies for reducing future climate risks to health are considered.

Bysouth D, Boan JJ, Malcolm JR and Taylor AR ( ) Corrigendum: High emissions or carbon neutral? Inclusion of "anthropogenic" forest sinks leads to underreporting of forestry emissions.

Hector, an open-source reduced complexity climate-carbon cycle model. Hector is a computationally efficient source of climate information, capable of completing a run in a fraction of a second. Hector models critical Earth system processes on a global and annual basis. Here we present an updated version of the model, Hector V3.1.1 (hereafter Hector V3). In this manuscript, we document Hector's new features, and implementation of new science (e.g., radiative forcing calculations, carbon cycle, etc.). Hector V3 results are in good agreement with historical observations of CO2 concentrations and global mean surface temperature, and its future temperature projections are consistent with more complex Earth System Model output data from the Sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. We document that Hector V3 is a flexible, performant, and robust simulator of contemporary and 21 st -century global climate, and in closing, discuss future areas of improvement and research with respect to the model's scientific, stakeholder, and educational priorities. Reduced complexity climate models (RCMs) fill a critical role within the diverse climate modeling landscape (Sarofim et al., 2021) . By operating at lower resolutions with strategically simpler representations of large-scale climate processes and dynamics in contrast to coupled Earth System Models (ESMs), RCMs are computationally-efficient sources of future climate projections, able to produce large ensembles of results, often exploring key uncertainties, at a fraction of the computational cost of a single ESM run (Kawamiya et al., 2020) . For this reason, RCMs such as Hector, MAGICC, FaIR, and the other

In this community-led pilot study we sought to investigate the utility of expanded per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing for drinking water, using a targeted analysis for 70 PFAS and the Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) Assay which can indicate the presence of precursor PFAS. PFAS were detected in 30 out of 44 drinking water samples across 16 states; 15 samples would exceed US EPA's proposed maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS. Twenty-six unique PFAS were identified, including 12 not covered by either US EPA Methods 537.1 or 533. An ultrashort chain PFAS, PFPrA, had the highest frequency of detection, occurring in 24 of 30 samples. It was also the PFAS reported at the highest concentration in 15 of these samples. We created a data filter to model how these samples would be reported under the upcoming fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) requirements. All of the 30 samples with PFAS quantified by the 70 PFAS test had one or more PFAS present that would not be captured if the UCMR5 reporting requirements were followed. Our analysis suggests the upcoming UCMR5 will likely underreport PFAS in drinking water, due to limited coverage and higher minimum reporting limits. Results were inconclusive on the utility of the TOP Assay for monitoring drinking water. The results from this study provide important information to community participants regarding their current PFAS drinking water exposure. In addition, these results suggest gaps that need to be addressed by regulatory and scientific communities, in particular, the need for expanded targeted analysis of PFAS, the development of a sensitive, broad spectrum PFAS test, and further investigation into ultrashort chain PFAS.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is present in over 80 countries, employing about 15 million miners and serving as source of livelihood for millions more. The sector is estimated to be the largest emitter of mercury globally. The Minamata Convention on Mercury seeks to reduce and, where feasible, eliminate mercury use in the ASGM. However, the total quantity of mercury used in ASGM globally is still highly uncertain, and the adoption of mercury-free technologies has been limited. This paper presents an overview of new data, derived from Minamata ASGM National Action Plan submissions, that can contribute to refining estimates of mercury use in ASGM, and then assesses technologies that can support the phase out mercury use in ASGM while increasing gold recovery. The paper concludes with a discussion of social and economic barriers to adoption of these technologies, illustrated by a case study from Uganda.