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Environmental Research: Ecology is a multidisciplinary, open access journal devoted to addressing important macroscale challenges at the interface of ecology, biodiversity and conservation. The journal bridges scientific progress and methodological advances with assessments of environmental change impacts on ecosystems, and the responses of those ecosystems to change, including resilience, vulnerability and adaptation. For detailed information about subject coverage see the About the journal section.

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Qiuyan Yu et al 2024 Environ. Res.: Ecology 3 025001

The height of woody plants is a defining characteristic of forest and shrubland ecosystems because height responds to climate, soil and disturbance history. Orbiting LiDAR instruments, Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation LiDAR (GEDI), can provide near-global datasets of plant height at plot-level resolution. We evaluate canopy height measurements from ICESat-2 and GEDI with high resolution airborne LiDAR in six study sites in different biomes from dryland shrub to tall forests, with mean canopy height across sites of 0.5–40 m. ICESat-2 and GEDI provide reliable estimates for the relative height with RMSE and mean absolute error (MAE) of 7.49 and 4.64 m (all measurements ICESat-2) and 6.52 and 4.08 m (all measurements GEDI) for 98th percentile relative heights. Both datasets slightly overestimate the height of short shrubs (1–2 m at 5 m reference height), underestimate that of tall trees (by 6–7 m at 40 m reference height) and are highly biased (>3 m) for reference height <5 m, perhaps because of the difficulty of distinguishing canopy from ground signals. Both ICESat-2 and GEDI height estimates were only weakly sensitive to canopy cover and terrain slope ( R 2 < 0.06) and had lower error for night compared to day samples (ICESat-2 RMSE night: 5.57 m, day: 6.82 m; GEDI RMSE night: 5.94 m, day: 7.03 m). For GEDI, the day versus night differences varied with differences in mean sample heights for the day and night samples and had little effect on bias. Accuracy of ICESat-2 and GEDI canopy heights varies among biomes, and the highest MAE was observed in the tallest, densest forest (GEDI: 7.85 m; ICESat-2: 7.84 m (night) and 12.83 m (day)). Improvements in canopy height estimation would come from better discrimination of canopy photons from background noise for ICESat-2 and improvements in the algorithm for decomposing ground and canopy returns for GEDI. Both would benefit from methods to distinguish outlier samples.

C R Hakkenberg et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 035005

Biodiversity-structure relationships (BSRs), which describe the correlation between biodiversity and three-dimensional forest structure, have been used to map spatial patterns in biodiversity based on forest structural attributes derived from lidar. However, with the advent of spaceborne lidar like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), investigators are confronted with how to predict biodiversity from discrete GEDI footprints, sampled discontinuously across the Earth surface and often spatially offset from where diversity was measured in the field. In this study, we used National Ecological Observation Network data in a hierarchical modeling framework to assess how spatially-coincident BSRs (where field-observed taxonomic diversity measurements and structural data from airborne lidar coincide at a single plot) compare with BSRs based on statistical aggregates of proximate, but spatially-dispersed GEDI samples of structure. Despite substantial ecoregional variation, results confirm cross-biome consistency in the relationship between plant/tree alpha diversity and spatially-coincident lidar data, including structural data from outside the field plot where diversity was measured. Moreover, we found that generalized forest structural profiles derived from GEDI footprint aggregates were consistently related to tree alpha diversity, as well as cross-biome patterns in beta and gamma diversity. These findings suggest that characteristic forest structural profiles generated from aggregated GEDI footprints are effective for BSR diversity prediction without incorporation of more standard predictors of biodiversity like climate, topography, or optical reflectance. Cross-scale comparisons between airborne- and GEDI-derived structural profiles provide guidance for balancing scale-dependent trade-offs between spatial proximity and sample size for BSR-based prediction with GEDI gridded products. This study fills a critical gap in our understanding of how generalized forest structural attributes can be used to infer specific field-observed biodiversity patterns, including those not directly observable from remote sensing instruments. Moreover, it bolsters the empirical basis for global-scale biodiversity prediction with GEDI spaceborne lidar.

Louise Mercer et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 045001

Community-based monitoring (CBM) is increasingly cited as a means of collecting valuable baseline data that can contribute to our understanding of environmental change whilst supporting Indigenous governance and self-determination in research. However, current environmental CBM models have specific limitations that impact program effectiveness and the progression of research stages beyond data collection. Here, we highlight key aspects that limit the progression of Arctic CBM programs which include funding constraints, organisational structures, and operational processes. Exemplars from collaborative environmental research conducted in the acutely climate change impacted Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), Canada, are used to identify co-developed solutions to address these challenges. These learnings from experience-based collaborations feed into a new solution-orientated model of environmental community-based research (CBR) that emphasises continuity between and community ownership in all research stages to enable a more complete research workflow. Clear recommendations are provided to develop a more coherent approach to achieving this model, which can be adapted to guide the development of successful environmental CBR programs in different research and place-based contexts.

Morgan S Tassone et al 2024 Environ. Res.: Ecology 3 015003

The direction and magnitude of tundra vegetation productivity trends inferred from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) have exhibited spatiotemporal heterogeneity over recent decades. This study examined the spatial and temporal drivers of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Max NDVI (a proxy for peak growing season aboveground biomass) and time-integrated (TI)-NDVI (a proxy for total growing season productivity) on the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia between 2001 and 2018. A suite of remotely-sensed environmental drivers and machine learning methods were employed to analyze this region with varying climatological conditions, landscapes, and vegetation communities to provide insight into the heterogeneity observed across the Arctic. Summer warmth index, the timing of snowmelt, and physiognomic vegetation unit best explained the spatial distribution of Max and TI-NDVI on the Yamal Peninsula, with the highest mean Max and TI-NDVI occurring where summer temperatures were higher, snowmelt occurred earlier, and erect shrub and wetland vegetation communities were dominant. Max and TI-NDVI temporal trends were positive across the majority of the Peninsula (57.4% [5.0% significant] and 97.6% [13.9% significant], respectively) between 2001 and 2018. Max and TI-NDVI trends had variable relationships with environmental drivers and were primarily influenced by coastal-inland gradients in summer warmth and soil moisture. Both Max and TI-NDVI were negatively impacted by human modification, highlighting how human disturbances are becoming an increasingly important driver of Arctic vegetation dynamics. These findings provide insight into the potential future of Arctic regions experiencing warming, moisture regime shifts, and human modification, and demonstrate the usefulness of considering multiple NDVI metrics to disentangle the effects of individual drivers across heterogeneous landscapes. Further, the spatial heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of interannual covariation between Max NDVI, TI-NDVI, and climatic drivers highlights the difficulty in generalizing the effects of individual drivers on Arctic vegetation productivity across large regions.

Yu Nan et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 015003

The modern economic growth paradigm relies heavily on natural endowments. Renewable energy as a permanent energy source has the potential to reduce the ecological footprint (EF). We adopt the Vector Autoregressive model to examine the impact of renewable energy consumption on the energy EF and use the quantile regression method to test the heterogeneity and asymmetry between energy EF and photovoltaic, wind energy, and biomass energy. The results show that renewable energy has a long-term negative impact on the EF, and for every 1% increase in renewable energy consumption, the energy EF will decrease by 2.91%. The contribution of renewable energy consumption to reducing the EF is 1.34% on average. There is no two-way Granger causality between renewable energy consumption and energy EF. The reduction effect of wind energy consumption on the energy EF varies the most, followed by biomass energy and photovoltaic. In addition, under different energy EF distribution conditions, the impact of photovoltaic or wind energy or biomass energy consumption on the energy EF is different.

Christopher E Doughty et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 035002

The stratified nature of tropical forest structure had been noted by early explorers, but until recent use of satellite-based LiDAR (GEDI, or Global Ecosystems Dynamics Investigation LiDAR), it was not possible to quantify stratification across all tropical forests. Understanding stratification is important because by some estimates, a majority of the world's species inhabit tropical forest canopies. Stratification can modify vertical microenvironment, and thus can affect a species' susceptibility to anthropogenic climate change. Here we find that, based on analyzing each GEDI 25 m diameter footprint in tropical forests (after screening for human impact), most footprints (60%–90%) do not have multiple layers of vegetation. The most common forest structure has a minimum plant area index (PAI) at ∼40 m followed by an increase in PAI until ∼15 m followed by a decline in PAI to the ground layer (described hereafter as a one peak footprint). There are large geographic patterns to forest structure within the Amazon basin (ranging between 60% and 90% one peak) and between the Amazon (79 ± 9% sd) and SE Asia or Africa (72 ± 14% v 73 ± 11%). The number of canopy layers is significantly correlated with tree height ( r 2 = 0.12) and forest biomass ( r 2 = 0.14). Environmental variables such as maximum temperature ( T max ) ( r 2 = 0.05), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) ( r 2 = 0.03) and soil fertility proxies (e.g. total cation exchange capacity − r 2 = 0.01) were also statistically significant but less strongly correlated given the complex and heterogeneous local structural to regional climatic interactions. Certain boundaries, like the Pebas Formation and Ecoregions, clearly delineate continental scale structural changes. More broadly, deviation from more ideal conditions (e.g. lower fertility or higher temperatures) leads to shorter, less stratified forests with lower biomass.

K Best et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 045003

Significant uncertainties persist concerning how Arctic soil tundra carbon emission responds to environmental changes. In this study, 24 cores were sampled from drier (high centre polygons and rims) and wetter (low centre polygons and troughs) permafrost tundra ecosystems. We examined how soil CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes responded to laboratory-based manipulations of soil temperature (and associated thaw depth) and water table depth, representing current and projected conditions in the Arctic. Similar soil CO 2 respiration rates occurred in both the drier and the wetter sites, suggesting that a significant proportion of soil CO 2 emission occurs via anaerobic respiration under water-saturated conditions in these Arctic tundra ecosystems. In the absence of vegetation, soil CO 2 respiration rates decreased sharply within the first 7 weeks of the experiment, while CH 4 emissions remained stable for the entire 26 weeks of the experiment. These patterns suggest that soil CO 2 emission is more related to plant input than CH 4 production and emission. The stable and substantial CH 4 emission observed over the entire course of the experiment suggests that temperature limitations, rather than labile carbon limitations, play a predominant role in CH 4 production in deeper soil layers. This is likely due to the presence of a substantial source of labile carbon in these carbon-rich soils. The small soil temperature difference (a median difference of 1 °C) and a more substantial thaw depth difference (a median difference of 6 cm) between the high and low temperature treatments resulted in a non-significant difference between soil CO 2 and CH 4 emissions. Although hydrology continued to be the primary factor influencing CH 4 emissions, these emissions remained low in the drier ecosystem, even with a water table at the surface. This result suggests the potential absence of a methanogenic microbial community in high-centre polygon and rim ecosystems. Overall, our results suggest that the temperature increases reported for these Arctic regions are not responsible for increases in carbon losses. Instead, it is the changes in hydrology that exert significant control over soil CO 2 and CH 4 emissions.

M M Seeley et al 2024 Environ. Res.: Ecology 3 011001

Vegetation species mapping using airborne imaging spectroscopy yields accurate results and is important for advancing conservation objectives and biogeographic studies. As these data become more readily available owing to the upcoming launch of spaceborne imaging spectrometers, it is necessary to understand how these data can be used to consistently classify species across large geographic scales. However, few studies have attempted to map species across multiple ecosystems; therefore, little is known regarding the effect of intra-specific variation on the mapping of a single species across a wide range of environments and among varying backgrounds of other non-target species. To explore this effect, we developed and tested species classification models for Metrosideros polymorpha , a highly polymorphic canopy species endemic to Hawai'i, which is found in a diverse array of ecosystems. We compared the accuracies of support vector machine (SVM) and random forest models trained on canopy reflectance data from each of eight distinct ecosystems (ecosystem-specific) and a universal model trained on data from all ecosystems. When applied to ecosystem-specific test datasets, the ecosystem-specific models outperformed the universal model; however, the universal model retained high (>81%) accuracies across all ecosystems. Additionally, we found that models from ecosystems with broad variation in M. polymorpha canopy traits, as estimated using chemometric equations applied to canopy spectra, accurately predicted M. polymorpha in other ecosystems. While species classifications across ecosystems can yield accurate results, these results will require sampling procedures that capture the intra-specific variation of the target species.

Mei-Ling E Feng et al 2022 Environ. Res.: Ecology 1 011004

Animal-related outages (AROs) are a prevalent form of outages in electrical distribution systems. Animal-infrastructure interactions vary across species and regions, underlining the need to study the animal-outage relationship in more species and diverse systems. Animal activity has been an indicator of reliability in the electrical grid system by describing temporal patterns in AROs. However, these ARO models have been limited by a lack of available species activity data, instead approximating activity based on seasonal patterns and weather dependency in ARO records and characteristics of broad taxonomic groups, e.g. squirrels. We highlight available resources to fill the ecological data gap limiting joint analyses between ecology and energy sectors. Species distribution modeling (SDM), a common technique to model the distribution of a species across geographic space and time, paired with community science data, provided us with species-specific estimates of activity to analyze alongside spatio-temporal patterns of ARO severity. We use SDM estimates of activity for multiple outage-prone bird species to examine whether diverse animal activity patterns were important predictors of ARO severity by capturing existing variation within animal-outage relationships. Low dimensional representation and single patterns of bird activity were important predictors of ARO severity in Massachusetts. However, both patterns of summer migrants and overwintering species showed some degree of importance, indicating that multiple biological patterns could be considered in future models of grid reliability. Making the best available resources from quantitative ecology known to outside disciplines can allow for more interdisciplinary data analyses between ecological and non-ecological systems. This can result in further opportunities to examine and validate the relationships between animal activity and grid reliability in diverse systems.

Maria Magdalena Warter et al 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 025001

In dryland ecosystems, vegetation within different plant functional groups exhibits distinct seasonal phenologies that are affected by the prevailing hydroclimatic forcing. The seasonal variability of precipitation, atmospheric evaporative demand, and streamflow influences root-zone water availability to plants in water-limited environments. Increasing interannual variations in climate forcing of the local water balance and uncertainty regarding climate change projections have raised the potential for phenological shifts and changes to vegetation dynamics. This poses significant risks to plant functional types across large areas, especially in drylands and within riparian ecosystems. Due to the complex interactions between climate, water availability, and seasonal plant water use, the timing and amplitude of phenological responses to specific hydroclimate forcing cannot be determined a priori , thus limiting efforts to dynamically predict vegetation greenness under future climate change. Here, we analyze two decades (1994–2021) of remote sensing data (soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI)) as well as contemporaneous hydroclimate data (precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, depth to groundwater, and air temperature), to identify and quantify the key hydroclimatic controls on the timing and amplitude of seasonal greenness. We focus on key phenological events across four different plant functional groups occupying distinct locations and rooting depths in dryland SE Arizona: semi-arid grasses and shrubs, xeric riparian terrace and hydric riparian floodplain trees. We find that key phenological events such as spring and summer greenness peaks in grass and shrubs are strongly driven by contributions from antecedent spring and monsoonal precipitation, respectively. Meanwhile seasonal canopy greenness in floodplain and terrace vegetation showed strong response to groundwater depth as well as antecedent available precipitation (aaP = P − PET) throughout reaches of perennial and intermediate streamflow permanence. The timings of spring green-up and autumn senescence were driven by seasonal changes in air temperature for all plant functional groups. Based on these findings, we develop and test a simple, empirical phenology model, that predicts the timing and amplitude of greenness based on hydroclimate forcing. We demonstrate the feasibility of the model by exploring simple, plausible climate change scenarios, which may inform our understanding of phenological shifts in dryland plant communities and may ultimately improve our predictive capability of investigating and predicting climate-phenology interactions in the future.

Latest articles

Manette E Sandor et al 2024 Environ. Res.: Ecology 3 015002

How species richness scales spatially is a foundational concept of community ecology, but how biotic interactions scale spatially is poorly known. Previous studies have proposed interactions-area relationships (IARs) based on two competing relationships for how the number of interactions scale with the number of species, the 'link-species scaling law' and the 'constant connectance hypothesis.' The link-species scaling law posits that the number of interactions per species remains constant as the size of the network increases. The constant connectance hypothesis says that the proportion of realized interactions remains constant with network size. While few tests of these IARs exist, evidence for the original interactions-species relationships are mixed. We propose a novel IAR and test it against the two existing IARs. We first present a general theory for how interactions scale spatially and the mathematical relationship between the IAR and the species richness-area curve. We then provide a new mathematical formulation of the IAR, accounting for connectance varying with area. Employing data from three mutualistic networks (i.e. a network which specifies interconnected and mutually-beneficial interactions between two groups of species), we evaluate three competing models of how interactions scale spatially: two previously published IAR models and our proposed IAR. We find the new IAR described by our theory-based equation fits the empirical datasets equally as well as the previously proposed IAR based on the link-species scaling law in one out of three cases and better than the previously-proposed models in two out of three cases. Our novel IAR improves upon previous models and quantifies mutualist interactions across space, which is paramount to understanding biodiversity and preventing its loss.

Ezrah Natumanya et al 2024 Environ. Res.: Ecology 3 015001

Riparian vegetation usually gets less focus in biodiversity assessments and yet species diversity is important knowledge when applying patch specific conservation value in the Niassa Special Reserve (NSR). This study assessed the composition and conservation status of riparian species in an exposed river basin downstream location. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of sites and respondents to maximize data collection. The study found 19 species belonging to 15 families with 52.63% of them having a frequency of ⩾50% in sampling plots. There were 10 species that are endemic to the sub-Sharan Africa Region. Fabaceae was the dominant family with 5 species. The species with the highest population was Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr. Species richness ranged from 0.35 to 0.98 with a mean of 0.66 ± 0.22. The IVI ranged from 34.70 ( F. indica (Burm. f.) Merr) to 4.43 ( Tribulus cistoides L.) with a mean of 15.79 ± 7.79. Threats of species loss and ecosystem disturbance were agriculture, infrastructure development and plant harvests. There was a reported decline in species availability over the previous 10 years by 18.7% of the respondents. The results added to existing studies and records of vegetation species of conservation value in areas exposed to loss in the NSR. This study advances research on vegetation range dynamics in the NSR and presents a need to mitigate human land use impacts on riparian vegetation species composition.

Review articles

Davide Vione 2023 Environ. Res.: Ecology 2 012001

Reactions induced by sunlight (direct photolysis and indirect photochemistry) are important ecosystem services that aid freshwater bodies in removing contaminants, although they may also exacerbate pollution in some cases. Without photoinduced reactions, pollution problems would be considerably worse overall. The photochemical reaction rates depend on seasonality, depth, water chemistry (which also significantly affects the reaction pathways), and pollutant photoreactivity. Photochemical reactions are also deeply impacted by less studied factors, including hydrology, water dynamics, and precipitation regimes, which are key to understanding the main impacts of climate change on surface-water photochemistry. Climate change is expected in many cases to both exacerbate freshwater pollution, and enhance photochemical decontamination. Therefore, photochemical knowledge will be essential to understand the future evolution of freshwater environments.

Accepted manuscripts

Stanley et al 

There is an increasing disconnect between people and nature as we become more urbanised. Intensification in cities often results in a reduction of natural areas, more homogenised and manicured green spaces, and loss of biota. Compared to people in rural areas, urban dwellers are less likely visit natural areas and recognise and value biota. Reconnecting people with nature in the city not only benefits human mental and physical wellbeing but can also have positive effects on how people value biodiversity and act on conservation issues. However, in some contexts, the push to reconnect people with nature may have unintended negative outcomes on biodiversity, particularly if place-specific nature is not used in urban greening. In the current biodiversity crisis, using vegetation and green space design that is not reflective of the environmental context of a city can further disconnect residents, particularly Indigenous people, from their local environment and species, and further entrench extinction of experience and loss of environmental values. This disconnect can result in residents applying wildlife gardening practices, such as bird feeding, that are not specific to place, and benefit introduced species over indigenous species. Furthermore, cities are gateways for invasive species, and using species in greening projects that are not locally sourced has already left cities and their surrounding regions with a large weed legacy. Using place-specific nature and green space in cities can be less resource intensive, highly beneficial for biodiversity and give residents a unique sense of place. Rather than simply adding 'more nature' in cities, the messaging should be more complex, emphasising the need for urban greening to be context specific to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity and ecological and cultural services.

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• 2022-present Environmental Research: Ecology doi: 10.1088/issn.2752-664X Online ISSN: 2752-664X

Best Papers from 2021 published in the Environmental Science journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry

In 2021 we published 39, 283, 153, and 186 papers in ESA, ESN, ESPI and ESWRT, respectively that covered areas ranging from the effect of aerosols on climate, to nanoplastics, to indoor air pollutants and their sources. We are excited that next year, publications from our newest Open Access companion journal Environmental Science: Advances ( https://www.rsc.org/journals-books-databases/about-journals/environmental-science-advances/ ) will be included in the Environmental Science best papers round up.

During the first months of 2022, we enlisted our Advisory Boards, Editorial Boards, and Associate Editors to choose the very best papers published in our journals in 2021. Their selection provides examples of the compelling research published in the Environmental Science family of journals and of the research that we are privileged to bring to you each month. From this list, we, the Editors-in-Chief of ESA, ESN, ESPI and ESWRT, selected the overall Best Paper from our portfolio of papers published in 2021.

We are so excited to highlight this top paper, one that highlights the power of a diverse group of researchers, coming from wastewater utilities, consulting firms, and academic and government laboratories, and their pursuit of “the truth” with respect to understanding methodological limitations to facilitate the protection of human health. We are also thrilled to spotlight all the best papers from the Environmental Science family of journals. 1–12 These papers collectively highlight our privilege to advance science, its application, and its diversity.

Overall Best Paper

In this Open Access paper, Pecson and colleagues performed a detailed assessment of the methods used to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic, genetic material in wastewater. This research determined the variability between methods used at 32 different laboratories across the United States, including commercial, academic, government, and wastewater utility laboratories. The research was carefully performed, and rather than seeking to identify and try to institute a single method for all of the laboratories to utilize, the research instead used split samples to determine how well different methods were able to identify trends in SARS-CoV-2 data over time and determine the prevalence of infection within a given community. The research included the quality control and assurance required to help government officials and public health experts understand how “good” this kind of data was across the country and whether it could be relied upon for identifying, for example, when new surges of infection were beginning in a given community. Perhaps the most useful aspect of the paper is the Discussion, where the limitations of this highly impactful study were identified. Importantly, it was noted that there is not a need for a single complex method to generate useful SARS-CoV-2 data, thus opening the door to larger quantities of data to be obtained and used by governments in understanding the spread of new variants. Nevertheless, the variety of methods used were not able to provide accurate absolute quantification of viral particles, instead pointing to the need to monitor trends at a particular location using a given method, as opposed to trying to quantify numbers of cases and comparing numbers across locations. Finally, the authors provide suggestions for improving data quality moving forward and for future work regarding the selection of the best methods for enhanced sensitivity or use in resource-constrained communities, particularly as this type of wastewater surveillance expands. This paper is impactful and paves the way for future efforts linking rigorous methodological research to the protection of human health.

Journal Best Papers

Environmental Science: Atmospheres

Runner-up Best Paper: Hu, Wang, Wu, Zhou, Feng, Fu, Yang, Ziegler and Zeng, Aerosol presence reduces the diurnal temperature range: an interval when the COVID-19 pandemic reduced aerosols revealing the effect on climate , Environ. Sci.: Atmos. , 2021, 1 , 208–213, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00021G

Best Review: Lewis, Optimising air quality co-benefits in a hydrogen economy: a case for hydrogen-specific standards for NO x emissions , Environ. Sci.: Atmos. , 2021, 1 , 201–207, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00037C

Environmental Science: Nano

Runner-up Best Paper: Henke, Laudadio, Hedlund Orbeck, Tamijani, Hoang, Mason, Murphy, Feng and Hamers, Reciprocal redox interactions of lithium cobalt oxide nanoparticles with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and glutathione (GSH): toward a mechanistic understanding of nanoparticle-biological interactions , Environ. Sci.: Nano , 2021, 8 , 1749–1760, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EN01221A

Best Review: Choudhary, Vellingiri, Thayyil and Philip, Removal of antibiotics from aqueous solutions by electrocatalytic degradation , Environ. Sci.: Nano , 2021, 8 , 1133–1176, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EN01276A

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

Runner-up Best Paper: Boedicker, Emerson, McMeeking, Patel, Vance and Farmer, Fates and spatial variations of accumulation mode particles in a multi-zone indoor environment during the HOMEChem campaign , Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2021, 23 , 1029–1039, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EM00087J

Best Review: Joudan, De Silva and Young, Insufficient evidence for the existence of natural trifluoroacetic acid , Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2021, 23 , 1641–1649, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EM00306B

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

Runner-up Best Paper: Liu, Moustafa, Hassouna and He, Enhancing the performance of a microbial electrochemical system with carbon-based dynamic membrane as both anode electrode and filtration media , Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2021, 7 , 870–878, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EW01027H

Best Review: Barbhuiya, Misra and Singh, Synthesis, fabrication, and mechanism of action of electrically conductive membranes: a review , Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2021, 7 , 671–705, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EW01070G

We congratulate the authors of each of these papers for their excellent work and take this opportunity to thank them for submitting their work to the Environmental Science family of journals. We extend our thanks to all of our authors for sharing the fruits of their hard labor through our journals, as well as to our reviewers whose selfless work underpins every article we publish. We also thank our Advisory Board and Editorial Board members, as well as our Associate Editors, for their efforts in identifying and evaluating the top papers. We will continue to strive to publish the very best environmental science papers and look forward to your submissions.

Paige Novak, Editor-in-Chief

Neil Donahue, Editor-in-Chief

Peter Vikesland, Editor-in-Chief

Kris McNeill, Editor-in-Chief

• B. M. Pecson, E. Darby, C. N. Haas, Y. M. Amha, M. Bartolo, R. Danielson, Y. Dearborn, G. Di Giovanni, C. Ferguson, S. Fevig, E. Gaddis, D. Gray, G. Lukasik, B. Mull, L. Olivas, A. Olivieri, Y. Qu and SARS-CoV-2 Interlaboratory Consortium, Reproducibility and sensitivity of 36 methods to quantify the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal in raw wastewater: findings from an interlaboratory methods evaluation in the U.S., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2021, 7 , 504–520,   10.1039/D0EW00946F .
• F. Liu, H. Moustafa, M. S. E.-D. Hassouna and Z. He, Enhancing the performance of a microbial electrochemical system with carbon-based dynamic membrane as both anode electrode and filtration media, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2021, 7 , 870–878,   10.1039/D0EW01027H .
• N. H. Barbhuiya, U. Misra and S. P. Singh, Synthesis, fabrication, and mechanism of action of electrically conductive membranes: a review, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2021, 7 , 671–705,   10.1039/D0EW01070G .
• K. Siegel, L. Karlsson, P. Zieger, A. Baccarini, J. Schmale, M. Lawler, M. Salter, C. Leck, A. M. L. Ekman, I. Riipinen and C. Mohr, Insights into the molecular composition of semi-volatile aerosols in the summertime central Arctic Ocean using FIGAERO-CIMS, Environ. Sci.: Atmos. , 2021, 1 , 161–175,   10.1039/D0EA00023J .
• S. Hu, D. Wang, J. Wu, L. Zhou, X. Feng, T.-M. Fu, X. Yang, A. D. Ziegler and Z. Zeng, Aerosol presence reduces the diurnal temperature range: an interval when the COVID-19 pandemic reduced aerosols revealing the effect on climate, Environ. Sci.: Atmos. , 2021, 1 , 208–213,   10.1039/D1EA00021G .
• A. C. Lewis, Optimising air quality co-benefits in a hydrogen economy: a case for hydrogen-specific standards for NO x emissions, Environ. Sci.: Atmos. , 2021, 1 , 201–207,   10.1039/D1EA00037C .
• F. Blancho, M. Davranche, F. Fumagalli, G. Ceccone and J. Gigault, A reliable procedure to obtain environmentally relevant nanoplastic proxies, Environ. Sci.: Nano , 2021, 8 , 3211–3219,   10.1039/D1EN00395J .
• A. H. Henke, E. D. Laudadio, J. K. Hedlund Orbeck, A. A. Tamijani, K. N. L. Hoang, S. E. Mason, C. J. Murphy, Z. V. Feng and R. J. Hamers, Reciprocal redox interactions of lithium cobalt oxide nanoparticles with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and glutathione (GSH): toward a mechanistic understanding of nanoparticle-biological interactions, Environ. Sci.: Nano , 2021, 8 , 1749–1760,   10.1039/D0EN01221A .
• V. Choudhary, K. Vellingiri, M. I. Thayyil and L. Philip, Removal of antibiotics from aqueous solutions by electrocatalytic degradation, Environ. Sci.: Nano , 2021, 8 , 1133–1176,   10.1039/D0EN01276A .
• A. C. Heeley-Hill, S. K. Grange, M. W. Ward, A. C. Lewis, N. Owen, C. Jordan, G. Hodgson and G. Adamson, Frequency of use of household products containing VOCs and indoor atmospheric concentrations in homes, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2021, 23 , 699–713,   10.1039/D0EM00504E .
• E. K. Boedicker, E. W. Emerson, G. R. McMeeking, S. Patel, M. E. Vance and D. K. Farmer, Fates and spatial variations of accumulation mode particles in a multi-zone indoor environment during the HOMEChem campaign, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2021, 23 , 1029–1039,   10.1039/D1EM00087J .
• S. Joudan, A. O. De Silva and C. J. Young, Insufficient evidence for the existence of natural trifluoroacetic acid, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts , 2021, 23 , 1641–1649,   10.1039/D1EM00306B .

Journals, books & databases

• Our journals

Environmental Science: Advances

Uniting disciplines to solve environmental challenges Original thinking for a sustainable future

What would you like to know about Environmental Science: Advances?

Impact factor: n/a

Time to first decision (all decisions): 21 days**

Time to first decision (peer reviewed only): 55.0 days***

Editors-in-Chief: Zongwei Cai, Kevin Jones, Célia Manaia

Gold open access, APCs waived until mid-2024

Indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), ResearchGate, Scopus and Web of Science.

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Journal scope

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A new home for all environmental work addressing global challenges

Environmental Science: Advances  spans not only chemistry, but research from any discipline related to the environmental sciences.

We welcome research from any discipline that will contribute to the understanding of the environment, and to the advancement of several UN Sustainable Development Goals – original thinking to take on the world’s biggest challenges.

Environmental Science: Advances is  gold open access , with all article processing charges waived until mid-2024.

Find out why Environmental Science: Advances is a great home for your research .

Join us in tackling the UN SDGs

We welcome contributions to our cross-journal collections across our environmental science journals showcasing research that advances the following UN SDGs. State the following in your Comments to the Editor when you submit your next paper  on these themes: UN SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation – XXSDG0622 UN SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production – XXSDG1222 UN SDG 13: Climate Action – XXSDG1322 UN SDG 14: Life below water – XXSDG1422 All submissions to our Open Calls will undergo Initial Assessment by the journal Associate Editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals.

This journal is for anyone, in any discipline, working to advance environmental sustainability. We seek to publish work which improves our understanding of the environment and offers solutions or improvements to building a cleaner, safer, healthier, more sustainable and equitable world.

Fundamental environmental research is welcomed, alongside modelling, fieldwork, applied studies, policy work and studies at the environmental and social science interface. Studies that enhance holistic environmental understanding, for example by connecting different environmental compartments, linking to human health and wellbeing, and joining up other disciplines, are particularly welcome.

Truly interdisciplinary, the journal welcomes research from any field related to the environmental sciences, global environmental change, and sustainability science. Inclusive collaboration across research disciplines is important for scientific advancement and as such, we welcome studies from a broad range of topics including:

• biosciences
• engineering
• soil science
• atmospheric science
• agricultural science
• climate science
• social science interface
• and much more

Studies that advance our understanding of the physical environment, environmental health, and environmental sustainability, or provide solutions to challenges in these areas are particularly welcome. All submitted manuscripts will be judged on their quality, interest, and potential impact, to ensure we publish novel and significant contributions.

Submissions

Submissions are initially assessed and taken through peer-review by our high-profile, internationally-recognised Associate Editors . Authors are free to choose a single-anonymised or double-anonymised peer review model, and a minimum of two reviewer reports are required.

High-quality peer review

All manuscripts published in Environmental Science: Advances undergo a rigorous peer review process, with the reputation, standards, commitment and expertise that you would expect from a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Society focused

Our team is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a not-for-profit organisation driven by its mission to support the scientific community and help everyone in it to succeed.

Open to all

Research that helps to tackle environmental challenges must be available easily and quickly. Environmental Science: Advances is gold open access, with all APCs currently waived.

Where disciplines unite

Is your focus oceanography? Soil science? Climate science? We welcome quality research from any area related to environmental science to present an accurate overview of developments.

Progressive publishing

Choose from single- or double-anonymised peer review, keep an eye on your article’s status using our article tracker, and feel confident about a constantly improving submissions process.

See who's on the team

Meet the board members on our Environmental Science: Advances journal.

Editor-in-chief Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China

Editor-in-chief Lancaster University, UK

Editor-in-chief Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal

Associate Editor Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Norway

Associate Editor Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Associate Editor Columbia University, USA

Associate Editor Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Associate Editor Fudan University, China

Editorial board member IDAEA-CSIC, Spain

Damia Barceló , Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spain

Chuncheng Chen , Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Jiping Chen , Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China

Zhi-Feng Chen , Guangdong University of Technology, China

Saikat Dutta , Amity University, India

Maofa Ge , Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Tom Harner , Environment and Climate Change Canada

Rong Ji , Nanjing University, China

Ramanan Laxminarayan , One Health Trust, Washington D.C., United States

Yongjie Li , University of Macau

Hemi Luan , Guangdong University of Technology, China

Jurgita Ovadnevaite , National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland

Francois Perreault , University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada

Debora Rodrigues , University of Houston, USA

Andreas Schäffer , RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin , Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany

Dörthe Tetzlaff , Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Mark van Loosdrecht , Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Meizhen Wang , Zhejiang Gongshang University, China

Zhe Wang , Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Dengsong Zhang , Shanghai University, China

Xuan Zhang , University of California, Merced, USA

Emma Eley , Executive Editor ORCID:  0000-0002-6379-8502

Demitra Ellina , Deputy Editor

Alex Holiday , Editorial Assistant

Lucy Argyle , Editorial Production Manager

Jamie Purcel l, Assistant Editor

Alexander John , Assistant Editor

Emily Ellison , Assistant Editor

Jack Pitchers , Assistant Editor

Clare Fitzgerald , Assistant Editor

Lee Colwill , Publishing Assistant 

Neil Hammond , Publisher ORCID:  0000-0001-6390-8874

Featured Articles

Advancements in catalysis for plastic resource utilization.

The widespread production and utilization of plastic products have become ingrained in our society, resulting in a staggering amount of plastic waste, severe environmental challenges, and resource depletion. To address this issue sustainably, catalytic technology has emerged as a promising approach to break down non-biodegradable polymers into tiny organic molecules for secondary applications.

Preservation, storage, and sample preparation methods for freshwater microplastics – a comprehensive review

Due to their long-lasting negative effects on the environment and detrimental impact on the health of living organisms, microplastics (MPs), found in both water and sediment matrices, have attracted researchers' attention recently. Although various research and reviews have been conducted about MP occurrence and abundance in aqueous environments, less attention has been paid to freshwater matrices through which MPs enter oceans and seas.

Mechanochemical destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aqueous film-forming foams and contaminated soil

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of synthetic chemicals of concern that exhibit extreme persistence within the environment and possess physicochemical properties that are resistant to targeted degradation. Comprising substantial concentrations of PFASs, aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) present a major exposure pathway to the environment having been applied to land at firefighting-training sites globally for decades.

Integrated 3D pore architecture design of bio-based engineered catalysts and adsorbents: preparation, chemical doping, and environmental applications

An integrated strategy combining 3D architecture design and chemical doping holds great promise for enhancing the performance of bio-based engineered carbon materials in environmental applications. This review paper critically examines the use of integrated hierarchical porous carbon derived from biomass (bio-based IHPC) as an engineered catalyst and adsorbent for environmental purposes.

Peer Review

All articles published in Environmental Science: Advances are subject to external peer review by experts in the field and all manuscripts submitted are handled by a team of internationally recognised Associate Editors , who are all practicing scientists in the field.

To offer our authors a more inclusive set of options, Environmental Science: Advances offers the following peer review options:

Single-anonymised peer review – where reviewers are anonymous and author names and affiliations are known to reviewers.

Double-anonymised peer review – both the authors’ and reviewers’ identities are anonymous.

More information can be found here .

The peer review for all articles submitted to the journal consists of the following stages:

Phase 1: Your manuscript is initially assessed by an associate editor to determine its suitability for peer review

Phase 2: If the manuscript passes the initial assessment process, the associate editor solicits recommendations from at least two reviewers who are experts in the field. They will provide a report along with their recommendation.

Phase 3: The associate editor handling your manuscript makes a decision based on the reviewer reports received. In the event that no clear decision can be made, another reviewer will be consulted.

Environmental Science: Advances is committed to a rigorous peer review process and expert editorial oversight for all published content. Please refer to our processes and policies for full details including our appeals procedure.

Ethical Requirements

Environmental Science: Advances authors, editors, reviewers and published works are required to uphold the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ethical standards . The Royal Society of Chemistry is a member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our ethical standards follow COPE’s core practices and best practice guidelines . In cases where these guidelines are breached or appear to be so, the Royal Society of Chemistry will consult with COPE guidelines and act accordingly.

When a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, authors must include in the 'methods/experimental' section of the manuscript a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the author’s institute’s policy on animal use and ethics; where possible, details of compliance with national or international laws or guidelines should be included. The statement must name the institutional/local ethics committee which has approved the study; where possible, the approval or case number should be provided. A statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects is required. Reviewers may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.

For further guidance on author responsibilities and code of conduct, which apply to Environmental Science: Advances and to all manuscripts submitted to Royal Society of Chemistry journals, please visit  our author hub .

Themed Collections

Environmental Science: Advances publishes themed collections on timely and important topics, guest edited by members of the environmental science research community. Topics and Editors for our themed collections are selected following consultation with the journal’s Editorial Board . Previous themed collections are available to read here and our open collections can be seen here . All submissions to our themed collections undergo an initial assessment by the journal Associate Editors and subsequent peer review as per the usual standards of RSC journals . If you would like to suggest a topic for a Themed Collection, please complete our Themed Collection proposal form .

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• You have read, understood and accept the terms and conditions .
• We need to collect and manage your personal data in order to provide this service. Our privacy statement explains how we do this.

Open access

There are no submission charges for  Environmental Science: Advances , and no article processing charges until mid-2024. As part of the submission process, authors will be asked to agree to the  Environmental Science: Advances  open access terms & conditions.

We offer  Environmental Science: Advances  authors a choice of two Creative Commons licences: CC BY or CC BY NC. Publication under these licences means that authors retain copyright of their article, but users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Read our open access statement for further information.

All published articles are deposited with LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico and the British Library for archiving.

Dive into the benefits of open access publishing

Find out more about open access publishing routes

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Read our Researchers’ voice report in response to Plan S

Article types

Environmental Science: Advances publishes:

Communications

Full papers, perspectives, critical reviews, frontier reviews, tutorial reviews.

• Comments and replies

Reviews and perspectives are normally invited, however suggestions for timely reviews are very welcome. Interested authors should contact the editorial office , with an abstract or brief synopsis of their intended review.

You can use our templates to help you structure and format your manuscript in the Royal Society of Chemistry style.

These must report preliminary research findings that are novel and original, of immediate interest and are likely to have a high impact on the  Environmental Science: Advances  community. Authors must provide a short paragraph explaining why their work justifies rapid publication as a communication.

Original research papers on any of the subjects outlined in the scope section and related areas are encouraged and welcomed. All papers should give due attention to overcoming limitations and to underlying principles. All contributions will be judged on the following four criteria.

1. Originality and insight 2. Quality and rigour of scientific work and content 3. Clarity of objectives and aims of the work 4. Appropriateness of length to content of new science

These may be articles providing a personal view of part of one discipline associated with  Environmental Science: Advances  or a philosophical look at a topic of relevance. Alternatively, Perspectives may be historical articles covering a particular subject area or the development of particular legislation, technologies, methodologies or other subjects within the scope of the journal.

Critical reviews must be a critical evaluation of the existing state of knowledge on a particular facet of environmental science. They should be timely and provide insights based on existing literature. They should be of general interest to the journal's wide readership.

All critical reviews undergo a rigorous and full peer review procedure, in the same way as regular research papers. Authors are encouraged to identify areas in the field where further developments are imminent or of urgent need, and any areas that may be of significance to the community in general. Critical reviews should not contain any unpublished original research.

All review content should consist of original text and interpretation, avoiding any direct reproduction. If a significant amount of other people's material is to be used, either textual or image-based, permission must be sought by the author in accordance with copyright law and must be made clear in the manuscript.

These are shorter, more focused versions of critical reviews on a well-defined, specific topic area covering approximately the last two-three years. Articles should cover only the most interesting/significant developments in that specific subject area.

The article should be highly critical and selective in referencing published work. One or two paragraphs of speculation about possible future developments may also be appropriate in the conclusion section.

Frontier reviews may also cover techniques/technologies that are too new for a critical review or may address a subset of technologies available for a given area of research within the journal scope.

Frontier reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Tutorial reviews should provide an introduction and overview of an important topic of relevance to the journal readership. The topic should be of relevance to both researchers who are new to the field as well as experts and provide a good introduction to the development of a subject, its current state and indications of future directions the field is expected to take. Tutorial reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Comments and Replies

Comments and replies are a medium for the discussion and exchange of scientific opinions between authors and readers concerning material published in  Environmental Science: Advances .

For publication, a comment should present an alternative analysis of and/or new insight into the previously published material. Any reply should further the discussion presented in the original article and the comment. Comments and replies that contain any form of personal attack are not suitable for publication. 

Comments that are acceptable for publication will be forwarded to the authors of the work being discussed, and these authors will be given the opportunity to submit a reply. The comment and reply will both be subject to rigorous peer review in consultation with the journal’s editorial board where appropriate. The comment and reply will be published together.

Journal specific guidelines

The following guidelines are journal specific. For general guidance on preparing an article please visit our  Prepare your article  and  Resources for authors  pages, the content of which is relevant to all of our journals. To learn more about the Royal Society of Chemistry's policies and processes, including licensing, peer review, publication ethics and formatting, please refer to our  Resources for authors page . 

Use of RSC template

There are no submission specifics regarding formatting; use of a Royal Society of Chemistry template is not required, though it is encouraged. Bibliographies should be formatted according to the following  Endnote  and  Zotero  style files to include the cited article’s title.

Authors are encouraged to include line numbering in submitted manuscripts. Although there is no page limit for Full Papers, the appropriateness of length of new science content will be considered by reviewers.

Submission Checklist

Please refer to our author guidelines for a list of files to provide when submitting to Environmental Science: Advances

Environmental Significance Statement

All submitted manuscripts must include an Environmental Significance Statement (120 words maximum) that should categorically state how the work is significant. This statement should be different from the abstract and set the work in a broader context regarding environmental science. It should aim to answer the following questions.

• What is the problem/situation?
• Why is it important to address/understand this?
• What is the key finding and what are the implications of this in relation to 1&2 above?

This statement will be seen by the reviewers and will help ascertain the relevance of the article for a broad but technical audience and authors should use it to show that they have given serious consideration to problems that are environmental in nature. If the paper is accepted this statement will also be published. Manuscripts cannot be reviewed without this statement.

Guidelines for authors can be found below.

Cover Letter

Please supply a cover letter explaining the importance and environmental significance of the work, and why it is suitable for publication in Environmental Science: Advances .

An article should have a short, straightforward title directed at the general reader. The use of non-standard abbreviations and acronyms, very specialised terms, and the full names of genes or proteins should be avoided where possible. Please bear in mind that readers increasingly use search engines to find literature; recognisable, keywords should be included in the title where possible, to maximise the impact and discoverability of your work. Brevity in a title, though desirable, should be balanced against its accuracy and usefulness.

Author names

Full names of all the authors of an article should be given. To give due acknowledgement to all workers contributing to the work, those who have contributed significantly to the research should be listed as co-authors. Authors who contributed equally can be noted with a Footnote and referenced with a symbol.

On submission of the manuscript, the corresponding author attests to the fact that those named as co-authors have agreed to its submission for publication and accept the responsibility for having properly included all (and only) co-authors. If there are more than 10 co-authors on the manuscript, the corresponding author should provide a statement to specify the contribution of each co-author. The corresponding author signs a copyright licence on behalf of all the authors. For further details, please refer to our authorship policy .

Table of contents entry

This entry should include a colour image (no larger than 8 cm wide x 4 cm high), and 20-30 words of text that highlight the novel aspects of your work to a broad environmental sciences readership. The image should be simple, informative and able to grab a reader’s attention. Logos, trademarks or brand names should be avoided. The graphic used in the table of contents entry need not necessarily appear in the article itself.

• Artwork should be submitted at its final size so that reduction is not required. The appearance of graphics is the responsibility of the author.
• Colour figure reproduction is provided free of charge.
• Images should fit within either single column (8.3 cm) or double column (17.1 cm) width, and must be no longer than 23.3 cm.
• Figures, charts and schemes should preferably be supplied as TIFF files at >600 dpi resolution; EPS or PDF files can also be supplied

You must obtain permission to use any figure or graphic belonging to someone else; see our guidance on using third party material in Royal Society of Chemistry publications .

Multimedia files and video abstracts

We welcome submission of multimedia files (including videos and animations) alongside articles for publication. Videos are an excellent medium to present elements of your work that can be difficult to communicate only in words and offer an engaging way of highlighting the environmental significance of your work.

Multimedia files and video abstracts can be submitted as ‘Electronic Supplementary Information’ when you submit your manuscript. Please supply the following:

• A clear file name for your video.
• A short descriptive title for the video, which can be used when uploading the video onto a streaming channel.
• A video legend of approximately 30 words long; this caption must be provided to aid discoverability.
• Five to 10 keywords that can be used to tag the video; the more accurate the tags are the better discoverability videos will have.

Any videos of general interest are shared with the wider community via the RSC Journals YouTube channel. Please notify the editorial team if you prefer for your video(s) not to be uploaded to YouTube.

Please minimise file sizes where you can, by considering the following points.

• The recommended maximum frame size is 640 x 480 pixels.
• Our recommended maximum file size is 5 Mb.
• Many packages output 30 frames per second (fps) as standard, but it's possible to specify a lower frame rate; this may not noticeably affect the quality of your video but will reduce the file size.
• Use a 256 colour palette, if that is suitable for the presentation of the material.

We also encourage the submission of video abstracts. If you submit a video abstract alongside your paper, please refer to it within your paper to draw it to the reader’s attention, and refer to the following specification.

Technical specifications

• Resolution/aspect ratio: 720p, 1080p or 4k.
• Frames per second: 25 to 30.
• Formats accepted: MPG, MOV, AVI, WMV, MP4.
• Start by introducing the conclusion of your article and concentrate on the main results.
• Focus the video on how the article addresses global challenges and is of interest to a wide range of environmental scientists.
• Introduce relevant co-workers and mix in images/footage of your laboratory, experiment and equipment to make it more engaging.
• Videos should be approximately two-three minutes in length (no longer than four minutes).
• On screen text should be used sparingly and be large enough to read clearly.

Every paper must be accompanied by a summary (50-250 words) setting out briefly and clearly the main objectives and results of the work; it should give a non-specialist reader a clear idea of what has been achieved. The summary should be essentially independent of the main text. In preparing an abstract, keep in mind that this should speak to the multidisciplinary readership of Environmental Science: Advances.

Please bear in mind that readers increasingly use search engines to find literature; recognisable, searchable terms and key words should be included in the abstract to enable readers to more effectively find your paper. The abstract should aim to address the following questions.

What is the research question and global challenge being addressed? What approaches were taken to address the problem or question? What key data and results were obtained? What conclusions can be drawn from the results? What are the broader implications for the study with respect to environmental sustainability?

Example Environmental Significance Statements

Below are some examples of Environmental Significance Statements which may help to guide you when preparing your submission:

Microbial vesicle-mediated communication: convergence to understand interactions within and between domains of life

Cells secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoscale biological packages that contain complex mixtures of molecular cargo. The multiple roles of microbial EVs include their function as carriers for molecular messengers that facilitate interspecies communication and have been studied extensively in mammalian systems. For environmental systems, however, the prevalence, characteristics, and functions of these biological particles are only now being revealed. Here, we argue that the study of microbial EVs in the environment requires biochemical insights from studies of donor and receiving organisms as well as knowledge of soft colloid mobility and interactions with other components of the environment. Such questions of EV function, transport, and environmental impact can be addressed best by harnessing theories and methodologies developed by the biological, colloid, and geochemical sciences.

Responsible science, engineering and education for water resource recovery and circularity

Water resource recovery is central to circular economy frameworks. Resource recovery and circularity concepts need inception into the engineer's daily vocabulary during university education. Novel higher education efforts require curriculum design in environmental engineering. University–utility–industry partnerships foster applied training and theory integration. Platforms need to be developed to bridge science, engineering, and education.

Antiviral-nanoparticle interactions and reactions

The emergence of novel pathogenic viruses is a grand challenge of our time that is generally unheeded due to the low pandemic frequency. During a pandemic event such as the present, viral research rapidly permeates into all areas of science and engineering and broad collaborative efforts are made to gain a better understanding of the challenge and to evaluate all potential solutions. A virus can be considered an evolving nanobiomachine, thus the environmental nanoscience community has an opportunity to boldly contribute to progress in areas such as virus fate, transport, and detection and antiviral nanotechnology. This paper through the review of antiviral nanomaterials attempts to support and invigorate this research progress.

Optimising air quality co-benefits in a hydrogen economy: a case for hydrogen-specific standards for NOx emissions

New more demanding hydrogen-specific NOx emissions standards are required for a range of appliance sectors to ensure that low carbon infrastructure associated with the adoption of hydrogen also delivers a step-change in air quality. Placing hydrogen power within existing air quality regulatory frameworks (for example for Ecodesign Directive or EURO vehicle standards) may see NOx emissions, efficiency and cost optimised in a way that leads to hydrogen appliances matching current fossil fuel emissions performance, but potentially not improving on them. This would be a major missed opportunity to further reduce NOx emissions and improve air quality as a co-benefit of net zero commitments and low carbon investment.

Introduction

This should describe clearly and briefly, with relevant references, both the nature of the problem under investigation and its background. This section should begin with a general introduction to the field(s) of investigation, followed by a discussion of the specific research question or problem being investigated. The current investigation should be set into context against the existing literature, and the novelty and importance to environmental science discussed.

We encourage the citation of primary research over review articles, where appropriate, in order to give credit to those who first reported a finding.

Descriptions of methods and/or experiments should be given in detail sufficient to enable experienced experimental workers to repeat them. Please see our Experimental reporting requirements and data sharing page for further information.

• We encourage making all data associated with a manuscript freely available in a public repository in an accessible, usable format .
• Standard techniques and methods used throughout the work should be stated at the beginning of the section.
• Any unusual or significant hazards associated with any experimental procedures or equipment should be clearly identified.
• Please refer to our Human & Animal Welfare policy for any studies using live animals or human subjects.

In general there is no need to report unsuccessful experiments. Authors are encouraged to make use of Electronic Supplementary Information (ESI) for lengthy sections.

Results and discussion

It is usual for the results to be presented first, followed by a discussion of their significance. Only the most relevant results should be presented in the text; figures, tables, charts and graphs should be used for purposes of clarity and brevity. Data must not be reproduced in more than one form - for example, in both figures and tables, without good reason.

The discussion should explain the meaning of your results and their importance to environmental science. Any claims should be supported by the results. State the impact of your results compared with recent work and relate it back to the research question you posed in your Introduction.

This is for interpretation and to highlight the novelty and significance of the work. Authors are encouraged to discuss the real world relevance of the work reported. The conclusions should not summarise information already present in the text or abstract.

Acknowledgements

Contributors other than co-authors may be acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper; acknowledgements should be as brief as possible.

All sources of funding should be declared. For more information on how to acknowledge your funder, refer to our author guidelines.

Be aware that your institution may have certain requirements or mandates for open access publication – see our guidance for information relevant to your region .

Bibliographic references and notes

The bibliography should be formatted in Vancouver (number) style, see  Endnote style files . Please do not use Harvard style for references.For Zotero, please use the  Royal Society of Chemistry (with titles)  template.

Bibliographic details should be cited in the order: year, volume, page, and must include the article title. The names and initials of all authors should always be given in the reference; they must not be replaced by the phrase et al. For example:

Katherine R. Martin, Nicole M. Robey, Shirley Ma, Leanne C. Powers, Andrew Heyes, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, William J. Cooper, Timothy G. Townsend and Michael Gonsior, Characterization of landfill leachate molecular composition using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021, 7, 1250-1266.

We encourage the citation of primary research over review articles, where appropriate, in order to give credit to those who first reported a finding.  Find out more about our commitments to the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

Copies of any unpublished material referenced in your article should be provided to the editor and should only be referenced with the permission of those who completed the work.

More details can be found under "Bibliographic references & notes” here .

Journal covers

Authors who wish to have their artwork featured on a journal cover should contact the editorial office of the journal to which the article is being submitted. A contribution to the additional production costs will be requested.

If chosen for a cover:

• Your cover will illustrate the online contents page of the journal issue
• The image will appear on all PDFs of your article – anyone downloading it will see your work
• We will promote your article on social media to boost its visibility
• We will also send you high quality prints of the cover, and a digital version for you to use in presentations and your own promotion.

Use of such artwork is at the editor's discretion; the editor's decision is final. Examples of previous journal covers can be viewed via the journal homepage.

Subscription information

Environmental Science: Advances  is fully  gold open access  – articles can be downloaded free from the website with no barriers to access. Environmental Science: Advances publishes 12 issues per year.

Online only ISSN 2754-7000

Copyright is retained by authors when an open access licence is accepted, as with our standard licence to publish agreement. Full and accurate attribution to the original author is required for any re-use of the work. Find out more about  copyright, licences and re-use permission .

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**The median time from submission to first decision including manuscripts rejected without peer review from the previous calendar year

***The median time from submission to first decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts from the previous calendar year

How does the development of the digital economy influence carbon productivity? The moderating effect of environmental regulation

• Research Article
• Published: 19 April 2024

Cite this article

• Jianrui Zhu 1 ,
• Xueqin Li 1 &
• Daqian Shi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2489-8348 1  

20 Accesses

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Improving carbon productivity is of great significance to China’s “30 · 60” carbon target, while the development of the digital economy is a driving force for green transformation. However, few studies discuss the relationship between the digital economy and carbon productivity. We investigate the influence of digital economic development on carbon productivity using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. Spatial econometric and moderating effects are considered. The results show that (i) digital economy has a positive direct and negative spatial spillover effect on carbon productivity, and this conclusion is still valid after the robustness test and endogeneity test; (ii) digital infrastructure has a greater impact on carbon productivity than digital industrialization and industrial digitalization; (iii) the mechanism analysis shows that environmental regulation negatively moderates the relationship between the digital economy and carbon productivity; (iv) heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of the digital economy on carbon productivity is more obvious in the central region compared to the western region, while it is not significant in the eastern region. Overall, this paper not only provides a new analytical perspective for understanding the improvement of carbon productivity in the digital economy but also provides policy inspiration for promoting carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

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The effect of the digital economy on carbon emissions: an empirical study in China

Congqi Wang, Fengyu Qi, … Xiaoran Wang

Study on the effect of digital economy development on carbon emissions: evidence from 30 provinces in China

Jinyu Tian & Zhe Meng

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Zhu, J., Li, X. & Shi, D. How does the development of the digital economy influence carbon productivity? The moderating effect of environmental regulation. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33382-y

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Are you looking for environmental research paper topics? With ongoing debates about global warming, air pollution, and other issues, there is no shortage of exciting topics to craft a research paper around. Whether you’re studying ecology, geology, or marine biology, developing the perfect environmental research topic to get your science research assignment off the ground can be challenging. Stop worrying – we got you covered. Continue reading to learn about 235 different ideas on environmental research topics. In this article, we will discuss environmental topics and show you how to choose an interesting research topic for your subject. We will also provide a list of various environmental topics from our research paper services . In addition, we will present you with environmental science research topics, discuss other ideas about the environment for research papers, and offer our final thoughts on these topics for research papers.

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Ecology studies how living organisms interact with each other and their environment. Also, it is an important area of research for understanding how the environment affects the function of various species and ecosystems. It also gives a background for one of the best environment research paper topics. Below are topics for environmental research paper on ecology:

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Pollution is an issue at the forefront of scientific research. As one of the environmental science paper topics, it offers insights into how pollution destroys the environment and its negative impact on human and animal health. Stated below are hot environmental science research topics on pollution which you can use for your article:

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Environmental Topics to Write About Endangered Species

Endangered species are one of the environmental topics of great importance to research and find solutions for their conservation. Poaching, habitat destruction, and climate change negatively impact endangered species. Also, human activities have put other species at risk of extinction by competing for resources as well as introducing invasive species. Below is a list of cool environment topics to write about endangered species:

• Endangered species conservation.
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Ecosystems are fascinating to explore in environmental paper topics because they contain a variety of living organisms and are a complex web of interactions between species, the environment, and humans. The subject provides environmental issues topics for research paper essential in exploring the dynamics of ecosystems and their importance. Below is a list of topics for environmental science research paper:

• Ecosystem services & their value.
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Environmental Topics About Nature

Nature is a broad topic that includes ecological conservation, protection, and sustainability issues. Environmental research topics about nature allow us to explore areas that focus on preserving and conserving the environment. Research papers about nature can provide insight into utilizing nature as a resource, both from a practical and ecological aspect. Below is a list of environment topics that you can explore in your essays:

• Nature conservation & preservation strategies.
• Climate change effects on natural environments.
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• Impact of human development on wildlands.
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• Role of ethics in nature conservation.
• De-extinction: pros & cons of bringing back extinct species.
• Protected areas & conservation of rare species.

Environmental Issues Topics on Water Management

Water management is an issue that has a significant impact on the environment. Exploring a topic related to water management can provide experts, among others, with insights into environmental science issues and their implications. When it's time to write your project related to water management, you can explore the following topics for environmental issues:

• Water pollution & its control.
• Groundwater management strategies.
• Climate change impact on water resources.
• Integrated water resources management.
• Wetland conservation & restoration projects.
• Industrial effluents role in water pollution.
• Desalination technologies for freshwater production.
• Urbanization impact on groundwater resources.
• Inland & coastal water management strategies.
• Wastewater treatment & reuse technologies.

Environmental Science Topics in Different Areas

Environmental science studies ecological processes and their interactions with living organisms. Exploring environmental science related topics can provide valuable insights into environmental science issues, their ecological implications, and conservation efforts. In addition, these topics can also be explored in different areas, providing a comprehensive understanding of how different factors impact the environment. This section delves into various environmental science topics for projects related to law, justice, policy, economics, biology, chemistry, and health science.

Environmental Law Research Topics

Environmental law governs environmental processes and their interactions with living organisms. Delving into environmental law can uncover invaluable information on environment paper topics, ranging from legal matters and their consequences to preservation initiatives. Students can use the following environmental issue topics for research papers for their essays:

• Climate change liability & lawsuits.
• Strategies for conservation and protection under environmental law.
• Consequences of non-compliance with regulations on the environment.
• Impact of trade agreements on environment protection.
• Regulatory strategies for hazardous waste disposal.
• Strategies for enforcement and compliance with environment-related laws.
• International environment treaties and their implications.
• Effects of climate change legislation on the environment.
• Corporate environmental policies and regulations and their effects.
• Role of law in mitigating environment-related issues.

Environmental Justice Research Topics

Environmental justice seeks to ensure equitable treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in ecological protection, regardless of their race, sex, or economic status. Environment topics related to justice can provide valuable insights into ecological issues and their impacts. Listed below are justice-related Environmental topics to research:

• Implications of unequal access to resources.
• Disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations.
• Consequences of marginalization of marginalized communities from environmental processes.
• Links between poverty and environment degradation.
• Effects of non-participation in environment-related decision-making.
• Policies to ensure access to clean air and water.
• Impact of social inequality on environment protection.
• Intersection between gender, race, and environment justice.
• Ecological consequences of corporate negligence of marginalized communities.
• Disproportionate implications of climate change on vulnerable populations.

Environmental Policy Research Paper Topics

Environmental policy is a set of laws, rules, and regulations created to protect the environment as well as its resources. Studying environment-related policies provides an area for students to explore a range of subjects related to the environment, ranging from local to global. Below are potential environmental sciences research topics for your reference.

• Environmental policy initiatives' implications on global climate change.
• Effectiveness of carbon taxes for air pollution control.
• Land use and development impact on the environment.
• Water quality in the united states, focusing on natural resource governance.
• Educational initiative's impact on public opinion and policy outcomes.
• Social aspects of policy making and implementation on the environment.
• Promoting sustainability from a global perspective.
• Potential for justice initiatives in promoting equitable and effective management.
• Rise of green economy its impact.
• Environment policies and their potential for success.

Environmental Economics Research Topics

Environmental economics seeks to understand environmental issues from an economic perspective. Examining environmental studies topics can offer insights into ecological conservation and sustainability while connecting protection efforts with economic interests and helping inform policies. The following are creative topics about environmental science related to economics:

• Economic impacts of regulating the environment.
• Strategies for environmentally sustainable economic growth.
• Consequences of non-compliance with environment-related regulations.
• Environment conservation and protection using economic incentives.
• Taxes and subsidies and their implications on the environment.
• Economic implications of climate change legislation.
• The private sector role in environment conservation and protection.
• Green finance role in mitigating ecological issues.
• Economics of pollution control and management.
• Conservation and protection of the environment in the face of economic interests.

>> Learn more: Economics Research Topics

Environmental Biology Research Topics

Environmental biology is a field of science that focuses on understanding the interactions between living organisms and their environment. It covers environmental biology topics such as biodiversity, conservation, pollution, management, health, and sustainability. The following are environment research paper topics related to biology:

• Biodiversity conservation in managing the environment.
• Role of biotechnology in reducing air pollution.
• Environment degradation and its consequences on wildlife.
• Role of microorganisms in maintaining soil fertility.
• Ecological consequences of over-exploitation of natural resources.
• Habitat fragmentation and its role in species conservation.
• Education's role in environment conservation.
• Environment degradation and its effects on food security.
• Invasive species and their impacts on ecosystem.

Keep in mind that we have a whole blog on biological topics if you need more ideas in this field.

Environmental Chemistry Research Topics

Environmental chemistry research is a complex interdisciplinary field aiming to understand the behavior of a chemical process within an environment. It involves researching the impact of pollutants in the air, soil, water, and other ecological media. Possible research topics about the environment related to this field include:

• Effect of agricultural chemicals on water systems.
• Air pollution control strategies and their effectiveness.
• Climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems.
• Sources and implications of persistent organic pollutants.
• Air quality monitoring for urban areas.
• Water quality monitoring in coastal areas.
• Characterization and fate of toxic compounds in soil and groundwater.
• Impact of hazardous chemical waste on the environment.
• Monitoring and remediation of contaminated sites.
• The roles of environmental chemistry in climate change research.

Need more ideas? There is one more blog with  chemistry research topics  on our platform.

Environmental Health Science Research Topics

Environmental health is a diverse field focusing on the natural environment as well as its effects on human health. It is an interdisciplinary field that offers environment topics for research, such as environmental epidemiology, toxicology, and ecology, in addition to risk assessment. Provided below is a list of topics for an environmental science project that is suitable for your research paper:

• Air pollution effects on human health.
• Climate change effects on health.
• Water pollution and public health.
• Noise pollution effects on well-being.
• Mental health effects of environment-related toxins.
• Human health effects of natural disasters.
• Urbanization's effect on human health.
• Sustainable development and public health.
• Role of social media in promoting environmental health and awareness.
• Biodiversity preservation and its impact on human health.

Other Ideas & Topics About Environment for Research Papers

Ecological crisis is a key issue that has continuously affected planet earth. People are becoming more aware of environmental problems as well as their impact on health, well-being, and quality of life. As such, ecological fields for research are becoming ever more critical. This section will explore interesting environmental topics related to current ecological issues, controversial, interesting topics, easy research questions for projects, as well as unique research areas which students might study. These environmental issue project ideas below will help you develop interesting fields for research papers.

Current Issues in Environmental Science

Current ecological issues are a hot topic that has become increasingly important. They provide outstanding environmental issues to write about due to their impact on the environment and human health. The following are environmental issue topics for paper writing that are currently in discussion:

• Global warming and how to prevent its impact.
• Sustainable energy and its role in protecting the environment.
• Water conservation practices.
• Renewable energy role in global ecological protection.
• Carbon footprint and climate change.
• Ozone layer depletion and its effects on human health.
• Plastic pollution and its impact.
• Land degradation and soil erosion.
• Energy industry activities effects on ecological health.
• Air pollution and its impact on human health.
• Deforestation and its consequences.
• Effect of agricultural practices on ecological health.
• Overuse and exploitation of natural resources.
• Industrial waste impact on health.
• Green technology role in ecological protection.

Controversial Environmental Topics for Research Paper

Environmental controversies constitute a significant challenge facing society today. From climate change to air and water pollution, the effects of human activity on our natural environment are increasingly becoming a focus of public debate and research. Research papers on environmental controversial topics can help inform the public as well as policymakers about the potential impacts of human activities on the environment. The following are examples of environmental controversy topics for research paper:

• Climate change: is human activity a primary cause of global warming.
• Deforestation: are current logging practices sustainable in the long term.
• Air pollution: what are the health impacts of air pollution.
• Water pollution: how is water pollution impacting biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Geothermal energy: what potential impacts does geothermal energy extraction have on the environment.
• Renewable energy: are wind and solar energy carbon-neutral.
• Arctic drilling: is drilling for oil in the arctic ocean a viable option given current climate conditions.
• Nuclear power: what health risks are associated with nuclear power plants.
• Biodiversity loss: what steps can you take to protect biodiversity from human activities.
• Endangered species: how protecting endangered species can impact conservation efforts and how they live.
• GMO foods: are genetically modified organisms safe for human consumption? how does GMO food affect humans.
• Pesticides: how does pesticide use affect our health and the environment.
• Ocean acidification: how is ocean acidification impacting marine ecosystems.
• Waste management: what are the most effective ways to manage waste and reduce pollution.
• Resource exploitation: how does the exploitation of natural resources impact local communities.

Interesting Environmental Research Topics

In the context of environmental subjects, research topics explore the effects of human activities on the environment as well as the potential solutions to the identified problems. In addition to providing insight into ecological protection and conservation, research areas in this category cover social issues related to environmentalism and ecological justice. Below are interesting environmental science topics to consider when looking for a research topic in the future:

• Effects of environment-related toxins on human health.
• Climate change effects on coastal habitats.
• Agricultural activities impacts on the environment.
• Groundwater contamination and its effects on water quality.
• Pollution from factories and its impact on the environment.
• Waste management strategies and their impacts.
• Consequences of water contamination on local wildlife.
• Impacts of mining.
• Deforestation effects on ecosystems and species diversity.
• Industrial fishing practices effects.
• Sustainable forestry practices and their impact on ecosystems.
• Nuclear energy production and its consequences.
• Reducing emissions from vehicles and their effects on air quality.
• Landfills implications on the environment.
• Implications of plastic pollution.

Easy Environmental Research Questions for Projects

When it comes to environmental science topics for project work, there are plenty of easy options. Research projects in this category can explore ecological issues as well as their consequences or potential solutions to these problems. The following is a list of the top fifteen most accessible environment project topics for your research project.

• Air pollution levels impact on urban areas.
• Agricultural practices effects on the environment.
• Developing strategies for sustainable development.
• Causes of water contamination.
• Factors contributing to global warming.
• Natural disasters effects on the environment.
• Land use changes effects on the environment.
• Energy consumption impacts on the environment.
• Climate change effects on the environment.
• Industrialization and its consequences.
• Impact of plastic pollution.
• Health risks associated with air pollution.
• Deforestation impacts on the environment.
• Soil erosion and its effects on the environment.
• Causes and consequences of species extinction.

Unique Environmental Research Topics for Students

As environmental issues become increasingly complex, research fields for students become more varied. Unique environmental research topics for college students can range from local ecological concerns to global ones. The following are fifteen unique environmental science research topics for high school students and college students:

• Climate change impact on water quality.
• Acid rain and its effects.
• Urbanization's effect on biodiversity.
• Effects of offshore drilling.
• Ocean acidification and its impact.
• Impact of privatization on natural resources.
• Effectiveness of renewable energy sources.
• Relationship between energy consumption and the environment.
• Potential impacts regarding genetic engineering on biodiversity.
• Toxic waste disposal and its impacts.
• Environment-related policies impact on water quality.
• Deforestation and its effects on soil quality.
• Causes and consequences of ozone layer depletion.
• Relationship between pollution and public health issues.

Final Thoughts on Environmental Topics for Research Papers

This article has provided 235 environmental science research topics for research papers as well as project work that high school and college students can use. Topics range from local issues, such as assessing air pollution levels in an urban area, to global concerns, like examining the ecological effects of plastic pollution. Whether its health risks are associated with air pollution in an environment or the impacts of industrialization, research can help shape your understanding of how to protect as well as preserve our planet. It is up to the students to identify good environmental research topics that are interesting and relevant to them and to delve deeper to understand the earth better.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The influence of digital platform on the implementation of corporate social responsibility: from the perspective of environmental science development to explore its potential role in public health.

• 1 School of Management, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
• 2 Guangzhou Xinhua University, Dongguan, China
• 3 School of Public Administration, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
• 4 School of Economics and Statistics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
• 5 School of Journalism and Communication, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China

Introduction: This paper aims to explore the intersection of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public health within the context of digital platforms. Specifically, the paper explores the impact of digital platforms on the sustainable development practices of enterprises, seeking to comprehend how these platforms influence the implementation of environmental protection policies, resource management, and social responsibility initiatives.

Methods: To assess the impact of digital platforms on corporate environmental behavior, we conducted a questionnaire survey targeting employees in private enterprises. This survey aimed to evaluate the relationship between the adoption of digital platforms and the implementation of environmental protection policies and practices.

Results: Analysis of the survey responses revealed a significant positive correlation between the use of digital platforms and the environmental protection behavior of enterprises ( r = 0.523 ; p < 0.001 ), Moreover, the presence of innovative environmental protection technologies on these platforms was found to positively influence the enforcement of environmental policies, with a calculated impact ratio of ( a ∗ b / c = 55.31 % ). An intermediary analysis highlighted that environmental innovation technology plays a mediating role in this process. Additionally, adjustment analysis showed that enterprises of various sizes and industries respond differently to digital platforms, indicating the need for tailored environmental policies

Discussion: These findings underscore the pivotal role of digital platforms in enhancing CSR efforts and public health by fostering improved environmental practices among corporations. The mediating effect of environmental innovation technologies suggests that digital platforms not only facilitate direct environmental actions but also enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of such initiatives through technological advances. The variability in response by different enterprises points to the importance of customizable strategies in policy formulation. By offering empirical evidence of digital platforms’ potential to advance CSR and public health through environmental initiatives, this paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue on sustainable development goals. It provides practical insights for enterprises and policy implications for governments striving to craft more effective environmental policies and strategies.

1 Introduction

Global environmental issues have gained prominence in today’s society, raising a great deal of concern. Environmental challenges such as climate change, resource depletion and ecosystem destruction threaten the sustainable development of the earth and the survival of mankind ( 1 , 2 ). In this context, enterprises not only need to find a balance between economic interests and environmental protection, but also need to hypothesize social responsibilities and contribute to sustainable development ( 3 ). As a tool for information dissemination, cooperation and interaction, and resource integration, digital platform is regarded as an emerging force that may have a far-reaching impact on corporate environmental protection behavior and social responsibility ( 4 ). In the past decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an important part of business practice. Enterprises no longer only pay attention to economic performance, but link their economic activities with social and environmental issues to ensure sustainable development ( 5 – 7 ). Meanwhile, the rise of digital platform has changed the interaction between enterprises and their stakeholders, providing enterprises with more opportunities to disseminate environmental information, cooperate to solve environmental problems, and supervise their environmental protection behavior ( 8 ). However, despite these potential opportunities, there are still many unknown factors about the actual impact of digital platforms on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility ( 9 ).

In recent years, with the rapid development of digital technology, digital platform has become an important force to promote social change. Especially in corporate social responsibility and public health, the role of digital platform has become increasingly prominent. Early studies such as Wang et al. ( 10 ) have pointed out that digital transformation can promote enterprises to implement environmental protection policies and social responsibility plans more efficiently. However, there is still a lack of existing literature on how the digital platform affects the sustainable practice of enterprises under the guidance of the development of environmental science, especially the contribution to public health. At present, digital platform plays a vital role in the practice of CSR. Through digital means, enterprises can manage resources more effectively, improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and other environmental protection behaviors. Taking an energy company as an example, the company uses digital platform to implement intelligent energy management system, monitor energy usage, and optimize energy distribution, thus reducing energy waste and improving energy utilization efficiency. Through digital monitoring and data analysis, enterprises can know the energy consumption in real time, adjust production plans in time to reduce carbon emissions, and realize green production. These measures not only help enterprises to comply with environmental laws and regulations and fulfill their social responsibilities, but also bring them economic benefits and brand reputation. Looking forward to the future, the potential of digital platform lies in promoting enterprises to achieve sustainable development goals and promoting environmental protection behavior and social responsibility practice to a higher level. The continuous innovation and application of digital technology will provide more environmental protection solutions and tools for enterprises and support the realization of environmentally friendly production. However, the digital platform also faces some challenges, such as data privacy protection and information security risks, which need to be effectively controlled. Meanwhile, in the process of digital transformation, enterprises may face challenges in technology upgrading and talent training, and it is necessary to strengthen their understanding and application ability of digital technology. Considering the development perspective of environmental science, the relationship between digital platform and CSR is very important. Through the application of digital platform, enterprises can better practice environmental protection behavior, promote sustainable development, and integrate social responsibility into all aspects of business operations. The in-depth discussion of this relationship fills the gap in the existing research and provides new ideas and viewpoints for the related influence in the field of public health. By combining the concepts of digital platform, environmental science and CSR, future research will help to better explore the potential role of digital platform in CSR and public health, and promote the development of enterprises in a more sustainable and socially responsible direction. Therefore, this paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap and explore the subject through empirical research. Specifically, this paper uses the methods of descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis and hypothesis test analysis to evaluate the relationship between the use of digital platforms and corporate environmental behavior, investigates the impact of digital platforms on CSR policies and practices, explores the intermediary variables and moderating variables between digital platforms and corporate environmental behavior, and compares the differences in the impact of digital platforms on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility between different industries and geographical regions. This paper deeply discusses the important role of digital platform in enterprise operation and the possible positive impact of corporate social responsibility on public health and environmental protection. With the acceleration of digital transformation, enterprises increasingly rely on digital platforms to optimize their operational efficiency and market competitiveness, which provides new opportunities and challenges for enterprises to fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities. By revealing how the digital platform can help enterprises to better implement CSR strategy, and then have a positive impact on environmental protection, this paper aims to provide policy makers and business managers with empirical insights and suggestions to promote the realization of sustainable development goals.

In order to achieve the above research objectives, this paper adopts various research methods, including quantitative questionnaire survey, to collect relevant data of enterprises and digital platforms. Then, descriptive statistical analysis is used to summarize the basic characteristics of the data, correlation analysis is used to test the relationship between variables, and hypothesis testing analysis is used to verify the research hypothesis. In addition, intermediary analysis and adjustment analysis are used to deeply understand the influence mechanism of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility. This paper fills the knowledge gap of the influence of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility, and provides practical and policy enlightenment. By deeply understanding the relationship between digital platform and sustainable development of enterprises, it can provide strong support for enterprises and governments to formulate more effective environmental protection policies and strategies.

There are three innovations in this paper. First, from the perspective of environmental science development, the influence mechanism of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility is deeply explored. The second is to put forward the application strategy of digital platform in corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility to provide guidance for corporate practice. Thirdly, by means of questionnaire survey, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis and hypothesis test analysis, the influence mechanism of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility is comprehensively studied.

2 Literature review

Scholars have carried out extensive research in the field of corporate environmental behavior and CSR. They paid attention to the motivation, influencing factors and effects of corporate environmental protection behavior, and discussed the influence of CSR on corporate performance and sustainable development from different dimensions. Afsar and Umrani ( 11 ) investigated the influence of perceived CSR on employees’ environmental behavior. The results showed that perceived CSR had a significant and positive impact on environmental commitment. Raza et al. ( 12 ) investigated hotel employees’ views on CSR activities and their influence on employees’ voluntary environmental protection behavior based on the theory of social exchange and identity. The results showed that CSR had a direct impact on employees’ voluntary environmental protection behavior. Latif et al. ( 13 ) analyzed the relationship between CSR and employees’ environmental behavior from the perspective of sustainable development, and found that employees’ perceived CSR actively promoted employees’ environmental behavior. Deng et al. ( 14 ) studied the relationship between CSR initiatives in hospitals and employees’ environmental behavior, and found that CSR directly and indirectly affected employees’ environmental behavior through environment-specific transformational leadership. Guan et al. ( 15 ) proposed that CSR was mainly related to the environmental performance and economic performance of enterprises. Nowadays, people can improve the environmental performance and economic performance of enterprises by promoting employees’ environmental behavior and altruistic values, and realize CSR. Giacalone et al. ( 16 ) believed that CSR involved the aim of having a positive impact on the community operated by the analyzed company. International organizations and government agencies had also issued a series of environmental science guidelines to encourage enterprises to adopt sustainable development practices, reduce carbon emissions and protect ecosystems. The Global Environment Outlook report provided a comprehensive assessment of the global environmental situation, and called on governments, enterprises and all sectors of society to take actions to reduce carbon emissions, protect ecosystems and promote sustainable development. The report included detailed analysis and suggestions on many environmental problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, and encourages enterprises to take environmental protection measures to promote the realization of global sustainable development goals. It shows that the environmental protection behavior of enterprises has a far-reaching impact on their economic performance and social reputation. Environmental protection behavior not only helps to reduce the environmental footprint of enterprises, but also improves the trust of consumers and investors in enterprises. However, the environmental protection behavior of enterprises is influenced by many factors, including laws and regulations, market pressure and social expectations. Therefore, it has become an important topic to study how to promote enterprises to participate in environmental protection activities more actively.

The emergence of digital platform provides a new perspective for studying corporate environmental behavior and CSR. Among them, technologies and algorithms play a key role in the digital platform, which can be used for data analysis, user behavior prediction and information dissemination. The participation of artificial intelligence (AI) can effectively interact with experts and non-experts in different social places to promote the wise judgment of opaque artificial intelligence systems and realize their democratic governance ( 17 ). Li ( 18 ) believed that big data analysis played an important role in green governance and CSR. Kong and Liu ( 19 ) thought that digital transformation has greatly promoted CSR, and it was helpful to improve pollution control ability and internal control efficiency in enterprises with low financing constraints and high regulatory pressure, thus improving CSR performance. Li ( 20 ) evaluated the financial investment environment of enterprises based on blockchain and cloud computing, and found that cloud computing technology and blockchain technology expanded the construction performance of financial investment data from 5.98 to 9.27. The computing performance was improved by 3.29. Based on two-stage structural equation modeling-artificial neural network (ANN) method, Najmi et al. ( 21 ) discussed the role of consumers in the recycling plan of scrapped mobile phones. Yan et al. ( 22 ) used two-stage structural equation modeling and ANN to analyze the impact of the adoption of financial technology on the sustainable development performance of banking institutions. The research results showed that green finance and green innovation fully mediate the relationship between the application of financial technology and the sustainable development performance of banking institutions ( 22 ). Diaz and Nguyen ( 23 ) predicted the minimum prediction error of CSR index through gray correlation analysis and gray correlation analysis, and found that BPN model had the smallest prediction error, which was better than recurrent neural network (RNN) and radial basis function neural network model. Ezzi et al. ( 24 ) analyzed the important role of blockchain technology in explaining CSR performance, and the results showed that the implementation of blockchain technology had a significant and positive impact on CSR performance.

Wang et al. ( 25 ) constructed a recommendation and resource optimization model by using neural network algorithm from the perspective of cultural and creative industries to promote enterprise project decision-making and resource optimization. The research showed that the entrepreneurial project recommendation and resource optimization model can significantly improve the recognition accuracy, reduce the prediction error, and contribute to the sustainable development of social economy and the optimization of entrepreneurial resources. Combined with the research content of this paper, these research results can provide effective decision-making reference for enterprises and promote the realization of sustainable development goals. Wang et al. ( 26 ) used blockchain technology to build an intelligent contract, established a risk management system for online public opinion, and tracked public opinion through risk correlation tree technology, thus improving the accuracy of risk prediction and credibility detection. The research results showed that with the support of blockchain technology, the three experimental schemes designed can reasonably predict the risk and detect the credibility of NPO. This work was helpful to optimize the control measures of network environment and provide an important reference for improving the management level of network public opinion. Deng et al. ( 27 ) promoted the mechanism of public participation and enhanced the vitality of the economic market of resource-based cities by increasing policy intervention. This study had important reference value for promoting urban resource management and economic efficiency. Li et al. ( 28 ) paid attention to the influence of the pilot policy of low-carbon cities on urban entrepreneurial activities and its role in promoting green development. The results showed that the pilot policy of low-carbon cities generally inhibits entrepreneurial activities, but the level of green innovation can alleviate this inhibitory effect. In addition, the pilot policy of low-carbon cities inhibited the entrepreneurial activities of high-carbon industries, while encouraging the entrepreneurial activities of emerging industries, which led to the changes and upgrading of industrial structure. Li et al. ( 29 ) discussed the development path of clean energy and related issues of sustainable development of mining projects in the ecological environment driven by big data. Through this study, it was hoped to provide empirical support and decision-making reference for mining projects in the development of clean energy, promote the sustainable development of mining industry and realize a win-win situation of economic and ecological benefits. This was of great significance for protecting the ecological environment and realizing the sustainable utilization of resources. Li et al. ( 30 ) investigated the influence of regional digital finance development on corporate financing constraints. It was found that digital finance can significantly alleviate the financing constraints of enterprises, and the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises was more significant. Li et al. ( 31 ) discussed the impact of climate change on corporate environmental, social and governance performance. According to the empirical results, the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of enterprises was significantly inhibited by climate change. It was also found that eliminating the mismatch between internal and external resources would help to alleviate the adverse impact of climate change on ESG performance.

The above literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the relevant research status and scholars’ views on corporate environmental behavior, CSR and digital platform. The research shows that scholars have carried out extensive research in the fields of corporate environmental behavior and CSR, and paid attention to different aspects of these fields, including environmental commitment, environmental behavior of employees, and sustainable development performance. Their research reveals the profound influence of environmental protection behavior of enterprises on their economic performance and social reputation, and the direct influence of CSR on employees’ voluntary environmental protection behavior. In addition, as a new technology and tool, digital platform has attracted the interest of research circles. Technologies and algorithms play a key role in the digital platform, which can be used for data analysis, user behavior prediction and information dissemination, thus affecting the environmental protection behavior and CSR of enterprises. Many studies have shown that AI, big data analysis, blockchain and other technologies have a positive impact on CSR performance and environmental protection behavior ( 32 – 35 ). However, these studies also have some limitations, such as differences in research methods, limitations in sample selection and heterogeneity between different fields. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the influence mechanism of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility, adopt various research methods, and pay attention to the differences between different industries and geographical regions. This will help to fill the knowledge gap in existing research and provide more specific guidance for enterprises and policy makers to promote the realization of sustainable development goals.

The design of this paper focuses on the interaction between digital platform and corporate social responsibility and its influence on environmental protection behavior, which reflects the complexity and scientific value of the study. Based on the theoretical framework and previous empirical research, this paper investigates how the digital platform affects the environmental protection behavior by promoting the practice of corporate social responsibility. This not only deepens the understanding of the role of digital platform in the field of corporate social responsibility, but also provides a new perspective on how to use digital technology to promote environmentally friendly behavior of enterprises, thus filling the gaps in the existing literature.

3 Research methodology

3.1 cross-influence of csr and development of environmental science.

CSR and environmental science development are two interrelated fields, and their cross-influence is very important for understanding the mechanism behind corporate environmental protection behavior. This section deeply discusses the relationship between CSR and the development of environmental science, and establish the theoretical basis of the research. In this section, the guiding principles of environmental science development, including environmental protection and sustainable development policy documents issued by international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme and government agencies, are shown in Table 1 .

Table 1 . Guidance document for the development of environmental science.

In Table 1 , the common goal of core policies and plans is to encourage enterprises to adopt sustainable development practices, reduce carbon emissions and protect ecosystems, thus promoting global sustainable development. Enterprises can fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities by actively participating in these initiatives and complying with relevant policies. Meanwhile, they can gain economic and reputation benefits in terms of sustainability. These policies and plans provide a framework and guidance for enterprises to play an active role in environmental protection behavior ( 36 , 37 ).

CSR covers the social and environmental impacts of enterprises in their business activities, and emphasizes the active obligations of enterprises in fulfilling their social responsibilities ( 38 ). Figure 1 shows the cross influence of CSR and the development of environmental science.

Figure 1 . Cross-influence of CSR and the development of environmental science.

In Figure 1 , in the cross-influence between CSR and environmental science, the core principles and active obligations of CSR play a key role. The core principles of CSR, such as social responsibility, transparency and sustainability, guide enterprises to actively consider social and environmental factors in their business activities. Meanwhile, CSR, as an active obligation, requires enterprises not only to fulfill their legal obligations, but also to actively participate in solving social and environmental problems. These behaviors are the concrete application of CSR in the environmental field, which shows how enterprises actively fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities and promote the practice of sustainable development.

3.2 Potential mechanism of digital platform in enterprise environmental protection behavior

Digital platform refers to a platform based on digital technology and Internet, which connects different participants and provides various services and solutions through online interaction and data sharing ( 39 ). Figure 2 shows the technical architecture of digital platform.

Figure 2 . Digital platform technology architecture.

The technical architecture of Figure 2 digital platform includes infrastructure, middleware, service layer, data layer, application layer and user interface. The user interface is the part where users interact with the digital platform, which provides the functions of users to operate and manage the platform. The application layer is responsible for handling business logic and functions. The data layer is responsible for data storage, reading, updating and deleting, and provides data access interfaces for the application layer. The service layer is a part that provides various services, and provides a series of interfaces and functions for the application layer to call and use. Middleware is a part that connects various components and levels, provides a mechanism for data exchange and communication, and ensures the coordination and interaction between various parts. Infrastructure provides computing resources and storage space to ensure the stability and reliability of the digital platform ( 40 , 41 ). Figure 3 shows the potential mechanism of digital platform in enterprise environmental protection behavior.

Figure 3 . Potential mechanism of digital platform in enterprise environmental protection behavior.

In Figure 3 , digital platform plays an important role in corporate environmental behavior. Through data analysis, resource management, carbon management, environmental protection innovation and other mechanisms, the digital platform helps enterprises to better fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities, promote the practice of sustainable development, improve the environmental performance of enterprises, create economic value for enterprises, and promote the positive relationship between environmental protection and sustainability ( 42 ).

3.3 Research hypothesis

The research hypothesis is a speculative statement about the relationship among different variables. The research hypothesis of this paper focus on the influence of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility.

Hypothesis 1 : There is a positive correlation between the widespread application of digital platforms and corporate environmental protection behavior.

Hypothesis 2 : There is a positive correlation between the environmental protection innovation technology of digital platform and the implementation of environmental protection policies of enterprises.

Hypothesis 3 : There is a positive correlation between social responsibility tools of digital platform and CSR activities.

Hypothesis 4 : There is a positive correlation between enterprise scale and industry type on digital platform and enterprise environmental behavior.

3.4 Method of data capture

In this study, the questionnaire design is to explore the influence of digital platform on corporate social responsibility practice by investigating employees in private enterprises. In order to ensure that the questionnaire can accurately reflect the actual digital actions and CSR activities of enterprises, a series of measures have been taken to enhance the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Firstly, before designing the problem, the relationship between CSR and the development of environmental science is deeply studied, and the cross influence of CSR and environmental science is clarified. With reference to the policy documents on environmental protection and sustainable development issued by international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme, the theoretical basis of the research is constructed. This helps to ensure that the questionnaire design is closely related to the research objectives. Secondly, in the process of questionnaire design, 20 professionals with relevant backgrounds are invited to fill in the first edition of the questionnaire, and the expression and order of questions are adjusted according to their feedback to improve the clarity and logic of the questionnaire. This step is helpful to optimize the questionnaire design, ensure that the questions are accurate and clear, and capture the required information effectively. In addition, referring to the published related research, a measurement tool is constructed based on the indicators used in these studies to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the questionnaire. In order to further improve the reliability and representativeness of the questionnaire, the online survey platform is used to distribute the questionnaire, and a reminder mechanism is set up to increase the response rate. Meanwhile, small rewards are provided for participants who completed the questionnaire to ensure the data quality. Cronbach’s α coefficient and exploratory factor analysis are used to verify the internal consistency test of sample data to evaluate the consistency and reliability of the questionnaire results. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficient is used to evaluate the correlation among different variables to ensure the accuracy and reliability of data analysis. In the questionnaire design, the respondents of private enterprises are divided into three categories: managers, team members and ordinary employees to ensure that employees with different positions and responsibilities are covered to fully understand the digital actions and CSR activities of enterprises. Through the questionnaire collection and analysis of employees in different positions, people can better understand the views and practices of digital platforms and environmental protection behaviors at all levels within the enterprise, and thus draw more objective research conclusions. The comprehensive application of the above measures makes it possible to explore the influence of digital platform on corporate social responsibility practice more comprehensively and accurately, and ensure that the obtained data has high credibility and representativeness, thus providing a solid foundation for subsequent analysis and conclusions. The specific questionnaire design and collection contents are as follows:

The choice of questionnaire survey in this paper is mainly based on its ability to effectively collect a wide range of data, while ensuring anonymity and authenticity. Compared with other data collection methods, questionnaire survey can cover a wider audience and get direct feedback on their opinions and behaviors, which is very important for exploring the role of digital platform in corporate environmental protection behavior.

In this paper, the data of environmental behavior and environmental science development released by the United Nations Environment Programme are used as the control data set of questionnaire survey results. Questionnaire survey is the main means to obtain information about environmental behavior and social responsibility of participating enterprises. Siyal et al. ( 43 ) used questionnaires to analyze how inclusive leaders cultivate employees’ innovative work behavior and creativity, and the results showed that inclusive leadership had a positive impact on innovative work behavior and creativity. In this paper, the respondents of private enterprises are divided into three categories: managers (M) who are related to environmental protection behavior and social responsibility activities of enterprises, team members (T) who are responsible for social responsibility, and ordinary employees (N). The sample size is determined based on Cochran formula. Considering the expected effect, α level and statistical power, it is estimated that at least 250 questionnaires are needed to ensure the reliability and representativeness of the research results. Finally, 256 valid questionnaires are collected, which meets the demand of sample size. After the preliminary design of the questionnaire, 20 professionals with relevant backgrounds are invited to fill it out, and the expression and order of the questions are adjusted based on their feedback to improve the clarity and logic of the questionnaire.

In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, this paper refers to the published related research and builds a measurement tool based on the indicators used in these studies. By using the online survey platform to distribute questionnaires and setting up a reminder mechanism, the response rate is improved, and small rewards are provided to participants who complete the questionnaires to ensure the data quality. In order to verify the consistency and reliability of data, Cronbach’s α coefficient and exploratory factor analysis are used for internal consistency test, and Pearson correlation coefficient is also used to evaluate the correlation among variables. The questionnaire is distributed to 297 respondents by e-mail or online survey platform. Two hundred and fifty six valid questionnaires are collected.

The questionnaire is divided into six sections. The first section is basic information statistics, including gender, working years, education level and occupation. The second section is the development level of environmental science, which mainly focuses on the degree of attention paid by enterprises to the development of environmental science and whether enterprises are developing or applying related technologies of environmental science. The third section is the application level of digital platform, knowing the application of digital platform in the enterprise where the interviewee works, including: the experience of using digital platform, whether the enterprise widely uses digital platform to support business operations, and whether the enterprise uses digital platform to monitor and manage data related to environmental protection and social responsibility. The fourth section is the environmental behavior of enterprises, mainly including whether enterprises have taken measures to reduce carbon emissions and whether enterprises actively participate in resource management and sustainable practice. The fifth section investigates the respondents’ questions about CSR activities, and whether they hold positions related to environmental protection or social responsibility, including: whether enterprises actively participate in social responsibility activities, such as charitable donations and community support. Whether the enterprise has social responsibility report or traceable social responsibility record. The sixth section is the intermediary role of digital platform in environmental behavior and social responsibility, mainly including whether enterprises use digital platform to monitor and report environmental behavior and social responsibility activities. In the definition of variables and the construction of measurement scale, this paper defines “corporate social responsibility” as that enterprises voluntarily assume social and environmental responsibilities while pursuing economic benefits. “Digital platform usage” refers to the degree to which enterprises integrate and use digital technology platforms in their operations and management. “Environmental protection behavior” covers all practical actions taken by enterprises to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable development. The measurement of these variables is based on the previous literature review, combined with expert opinions and pretest results, forming a set of scales containing multiple items, aiming at comprehensively and accurately capturing the core content of each variable. Table 2 shows the definition and selection basis of research variables:

Table 2 . Study the definition and selection basis of variables.

According to the intermediary effect analysis method mentioned by Alfons et al. ( 44 ), Pearson correlation coefficient and Bootstrap method are used in this paper to evaluate the relationship among digital platform usage, CSR policy implementation and corporate environmental behavior. This method is widely recognized and used in social science research, and has been recognized by academic circles for its robustness and applicability. Pearson correlation coefficient is used to analyze the correlation among different variables, and the calculation is shown in Equation (1) :

In Equation (1) , r represents the correlation coefficient. x and y represent two variables respectively, and n represents the sample size. Using Baron and Kenny’s mediation effect analysis method, Equations (2–4) shows the calculation of intermediary effect:

In the above equations, a stands for total effect, b stands for direct effect, c ′ stands for indirect effect, X stands for intermediary variable (application level of digital platform), M stands for the influence of intermediary variable on dependent variable, and Y stands for dependent variable (environmental protection behavior or social responsibility activities of enterprises).

4 Results and discussion

4.1 the results of reliability and validity test and descriptive statistical analysis of the questionnaire.

The reliability and validity of the questionnaire are shown in Figure 4 . It shows that each factor has a high reliability coefficient (greater than 0.84), the factor load (greater than 0.75) indicates that there is a correlation between the problem and each factor, and the KMO value shows that the data is applicable in factor analysis.

Figure 4 . Results of reliability and validity test of questionnaire.

Figure 5 shows the descriptive statistical analysis results of the questionnaire. According to the descriptive statistical results, the respondents’ average scores on policy pressure, market pressure, CSR, environmental performance, and enterprise digital platform level are 4.07, 3.49, 4.27, 3.93, and 4.1, respectively. The evaluation results are relatively consistent. However, there are great differences in the evaluation of public opinion pressure and corporate environmental protection behavior.

Figure 5 . Descriptive statistical analysis results of the questionnaire.

4.2 The correlation between the usage of digital platform and the environmental protection behavior of enterprises

Figure 6 shows the results of correlation analysis between the usage of digital platform and the environmental protection behavior of enterprises. Pearson correlation coefficient shows that there is a moderate positive correlation between the use of digital platforms and corporate environmental behavior (correlation coefficient is 0.523). The Sig. value of correlation analysis is 0.001 (<0.05), which indicates that this correlation is significant. The correlation between the usage of digital platform and enterprise’s environmental behavior is 5.367, Sig. = 0.000 ( p  < 0.05), which verifies hypothesis 1.

Figure 6 . The results of correlation analysis between the use of digital platform and the environmental protection behavior of enterprises.

Figure 7 shows the intermediary analysis of the usage of digital platform. The intermediary analysis shows that the intermediary effect ratio (a * b/c) is 55.31%, and the 95% Bootstrap CI range does not include 0, which indicates that the usage of digital platform plays a significant intermediary role between digital platform and corporate environmental protection behavior.

Figure 7 . Intermediary analysis of the usage degree of digital platform.

4.3 The influence of digital platform on CSR policy and practice

Figure 8 shows the results of correlation analysis between digital platform and CSR. Pearson correlation coefficient shows that there is a moderate positive correlation between the use of digital platforms and CSR policies and practices (correlation coefficient is 0.481). The Sig. value of correlation analysis is 0.003, which is less than the significance level of 0.05, indicating that this correlation is significant. The correlation T between digital platform and CSR is 4.825, Sig. = 0.000 ( p  < 0.05), which shows that there is a positive correlation between digital platform’s social responsibility tools and CSR activities, and supports hypothesis 3.

Figure 8 . Correlation analysis results between digital platform and CSR.

Mediating analysis shows that the mediating effect ratio (a * b/c) is 52.40%, and the 95% Bootstrap CI range does not include 0, indicating that the usage of digital platforms plays a significant mediating role between digital platforms and CSR policies and practices. Figure 9 shows the intermediary analysis of digital platform on CSR policy and practice.

Figure 9 . Intermediary analysis of digital platform on CSR policy and practice.

4.4 Mediating and regulating functions of digital platform and enterprise’s environmental protection behavior

Figure 10 shows the analysis results of the intermediary role and regulatory role of digital platform on enterprise environmental protection behavior. The total effect (a) of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior is 0.627, the total effect (b) of intermediary variable CSR policy implementation is 0.452, and the total effect (b) of intermediary variable environmental innovation technology is 0.313. The mediating effect and 95% confidence interval calculated by Bootstrap method show that the mediating variable CSR policy implementation and environmental protection innovation technology significantly mediate the influence of digital platform on corporate environmental protection behavior, because their confidence intervals do not include 0. T -value and Sig. value also support the significance of these mediating effects. The moderating effect of moderating variable enterprise scale is 0.284, and that of moderating variable industry type is 0.179. The t -value and Sig. value of the regulatory effect show that both the scale of enterprises and the types of industries have a significant regulatory effect on the impact of digital platforms on corporate environmental behavior.

Figure 10 . The analysis results of the mediating and regulating effects of digital platform on enterprise’s environmental protection behavior [ (A) the mediating effect; (B) for regulatory purposes].

In order to further explore the potential causal relationship between the use of digital platforms and the environmental behavior of enterprises, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is introduced for analysis. In addition, through the analysis of mediating and moderating effects, it further analyzes how the digital platform affects the CSR practice and environmental behavior of enterprises through different mediating variables (environmental innovation technology) and moderating variables (enterprise scale and industry type). Firstly, a structural equation model is established to evaluate the direct and indirect relationship between digital platform use (independent variable) and enterprise environmental behavior (dependent variable). As a part of indirect relationship, two intermediary variables are considered: CSR policy implementation and environmental innovation technology. Meanwhile, enterprise scale and industry type are regarded as moderating variables to test whether they will change the correlation between the main variables. The hypothesis is tested by multiple regression analysis. This analysis helps to verify the correlation between the use of digital platform, the implementation of CSR policy, environmental innovation technology and corporate environmental behavior, and also examines the regulatory role of enterprise scale and industry type. Table 3 shows the results of multiple regression analysis, which is used to test the direct impact of the use of digital platforms on corporate environmental behavior and its indirect impact through intermediary variables.

Table 3 . Results of SEM and multiple regression analysis.

In Table 3 , the use of digital platform has a significant positive impact on corporate environmental behavior (β = 0.623, p  < 0.001), and CSR policy implementation and environmental innovation technology both show significant positive effects as intermediary variables. In addition, as moderating variables, enterprise scale and industry type have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between the main variables. Through the structural equation model and the results of multiple regression analysis, it is confirmed that there is a significant positive relationship between the use of digital platforms and corporate environmental behavior. Environmental innovation technology and the implementation of CSR policy have played an important intermediary role in this relationship. In addition, the analysis also reveals the moderating role of enterprise scale and industry type in the relationship between digital platform use and enterprise environmental behavior. This emphasizes the need to consider the specific background and characteristics of enterprises when encouraging enterprises to take digital measures to improve their environmental performance. The above findings have important implications for decision makers and policy makers. They emphasize the necessity of supporting enterprises to adopt digital technology to improve environmental protection behavior and CSR practice, and suggest the importance of considering enterprise scale and industry characteristics when designing relevant policies and interventions.

The findings of this paper provide valuable insights for decision makers and policy makers. Firstly, the paper emphasizes the core role of digital platform in promoting corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility practice. The application of digital technology can help enterprises to manage resources more efficiently and formulate environmental protection strategies, thus promoting sustainable development. It is suggested that policy makers should support and encourage enterprises to adopt digital technology to improve their environmental friendliness and social responsibility practice. Secondly, future policy planning needs to take into account the differences in the influence of enterprise scale and industry type on digital platforms. Enterprises of different scales and industries may face different challenges and opportunities in digital transformation, so customized guidelines are needed to guide them to make rational use of digital platforms. Policymakers can formulate targeted policies and measures according to the characteristics of different enterprises to promote the combination of digitalization and sustainable development. Finally, it is suggested that further research should pay attention to the differences in the impact of digital platforms on corporate social responsibility and public health in different regions and cultural backgrounds. Different regions and cultures may have different degrees of acceptance and practice of digitalization, which will have different degrees of impact on corporate social responsibility and public health. In-depth study of the mechanism of digital platforms in different contexts will help to better guide enterprises and policy makers in their decision-making and practice in different environments. Through these suggestions and research directions, people can better promote the goals of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development with the help of digital platforms.

5 Conclusion

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of digital platform on corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility, and to deeply understand how digital platform shapes the sustainable development practice of enterprises. Through comprehensive analysis of questionnaire survey data and various research methods, it is found that digital platform plays an active role in the sustainable development of enterprises. There is a positive correlation between the wide application of digital platform and corporate environmental behavior and social responsibility, which shows that digital platform helps enterprises to participate in environmental protection and social responsibility activities more actively and promote sustainable development. Secondly, the environmental protection innovation technology of digital platform has a positive impact on the implementation of environmental protection policies of enterprises. Environmental protection innovation technology plays an intermediary role between digital platform and enterprise environmental protection behavior, which strengthens the influence of digital platform on enterprise environmental protection behavior. In addition, the scale of enterprises and the types of industries plays a regulatory role in the influence mechanism of digital platforms. Enterprises of different scales and industries have different responses to digital platforms, which requires individualized consideration when formulating environmental protection policies and strategies. However, there are some shortcomings in this paper. The research sample has limitations and may not fully represent enterprises of other industries and scales. Future research can expand the sample range, deeply analyze the relationship between digital platform and sustainable development of enterprises, and consider more regulatory factors.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author contributions

MW: Conceptualization, Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing. RY: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. XG: Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. ZW: Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. YZ: Investigation, Software, Writing – review & editing. TL: Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Writing – original draft.

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the 2022 Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (GD22XXW05) entitled “Study on niche selection of Guangdong mainstream media in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”, 2018 Social Science Foundation of Guangzhou city of China (2018GZMZYB39) entitled “Research on Guangzhou city brand building and communication strategy under UGC production paradigm” and 2013 Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (GD13XXW03) entitled “Research on the Reporting Framework of important Health Issues in Guangdong Newspaper Industry.”

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: digital platform, corporate environmental protection behavior, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, intermediary analysis

Citation: Wang M, Yuan R, Guan X, Wang Z, Zeng Y and Liu T (2024) The influence of digital platform on the implementation of corporate social responsibility: from the perspective of environmental science development to explore its potential role in public health. Front. Public Health . 12:1343546. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1343546

Received: 23 November 2023; Accepted: 03 April 2024; Published: 22 April 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Wang, Yuan, Guan, Wang, Zeng and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Tao Liu, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.