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Dr. Gerald G. Singh
Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada

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0 Coastal Management
0 Conservation
0 Sustainable Development
0 Uncertainty
0 Expert elicitation

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Sustainable Development
Expert elicitation
cumulative impacts
Uncertainty
Conservation

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Methods article
Published: 30 July 2021 in Frontiers in Marine Science
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Coastal regions are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) given their importance for human habitation, resource provisioning, employment, and cultural practice. They are also regions where different ecological, disciplinary, and jurisdictional boundaries both overlap and are obscured. We thus propose the land-sea interface as areas where governance systems are most in need of frameworks for systems analysis to meet the SDGs—which are inherently interconnected— and integrate complex interdependencies between human livelihoods, energy, transport, food production, and nutrient flows (among others). We propose a strategic land-sea governance framework built on the sustainable transitions literature to plan for governance to achieve sustainable development across the land-sea interface. To illustrate our proposal, we compare governance planning processes across four case-based scenarios: an industrialized coastal country, a least developed coastal country, a developing coastal country with local dependencies on ocean resources, and a small island developing state primarily dependent on tourism. Through the lens of aligning governance actors and actions vertically (subnational to national), horizontally (across sectors), and programmatically (from goals to implementation), we propose scales at which governance systems may be misaligned, such as where different agencies that affect marine systems have conflicting visions and goals, leading to stalled progress or counterproductive actions. Where possible, we also highlight strategies to align across scales of high level strategic policy, tactical scale institutional mandates and cooperation, and on the ground activities and operations, such as aligning actors based on an analysis of interdependencies of goals.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Richard S. Cottrell; Tyler D. Eddy; Andrés Miguel Cisneros-Montemayor. Governing the Land-Sea Interface to Achieve Sustainable Coastal Development. Frontiers in Marine Science 2021, 8, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Richard S. Cottrell, Tyler D. Eddy, Andrés Miguel Cisneros-Montemayor. Governing the Land-Sea Interface to Achieve Sustainable Coastal Development. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2021; 8 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Richard S. Cottrell; Tyler D. Eddy; Andrés Miguel Cisneros-Montemayor. 2021. "Governing the Land-Sea Interface to Achieve Sustainable Coastal Development." Frontiers in Marine Science 8, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 12 June 2021 in Marine Policy
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Climate change poses challenges to achieving sustainable ocean development, with particularly acute risk posed to coastal states and marginalized coastal users. International efforts to address these challenges include the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda. Further, some countries are refocusing their ocean programs to align with blue economy strategies globally. We look to Canada, an ocean nation developing a blue economy strategy, to examine the climate-responsiveness of their oceans policies. First, we identify climate change impacts on ecosystem services affecting each of Canada’s coasts through a document scan. Then, through a structured policy analysis, we examine whether Canadian fisheries and oceans policy are responsive to these impacts. Finally, we discuss how current policies do or do not address climate impacts on oceans and coasts in Canada, and how this focus, or lack thereof, will have an outsized impact on certain ocean sectors (e.g., inshore fisheries). Our findings show a policy landscape largely dependent on climate change action promoted in a few broad federal initiatives, with oceans-related climate action operating through area-based conservation measures and research and monitoring initiatives. We conclude with recommendations for Canada and similar ocean states to integrate climate and ocean policies across federal departments and ocean sectors by centering vulnerable coastal users in policy formulation. Given Canada’s rapid development of a blue economy strategy as a new governing framework for oceans policy, we recommend the strategy be guided by long-term sustainability goals that prioritize environmental and social sustainability over short-term economic growth.

ACS Style

Jack Daly; Christine Knott; Poppy Keogh; Gerald G. Singh. Changing climates in a blue economy: Assessing the climate-responsiveness of Canadian fisheries and oceans policy. Marine Policy 2021, 131, 104623 .

AMA Style

Jack Daly, Christine Knott, Poppy Keogh, Gerald G. Singh. Changing climates in a blue economy: Assessing the climate-responsiveness of Canadian fisheries and oceans policy. Marine Policy. 2021; 131 ():104623.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jack Daly; Christine Knott; Poppy Keogh; Gerald G. Singh. 2021. "Changing climates in a blue economy: Assessing the climate-responsiveness of Canadian fisheries and oceans policy." Marine Policy 131, no. : 104623.

Letter
Published: 03 May 2021 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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ACS Style

Wilf Swartz; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Gerald G. Singh; Patrick Boutet; Yoshitaka Ota. AIS-based profiling of fishing vessels falls short as a “proof of concept” for identifying forced labor at sea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2021, 118, 1 .

AMA Style

Wilf Swartz, Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Gerald G. Singh, Patrick Boutet, Yoshitaka Ota. AIS-based profiling of fishing vessels falls short as a “proof of concept” for identifying forced labor at sea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2021; 118 (19):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wilf Swartz; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Gerald G. Singh; Patrick Boutet; Yoshitaka Ota. 2021. "AIS-based profiling of fishing vessels falls short as a “proof of concept” for identifying forced labor at sea." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, no. 19: 1.

Article
Published: 25 March 2021 in Nature Sustainability
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Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must contend with the often siloed nature of governance institutions, making the identification of cooperative institutional networks that promote SDG targets a priority. We develop and apply a method that combines SDG interaction analysis, which helps determine prerequisites for SDG attainment, with the transition management framework, which helps align policy goals with institutional designs. Using Aruba as a case study, we show that prioritizing increased economic benefits from sustainable marine development, including those of tourism, provides the greatest amount of direct co-benefits to other SDGs. When considering indirect co-benefits, reducing marine pollution emerged as a key supporting target to achieve SDGs. The results also show that, as in many other small island states, sustainable ocean development in Aruba depends on international partnerships to address global issues—including climate change mitigation—over which it has little control. Using SDG relationships as a guide for institutional cooperation, we find that the institutions with the most potential to coordinate action for sustainable ocean development are those that address economic, social and international policy, rather than institutions specifically focused on environmental policy. Our results provide key methodologies and insights for sustainable marine development that require coordinated actions across institutions. Cooperative institutional networks are essential to achieve SDG targets. Combining SDG interaction analysis with a transition management framework, this study finds that in Aruba prioritizing benefits from sustainable marine development leads to the greatest amount of direct co-benefits to other SDGs.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Marck Oduber; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. Aiding ocean development planning with SDG relationships in Small Island Developing States. Nature Sustainability 2021, 4, 573 -582.

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Marck Oduber, Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Jorge Ridderstaat. Aiding ocean development planning with SDG relationships in Small Island Developing States. Nature Sustainability. 2021; 4 (7):573-582.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Marck Oduber; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. 2021. "Aiding ocean development planning with SDG relationships in Small Island Developing States." Nature Sustainability 4, no. 7: 573-582.

Journal article
Published: 17 March 2021 in Nature
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The future of the global ocean economy is currently envisioned as advancing towards a ‘blue economy’—socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable ocean industries1,2. However, tensions exist within sustainable development approaches, arising from differing perspectives framed around natural capital or social equity. Here we show that there are stark differences in outlook on the capacity for establishing a blue economy, and on its potential outcomes, when social conditions and governance capacity—not just resource availability—are considered, and we highlight limits to establishing multiple overlapping industries. This is reflected by an analysis using a fuzzy logic model to integrate indicators from multiple disciplines and to evaluate their current capacity to contribute to establishing equitable, sustainable and viable ocean sectors consistent with a blue economy approach. We find that the key differences in the capacity of regions to achieve a blue economy are not due to available natural resources, but include factors such as national stability, corruption and infrastructure, which can be improved through targeted investments and cross-scale cooperation. Knowledge gaps can be addressed by integrating historical natural and social science information on the drivers and outcomes of resource use and management, thus identifying equitable pathways to establishing or transforming ocean sectors1,3,4. Our results suggest that policymakers must engage researchers and stakeholders to promote evidence-based, collaborative planning that ensures that sectors are chosen carefully, that local benefits are prioritized, and that the blue economy delivers on its social, environmental and economic goals. The capacity to create an equitable and sustainable ‘blue economy’ from ocean resources will be determined by addressing social conditions, governance and infrastructure, not just resource availability, as shown by a fuzzy logic model incorporating multidisciplinary criteria.

ACS Style

Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Marcia Moreno-Báez; Gabriel Reygondeau; William W. L. Cheung; Katherine M. Crosman; Pedro C. González-Espinosa; Vicky W. Y. Lam; Muhammed A. Oyinlola; Gerald G. Singh; Wilf Swartz; Chong-Wei Zheng; Yoshitaka Ota. Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy. Nature 2021, 591, 396 -401.

AMA Style

Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Marcia Moreno-Báez, Gabriel Reygondeau, William W. L. Cheung, Katherine M. Crosman, Pedro C. González-Espinosa, Vicky W. Y. Lam, Muhammed A. Oyinlola, Gerald G. Singh, Wilf Swartz, Chong-Wei Zheng, Yoshitaka Ota. Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy. Nature. 2021; 591 (7850):396-401.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Marcia Moreno-Báez; Gabriel Reygondeau; William W. L. Cheung; Katherine M. Crosman; Pedro C. González-Espinosa; Vicky W. Y. Lam; Muhammed A. Oyinlola; Gerald G. Singh; Wilf Swartz; Chong-Wei Zheng; Yoshitaka Ota. 2021. "Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy." Nature 591, no. 7850: 396-401.

Journal article
Published: 05 March 2021 in One Earth
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Summary Recent studies suggest that the pervasive impacts on global fishery resources caused by stressors such as overfishing and climate change could dramatically increase the likelihood of fishery conflict. However, existing projections do not consider wider economic, social, or political trends when assessing the likelihood of, and influences on, future conflict trajectories. In this paper, we build four future fishery conflict scenarios by considering multiple fishery conflict drivers derived from an expert workshop, a longitudinal database of international fishery conflict, secondary data on conflict driver trends, and regional expert reviews. The scenarios take place between the years 2030 and 2060 in the North-East Atlantic ("scramble for the Atlantic"), the East China Sea ("the remodeled empire"), the coast of West Africa ("oceanic decolonization"), and the Arctic ("polar renaissance"). The scenarios explore the implications of ongoing trends in conflict-prone regions of the world and function as accessible, science-based communication tools that can help foster anticipatory governance capacity in the pursuit of future ocean security.

ACS Style

Jessica Spijkers; Andrew Merrie; Colette C.C. Wabnitz; Matthew Osborne; Malin Mobjörk; Örjan Bodin; Elizabeth R. Selig; Philippe Le Billon; Cullen S. Hendrix; Gerald G. Singh; Patrick W. Keys; Tiffany H. Morrison. Exploring the future of fishery conflict through narrative scenarios. One Earth 2021, 4, 386 -396.

AMA Style

Jessica Spijkers, Andrew Merrie, Colette C.C. Wabnitz, Matthew Osborne, Malin Mobjörk, Örjan Bodin, Elizabeth R. Selig, Philippe Le Billon, Cullen S. Hendrix, Gerald G. Singh, Patrick W. Keys, Tiffany H. Morrison. Exploring the future of fishery conflict through narrative scenarios. One Earth. 2021; 4 (3):386-396.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jessica Spijkers; Andrew Merrie; Colette C.C. Wabnitz; Matthew Osborne; Malin Mobjörk; Örjan Bodin; Elizabeth R. Selig; Philippe Le Billon; Cullen S. Hendrix; Gerald G. Singh; Patrick W. Keys; Tiffany H. Morrison. 2021. "Exploring the future of fishery conflict through narrative scenarios." One Earth 4, no. 3: 386-396.

Journal article
Published: 27 January 2021 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Harriet Harden-Davies; Edward H. Allison; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Wilf Swartz; Katherine M. Crosman; Yoshitaka Ota. Opinion: Will understanding the ocean lead to “the ocean we want”? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2021, 118, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Harriet Harden-Davies, Edward H. Allison, Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Wilf Swartz, Katherine M. Crosman, Yoshitaka Ota. Opinion: Will understanding the ocean lead to “the ocean we want”? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2021; 118 (5):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Harriet Harden-Davies; Edward H. Allison; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Wilf Swartz; Katherine M. Crosman; Yoshitaka Ota. 2021. "Opinion: Will understanding the ocean lead to “the ocean we want”?" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, no. 5: 1.

Review
Published: 06 September 2020 in Conservation Letters
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Effective networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) are explicitly recognized and called for in international biodiversity conservation strategies such as the Aichi Targets. While various indicators have been proposed to assess effectiveness of individual MPAs, no comprehensive set of indicators exists for MPA networks, particularly for Aichi Target 11. The qualitative elements of this target recognize the value of social, economic, governance, and ecological factors in achieving effective biodiversity conservation. Here, we used a systematic literature review to identify indicators of MPA network effectiveness. We reviewed 64 publications, identifying 48 indicators that could be aligned with the qualitative elements. Results showed that assessments of MPA network effectiveness predominantly focused on effective management while neglecting equitable management and integration into the wider land and seascape. Indicators tended to focus on ecological characteristics, overlooking social, economic, and governance dimensions. Key challenges in addressing these gaps include identifying conflicting priorities and objectives in adjacent marine and land areas that interfere with cooperation and knowledge sharing, and ensuring diverse areas with distinct social and ecological contexts are considered. This study provides the first review of indicators for assessing MPA networks and adds to the literature assessing whether current and future targets can be met.

ACS Style

Mairi C. Meehan; Natalie C. Ban; Rodolphe Devillers; Gerald G. Singh; Joachim Claudet. How far have we come? A review of MPA network performance indicators in reaching qualitative elements of Aichi Target 11. Conservation Letters 2020, 13, 1 .

AMA Style

Mairi C. Meehan, Natalie C. Ban, Rodolphe Devillers, Gerald G. Singh, Joachim Claudet. How far have we come? A review of MPA network performance indicators in reaching qualitative elements of Aichi Target 11. Conservation Letters. 2020; 13 (6):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mairi C. Meehan; Natalie C. Ban; Rodolphe Devillers; Gerald G. Singh; Joachim Claudet. 2020. "How far have we come? A review of MPA network performance indicators in reaching qualitative elements of Aichi Target 11." Conservation Letters 13, no. 6: 1.

Research article
Published: 04 May 2020 in PLOS ONE
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Ecosystem services are impacted through restricting service supply, through limiting people from accessing services, and by affecting the quality of services. We map cumulative impacts to 8 different ecosystem services in coastal British Columbia using InVEST models, spatial data, and expert elicitation to quantify risk to each service from anthropogenic activities. We find that impact to service access and quality as well as impact to service supply results in greater severity of impact and a greater diversity of causal processes of impact than only considering impact to service supply. This suggests that limiting access to services and impacts to service quality may be important and understanding these kinds of impacts may complement our knowledge of impacts to biophysical systems that produce services. Some ecosystem services are at greater risk from climate stressors while others face greater risk from local activities. Prominent causal pathways of impact include limiting access and affecting quality. Mapping cumulative impacts to ecosystem services can yield rich insights, including highlighting areas of high impact and understanding causes of impact, and should be an essential management tool to help maintain the flow of services we benefit from.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Ian M. S. Eddy; Benjamin S. Halpern; Rabin Neslo; Terre Satterfield; Kai M. A. Chan. Mapping cumulative impacts to coastal ecosystem services in British Columbia. PLOS ONE 2020, 15, e0220092 .

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Ian M. S. Eddy, Benjamin S. Halpern, Rabin Neslo, Terre Satterfield, Kai M. A. Chan. Mapping cumulative impacts to coastal ecosystem services in British Columbia. PLOS ONE. 2020; 15 (5):e0220092.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Ian M. S. Eddy; Benjamin S. Halpern; Rabin Neslo; Terre Satterfield; Kai M. A. Chan. 2020. "Mapping cumulative impacts to coastal ecosystem services in British Columbia." PLOS ONE 15, no. 5: e0220092.

Research article
Published: 22 March 2020 in People and Nature
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Governments around the world rely on environmental impact assessment (EIA) to understand the environmental risks of proposed developments. To examine the basis for these appraisals, we examine the output of EIA processes in jurisdictions within seven countries, focusing on scope (spatial and temporal), mitigation actions and whether impacts were identified as ‘significant’. We find that the number of impacts characterized as significant is generally low. While this finding may indicate that EIA is successful at promoting environmentally sustainable development, it may also indicate that the methods used to assess impact are biased against findings of significance. To explore the methods used, we investigate the EIA process leading to significance determination. We find that EIA reports could be more transparent with regard to the spatial scale they use to assess impacts to wildlife. We also find that few reports on mining projects consider temporal scales that are precautionary with regard to the effects of mines on water resources. Across our sample of reports, we find that few EIAs meaningfully consider the different ways that cumulative impacts can interact. Across countries, we find that proposed mitigation measures are often characterized as effective without transparent justification, and sometimes are described in ways that render the mitigation measure proposal ambiguous. Across the reports in our sample, professional judgement is overwhelmingly the determinant of impact significance, with little transparency around the reasoning process involved or input by stakeholders. We argue that the credibility and accuracy of the EIA process could be improved by adopting more rigorous assessment methodologies and empowering regulators to enforce their use. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Jackie Lerner; Megan Mach; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Janson Wong; Alice Guimaraes; Gustavo Yunda‐Guarin; Terre Satterfield; Kai M. A. Chan. Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally. People and Nature 2020, 2, 369 -379.

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Jackie Lerner, Megan Mach, Cathryn Clarke Murray, Bernardo Ranieri, Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent, Janson Wong, Alice Guimaraes, Gustavo Yunda‐Guarin, Terre Satterfield, Kai M. A. Chan. Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally. People and Nature. 2020; 2 (2):369-379.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Jackie Lerner; Megan Mach; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Janson Wong; Alice Guimaraes; Gustavo Yunda‐Guarin; Terre Satterfield; Kai M. A. Chan. 2020. "Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally." People and Nature 2, no. 2: 369-379.

Discussion
Published: 20 February 2020 in Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a major accomplishment of international diplomacy and vision. Beyond this, the SDGs represent a globally agreed on definition of sustainable development that has eluded researchers of sustainability, containing an expansive set of specific targets across social, economic, and environmental dimensions. However, the SDGs can be considered a “destination without a path”, because the SDGs are a set of integrated goals without a plan. Much research being conducted on the SDGs is focused on evaluating our status relative to the SDGs or determining how the SDGs are interrelated, however this research is rarely conducted within a larger theory of change and consequently may provide limited guidance on policy and decisions. Simultaneously there exist strategic frameworks to plan for sustainability transitions, namely the strategic sustainable development framework and the transition management framework, that can be thought of as “planning a path without a destination” because they have not been used for globally-agreed on definitions of sustainable development. I propose that researchers and policymakers “determine a path to a destination” by studying the SDGs in the context of these strategic frameworks. Doing so will allow for researchers to address complex social–ecological questions on how humans and the natural world interact and will also allow policymakers to establish strategic and evidence-based ways forward. I discuss two examples of this kind of research: one where understanding SDG achievement in the context of global change allows for the identification of strategic policy directions (using the strategic sustainable development framework), and another one where understanding policy priorities and SDG interlinkages can help determine how to structure institutions to manage and regulate activities to achieve the SDGs (transition management). Achieving the SDGs must be done while uncertainty is high and decisions urgent, requiring us to determine a path towards our desired destination.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh. Determining a path to a destination: pairing strategic frameworks with the Sustainable Development Goals to promote research and policy. Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review 2020, 17, 521 -539.

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh. Determining a path to a destination: pairing strategic frameworks with the Sustainable Development Goals to promote research and policy. Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review. 2020; 17 (2):521-539.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh. 2020. "Determining a path to a destination: pairing strategic frameworks with the Sustainable Development Goals to promote research and policy." Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review 17, no. 2: 521-539.

Comment
Published: 14 October 2019 in Nature Sustainability
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The global rush to develop the ‘blue economy’ risks harming both the marine environment and human wellbeing. Bold policies and actions are urgently needed. We identify five priorities to chart a course towards an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable blue economy.

ACS Style

Nathan J. Bennett; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Jessica Blythe; Jennifer J. Silver; Gerald Singh; Nathan Andrews; Antonio Calò; Patrick Christie; Antonio Di Franco; Elena M. Finkbeiner; Stefan Gelcich; Paolo Guidetti; Sarah Harper; Ngaio Hotte; John N. Kittinger; Philippe Le Billon; Jane Lister; Rocío López De La Lama; Emma McKinley; Joeri Scholtens; Ann-Magnhild Solås; Merle Sowman; Nicolás Talloni-Álvarez; Lydia C. L. Teh; Michelle Voyer; U. Rashid Sumaila. Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy. Nature Sustainability 2019, 2, 991 -993.

AMA Style

Nathan J. Bennett, Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Jessica Blythe, Jennifer J. Silver, Gerald Singh, Nathan Andrews, Antonio Calò, Patrick Christie, Antonio Di Franco, Elena M. Finkbeiner, Stefan Gelcich, Paolo Guidetti, Sarah Harper, Ngaio Hotte, John N. Kittinger, Philippe Le Billon, Jane Lister, Rocío López De La Lama, Emma McKinley, Joeri Scholtens, Ann-Magnhild Solås, Merle Sowman, Nicolás Talloni-Álvarez, Lydia C. L. Teh, Michelle Voyer, U. Rashid Sumaila. Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy. Nature Sustainability. 2019; 2 (11):991-993.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathan J. Bennett; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Jessica Blythe; Jennifer J. Silver; Gerald Singh; Nathan Andrews; Antonio Calò; Patrick Christie; Antonio Di Franco; Elena M. Finkbeiner; Stefan Gelcich; Paolo Guidetti; Sarah Harper; Ngaio Hotte; John N. Kittinger; Philippe Le Billon; Jane Lister; Rocío López De La Lama; Emma McKinley; Joeri Scholtens; Ann-Magnhild Solås; Merle Sowman; Nicolás Talloni-Álvarez; Lydia C. L. Teh; Michelle Voyer; U. Rashid Sumaila. 2019. "Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy." Nature Sustainability 2, no. 11: 991-993.

Preprint content
Published: 27 August 2019
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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require coordinated policymaking for achievement. Aruba is a Small Island State (SIDS) with 90% of its jobs and GDP dependent on the oceans has prioritized SDG 14 – life below water, or the SDG Ocean goal – for achievement. We have developed a planning process, building off of the the literature on SDG interactions and stratetic policy planning literatures, to guide SDG policy development and implemented it in Aruba. We used a structured expert elicitation process to carry out the analysis for this process. The process involves first identifying priority areas based on determining which SDG Ocean target provides the most co-benefit across other SDGs. Next we determine the SDG areas that most contribute to key SDG Ocean targets. Using this information we determine the key policy areas important for promoting sustainable oceans. Finally, we determine the Aruban ministries and institutions responsible for the various SDG areas and based on which SDG areas are most important for SDG Ocean achievement we visualize a new institutional network to support the achievement of SDG Oceans. First, we determined that while increasing economic benfits for SIDS (SDG 14.7) was the most important SDG Ocean target when considering direct impacts, reducing marine pollution (SDG 14.1), restoring marine habitats (SDG 14.2), and marine protection (SDG 14.5) were the most important SDG Ocean targets when considering indirect impacts. SDG areas with the most beneficial consequences for the SDG Ocean targets were mitigating climate impacts (SDG 13), international partnerships (SDG 17), jobs and economy (SDG 8), conserving terrestrial area (SDG 15), strengthening institutions (SDG 16), and promoting sustainable consumption and production practices (SDG 12). When links between SDGs are not considered, the institutional network supporting sustainable oceans is relatively simple, with the Department of Nature and the Environment most central: it coordinates across the largest number of relevant institutions supporting the SDG Oceans goal. However, when SDG relationships are considered, the institutional network is relatively complex, and the Social and Economic Council is determined to be the most central and important in coordinating activities across the largest number of Aruban instutions that support the SDG Ocean goal. Transitioning to a sustainable future requires policymaking that works across social-ecological dimensions, and need to design coherent and integrative institutional structures with which to do this.

ACS Style

Gerald G Singh; Marck Oduber; Andres Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state. 2019, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G Singh, Marck Oduber, Andres Cisneros-Montemayor, Jorge Ridderstaat. Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state. . 2019; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G Singh; Marck Oduber; Andres Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. 2019. "Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state." , no. : 1.

Preprint content
Published: 27 August 2019
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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require coordinated policymaking for achievement. Aruba is a Small Island State (SIDS) with 90% of its jobs and GDP dependent on the oceans has prioritized SDG 14 – life below water, or the SDG Ocean goal – for achievement. We have developed a planning process, building off of the the literature on SDG interactions and stratetic policy planning literatures, to guide SDG policy development and implemented it in Aruba. We used a structured expert elicitation process to carry out the analysis for this process. The process involves first identifying priority areas based on determining which SDG Ocean target provides the most co-benefit across other SDGs. Next we determine the SDG areas that most contribute to key SDG Ocean targets. Using this information we determine the key policy areas important for promoting sustainable oceans. Finally, we determine the Aruban ministries and institutions responsible for the various SDG areas and based on which SDG areas are most important for SDG Ocean achievement we visualize a new institutional network to support the achievement of SDG Oceans. First, we determined that while increasing economic benfits for SIDS (SDG 14.7) was the most important SDG Ocean target when considering direct impacts, reducing marine pollution (SDG 14.1), restoring marine habitats (SDG 14.2), and marine protection (SDG 14.5) were the most important SDG Ocean targets when considering indirect impacts. SDG areas with the most beneficial consequences for the SDG Ocean targets were mitigating climate impacts (SDG 13), international partnerships (SDG 17), jobs and economy (SDG 8), conserving terrestrial area (SDG 15), strengthening institutions (SDG 16), and promoting sustainable consumption and production practices (SDG 12). When links between SDGs are not considered, the institutional network supporting sustainable oceans is relatively simple, with the Department of Nature and the Environment most central: it coordinates across the largest number of relevant institutions supporting the SDG Oceans goal. However, when SDG relationships are considered, the institutional network is relatively complex, and the Social and Economic Council is determined to be the most central and important in coordinating activities across the largest number of Aruban instutions that support the SDG Ocean goal. Transitioning to a sustainable future requires policymaking that works across social-ecological dimensions, and need to design coherent and integrative institutional structures with which to do this.

ACS Style

Gerald G Singh; Marck Oduber; Andres Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state. 2019, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G Singh, Marck Oduber, Andres Cisneros-Montemayor, Jorge Ridderstaat. Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state. . 2019; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G Singh; Marck Oduber; Andres Cisneros-Montemayor; Jorge Ridderstaat. 2019. "Governance planning for sustainable oceans in a small island state." , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 30 July 2019 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
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Maintaining the continued flow of benefits from science, as well as societal support for science, requires sustained engagement between the research community and the general public. On the basis of data from an international survey of 1092 participants (634 established researchers and 458 students) in 55 countries and 315 research institutions, we found that institutional recognition of engagement activities is perceived to be undervalued relative to the societal benefit of those activities. Many researchers report that their institutions do not reward engagement activities despite institutions' mission statements promoting such engagement. Furthermore, institutions that actually measure engagement activities do so only to a limited extent. Most researchers are strongly motivated to engage with the public for selfless reasons, which suggests that incentives focused on monetary benefits or career progress may not align with researchers' values. If institutions encourage researchers' engagement activities in a more appropriate way - by moving beyond incentives - they might better achieve their institutional missions and bolster the crucial contributions of researchers to society.

ACS Style

Gerald G Singh; Vinicius Farjalla; Bing Chen; Andrew Pelling; Elvan Ceyhan; Martin Dominik; Eva Alisic; Jeremy Kerr; Noelle Selin; Ghada Bassioni; Elena Bennett; Andrew Kemp; Kai Ma Chan. Researcher engagement in policy deemed societally beneficial yet unrewarded. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2019, 17, 375 -382.

AMA Style

Gerald G Singh, Vinicius Farjalla, Bing Chen, Andrew Pelling, Elvan Ceyhan, Martin Dominik, Eva Alisic, Jeremy Kerr, Noelle Selin, Ghada Bassioni, Elena Bennett, Andrew Kemp, Kai Ma Chan. Researcher engagement in policy deemed societally beneficial yet unrewarded. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2019; 17 (7):375-382.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G Singh; Vinicius Farjalla; Bing Chen; Andrew Pelling; Elvan Ceyhan; Martin Dominik; Eva Alisic; Jeremy Kerr; Noelle Selin; Ghada Bassioni; Elena Bennett; Andrew Kemp; Kai Ma Chan. 2019. "Researcher engagement in policy deemed societally beneficial yet unrewarded." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 17, no. 7: 375-382.

Review
Published: 17 July 2019 in Sustainability
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Transformations towards sustainability are needed to address many of the earth’s profound environmental and social challenges. Yet, actions taken to deliberately shift social–ecological systems towards more sustainable trajectories can have substantial social impacts and exclude people from decision-making processes. The concept of just transformations makes explicit a need to consider social justice in the process of shifting towards sustainability. In this paper, we draw on the transformations, just transitions, and social justice literature to advance a pragmatic framing of just transformations that includes recognitional, procedural and distributional considerations. Decision-making processes to guide just transformations need to consider these three factors before, during and after the transformation period. We offer practical and methodological guidance to help navigate just transformations in environmental management and sustainability policies and practice. The framing of just transformations put forward here might be used to inform decision making in numerous marine and terrestrial ecosystems, in rural and urban environments, and at various scales from local to global. We argue that sustainability transformations cannot be considered a success unless social justice is a central concern.

ACS Style

Nathan J. Bennett; Jessica Blythe; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Gerald G. Singh; U. Rashid Sumaila. Just Transformations to Sustainability. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3881 .

AMA Style

Nathan J. Bennett, Jessica Blythe, Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Gerald G. Singh, U. Rashid Sumaila. Just Transformations to Sustainability. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (14):3881.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nathan J. Bennett; Jessica Blythe; Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor; Gerald G. Singh; U. Rashid Sumaila. 2019. "Just Transformations to Sustainability." Sustainability 11, no. 14: 3881.

Article
Published: 17 July 2019 in Environmental Management
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Our paper, “The Insignificance of Thresholds in Environmental Impact Assessment: An Illustrative Case Study in Canada” received a critique that challenged us on a number of grounds. Namely, that we defame EIA practitioners, that we advocate EIAs to become a scientific enterprise, that we do not recognize the complexity inherent in EIA, and that EIA undergo an independent assessment by regulators. We respond to all of these points, and argue that conflict of interest is an institutional issue (not one of corrupt practitioners), and that we critique the science that forms the basis of evidence in EIA. Further, we show that the complexity and uncertainty in the critique cannot explain the findings from our paper that all cases of impact threshold exceedance were determined to be not significant in EIA. Finally, we compare the significance determinations in proponent reports to final regulator decisions and determine that they are overwhelmingly identical (93–95%). Regulators are financially independent of proponents, but their decisions on significant are heavily dependent on the information and analysis provided by the proponent reports. As regulators rely on these reports, environmental impact assessments must be based on rigorous and transparent analysis.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Jackie Lerner; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Janson Wong; Megan Mach; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Alice Guimaraes; Kai M. A. Chan. Response to Critique of “The Insignificance of Thresholds in Environmental Impact Assessment: An Illustrative Case Study in Canada”. Environmental Management 2019, 64, 133 -137.

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Jackie Lerner, Cathryn Clarke Murray, Janson Wong, Megan Mach, Bernardo Ranieri, Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent, Alice Guimaraes, Kai M. A. Chan. Response to Critique of “The Insignificance of Thresholds in Environmental Impact Assessment: An Illustrative Case Study in Canada”. Environmental Management. 2019; 64 (2):133-137.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Jackie Lerner; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Janson Wong; Megan Mach; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Alice Guimaraes; Kai M. A. Chan. 2019. "Response to Critique of “The Insignificance of Thresholds in Environmental Impact Assessment: An Illustrative Case Study in Canada”." Environmental Management 64, no. 2: 133-137.

Preprint content
Published: 10 July 2019
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Ecosystem services are impacted through restricting service supply, through limiting people from accessing services, and by affecting the quality of services. We map cumulative impacts to 8 different ecosystem services in coastal British Columbia using InVEST models, spatial data, and expert elicitation to quantify risk to each service from anthropogenic activities. We find that impact to service access and quality as well as impact to service supply results in greater severity of impact and a greater diversity of causal processes of impact than only considering impact to service supply. This suggests that limiting access to services and impacts to service quality may be important and understanding these kinds of impacts may complement our knowledge of impacts to biophysical systems that produce services. Some ecosystem services are at greater risk from climate stressors while others face greater risk from local activities. Prominent causal pathways of impact include limiting access and affecting quality. Mapping cumulative impacts to ecosystem services can yield rich insights, including highlighting areas of high impact and understanding causes of impact, and should be an essential management tool to help maintain the flow of services we benefit from.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Ian M.S. Eddy; Benjamin S. Halpern; Rabin Neslo; Terre Satterfield; Kai M.A. Chan. Mapping Cumulative Impacts to Coastal Ecosystem Services in British Columbia. 2019, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Ian M.S. Eddy, Benjamin S. Halpern, Rabin Neslo, Terre Satterfield, Kai M.A. Chan. Mapping Cumulative Impacts to Coastal Ecosystem Services in British Columbia. . 2019; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Ian M.S. Eddy; Benjamin S. Halpern; Rabin Neslo; Terre Satterfield; Kai M.A. Chan. 2019. "Mapping Cumulative Impacts to Coastal Ecosystem Services in British Columbia." , no. : 1.

Research article
Published: 12 June 2019 in People and Nature
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Climate change is impacting marine ecosystems and their goods and services in diverse ways, which can directly hinder our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), set out under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through expert elicitation and a literature review, we find that most climate change effects have a wide variety of negative consequences across marine ecosystem services, though most studies have highlighted impacts from warming and consequences of marine species. Climate change is expected to negatively influence marine ecosystem services through global stressors—such as ocean warming and acidification—but also by amplifying local and regional stressors such as freshwater runoff and pollution load. Experts indicated that all SDGs would be overwhelmingly negatively affected by these climate impacts on marine ecosystem services, with eliminating hunger being among the most directly negatively affected SDG. Despite these challenges, the SDGs aiming to transform our consumption and production practices and develop clean energy systems are found to be least affected by marine climate impacts. These findings represent a strategic point of entry for countries to achieve sustainable development, given that these two goals are relatively robust to climate impacts and that they are important pre‐requisite for other SDGs. Our results suggest that climate change impacts on marine ecosystems are set to make the SDGs a moving target travelling away from us. Effective and urgent action towards sustainable development, including mitigating and adapting to climate impacts on marine systems are important to achieve the SDGs, but the longer this action stalls the more distant these goals will become. A plain language summary is available for this article.

ACS Style

Gerald G. Singh; Nathalie Hilmi; Joey R. Bernhardt; Andres M. Cisneros Montemayor; Madeline Cashion; Yoshitaka Ota; Sevil Acar; Jason M. Brown; Richard Cottrell; Salpie Djoundourian; Pedro C. González‐Espinosa; Vicky Lam; Nadine Marshall; Barbara Neumann; Nicolas Pascal; Gabriel Reygondeau; Joacim Rocklӧv; Alain Safa; Laura R. Virto; William Cheung. Climate impacts on the ocean are making the Sustainable Development Goals a moving target travelling away from us. People and Nature 2019, 1, 317 -330.

AMA Style

Gerald G. Singh, Nathalie Hilmi, Joey R. Bernhardt, Andres M. Cisneros Montemayor, Madeline Cashion, Yoshitaka Ota, Sevil Acar, Jason M. Brown, Richard Cottrell, Salpie Djoundourian, Pedro C. González‐Espinosa, Vicky Lam, Nadine Marshall, Barbara Neumann, Nicolas Pascal, Gabriel Reygondeau, Joacim Rocklӧv, Alain Safa, Laura R. Virto, William Cheung. Climate impacts on the ocean are making the Sustainable Development Goals a moving target travelling away from us. People and Nature. 2019; 1 (3):317-330.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G. Singh; Nathalie Hilmi; Joey R. Bernhardt; Andres M. Cisneros Montemayor; Madeline Cashion; Yoshitaka Ota; Sevil Acar; Jason M. Brown; Richard Cottrell; Salpie Djoundourian; Pedro C. González‐Espinosa; Vicky Lam; Nadine Marshall; Barbara Neumann; Nicolas Pascal; Gabriel Reygondeau; Joacim Rocklӧv; Alain Safa; Laura R. Virto; William Cheung. 2019. "Climate impacts on the ocean are making the Sustainable Development Goals a moving target travelling away from us." People and Nature 1, no. 3: 317-330.

Preprint
Published: 05 December 2018
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Governments around the world rely on environmental impact assessment (EIA) to provide rigorous analyses and an accurate appraisal of the risks and benefits of development. But how rigorous are the analyses conducted in EIAs, and how do they compare across nations? We evaluate the output from EIAs for jurisdictions in seven countries, focusing on scope (temporal and spatial), mitigation actions, and impact significance determination, which is integral for decision-making. We find that in all jurisdictions, the number of identified significant adverse impacts was consistently small (or nonexistent), regardless of context. Likely contributing to this uniformity, we find that the scopes of analyses are consistently narrower than warranted ecologically and toxicologically, many proposed mitigation measures are assumed to be effective with little to no justification,and that the professional judgement of developer-paid consultants is overwhelmingly the determinant of impact significance, with no transparent account of the reasoning processes involved. EIA can be salvaged as a rigorous, credible decision-aiding tool if rigor is enforced in assessment methodologies, regulators are empowered to enforce rigor, and pro-development conflict of interest is avoided.

ACS Style

Gerald G Singh; Jackie Lerner; Megan Mach; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Janson Wong; Alice Guimaraes; Gustavo Yunda-Guarin; Terre Satterfield; Kai Chan. Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally. 2018, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerald G Singh, Jackie Lerner, Megan Mach, Cathryn Clarke Murray, Bernardo Ranieri, Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent, Janson Wong, Alice Guimaraes, Gustavo Yunda-Guarin, Terre Satterfield, Kai Chan. Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally. . 2018; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerald G Singh; Jackie Lerner; Megan Mach; Cathryn Clarke Murray; Bernardo Ranieri; Guillaume Peterson St-Laurent; Janson Wong; Alice Guimaraes; Gustavo Yunda-Guarin; Terre Satterfield; Kai Chan. 2018. "Scientific shortcomings in environmental impact statements internationally." , no. : 1.