Because current emissions accounting approaches focus on an entire city, cities are often considered to be large emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with no attention to the variation within them. This makes it more difficult to identify climate change mitigation strategies that can simultaneously reduce emissions and address place-specific development challenges. In response to this gap, a bottom-up emissions inventory study was undertaken to identify high emission zones and development goals for the Durban metropolitan area (eThekwini Municipality). The study is the first attempt at creating a spatially disaggregated emissions inventory for key sectors in Durban. The results indicate that particular groups and economic activities are responsible for more emissions, and socio-spatial development and emission inequalities are found both within the city and within the high emission zone. This is valuable information for the municipality in tailoring mitigation efforts to reduce emissions and address development gaps for low-carbon spatial planning whilst contributing to objectives for social justice.

Urbanization is one of the most significant and irreversible forms of land change, but we lack empirical evidence of these changes in the Global South. This is the first study to quantify past and explore future land change for the Durban metropolitan, using Land Change Modeler (LCM) software. Results show between 1994–2016, the total changed area was 118,403 ha (47% of landscape) and eleven transition categories were responsible for these changes. Three scenarios were explored: Scenario 1: business as usual (BAU), Scenario 2: green space protection (GSP), and Scenario 3: integrated rapid public transport network (IRPTN), up to the year 2076. BAU and IRPTN show similar projected spatial change concentrated in the west and north. GSP shares temporal change trends with BAU, but projects spatial change concentrated in the north and south. We discuss the utility of this modelling approach to understand land change processes useful for climate change planning.

Purpose of Review: Pesticide exposure is an urgent environmental health issue in the Global South, where structural inequalities, weak regulation, and the export of banned chemicals from the Global North create disproportionate risks for marginalized populations. While environmental justice (EJ) frameworks are increasingly applied in environmental health research, their integration in pesticide research and interventions in the Global South has not been reviewed. This scoping review maps how EJ is conceptualized and operationalized in studies on pesticides in the Global South, identifying justice dimensions, methodological approaches, and interventions. Recent Findings: Fifty-four peer-reviewed and grey literature sources (1995 to 2024, English language) were reviewed using a five-dimensional EJ framework: distributive, procedural, recognition, capabilities-based, and epistemic justice. Distributive justice dominated, procedural and recognition justice were inconsistently addressed, and capabilities-based and epistemic justice were rarely applied. EJ applications varied regionally: Central and South American studies had a pluralistic approach to EJ. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) research emphasized acute exposure disparities but lacked epistemic justice. Southeast Asia focused on gender and caste-based inequities, and the Middle East and North African (MENA) region was notably under-represented, highlighting a significant geographic gap. Interventions included pesticide bans, litigation, advocacy, user training, and household adaptations, yet most reinforced individual responsibility rather than addressing structural drivers of pesticide use. Additional gaps include limited gender-specific analyses, scarce epidemiological evidence, and co-production of knowledge with affected communities. Summary: Pesticide-related EJ scholarship in the Global South remains uneven, with major regional, methodological, and epistemological gaps. Advancing EJ requires rights-based, community-led, gender-sensitive and epistemically inclusive approaches, strengthened regulations, and a global ban on prohibited pesticides.

Air pollution disproportionately impacts socially vulnerable communities, yet spatial analyzes that integrate social vulnerability and air quality indicators are limited in low‐ and middle‐income countries. This study provided the first comprehensive spatial assessment of air pollution risk in Cape Town, South Africa, combining air quality index data derived from Sentinel‐5P satellite measurements and Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reanalysis data set with a Principal Component Analysis‐generated social vulnerability index (SVI) based on socioeconomic, demographic, and land use factors. Our analysis identified spatial hotspots where high levels of air pollution are associated with increased social vulnerability and showed that 40.3% of the population is at high to very high risk of air pollution. Areas of greatest concern include informal settlements and historically marginalized neighborhoods, highlighting the increased impact of environmental and social determinants of health. These findings highlight the utility of integrating SVI into air quality management frameworks to support equitable interventions. Policymakers, clinicians, and urban planners can leverage these insights to develop targeted strategies that address both air pollution exposure and underlying social inequities to promote environmental justice in urban contexts.