The boom in technological advances in recent decades has led to increased demand for rare earth elements (REEs) (also known as rare earth metals) across various industries with wide-ranging industrial applications, including in the clean energy sector, but with some environmental, economic, and social footprint concerns. This paper reviews the complexities of the production, consumption, and reuse or recovery of REEs, presenting current trends in terms of potentials and challenges associated with this. This paper in particular focuses on the supply, demand, and (environmental and economic) sustainability of REEs, as a subset of critical raw materials. It does so via a critical stocktaking of key discussions and debates in the field over the past 15 years up until now, through a thematic analysis of the published and gray (policy) literature with a grounded theory approach. The paper finds that carefully balanced lifecycle sustainability assessments are needed for assessing the respective dimensions of the extraction, processing, and reuse or recovery methods for different types of REE sources and supplies to meet current and future demands. It furthermore diagnoses the need for taking into account some shifts and substitutions among REEs also for reasons of cost and locational supplies for the security of supply. Finally, the paper provides some overall policy recommendations for addressing current problems, with a conceptual framing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Climate change negatively impacts the livelihoods of indigenous communities across the world, including those located on the African continent. This Comment reports on how five African indigenous communities have been impacted by climate change and the adopted adaptation mechanisms.

Africa is home to an estimated wild edible insect population of 1000 species that offer an opportunity for sustainable food systems while also improving food and nutrition security on the continent. Edible insect consumption has been part of African communities for a long time and forms part of their diets and cuisines, particularly within low-income households with limited resources. The purpose of our study was to investigate and review the contribution that edible insects can make towards the realisation of sustainable food systems, and environmental/planetary health including the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal number 2 (zero hunger). Our study applied a bibliometric analysis approach using VOS Viewer, a data mining software. The study established that the consumption of edible insects is still widespread across many African countries and therefore can be used as an avenue for improving environmental health and enhancing food systems on the continent through a reduction in meat-based diets. This, in the long term, will also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane from livestock production-related activities. Edible insects are also known to contain a high percentage nutrient content of proteins, fats and iron and, thus, can also play a vital role in reducing food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly within low-income households. Due to the existence of a high number of edible insect species on the continent, communities in Africa can easily access sources that can further be preserved using various indigenous techniques while also having minimal impact on the environment. In addition, being a source of nutritious food, edible insects can also be a source of establishing sustainable livelihoods, as well as being able to be commercialised, thus further creating employment opportunities and economic growth. Some of the notable edible insects in abundance on the continent include termites, ants, crickets and caterpillars. Our study recommends that Africa should commercialise edible insect production, in addition to preservation processing that leads to the eradication of perennial food insecurity and malnutrition and improves environmental health, as well as developing sustainable food systems. We also further recommend the establishment of food safety guidelines on edible insects as most African countries do not have such a plan in place currently.

Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies aims to engage, inform, and catalyse scholarly discourse within research and real-world practices that work towards the minimisation of vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout developing communities with special emphasis on Africa.

The entire cascade of scenario generation, global and regional climate modeling, as well as concrete measures towards climate adaptation are subject to uncertainties. An exact prediction of how the climate will change in the coming years, and how it will affect land use, is not possible. There is thus a perceived need to identify ways via which uncertainties can be addressed. Based on the need to address the research gap in this area, this paper reports the findings of a study on uncertainty in a climate change adaptation context, and how it is perceived. It consists of a multi-stakeholder survey among climate change professionals, including academic staff at universities, representatives from international agencies, members of NGOs, policymakers, and representatives of industry from 50 countries, including a balanced representation of industrialized and developing nations. The results obtained suggest that uncertainties are often a hindrance to engagement in climate change adaptation efforts, and to land management. Furthermore, there is a range of tools to reduce climate change adaptation uncertainties, whose deployment may help to address them. The paper concludes by providing a list of lessons learned and suggestions as to how uncertainty can be better communicated, and by doing so, how a reduction in the levels of climate change vulnerability may be achieved, and how land management may be fostered.