About this Research Topic

Background

This year’s 28th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) of the UNFCCC marks another crucial milestone in the global response to the climate crisis and sustainability challenges. In 2023 humankind has experienced unprecedented heat and extreme weather events which highlights the urge to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels more than ever. It is important to capture valuable insights and conclusions from COP28 and to advance our common understanding of climate action required in different thematic areas.

This Research Topic is a collaborative effort across several journals (Frontiers in Environmental Science, Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management, Frontiers in Climate, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, Frontiers in Sustainability, Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability, and Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy), and it aims to curate the collection of papers presenting COP28’s pressing discussions and themes, its outcomes and solutions.

As a joint initiative, the Research Topic welcomes submissions based on the journal and the theme of the paper. We encourage submissions exploring, but not limited to, the following themes:

1. Frontiers in Environmental Science: COP28 has a very special focus on Youth, Children, Education and Skills to facilitate the discussion and common strategy to empower the young generation through adequate and comprehensive education and skills and to enable young people to take part in the decision-making processes to address climate change and sustainability challenges. The journal accepts papers in its Environmental Citizen Science section on youth’s understanding and co-research in environmental studies, co-creation of knowledge by the collection of relevant data, and young citizen environmental observations, thus enabling behavioral changes in the communities.

2. Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management: The journal is aligned with SDG12, and will encourage submissions aligned with the following COP28 events and themes:
Energy and industry / Just transition / Indigenous peoples - Energy access: clean cooking, Accelerating green demand of heavy emitting sectors (cement, steel, aluminum), Circularity in the heavy emitting sectors, Hydrogen
Food, agriculture, and water - Best country practices on climate-food nexus; and launch of the climate-food guidance toolkit Sustainable consumption, healthy affordable food for all, and reducing food waste.

3. Frontiers in Climate publishes scientific advances in climate research, focusing on mitigation, adaptation, emissions, and modeling. It shares research that contributes to climate policy and economic drivers, addressing societal challenges created by climate change. For this Research Topic Frontiers in Climate will accept submissions on Carbon management, Climate-health solutions, Early warning systems, and Finance for Climate and Health.

4. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities is a platform for research focused on achieving sustainable living processes within future urban landscapes that are aligned with the UN SDGs. For this Research Topic, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities will accept papers across two themes, specifically:
Just transition - papers should focus on transport decarbonization enablers, policies, governance structures, standards, or new technologies, and how these will impact urban transportation systems and the people who use them. Contributions are especially welcome that consider the uneven impacts of sustainable infrastructure and transport decarbonization on different segments of the population. This can include understanding both the range of tensions between decarbonization and social justice and potential ways to ensure transitions to low-carbon transport in cities are fair and socially inclusive.

5. Frontiers in Sustainability works to advance SDG goals 8 (decent work and economic growth), 9 (industry innovation and infrastructure), 12 (responsible consumption and production), and their connections with climate change and its mitigation, through the publication and promotion of high-quality, peer-reviewed articles. For this Research Topic, Frontiers in Sustainability welcomes papers on the following theme:
Transition to Equitable Sustainability: Quantification of benefits sharing to countries experiencing negative impacts of climate change; use of loss and damage funds to transition to sustainable systems at national and local levels; benefits sharing for resilience and adaptation to climate change; and, global financial mechanisms to redistribute benefits and losses in a changing climate.

6. Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability aims to contribute towards SDG 14 (to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development), by fostering international collaboration and scientific research for a sustainable ocean. This journal is interested in the following themes and papers:
Nature, land use, and ocean - Papers should focus on mechanisms to reach 100% Sustainable Ocean goals, holistic approaches to supporting sustainable ocean management, pollution with regards to land-ocean interactions and management, improving sustainable ocean governance structures (including policies, ethics, and equity), insights on mitigation and adaptation to climate for ocean research, conservation and biodiversity protection of blue food provisions.

7. Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy support policies for SDG 7. In this Research Topic, we invite papers covering the breadth of Energy Policy. These could come from two avenues in the current COP meeting. Firstly, they can draw lessons from current practices, uncovering invaluable insights that can shape the future of sustainable energy policy. Secondly, they can act as powerful advocates for climate actions, moving us forward on the path toward a greener, more resilient world.
We specifically are interested in submissions on the phaseout of coal and high emitting sources, adoption of clean energy, and transition policies in line with geographical challenges and under the carbon neutrality goals.

8. Frontiers in Earth Science supports and advances SDG 13: climate action, in the reporting and monitoring of the impact of human activity and climate change on the Earth. This journal welcomes submissions related to the health/relief, recovery and peace, multilevel action, and urbanization themes.

This article collection is open to all interested authors who are encouraged to direct their interest to contribute to the respective journal team.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Open Data
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: COP28, climate action, sustainability, climate resilience, community participation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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