This issue of the journal examines an idea that is gaining traction in environmental thinking in recent years: net gain.

Approaching this topic from a range of different disciplines and perspectives, articles in this issue of environmental SCIENTIST consider the opportunities and limitations of net gain, as a global policy and regulatory framework, and as a way of thinking that can shape our understanding of progress and development.

Contributors in this issue will examine specific policies, such as the now-mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain, which came into effect in England in February 2024, as well as wider conceptualisations of the term that incorporate marine life, the wider environment, and our society.

Situating net gain in a global context, articles will respond to important questions about its usage and implementation: including what challenges do policymakers face when addressing such complex and far-reaching goals? How can landowners and other...

Innovations in AI, machine learning, and other digital technologies are already offering enormous benefits for environmental science, and for the health of our ecosystems. Yet with these opportunities comes a significant amount of environmental, social, ethical, and existential risk. How do we navigate the rising CO2 emissions from artificial intelligence, while supporting its use for optimising adaptation to a changing climate? How should environmental professions be adapting to the rise in digitisation of traditionally hands-on work, and how can we support new environmental science research in areas of digital technology that are evolving so incredibly quickly? 

In this issue of environmental SCIENTIST, our contributors explore the dilemmas that are tangled up with innovation in digital technologies and the environmental sciences. Showcasing some of the most exciting use cases of new digital innovation – from augmented reality and machine learning for wildlife...

Britain’s natural environment is often viewed as something that exists independently of our financial and governance systems. Whilst there are questions about whether we should reduce nature to a quantifiable entity, it may no longer be enough to advocate for our natural environment purely for its own sake. To legislate for the protection, funding, and political support of nature in Britain, we must offer robust evidence of the benefits – social, financial, and ecological – that a healthy natural environment imparts.

In this issue, authors explore some of Britain's most important ecosystems, as well as presenting expert perspectives on some of the ways we can use the concept of natural capital to the advantage of both society and the environment. Articles in Britain’s Natural Capital range from the ecological benefits provided by kelp farming on the Isle of Mull, to the significance of our urban green spaces in London and Nottingham, and the importance of recovering our...

The water crisis is now a familiar feature in the UK media: from sewage discharges released into our rivers and seas, to plastic pollution damaging our wastewater systems, and droughts and floods becoming an increasingly frequent concern as our climate changes.

However, amongst the growing pressures our water infrastructure faces, there are innovative governance, technological, and behavioural solutions emerging from experts and professionals across the water sector. Contributors to this issue of environmental SCIENTIST cover topics that range from wastewater to citizen science and pollution, and they address the crucial ways we can adapt our understanding and management of water in the UK, to respond to multiple environmental and anthropogenic challenges.

How we respond to matters of environmental justice in the present will shape our society well into the future, as the world grapples with the intensifying effects of climate change and countless other environmental pressures.

Exploring a range of environmental injustices - from the dumping of hazardous waste in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in Dallas, Texas, to disaster capitalism in Barbuda following Hurricane Irma - this edition sheds light on the inequalities inherent in environmental damage. Crucially, these articles also consider routes to attaining environmental justice: such as working with legal systems, engaging in civil disobedience, or creating innovative new ways to hold corporations and authorities to account for environmental wrongdoing. Ultimately, this issue of environmental SCIENTIST examines how – and if – environmental justice can be achieved, particularly for the most vulnerable communities on the front line of the climate crisis.