The environmental component of Sustainable Development for large regions of the Earth can be assessed through the evaluation of the natural resource potential of the territory. The methodological challenge of such assessments is always determined by the type of operational-territorial unit within which the geodatabase is formed. This article details the possibilities of using the basin approach as such units. This approach is one of the most important in humid climate regions where a river network has been developed. Using the example of the Ob’ river basin in Northern Eurasia, the article illustrates the application of the basin approach to assess the environmental determinants of Sustainable Development. The studies were conducted in three stages: formation of an GIS database of basin geosystems of the Ob’ river basin; creation of a geospatial database on the natural resource potential in the small river basins; selection of criteria and assessment of anthropogenic load on the basin geosystems of the Ob’. A total of 30,738 small river basins were delineated automatically based on GMTED DEM, with a mean area of 66 km². GIS integrated geoinformation represents the natural and anthropogenic characteristics of river basins. The assessment of the environmental state of the territory should considerthe types and strengths of anthropogenic loads. For this purpose, the integral indicators used, which directly or indirectly reflect anthropogenic impact: population density, road network density, and the percentage of arable land in the total area. The final indicator of anthropogenic load was calculated as a linear combination of specific variables and ranked into six categories. Thematic and complex maps were created, allowing us to identify the natural background in which the geosystems of small river basins are formed and function, as well as the types and strength of anthropogenic loads on the territory.

The disadvantage of the traditional approach to territorial planning of the past years is associated with an underestimation of the essence and multifaceted social brownfields and their importance in the sustainable development of urban areas in post-industrial society. The prospects for the development of the inner space of the city and the quality of life of people largely depend on the presence of brownfields since most of the brownfields can have a negative impact on the environment. This is especially noticeable in large cities and agglomerations. In this paper, we analyze the spatial distribution of brownfields in the largest agglomeration of Russia, comparing their prospects for redevelopment with the analysis of 10 dominant criteria of local priority affecting the transformation of the urban area. The article discusses in detail the reasons for making decisions about the nature of the impact of brownfields and the priority tasks of their elimination: the environmental situation and the economic interests of stakeholders. The study shows that the practice of making decisions on the liquidation of brownfields largely depends on their inclusion in the state register of objects of accumulated environmental damage, which makes it possible to accumulate environmental damage in the near future. However, the entry of accumulated environmental damage into the state register of objects is (1) a practiced procedure because it implies co-financing of the brownfield liquidation project by the federal authorities and (2) an insufficiently objective procedure for assessing the impact (lack of local priority criteria). Based on the conducted research, we believe that the elimination or urbanization of brownfields should be based on the analysis of local priorities in the transformation of urban areas (different from the criteria of modern practice of introducing the state register of brownfields), including the features of the territorial organization of public space, ecological and geographical environment, and public opinion.

Here, we use modeling and literature assessments to quantify the prospects for achieving carbon neutrality by nine major developing economies (China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mexico, and South Africa). We examine the structure of energy consumption, electricity generation, and land use in these countries. Scenario estimates of the dynamics of carbon indicators of the world’s leading economies at global and subglobal scales based on a historical approach have been developed.

It is shown that the current rate of decarbonization and the development of the carbon capture and storage industry in the studied countries is not sufficient for these countries to fulfill their obligations to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050-2070 – this goal cannot be attained before the end of the century. The key challenge in achieving the carbon neutrality is the rapid, large-scale deployment of the carbon capture and storage technologies in all possible forms. Of the countries studied, however, only China and Brazil have their capabilities to store carbon for more than a century.

Although climate change occupies practically a leading place in the global agenda, the actual results of efforts in this area are far from the declared ones, and the climate warming can no longer be kept within 1.5°C. The core problem is to minimize the residence time for the global climate system in the dangerous zone (with a temperature overshoot above 1.5°C), which will require the emergence of the world economy with negative greenhouse gas emissions.