Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for Asia

• Published in: Environmental toxicology and chemistry Vol. 39; no. 8; pp. 1485 - 1505
• Main Authors: Leung, Kenneth M.Y., Yeung, Katie W.Y., You, Jing, Choi, Kyungho, Zhang, Xiaowei, Smith, Ross, Zhou, Guang‐Jie, Yung, Mana M.N., Arias‐Barreiro, Carlos, An, Youn‐Joo, Burket, S. Rebekah, Dwyer, Robert, Goodkin, Nathalie, Hii, Yii Siang, Hoang, Tham, Humphrey, Chris, Iwai, Chuleemas Boonthai, Jeong, Seung‐Woo, Juhel, Guillaume, Karami, Ali, Kyriazi‐Huber, Katerina, Lee, Kuan‐Chun, Lin, Bin‐Le, Lu, Ben, Martin, Patrick, Nillos, Mae Grace, Oginawati, Katharina, Rathnayake, I.V.N., Risjani, Yenny, Shoeb, Mohammad, Tan, Chin Hon, Tsuchiya, Maria Claret, Ankley, Gerald T., Boxall, Alistair B.A., Rudd, Murray A., Brooks, Bryan W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Aquaculture; Aquaculture products; Asia; Biodiversity; Biodiversity hot spots; Biomonitoring; Chemistry; Clean energy; Climate change; Critical Review; Ecosystem; Ecosystem integrity; Ecosystem services; Ecotoxicology; Energy efficiency; Environmental chemistry; Environmental impact; Environmental monitoring; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental quality; Environmental stress; Environmental toxicology; Food; Food safety; Green chemistry; Hazard/risk assessment; Humans; Intersections; Public health; Questions; Risk Assessment; Scanning; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Toxicology; Asia; Environmental toxicology; Environmental chemistry; Climate change; Biomonitoring; Hazard/risk assessment
• ISSN: 0730-7268; 1552-8618
• DOI: 10.1002/etc.4788

Environmental and human health challenges are pronounced in Asia, an exceptionally diverse and complex region where influences of global megatrends are extensive and numerous stresses to environmental quality exist. Identifying priorities necessary to engage grand challenges can be facilitated through horizon scanning exercises, and to this end we identified and examined 23 priority research questions needed to advance toward more sustainable environmental quality in Asia, as part of the Global Horizon Scanning Project. Advances in environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, biological monitoring, and risk‐assessment methodologies are necessary to address the adverse impacts of environmental stressors on ecosystem services and biodiversity, with Asia being home to numerous biodiversity hotspots. Intersections of the food–energy–water nexus are profound in Asia; innovative and aggressive technologies are necessary to provide clean water, ensure food safety, and stimulate energy efficiency, while improving ecological integrity and addressing legacy and emerging threats to public health and the environment, particularly with increased aquaculture production. Asia is the largest chemical‐producing continent globally. Accordingly, sustainable and green chemistry and engineering present decided opportunities to stimulate innovation and realize a number of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Engaging the priority research questions identified herein will require transdisciplinary coordination through existing and nontraditional partnerships within and among countries and sectors. Answering these questions will not be easy but is necessary to achieve more sustainable environmental quality in Asia. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:1485–1505. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.