This study analyses the current supporting laws, regulations, strategies, national action plans, NDCs, scientific literature and other documents and policies in Vietnam to identify the barriers against the effective implementation of mitigation and adaptation agriculture activities committed in Vietnam’s NDC. It also identifies the redundancies and synergies between climate action and green growth plans of the country. As a result, the study found that there is a strong supporting legal framework for implementing NDC actions in Vietnam. However, challenges and gaps are identified in awareness and technical capacity; coordination and resource allocation; downscaling to the provinces; engagement of private sector and NGOs; regulatory framework, which are critical to NDC implementation. A set of key recommendations are proposed on how to address the challenges raised by identified barriers are developed.

Vietnam has increased the unconditional and conditional targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in agriculture in its updated Nationally determined contributions (NDC) to 6.8MtCO2eq and 25.8MtCO2eq respectively (the previous targets were 6.42MtCO2eq and 10.21MtCO2eq respectively), based on CGIAR contributions on climate-smart rice production.

Inheritance of acquired characteristics (IAC) is a well-documented phenomenon occurring both in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. However, it is not included in current biological theories, and the risks of IAC induction are not assessed by genetic toxicology. Furthermore, different kinds of IAC (transgenerational and intergenerational inheritance, genotrophic changes, dauermodifications, vernalization, and some others) are traditionally considered in isolation, thus impeding the development of a comprehensive view on IAC as a whole. Herein, we discuss all currently known kinds of IAC as well as their mechanisms, if unraveled. We demonstrate that IAC is a special case of genotype × environment interactions requiring certain genotypes and, as a rule, prolonged exposure to the inducing influence. Most mechanisms of IAC are epigenetic; these include but not limited to DNA methylation, histone modifications, competition of transcription factors, induction of non-coding RNAs, inhibition of plastid translation, and curing of amyloid and non-amyloid prions. In some cases, changes in DNA sequences or host-microbe interactions are involved as well. The only principal difference between IAC and other environmentally inducible hereditary changes such as the effects of radiation is the origin of the changes: in case of IAC they are definite (determined by the environment), while the others are indefinite (arise from environmentally provoked molecular stochasticity). At least some kinds of IAC are adaptive and could be regarded as the elements of natural selection, though non-canonical in their origin and molecular nature. This is a probable way towards synthesis of the Lamarckian and Darwinian evolutionary conceptions. Applied issues of IAC are also discussed.

CCAFS, UNIQUE and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture collaborated to develop new inventory of livestock greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 approach which was used to update Ethiopia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments for livestock GHG mitigation. CCAFS supported Kenya’s State Department for Livestock, increasing its understanding of livestock GHG mitigation options, leading to prioritization of efficient livestock production in Kenya’s updated NDC. Ethiopia and Kenya submitted updated NDCs to UNFCCC in December 2020.

This report provides a unique, sector-specific synthesis of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in the Caribbean. It summarizes the substantial contributions already put forward by countries, opportunities for further action and the gaps, barriers and needs that will need to be addressed if the agriculture and land use sectors in the Caribbean are to raise mitigation and adaptation ambitions. The findings of this report will help member countries to reflect on their progress in advancing toward NDC priorities for agriculture and land use and associated national climate goals including related targets under the Sustainable Development Goals.

Phosphorus (P) fertilizers from secondary resources became increasingly important in the last years. However, these novel P-fertilizers can also contain toxic pollutants such as chromium in its hexavalent state (Cr(VI)). This hazardous form of chromium is therefore regulated with low limit values for agricultural products even though the correct determination of Cr(VI) in these fertilizers may be hampered by redox processes, leading to false results. Thus, we applied the novel diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) technique for Cr(VI) in fertilizers and compared the results with the standard wet chemical extraction method (German norm DIN EN 15192) and Cr K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. We determined an overall good correlation between the wet chemical extraction and the DGT method. DGT was very sensitive and for most tested materials selective for the analysis of Cr(VI) in P-fertilizers. However, hardly soluble Cr(VI) compounds cannot be detected with the DGT method since only mobile Cr(VI) is analyzed. Furthermore, Cr K-edge XANES spectroscopy showed that the DGT binding layer also adsorbs small amounts of mobile Cr(III) so that Cr(VI) values are overestimated. Since certain types of the P-fertilizers contain mobile Cr(III) or partly immobile Cr(VI), it is necessary to optimize the DGT binding layers to avoid aforementioned over- or underestimation. Furthermore, our investigations showed that the Cr K-edge XANES spectroscopy technique is unsuitable to determine small amounts of Cr(VI) in fertilizers (below approx. 1% of Cr(VI) in relation to total Cr).

This paper describes the impacts of the M5.8(5.1) Gyeongju earthquakes on groundwater levels using data obtained from a unique coastal monitoring well. The monitoring strategy integrates conventional water level monitoring with periodic, continuous measurements of temperature and electrical conductivity (EC) within the water column of the well. Another important component of the monitoring system is a new instrument, the InterfacEGG, which is capable of dynamically tracking the freshwater‐saltwater interface. Although the system was set up to monitor seawater intrusion related to over‐pumping, as well as rainfall and tidal effects, it recorded impacts associated with a large earthquake and aftershocks approximately 241 km away. Seismic energies associated with the M5.8(5.1) Gyeongju earthquakes induced groundwater flows to the monitoring well through fractures and joints in the crystalline basement rocks. Temperature and EC logging data showed that the EC vertical profile declined from an average of approximately 5300 to 4800 μS/cm following the earthquakes. The temperature profile showed a trend toward lower temperatures as the depth increased, a feature not commonly observed in previous studies. Data from the InterfacEGG suggested that the rise in EC was not due to the saltwater intrusion, but from the tendency for brackish water entering the borehole to induce convective mixing at deeper depths as the seismic waves travel through the well‐aquifer system. The increase in groundwater levels was caused by pulse of colder, less brackish water flowing into the well because of the earthquake. This behavior reflects an enhancement in rock permeability by removing precipitates and colloidal particles from clogged fractures, which improve the hydraulic connection with a nearby unit with a higher hydraulic head. This study suggests there is value added with a more aggressive monitoring strategy.

Summary: This study reports the propagation dynamics of the Kara Sea surface desalinated layer (SDL) during the summer and autumn seasons. We analysed shipboard measurements data collected in 2013–2018 and MODIS ocean colour data that correlated with the shipboard ones. We formulated a comparatively strict criterion to determine the SDL border based on satellite data. For that, we analyzed the shipboard flow-through measuring system data obtained while crossing the surface desalinated layer border. Further, we used a regional algorithm to process the satellite data and estimate the coloured dissolved organic matter absorption coefficient for the Kara Sea. The results demonstrate a significant effect of the wind regime on the interseasonal and interannual variability of the transformation of the SDL boundaries. The positions of the surface desalinated layer boundaries at different times during 2013–2018 are given. The obtained results are important for calculating the heat balance and analyzing the Kara Sea bio-productivity.

Two biogeochemical simulation models describing carbon turnover in soil, the DeNitrification–DeComposition (DNDC) model and the Rothamsted Long-Term Field Experiment Carbon (RothC) model, have been parameterized in accordance with the conditions of arable leached chernozems of Kursk region and validated based on soil СО₂ emission measurement data at Kursk Biosphere Station, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, as a case study on five crops: winter wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, and potato. The modeling has served to reconstruct dynamics of organic carbon content in soil (SOC) over the period of 1990–2018. The RothC model generated the region-specific characteristics of SOC losses, which primarily depend on the weather conditions at an average rate of 342 ± 54 kg С/ha year. The outcomes of the DNDC model are more crop-specific and demonstrate maximal SOC losses under corn (272 kg С/ha year) and maximal accumulation under winter wheat (266 kg С/ha year). The period was characterized by a steady increase in heat supply, including the annual average air temperature (0.68°С/10 years) and growing degree-days (224°С day/10 years). The coefficients of variation of the precipitation and moisture indices in the region exceed 20% over the period. The arable chernozems of Kursk region is characterized by moderate and strong positive correlations between the SOC dynamics and thermal environment conditions including growing degree-days, Selyaninov hydrothermal coefficient, Sapozhnikova moisture index. The contribution of warm-period precipitation is less significant.